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Deuteronomy 30:9-14, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev'd W. Lee Shaw
And who is my neighbor?
This question and its counterpart
in Genesis, Am I my brother's keeper?
set the tone for any
discussion of relationships for people of faith. The parable of
the Good Samaritan is so well known, we may be tempted to view it
from our usual vantage point: do good to others.
But this is not just what the parable is really about. Jesus is talking about our relationships with each other, that we have an accountability to one another as neighbors. I feel we may too often superficially judge too harshly the Priest and the Levite as they pass by the wounded man. They were driven by what they considered God's law for them: keeping pure so as to serve God in the temple. Looking at their decisions without our own judgments may help us to see our own decision making.
I am sure that we have all passed by someone in need. We have all looked the other way and kept going pass by the panhandler, pass by the will work for food sign, pass by the friend who just seems too needy at present, pass by the elderly friend we really should visit, pass by the phone call we could make that would make a difference in someone's life. We have all been there. So the Priest and the Levite seem to be in rather good company.
Likewise we have all been judicious Good Samaritans. We have assisted others as needed, as we could, as we were able; yes we have helped those in need. As we read through this parable we see the tension in our own lives between the men involved with the wounded man. We are all of them. Such is the genius of Jesus' parables.
Each decision we make opens up new possibilities for us. This parable points to decisions around relationships and the balance of relationships in our lives. The sixth century monk, Dorotheos of Gaza wrote wisely about our relationships with God and each other. He sees our relationship and journey to God as a circle and we are on the circumference, the edge of the circle and moving inwards.
As one writer noted on this metaphor: As we move closer to the
center, we move closer to others; as we move closer to others, we
move closer to God. We cannot love God without loving creation.
Our love for God cannot be separated from our love for others in
the concreteness of their daily lives. We cannot be saved
unless others are also saved,
(Bruce Epperly).
Our neighbor is moving to the God-center with us and our relationship with him or her grows closer and clearer as we move closer to God. The key to this relationship is the punch line in the parable: Who is our neighbor? The one to whom we show mercy. Not just the one we help, but the one to whom we show mercy; non-judgment, care, acceptance, a place in our life.
This is clear in our reading of Deuteronomy as well. Moses reminds
Israel that the Word of God is not far away. You know what it is.
...the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your
heart for you to observe.
The Word of God is love of God, love
of neighbor and love of self. Again, the kingdom of God has come
near you. It is here. You know it. Now just live it.
Paul sees this in the young church in Colossae, in present day
Turkey not far from Ephesus. Paul never visited this city but wrote
this epistle and one other to them: the very short letter to Philemon
who lived there with his slave Onesimus. Paul sees in this new
community of the followers of Christ a lively fellowship and commends
them on their faithfulness and lives with one another. He gives
them praise for the love that you have for all the saints.
He sees a dynamic church here with a strong leader he praises,
Epaphras, who has founded this new Christian community.
It is ironic that about the same time this letter was written by Paul, while under house arrest in Rome, the city of Colossae was destroyed by an earthquake and was never rebuilt. This is not mentioned in the epistle and so either it was written before the disaster or news of it had not yet reached Rome.
In any case, the closing prayer from this section is especially
poignant when you know what this young church was facing in a
disaster that would destroy their home: May you be made strong
with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may
you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully
giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the
inheritance of the saints in light. He has rescued us from the
power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved
Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
This small, vulnerable Christian community seems to have recognized the neighbor in one another in their love for all the saints. They seem to be moving into the circle of God's love with one another and this is what Paul commends to them.
May we have such faith in God and one another, that we move closer together towards God and each other by showing mercy to one another, loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. May we move closer into the circle towards God as we move closer to one another in acts of mercy.