25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
–Luke 10.25-37 (NIV)
If you are looking for the kind of love that can turn heads and change the world, look no further than today’s lesson. An expert in Jewish law asks Jesus what he must do to have eternal life. We remember immediately that Jesus defined eternal life as knowing God and his Messiah whom he sent (John 17.3) so we can hardly be surprised at Jesus’ answer because it summarizes God’s intentions for us and it is the best way for us to know God. Jesus not only taught about it; he also lived it by going to the cross for us.
Sometimes I think we make the Christian faith more complicated than it is. If it is so great, why is it not changing the world in the manner that the first century church did? Mainly because we have forgotten what the Great Commission (Matthew 20.18-20) is all about. When we go out to make disciples of Jesus it is not for the purpose of folks enjoying some privatized, introspective religion. Being a Christian isn’t all about being saved from God’s wrath, important as that is. It is about being a disciple of Jesus so that he can use us to change the world in the manner he did when he walked this earth.
When we become a disciple of Jesus we profess a desire to follow him. And how do we do that? By taking up our cross each day, denying ourselves, and following Jesus. This means that we give up trying to be the center of the universe. We forsake our selfish ways and self-aggrandizement with the help of the Spirit. We put others before ourselves, not in unreasonable ways where we never have any time or energy left for ourselves but to the reasonable extent we can give of our time, effort, and resources to help others in need. And we don’t do this just for our friends and acquaintances. We do it for everyone because everyone bears the Image of God.
We miss the point of Jesus’ story if we don’t understand that Jews and Samaritans hated each other. It would be as if Jesus told us that an American (think the most conservative, patriotic American that you can imagine) finds a known member of Al Qaeda lying on the road dying and he stops and does what is necessary to save the terrorist’s life. The offense that many Americans would take over hearing this story gives us a better understanding of how Jewish ears must have heard Jesus when he told it.
Jesus is telling the legal expert (and the rest of us who will listen) that love must transcend all known boundaries, prejudices, hatred, and selfish desires if it is to be real love, the kind of love that is pleasing to God. That’s hard for us because that is something most of us do not want to do. It’s easier to not get involved or to turn away in anger than it is to try to help someone in real need. This is not easy work!
But do it we must if we are to turn heads and change the world. We don’t do this on our own, of course. We do it with the very help and Presence of the Holy Spirit living in us. When the Bible speaks of love, it always has in mind action rather than emotion. We do not have to like a person to express biblical love toward that person. Rather, we must bring Christ’s love to bear on people who need it the most and we cannot do that if we are busy counting our money, aggrandizing our power, or looking up to heaven each day longing to be there instead of mucking around in the mud with the rest of the pigs.
Yes, we will be with Jesus one day and we will be with him forever in his New Creation. But it is precisely because we believe in the New Creation that we must get busy here and now in God’s current creation and allow Jesus to use us as instruments of his healing love and mercy. After all, if God loves his creation enough to redeem it, who are we to refuse to do likewise to the best of our finite ability? When enough Christians start doing bringing Jesus’ love to bear on those who need it and without exception, it will change the world, just as it did in the early church.
And by allowing Jesus to use us to bring his love to bear on those who need it most, we are telling him (and the world) that we do love him, that we do believe in his promise of New Creation, and that we are thankful beyond our ability to tell him for the immeasurable gift he has given us in his terrible and costly death for our sake. We didn’t deserve the gift nor can we ever do anything to earn it. We simply respond to God’s great gift of love by allowing him to use us to expose others to it who desperately need it.
Here, then, is the complete package for future hope and for living a meaningful and purposeful life right here and now. We find it by losing ourselves for God’s sake and the sake of others. It is costly but it is the only way to ever be sure you are enjoying eternal life as Jesus defines it.
What are you waiting for? Our Lord needs your help in his wonderful work of New Creation. He will have to finish the work himself because only he can do so. But that does not diminish the ways he can use each of us as we await the completion of his promised New Creation.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
