You Aren't the Good Samaritan

Trinity 13

September 2, 2012

Who Is the Good Samaritan?

Luke 10:30-37

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus tells a story about a man who loved and expected nothing in return. He finds another man, half-dead, in a ditch. He clearly had been robbed of all he had. So he didn't rescue that man to gain; he rescued him out of love that expected nothing in return.

And that's the point of our parable today: Love that expects nothing in return. This is perfect love.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. (Deuteronomy 6:5; Luke 10:27)

Ironically, this was the heart-felt answer of a man who felt that he could justify himself. In other words, he was pretty sure that he could stand before God's judgment throne and declare himself to a man who had loved perfectly. This man thought that he had a relationship with God because he thought he had loved God and other people with all his heart!

Believers who are daily confronted with God's desire for perfect love that never expects anything in return must always say, “Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner! Christ, have compassion on me, because my love always expects something in return. I cannot remove my selfishness from my love. Have mercy!”

Because of sin of self, our relationships are broken. Your selfishness is why your family is so fragile, and why a happy family is worth more than a pile of gold.

Sin is why husbands and wives fight over trivialities. Afterward, they say, “What were we fighting about?” They can't remember because the real issue was selfish love. They love their beloved and expect a gesture in return. When these expectations aren't met, tempers flare.

When we refuse to confess that we are sinful and selfish, when we refuse to admit that our love is not perfect, we establish unrealistic expectations for love in general and our relationships in particular. This man who tested Jesus considered his love to be perfect, so good that he couldn't wait to go and perfectly love his neighbor. Thus, his follow-up question makes perfect sense: “Who is my neighbor?”

Then Jesus tells him with a story that he needs to go back and take a closer look at his first question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus wants him to see that “I do” isn't part of His rescue of souls. He preaches that perfect love that expects nothing in return is far away from every human being, most especially far away from those who think that they are close to it.

So He preaches a story that can do nothing, but cause our minds to flashback to all those times when we failed. (Sure, those who want to try to justify themselves will cherry-pick the few “success stories” from their lives.) Jesus' sermon forces us to think about those times when our time was more precious than anything else. It forces us to think about the times when we have not loved and when we have loved expecting something in return. In short, Jesus preaches how miserably we have failed to keep the law of perfect love.

But this remarkable sermon-story also preaches the Gospel, because He preaches Christ, He preaches Himself. He is the Good Samaritan. He has loved us without expecting anything in return. His love for us gained nothing for Him. His love for us didn't make Him a more perfect God; He was, is, and always will be perfect.

So He preaches us away from our selves and preaches us to Him. When did He pick us up? When His pastor picked you up and held you at your baptism. When did He wash our wounds? When His pastor poured water on you over the baptismal font, a fountain of everlasting life.

What must you do to inherit eternal life? Nothing. What did Jesus, your Good Samaritan, give you to give you eternal life? His own.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.