Being Life, Being Good, Being Merciful and Opposing the Forces of Evil  Two stories to get us thinking today:

Just this Thursday, I was on my way to visit a parishioner in the hospital. The train got delayed, and I was anxious to get to the hospital and get back in time to meet my son at some engagement I had promised him. It had been a long day already. Walking three blocks from the hospital, I noticed a man flat out on the street with a cane next to his side and his hand on his head. He was not bleeding, and he had his clothes on, however, I could not tell if he was dead or alive. There were several people approaching the spot at the time. I felt they were all looking on me or looking to me; but I had a patient to see, and I was already late, so I said a prayer and kept walking. I don’t know what happened to the man, because in my haste to get to my next appointment, I took a different route.

The story is told that somewhere in Africa, villagers noticed bodies washing down stream with bloody heads. Every Sunday morning a body or two would wash down stream and the compassionate villagers would take the body out, attend to the wound. It so happened that there was no way of finding out what had happened because the person was from a different tribe. One day, a child in the village asked, “Why don’t we go upstream, go to the village and find out what is happening?” That is a good idea, the villagers said, but they did not go, because they were afraid.

I think at the heart of today’s gospel is an invitation for all of us to think more deeply about our life, what it means to be good, what it means to be considered bad, what it means to hold the good and bad and be non-judgmental; what it means to be merciful and what it means to oppose the forces of evil.

We hear that a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. Now this is not a lawyer, the way we understand lawyers today. Lawyer in Luke means a scribe. A scribe in Luke meant one who dedicated his life to the Torah, meant one who dedicated his life to knowing the ways of God, meant one who was consulted when there were issues about interpretation of the Law.

And so this lawyer stood up in order to try and put Jesus down. This lawyer stood up in order to discredit God, this lawyer stood in order to prove that he knew more than God. O Lord Have Mercy, do you hear me? This lawyer stood up so that he could put Jesus down, this lawyer stood up so that he could discredit Jesus, and to prove that he knew more than God. Dear friends in Christ, this is what we do as religious people. We stand up and put God down. We stand up and put God out. We stand up and try to show that we know more than God. And so the lawyer had a question for Jesus. But dear friends, little did the lawyer know, that Jesus had a question for him. Do you hear me church? You might think you have a question for God, but God has a question for you.

In the Greek, the question of Jesus runs like this: WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE LAW? HOW READEST THOU?

How you read the Scriptures makes all the difference. How you read the Law makes all the difference. Because if we read it with a desire to oppress others, if we read it thinking we are God, if we read it thinking that it is simple and clear and obvious and justifies our self-righteousness then we are in big trouble. So how do you read the Law? Does the Law make you more compassionate? Does it make you more grateful? Does it make you more forgiving?

How does British Petroleum read the Law? How does the state of Arizona read the Law? How does the state of Israel read the Law? How do the Palestinians read the Law? How do members of the Tea Party read the Law? How do you read the Law? What must you read to bring you eternal life? How you read the law determines how you know god, how you know your neighbor and how you have eternal life…

And the lawyer answered: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shalt live. But he willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Now call me stupid, call me crazy, but if I stood up to Jesus, I was not going to ask who is my neighbor? I would go for the mega-millions. I would ask the question, who is my God?

Oftentimes, it is what you don’t ask which is most important.

Now, here is the wisdom of God, because what nobody has ever told you, I will tell you.

This parable is an answer to the question: who is my God? This is what cements the divinity of Christ; his ability to give us what we are not even capable of asking. You see for Luke in Jesus we see, we meet, we know and encounter the very salvation of God. And that is why in Luke chapter two, we read the words of in reference to Jesus: my eyes have seen your salvation… the glory of your people Israel.

Who is my neighbor? And here we get our gospel reading today.

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded, and departed, leaving him half dead. O Lord of Mercy, I don’t hear any preachers talking about these thieves. Who are these thieves that keep stripping the people of God? Who are these thieves who keep wounding the people of God? Who are these thieves who keep leaving the people of God in a ditch, half dead?

Pay attention, dear friends, there are actions and policies that guarantee that people will never be debt free. There are actions and polices that guarantee that people will never have decent housing. There are actions and policies that serve only to make the poor poorer. There are actions and policies that ensure that America will remain segregated, racist and not a place where all are created equal. Who are these thieves who keep wounding and killing the peace process in the Middle East? Who are these thieves who keep wounding and killing Islam? Who are these thieves who keep wounding and killing women, minorities and immigrants? Who are these thieves who keep wounding and killing God?

Mature human beings, mature Christians, mature people of all faith are able to focus on who is my God and who is my neighbor? Mature human beings, mature Christians, mature people of all faith are able to focus on the thieves and the Good Samaritan.

Now who is the Good Samaritan? Who is the good Jew? Who is the good Muslim? Who is the good man, woman, pope, teenager, illegal immigrant, Tea Party member, Republican, Democrat, homeless, Wall Street executive, rich and poor? Who is the Good Child Molester, the Good Ex-Con, the Good Priest Abuser? Who is the Good Ku Klux Klan, President, Ahmadinejad, Netanyahu, Abbas, the Good Bigot, the Good Racist, the Good Abortion Doctor, the Good Terrorist, the Good Killer, the Good Suicide Bomber, the Good Pimp, the Good LeBron James, the Good You, the Good Me…

Unless we can imagine that God is capable of accomplishing good through any and each of these people, then we need to sit down and stop trying to question God…

I think Jesus wanted the lawyer to deepen and widen his imagination. If you cannot imagine an enemy doing good to you; it makes it a lot harder for you to do good to your enemy. If you cannot imagine your enemy doing acts of kindness and love; it makes it much harder for you to do the same…

This is why Jesus is Divine, because he challenges us all to go and do not what the priest does, not what the Levite does, but to go and imitate the good actions of the person or thing we love to hate.

You know I sometimes think that God is the person beaten, robbed, stripped and left half-dead. God needs a Good Samaritan. God needs to be taken up and taken to an inn. God needs your help. God needs you. Sometimes I think we are the ones beaten, robbed, stripped and left half dead. May God send us a Good Samaritan.

Will you in your bad self get down and help God? The lawyer stood up, but the Good Samaritan got down and that made all the difference. Be the difference. Amen.