Keep on Going, Keep on Doing

15^th Sunday Ordinary time, 7-10-16  HT  Deut 30: 10-14, Ps 19, Col 1: 15-20, Luke 10: 25-37

We have to start today back in the Old Testament, specifically in the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Deut 6: 4-9 is part of the Shema, one of the most fundamental prayers of the Jewish faith.  Verse 5 says: “… you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  Jesus may have heard this on the day of his birth, as it was traditionally said twice each day.

That verse was linked- long before Jesus’ time – with Leviticus 19:15-18. Verse 18 says: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Scripture scholars saw these two verses drawn together like magnets, because they used the same Hebrew verb form for the command to love:  we’ahabeta, which is used only 1 other place in the OT.  Any disagreement between Jesus and the lawyer was only over the application and the boundaries of these commands, not the significance of the command to love God and neighbor.  So many difficulties arise not with ideas and ideals, but with making them become reality!

So, Jesus had a history of association with the “wrong people” – remember the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. He touched and healed the “unclean” – lepers, the bleeding woman, and the widow’s dead son.   He ate without the hand wash ritual, he allowed his hungry disciples to pick wheat on the Sabbath.  If the lawyer had any plan to trap Jesus into teaching contrary to the religious Laws, Jesus was prepared, skillfully redirecting the discussion to the intent of the law.  The discussion starts with that curious dance of questions that began any formal Jewish scholarly debate on the Law – but ends with “Go and do likewise”.  It was no longer a debate but a call to action.

Two weeks ago, in the previous chapter of Luke, we read about the disciples wanting to call down fire from heaven to consume a Samaritan village which would not welcome them. The breach between the Jews and Samaritans was of long standing and firmly entrenched.  There was a constant attempt to insult and demean each other. The disciples got a swift rebuke, not fire, for Jesus was very tolerant of being turned away.  Again, when Jesus encountered the Samaritan “Woman at the Well”, it was a time of forgiveness and healing.

But this is not a lesson about the Samaritans.   Neither is it an attempt to criticize the priests.   This is a parable, not a diatribe of negativity; it is teaching to a specific point.  The Samaritan is cast as the stereotypical “bad, stupid guy” who is –undisputedly -doing the right thing – in contrast to the stereotypical “good and smart guys” who clearly are not doing what God requires.  The startling contrast gets our attention.

Where is the pivotal point in this parable? The priest sees, and passes by.  The Levite, a Temple assistant, sees, and passes by.  The Samaritan sees, and was moved with compassion at the sight.  Compassion: the deep feeling of sharing the suffering of another, together with the inclination to give aid or support, or to show mercy.  I looked it up – and found on the next page of the dictionary the word “compel” – to necessitate or pressure.  I think Jesus is saying that the Love which God wires into us makes us feel the need to be compassionate.  Sharing the suffering of each other is a necessary part of living.  Paraphrasing the words of our first reading today, “(Compassion)….is something very near to us, already in our mouths and in our hearts; we only have to carry it out.  For it’s not too mysterious and remote for us.  It’s not up in the sky, nor across the sea.”

Simply asking the question, “Who is my neighbor?” assumes there are limits on compassion. Jesus, of course, does not teach a boundary, a limit, on love, and will not permit us to say, “We have loved enough”, nor choose who we will love.  In mathematical terms, nearness + need = neighbor; love creates neighborliness.  To love God with all of one’s being and loving neighbor as self is living out our relationship with God.

One writer called this parable “a little annoying, for it will not let us look away or excuse us from being compassionate”. Some people are put off by the insinuation that we must exhaust ourselves and our resources over every possible instance of need that we hear of.  If you leave these doors today resolved to help everyone, your wallet will be empty and you will be disgruntled and discouraged by the time you reach home. But, the point of the parable is to identify what Christian character is, not prescribe particular action. And we don’t need to always love our neighbors by ourselves.  Community efforts are generally more effective and longer lasting.  We sometimes respond better to needs when we are challenged as a group.

Still, knowing how to implement this parable is not that easy.  So, my message is not “Go and do likewise”, but “Keep going, and keep doing” the outstanding outreach to your community that you’ve already established.  This church has found neighbors at an Elementary school close at hand.  You have been the wise people who brought gifts to area families at Christmas through the Jessie Tree project.  You were the ones who responded to a call for laundry essentials at the nearby housing units last December.  And I believe I heard a resounding “YES! They Heard Me!” from the heavens.

 

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Homily July 14, 2013 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

In the readings today, we are told that the Law of God is really not something in a book or up in the sky or across the sea or a bunch of rules, but something very close, actually in our mouths, in our hearts. It doesn’t require a lot of book learning and study, just day-to-day living. The whole law is summed up in one word, namely love. That is the love of God and the love of neighbor. Love is a word that we use today in many and various ways, from the very trite to the beauty of the love of God.

Good Samaritans Today

However here in the scriptures it is the giving of yourself to another freely because of that person being who he or she is. We are asked to love all those we meet as we would love ourselves. Certainly that is no small thing but in mirroring God’s love for us it puts us in a special light. The vulnerability we experience in offering love comes from fear of rejection and at times the isolation or the surroundings of where we are. To go to someone’s aid in a time of trouble and physically assist can be at times dangerous and maybe even life threatening. But I ask you what would we want if we were caught in that situation. We would thank that person for their help. What are the limits of reaching out? I tell you I don’t know. What are God’s limits in his love for us? I do not recall he had any. Look at human love like the love of husband and wife. Isn’t their love a limitless growing developing love of a lifetime? Love can only be limited by our own failures and faults. Our love reflects our own person hood and our abilities. Our love goes to God and our families as they reflect ourselves, but beyond that we are called to reach out and share ourselves with those around us.
It is great to talk of the poor of the world and wonderful to share our talent and wealth in giving. But how much of our very self, our own time, our own attention are we willing to give to the person we meet in the street or mall or store? Maybe all we need give is a kind word or greeting. Maybe more if our love so perceives. Remember Jesus didn’t give out alms, he gave himself and shared what he had. I guess that the point for us is can we give and share what we are, what we have, the gifts of the Spirit dwelling in us which we so often forget that we can call on to share and grow and find Christ himself in those we meet. Even for Jesus, the person in front of Him had all his attention if only for that moment. Can we do any less?