Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

Philippians 4:12-13, Luke 10:25-37

"Who is my neighbor?"

This month is our "Faith in Action" month. We are joining dozens of churches across the county and thousands of churches across the country in closing the doors of our sanctuary for the last weekend of April and inviting our congregation to serve the surrounding community in practical acts of service. Our goal is to enjoy Jesus’ smile by blessing people around us.

Last week we began our Faith in Action month by reflecting on the growing gap between Christians in churches and our non-religious neighbors. We learned that growing numbers of Americans perceive Christians in a negative light. I quoted the new book UNChristian where the Christian authors declare that the next generation reacts negatively to "our ‘swagger,’ how we go about things and the sense of self-importance we project."

We concluded last weekend with the awareness that what our non-religious neighbors wait to see is whether our actions match our words. When we say Jesus loves everyone, do we show it in the way we treat people who disagree with us? Our neighbors are watching to see whether we love by serving or simply want others to come to us and take care of us. We concluded that a possible benefit for our weekend of serving in the community is that it may serve as a step toward showing our neighbors that we follow Jesus by imitating the loving deeds he did.

I am excited that our church is joining many fellow Christians in that weekend display of faith in action. However, I am plagued with a concern. Are we in danger of serving in such a way that our neighbors perceive us as having an attitude of "swagger" and self-importance? I suspect that it will be easy to finish our service projects and then pat ourselves on the back for showing Christ’s love for the world. Stated clearly, how do we deal with the tendency of arrogance that comes with our Christian faith?

Arrogant? Us?

I’m thinking of an elder describing how years ago he led a youth ministry in another church. When that church bought a nearby building, they dedicated it to their youth program. The youth were given permission by the church board to paint the side of the building facing the street. In those days there was a popular slogan among young Christians, "Jesus is the one way." Somewhere a popular Christian sign emerged to communicate the truth that Jesus is the only way to God. It was a single index finger pointing into the air.

Several of us at the gathering nodded our heads recalling the single index finger pointing into the air. This elder continued. "So, our youth group painted the finger pointing into the air with the words under it that announced Jesus was the only way of salvation." We nodded that we could picture the image. Then the elder paused and said, "I’m thinking about that sign differently now.

I wonder how many cars drove by our painted building and the drivers were turned off by our arrogance. We thought we were standing for Jesus, but I suspect they saw it differently."

Last week we reflected on how some of our neighbors feel like Samaritans. They see us as arrogant. So how do we serve our neighbors without coming across as though we consider ourselves better than them? Maybe we can find some help in the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan.

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"

And he answered, "you shall 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 your neighbor as yourself."

And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live."

But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

The Good Samaritan

Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.

"And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

"Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

"But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

"On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’

"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?"

And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

LUKE 10: 25-37

Have you ever noticed how often Jesus answered a question with a question? It reminds me of the wife who asked her husband, "How come you always answer my questions with another question?" He responded, "Do I do that?"

A lawyer asked Jesus a very important question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus responded with a question, "What do you read in the law?" The lawyer had the correct answer, "Love God and love your neighbor." Satisfied with this interpretation, Jesus nodded, "You’ve got it." But the lawyer was not satisfied. "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus’ answer was the story of the Good Samaritan.

I think we suffer from knowing this parable too well. We know the ending already. It has lost its shock value. Parables are most effective when the surprise ending makes us think.

The prophet Nathan approached the King of Israel with a story. King David had secretly stolen another man’s wife. The King had set up the situation so that few knew the truth. How do you confront a king about his sins of adultery and murder? Nathan described a situation of injustice and asked the king’s verdict. The story had nothing to do with adultery or murder. It was a story about a poor shepherd being abused by an insensitive, wealthy neighbor. King David saw the situation correctly. He found it easy to see the injustice and give the fair verdict. What he didn’t see was that it was really a story about his own abuse of power. The ending surprised him when Nathan said, "You are the man!"

It is difficult to be surprised by the Good Samaritan because it is so familiar. Who is our neighbor? Our neighbor is the wounded person on the side of the road. We should not walk by like the priest and Levite. We should stop and tend the hurting. Who can hear this story without feeling some twinge of guilt? We are not bad people, just busy people. We would stop and help someone as long as there was no danger. We drive by the stranded motorist, not out of lack of concern. Okay, we could do better, but nobody’s perfect.

Years ago a study was done on a group of seminarians regarding the issue of stopping to help those less fortunate. The seminarians, preparing to become the next generation of pastors, were given an exam in two parts. One part was taken in one building and the other part in a separate building. They were first tested as to their ability to interpret this familiar parable. Of course, they got the point. We are to help those less fortunate. When someone is injured or in need of help, Jesus teaches us to help them. Then they were sent to the second building for the second portion of the exam. (Don’t get ahead of me.)

You guessed it. In between the two buildings an inured person was placed in obvious need of help. Can you guess the results? Some of the seminary students stopped to help and some didn’t. But there was one overwhelming correlation. Time. Those who were sent from one building to the next with the instructions that they needed to arrive quickly to complete the second portion of the exam failed to stop. Those who were told they had plenty of time and could calmly walk between buildings for the second half of the exam stopped to help.

Ah! Now the Good Samaritan parable hits close to home. We are good people, who want to help others. But we are also busy people. Are we too busy to help? Combining modern social studies with an ancient story of Jesus, we begin to see the implications for our own lives. How do we avoid making the same mistake as the religious priest or Levite? Who are we in the story?

Philip Yancey recalls the first time this parable surprised him. He was attending a very conservative Bible college. One of the required activities for students at this campus was to go witness the secular, lost students at a nearby university. Yancey recalls the night at the required prayer meeting when he got real with his fellow students. He prayed out loud that he didn’t really care about the lost souls who are going to hell. He admitted that he was unsure of his own faith. He included in his prayer that he knew he was supposed to feel compassion for those who are wounded by the world and in need of bandaging. Using imagery from the Good Samaritan story he continued to pray when something surprising happened. He suddenly saw himself in the story. The image was so shocking that he stopped praying, got up, and left the group. He would later describe it in a letter to his fiancée as his first authentic religious experience. What did he see in the vision that night? He realized that he was the wounded person on the side of the road.

Dr. Fred Craddock recalls an annual service activity of his church’s youth group. Each year their youth group would make up and deliver Christmas baskets. They got the names of needy families in their community and made up baskets to help those poor people out for the holidays.

The youth would fill the Christmas baskets with tangerines and apples, some canned items and so on. Once the baskets were made at the church, they all climbed into a car to deliver them to the needy. Each youth took a turn delivering a basket at the front door of a needy family. Once the baskets were all delivered the group returned to the church to congratulate themselves on their good deeds and share some hot cocoa.

It was Fred’s turn to deliver the basket. He walked to the front door of an old dilapidated shack and knocked at the door. When there was no answer he debated whether to just leave the basket on the porch and go back to the car. He was concerned that in such a bad neighborhood the basket might be stolen before the needy family got it. He turned and looked back at the car full of kids waiting for him. The rest of the kids were waving for him to come back. He knocked again and then turned to look at the car of waiting friends. He was looking back toward the car and did not realize that someone had quietly opened the door. A boy was smiling at him. As Fred began explaining that he was delivering a charity basket, a woman behind the boy invited him inside.

Fred walked into the house and set the basket down. The mother invited him to have a seat. She introduced herself—Mrs. Johnson. As they exchanged pleasantries, the boy began rifling through the basket. He found an apple and took a big bite out of it as he continued rifling through the basket. Then the boy discovered a second apple and did something amazing. He held it out, offering it to Fred. Fred thought to himself, this boy doesn’t know how charity works. He’s offering me an apple out of the basket I just gave him. That apple is not for me, it is for poor people. Yet, there the boy stood, holding out the apple.

Now, freeze that frame in your mind. Can you see the boy offering that apple? Now, let me ask you a question: If that boy offered you an apple would you take it?