Mercy In The Neighborhood

Luke 10:25-37
The meaning of the word neighbor is radically challenged by Jesus in our reading from Luke this morning. “’Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise’” (Luke 10:36-37). In Hebrew and Greek, as in English and many other modern languages, a neighbor is either someone who lives nearby (a nigh boor, with boor drawing on an earlier form of the English buan, to dwell) or, in very general terms, a fellow human being. Jesus, in his conversation with a lawyer, pushes well past both the specific idea of the guy next door and the general idea of any other person to provide a godly definition of neighbor: one who shows mercy.

Most of us understand this idea at a rational level. We hear what Jesus is saying, that we should love and care for others regardless of how we are related to them. Where I think we break down is in the practice. “Charity begins at home” is an adage I hear often, even in the church. “We should care for our own first,” we say. Jesus will have none of that. According to him, “our own” are whoever need us. To be a neighbor is to respond in times of duress no matter who may be lying in that ditch. Jesus says that we must be guided by mercy to respond to others, and in doing so create a new community, a new neighborhood.

In these final days of the presidential campaign in the United States, I wonder how Jesus’ radical redefinition of neighbor might affect the way we see those around us. Can it serve to blunt some of the harsher language of politics? Can it allow us to seek common ground where the trend is to vilify and demonize those who disagree with us? Indeed, once we have heard Jesus confirm mercy as the essential criteria for neighborliness can we ever again justify the “win-at-all-cost” mentality that permeates our political process? Here’s a little experiment to try. Imagine yourself in Luke’s account, not as the Samaritan or as the man in the ditch, but as the lawyer who addressed Jesus. At the end of their conversation Jesus instructs him to “go and do likewise.” When it comes to mercy, that’s a pretty clear message. But will we do it?

Prayer: Lord, may we speak with justice but also with compassion this day, so that like Jesus we may sow the seeds of love and kindness and not those of suspicion and hate. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God's GPS

Isaiah 35:1-10

It’s a minor point, but I’ve always been fascinated by one particular claim that Isaiah makes in today’s reading. “A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way;…no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray” (Isaiah 35:8). Maybe it’s because I’m a guy and culturally predisposed to avoid asking for directions, but the thought of a highway where even fools can’t get lost is appealing, comforting even. And as a metaphor it offers a myriad of uses which interests the preacher in me.

How wonderful, how amazing life would be if we simply could not get lost, if we were always going where we ought to go. Granted, there is grace to be found in the detours of our lives, events we would have missed if we had stuck to the path we were on, but that’s really the point. The path we are on is almost always based on our assumptions or our ideals and not on the will of God. As the man lay dying in the ditch it was the Good Samaritan who stepped aside from his own route to help. He alone remained on the Holy Way while the others foolishly continued in wrong directions.

Where are you going today? To the store for last minute shopping? To the home of friends to celebrate the season? To a candle-lit service of worship? Those are all appropriate destinations for Christmas Eve. But will you remember to follow God’s path as you travel? Will you trust in God’s directions, God’s GPS as it were? For now we do best to follow the stars, and the shepherds, and the angles we encounter, even asking for directions if we have to. But Isaiah promises that someday we will walk a path so clearly marked by God’s grace that we cannot go wrong. What a wonder that will be.

May each of you experience a Christmas full of joy and peace and may the world be filled with hope in the coming of a Savior.

Prayer: Lord of love and life, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ and ask for your help in following along the path you set before us. Amen.

And the Walls Came a Tumblin' Down

Micah 5:1-4, 10-15
Luke 10:25-37
I don’t think it’s too far a stretch to view the wall that Micah describes in 5:1 as one that we have built ourselves through our sinfulness and our selfishness. In the same way the siege “laid against us” (v. 1), the one that keeps us boxed in, trapped, divided from one another, can be seen as anything that we allow to come between us and God or one another. If you accept this interpretation, then consider the Good Samaritan of Luke 10 to be a “siege buster,” for his actions serve to break down walls of enmity and sinfulness and to set us free to live in faithful obedience to God.

“Which of these…was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers,” Jesus asked a lawyer (Luke 10:36). “He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise’” (v.37). Frankly we can always find reasons to distance ourselves from one another, to divide ourselves into groups or cliques. The question should be who is willing to build up community instead of tearing it down? Who is willing to be the “siege buster,” in day to day life? Who is willing to go and do as the Samaritan did? I think about the stereotypical junior high school dance, with the boys lined up on one side of the gym and the girls on the other. The music is playing, but until one boy or girl has the courage to cross the room and invite another to dance there will be only division and separation. Once someone has started the process others may feel free to join in until a community takes shape in the middle of the gym, boys and girls having a good time together.

Politics, social standing, economics, nationality, and sadly, even religion, often act as cleavers in our world, cutting God’s creation into ever smaller pieces. What we need is hearts of compassion and mercy that will allow us to grow together, into a trusting, loving, nurturing whole. Then the walls will come tumblin’ down and life—the way God intends it—can take root in our midst. In his death and resurrection Jesus “crossed the room” and has invited us to dance to the joyous music of the coming reign of God. Will we?

Prayer: Lord, help us to come together in love, mutual respect, and community, and to cast off the sins and idolatries that keep us so deeply divided. In Jesus’ name. Amen.