|
"Do
Excuses Ever Work?" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler
– July 14, 2013 Centenary United Psalm 82; Luke 10:25-37
This morning we are
going to consider the parable of the Good Samaritan. Before we launch
into thoughts we can take home with us today, let’s set the stage for
this parable. When Jesus was engaged in storytelling, he always used
illustrations that were familiar to his listeners.
For example, the
road from There was a cast of
characters in Jesus’ parable.
The first person was the traveler who did not use good judgment
when he decided to travel on that road alone.
He had no one to blame but himself for his circumstances.
He was robbed, badly beaten and left for dead.
The second person
was the priest that hurried past the fallen traveler.
He knew that if he touched the body and the person was deceased,
he would become ritually unclean for seven days (Numbers 19:11).
This would mean that he would miss his turn of duty at the The third person was
a Levite. Apparently, this
man paused, went over to the wounded man and looked at him.
He also hurried off.
He was aware that often bandits use one of their own as a decoy.
Once a traveler stops, the others come from behind the rocks and
attack. The final man to
approach the beaten traveler was the Samaritan.
We must assume that Jesus’ chose this racially-mixed character as
the crown jewel of his lesson.
He knew Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.
Jesus was answering a question of
a teacher of the Law that asked, “Who is my neighbor?”
Through his story, Jesus supplied
the answer that everyone is his neighbor, including people he may
despise. There was no way a
person could identify Samaritans just by looking at them. Calling
someone a Samaritan, however,
was more often a racial slur that referred to anyone that was not
obedient to the ceremonial laws of the Jews.
In fact, Jesus was once referred to as
a Samaritan for this reason.
(John 8:48) The inn keeper
trusted the Samaritan to pay any additional costs on his return trip
that might occur during his care, so our hero had good credit.
He may not have had any Jewish beliefs but he was an honest man
who responded with compassion toward the injured stranger.
God always overlooks our beliefs.
As Jesus taught, when our
treasure is rooted in
responding to others with attitudes and acts of compassion, there will
our hearts be also.
Numerous people do
not respond to human need without first thinking about it.
This was the issue with the priest and the Levite.
“Suppose he’s dead and I touch him?”
“Suppose he’s a ploy to get me to stop.” We can easily debate
whether or not some need is legitimate to merit our generosity. We experienced a
potential emergency last week during our service.
Sylvia was having a problem with low blood sugar.
She was immediately surrounded by those who came to her
assistance. One of them was
one of our visitors, Rose Marie Yarrum, who was a nurse.
When thoughtfulness is the
primary driver for our immediate response, we become
a Good Samaritan. This can happen when
we bring groceries each month for St. John’s Food Bank without thinking
about it. This can happen when we stop at the scene of an accident.pan style="mso-spacerun:yes">
Today, we know that many people do not stop even when they caused
the accident. The police are
always asking for witnesses to come forward.
The Good Samaritan did not take
the time to ask, “Is he dead?” “Is he a Jew?”
“Is he like me or is he one of those that live off of the
generosity of others?” He
acted immediately and without thinking. There is an
interesting story that contrasts various beliefs from two of the world’s
major religions that may actually justify why believers do not become Good Samaritans.
A British tourist
was traveling in A Hindu heard the
screams and looked into the pit.
He said to the man:
My friend, you are
faced with a wonderful opportunity.
In your struggles to free yourself from the pit, you will learn
much about yourself. You
will become more empathetic toward your brothers who struggle with their
life-issues. When you finely
gain your freedom, you will be like the butterfly that freed itself from
its cocoon. A lot of Karma
will be burned and you will be filled with confidence to face your next
challenges. The man went on his
way, envious of the lessons the man in the pit will learn. A second man came by
the path and also heeded the screams for help. He looked down at the
struggling man. The injured
man looked up and confessed that he had been using his mobile device and
was not paying attention to the path.
The Buddhist was filled with compassionate wisdom and said: There are
consequences both visible and invisible to every thought, emotion and
deed. Consequences are often
the greatest teachers anyone can have.
Without them we would not learn where our boundaries lie nor
would we search for more worthy horizons that are distinctly different
from the direction our current path is taking us.
I bid you well as you discover within your circumstances how to
liberate your body and spirit from what has made you a prisoner. He, too, went on his
way. Finally, another man
came from the lowest social caste in The stranger
positioned the man and carefully lifted him to his shoulders and then
using his bodily strength, developed from being a common laborer, he
slowly climbed the tree until both men were out of the pit.
He fashioned a padded crutch from a branch with a “Y” at the end.
The two walked until they came upon a medical facility.
The stranger pointed to a building and said in English, “Doctor.”
The two parted ways.
Jesus would have asked, “Who was the neighbor to this man?” It is not uncommon
to find very religious people refraining from becoming
Good Samaritans. Our
excuses are many: “I have a
schedule to keep.” “Someone
else will handle the problem.” “I have immediate responsibilities.” “I
am irritated by people who cannot assume responsibility for themselves.”
It is interesting that
humanity’s psyche has allowed the story of the Good Samaritan to
survive for thousands of years as one of the primary markers of
spiritual growth. What happens to us
when an opportunity comes for us to act?
Will we first think about it? Will
we create excuses to justify our reticence?
Will we choose immediately to become involved?
One
of the things of which we can be certain is that opportunities to be of
service will never stop coming. They
are part of our on-going training. During an earlier
time in my ministry, I was a camp counselor at one of our conference
wilderness facilities. For
several years, I was the guide for ten to fifteen teens during a week of
backpacking on the Appalachian Trail that runs from Often such trips
were the first experience many of the teens had of being in the woods
without hair dryers and bathroom facilities. They were given a list of
articles to bring and the camp supplied the light weight dehydrated food
packets that we prepared over a campfire.
The trail is lovely but a number of the teenagers were
unaccustomed to walking long distances.
Toward the end of our first day, one of the girls was limping.
When we stopped for
the evening, I examined her foot where a formidable blister had formed.
She had remained silent about it because she did not want her problem to
slow down the group.
One of our natural leaders that week was a young man who had achieved
the Eagle Scout award in Boy Scouting and had learned a number of
life-skills few others had.
I asked him to take care of the girl’s foot. He hesitated.
I looked at his face and his confidence was gone.
He said, “She’s black.”
I jokingly said, “Yes, but she’s pink inside and part of that
pinkness is showing up on the bottom of her foot.”
He said, “I have never talked to
a black person in my life.”
I knew this was a serious threshold for this young man so I ended my
humor. The two of us walked
back to her and I said, “The
doctor in our group is making a house call. He’ll fix that blister
for you.” She put her foot into his lap as he began to use his First-Aid
skills. It was interesting to see the
ice melt between the two. She
was a very engaging girl that had not recognized his hesitancy. She made
him feel valuable and needed.
Midway in the next day, he ceased leading the group so that he
could monitor her progress by
walking beside her. With two days left
in our journey, he did what would have been unthinkable just two weeks
earlier. He lashed her
backpack to his pack and carried her load for her until we reached our
pick-up site. Everyone
in the group noticed. That
night during our time of sharing, it was fascinating that our closing
song happened to be, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.”
All the clutter from excuses leaves
our minds when we respond immediately without thinking.
We have to remember that we are
guardian angels that are always on duty.
The priest and the Levite also had their excuses for not helping.
Maybe someone is taking advantage of us.
People are always taking advantage of God’s generosity too, but
that does not appear to bother God.
When we give from a
compassionate heart, our personal
coffers will never be empty.
This is the way creation works.
We reap what we sow. When
we are always sowing, our harvest will always be plentiful.
There is very little that brings
more peace to our spirits than when we give without counting the cost.
This is what the Good Samaritan did.
Jesus used him as yet another example of
The Golden Rule.
The truth about these matters is that who we are becoming is always on display.
What do other people see when they look at us? |