When You Least Expect It

Some of you may not know who Joanne is but if you are an avid reader of this blog (I know there are at least of couple of you :) you know Joanne and her story.  She suffered a stroke in March and her biggest fear was not being able to play the piano but she proved that wrong today.  She has worked very hard to get the coordination back in her left side.  She no longer walks with a cane and handles stairs very well.  She played "Amazing Grace" during offering this morning and it was very touching.  It was a combined service with Pleasantville and Fairview and both churches hold a very special place in Joanne's heart so it was especially touching that she was able to play in front of both churches.  Dry eyes were few and far between.  God is great and has provided us with the perfect example of how tragedy can be transformed into blessing if given the right opportunity.  The scripture for this morning is the story of the good Samaritan in the gospel of Luke 10:25-37:

(on a side note, I changed the scripture from Deuteronomy 30:9-14 as it was posted in the bulletin)

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.”

I apologize for changing the scripture but some of the best advice I have received was that I should not be so tied to the bulletin that I do not allow for the spirit to move through me.  I am the type of person that once the bulletins are printed I am terrified to change anything and while this is not an issue most of the time, this mindset can keep me from doing God’s will.  This kind of mindset goes beyond bulletins it extends into many facets of our lives.  I am sure that many of you also do what is most comfortable to you.  It is human nature to stay within the bounds of our highest levels of comfort.  And this scripture from Luke hints at this with the story of the priest, Levite and Samaritan.  

One of the main reason that I switched from the scripture in Deuteronomy to this one in Luke is because the lawyer in this story quotes Deuteronomy 30:10 in verse 27 when he is reciting the law back to Jesus.  This story in Luke takes the scripture found in Deuteronomy and applies it to us.  The lawyer in this morning’s scripture was trying to “catch” Jesus so he can say, “Gotcha ya!”  I found this kind of funny because I often find myself doing the same thing.  In my prayers and in practicing my faith there are times where I want to do just enough to justify my faith and that is what the lawyer is doing here in Luke.  The lawyer is trying to figure out just who is neighbor is.  He wants to do just enough to justify his faith.  We are always looking for a way out, for an excuse not to do exactly what we know is right.  I do not know why we do this but we are all guilty.  We hold on to those things that truly keep us from experiencing this life as God has intended it.  The lawyer wanted to help his neighbor but in his mind his neighbors were those people who held the same convictions as he did, that lived lives similar to his.  I am sure the lawyer was thinking to himself that I have taken good care of his neighbors, with his neighbors being those good Jewish people living in his neighborhood.  When I wrote this sermon I wanted to say that in the time of Christ people were very tribal which meant that they would take care of those who were similar to themselves but I got to thinking that this mindset has not changed in over 2000 years.  To this day we are very willing to be like the Samaritan to those people who live in our “neighborhood” meaning those who are similar to us, who believe the same things we do but we are like the priest and the Levite when it is not so convenient for us, when it is not comfortable for us.  For the longest time, I thought it was Jesus who first called us to love our neighbor as ourselves but Jesus quoted it from Leviticus 19:18 which says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord.”  Jesus did not say this originally but he did expand its meaning.  Even in Leviticus, the scripture talks about “your people” but Christ wanted us to look beyond those who were similar to ourselves.  That is why the example of the Samaritan is so vital to Jesus’ story because he was the least likely of the three to stop and help yet he is the one who helped the man who was robbed.  

Just like the lawyer, we are always asking Jesus to define himself to us.  We often want Jesus to clarify what he meant but why do we need  and want such clarity?  Is it because we want to do exactly as Christ called us to do or is because we want to do “just enough.”  This is a difficult question that we must be willing to ask ourselves.  Are we searching for clarity simply because we only want to do the minimum?  God loves us despite our shortcomings so do we use this to our benefit by doing the least we can to still deserve that love?  The fact is that we honestly do not deserve that kind of love.  There is nothing we can do that would allow us to deserve the kind of love that God shows to us.  This is the key to our faith, this is the key to life.  We need to understand that we do not deserve the goodness, mercy, hope and love shown to us by God.  We do not deserve the many blessings of this life yet God is there.  God knows we will hurt Him, God knows we will hurt others, God knows we will try to define Him, to conform Him to our understanding yet He loves us anyway.  Let’s flip this and look at the difficult things in this life: the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, natural disasters, etc.  Those are not punishments for our shortcomings.  All too often we blame God when things go wrong and take the credit when things are going great.  We have a tendency to get things backwards.  We need to place more faith in God when things are difficult and we need to praise God when He blesses us.  

The next question then becomes how do we accomplish this?  First, and foremost, stop trying to define God.  Stop trying to place God into a little box by doing the minimum.  There are so many blessings out there that we miss out on because we are too busy defining God.  The good and bad times of this life are not what define us, it our response to those times that show the world our true colors.  Do not be so wrapped up in figuring out who your neighbor is that you walk right by the guy on the road who needs help.  In the case of Alyssa Scheve, there are several communities that came together to help support her and her family.  In times past, where someone grew up has hindered us from helping others.  Clayton nor Carissa are from Pleasantville, yet this community surrounded them with an outpouring of help.  In this instance, we were not concerned with the fact that they were not a neighbor in the sense that they grew up here.  As a community we have done a great job supporting and helping the Scheve’s but there is still work to be done.  We still hold grudges for reasons that have been long forgotten about with those we love, with those who were very close to us.  The lawyer, priest, and Levite were tribal in the sense that they were only concerned with those people who fit into their category and to this day we are still tribal by instinct and habit.  We are most comfortable with and usually care the most about those who are like us.  But a neighbor is not defined by proximity... It is defined by those who are in need of help.  A neighbor is someone who needs us.  

In closing, the message of Christ goes far beyond our tribal instincts, it goes far beyond any definition we come up with.  Do more than the minimum.  No matter your circumstance, God has called you to great things and they only way to start experiencing those great things is to first understand your relationship with God.  We need to rid ourselves of the feeling that we deserve certain things.  Christ died on the cross for us, and we did nothing to deserve that kind of love.  Christ did not deserve to die the way He did, yet He did, so we could live.  Having sympathy for someone who is going through a difficult time is not enough.  There is a huge difference between sympathy and compassion.  Sympathy requires no action but compassion only works if there are actions along with it.  Christ did not feel sorry us, He was compassionate towards us.  We did nothing to deserve his sacrifice yet here we are gathered together to worship and thank Him.  We are gathered as neighbors from many different backgrounds and “tribes” because we are unified through Christ.  As you leave this place today, leave the restrictions and limits that you have placed on yourself and Christ at the foot of the cross.  God has so much planned for you but you have to be willing to accept His love and be willing to live a life according to God’s will to the best of your ability.  You can accept that love into your heart today by either coming forward or sitting right where you are.  Tell God that even though you do not deserve what He did, you are thankful that He loved you.  He does not care where or how you grew up.  He only cares about you just as the samaritan cared for the man along the road.  When the man sitting along the road saw these three men approaching, it is likely that he thought that the Samaritan would be the last to help him, yet he was the only one to stop.  God’s love is abundant, and it is always around us, yet we see it most often when we least expect it.  Be someone’s good Samaritan this week.  Help a neighbor when they least expect it.  Amen.