Sermons from St
Faith's
The Good Samaritan Revd Denise McDougall Sunday, 14th July, 2019
In
a survey taken in the larger cities of England a few
years ago people were asked, “If you could meet God
and put one question to him, what would it be?” Quite
a searching question and one that you might take like
to take time to think about later yourselves. Well,
the question that topped the list was something to the
effect, is there an eternal life and if so how can I
achieve it. The same question that the lawyer put to
Jesus more than 2000 years ago when he was trying to
test him. Of course the lawyer was able to answer by
referring to the words in Deuteronomy and Leviticus
but he still presses Jesus to say who is to be treated
as a neighbour and is given the answer that our
neighbour is anyone to whom we should and do show
mercy, and tells the familiar tale of the Good
Samaritan.
This parable only appears in Luke’s Gospel
and it is an illustration of the universal dimension of
God's plan of salvation and the extension of his grace
to the whole world.
The parable is one of those Biblical
stories which is has almost become part of our culture
and although many people nowadays might not know the
story in detail, they would still know that, if someone
was described as a ‘good Samaritan’, it would be because
they had helped a complete stranger in some kind of
distress. And the basic message of the story – the
universal extent of the love and kindness which Jesus
asks of us – is one that is very familiar to us,
although that’s certainly not to say we don’t need to be
reminded of it (and may I say recognise our frequent
failure to achieve it) as we read the Scriptures and
reflect on how we are to live as Christians in our
world. Jesus' response to
the lawyer is simple, “Do this and you will live.”
Highlighting the fact that without loving our neighbour,
as emphasised in the commandments, then we can’t claim
to have genuine love for God ourselves. The stories of Jesus though are never just
stories and each one invites us to enter into it, find
our place there and discover its deeper meaning. Hard
though it is perhaps we ought to try to imagine being
left on the roadside having found ourselves sick,
jobless, homeless and bereft of family and friends then
we too would may need to rely on the mercy of the
outsider. This whole story at a deeper level points
to the fact that the victim is Christ himself, similarly
highlighted in one of my favourite stories about Papa
Panov, a village cobbler who desperately wanted to meet
Jesus. He busied himself getting ready for Jesus’ visit
at Christmas but was all too often interrupted. He went
out to help a child, he brought a man in from the cold,
he repaired an old woman’s shoes. All strangers in need,
who took up his time. But in a dream later he heard a
voice say, did you not recognise me? I visited you and
you cared for me. Jesus Christ is in all and in him we
see the ultimate example of what love of God and love of
Neighbour mean. Despite the challenges, we are called to
accept our neighbour and show compassion for those,
let’s be honest, that we sometimes try to avoid. In
John’s Gospel the Jews call Jesus a Samaritan and
perhaps we need to remember the words of the Good
Samaritan and interpret them as Jesus speaking to us.
‘Take care of him and when I come back, I will repay you
whatever more you spend.' Jesus is in
the stranger we meet. I wonder if we are closer to the priest and
the Levite than we care to imagine? It takes courage to
reach out to someone to someone who is hurting, it takes
time, we risk rejection, it means going out of our way.
But by the act of loving our neighbour, we display the
same love which God showed when in the person of Christ
he came to the aid of a wounded and broken humanity. It is in our love for one another that we
show our love for the God who is gracious and merciful,
full of compassion, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love. I have just returned from an amazing
holiday where I saw creation at its very best,
mountains, glaciers, rainforests and masses of wild life
but I also saw poverty at its very worst. The homeless
in Vancouver are more or less confined to one particular
area. Hundreds of men and women trying to live and die
on one street suffering with so many health related
issues, mental health problems, substance abuse and
sexually transmitted diseases. Yet despite the enormity of the problem I
still witnessed food and clothing being given to the
needy and police passing the time of day with them. On
two occasions during my time in Vancouver I was
fortunate enough to visit Christ Church Cathedral and
after the early Eucharist on the feast of Corpus Christi
I was invited along with the rest of the congregation to
share breakfast with them. (even before I had left the
service I was asked how I liked my boiled eggs done!) At this breakfast we were joined by two
homeless men, one of whom had attended the service. I
was told that during the week over 750 meals are
provided and served. The Cathedral’s strap line is ‘Open
Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.’ I was privileged to
experience the truth in their service booklet that the
Cathedral is enriched and enlivened by the diversity of
its community. The second occasion was week later for a
Sunday Eucharist, and left in my hymn book was the order of service
from a few days earlier for the celebration of the life
and legacy of Jean Vanier, a Canadian catholic
philosopher, theologian and humanitarian who founded the
L’Arche Community. L’Arche is an international community
found in 37 different countries for adults with
developmental difficulties. We do have a L’Arche
Community here in Liverpool which I have visited on a
number of occasions. Jean Vanier recognised Christ in all and
says, Each person is sacred, no matter what his or her
culture, religion, handicap or fragility. Each person is
created in God’s image; each one has a heart, a capacity
to love and be loved. The sooner we can recognise and act on this
then the closer we become to our ultimate goal of
eternal life and in the meantime let us radiate love to
our fellow human beings, all of
whom are our neighbours. Amen
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