Monday, July 11, 2016
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Sermon: Loving neighbor is a how question, not a who question
Loving neighbor is a how question, not a who question
Three years ago, the last time the parable of the “Good” Samaritan came up, was
the week of the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
And I remember how quickly people picked the kid to pieces.
They blamed
him for his death because he’d smoked marijuana, he’d been tardy, and he’d
scratched WTF into a door at school. Who he was shaped whether he was
worthy for life or death!
And that reminds me of what they’ve been saying about the shooting in Dallas.
“Why did it
happen there?” they ask.
It was the
model of best practices in policing.
It shouldn’t
have happened there, after all before the shooting the police and the
protestors were mingling, snapping selfies with one another like teenagers in
love.
Who they were as a police department should have protected them against
injury and death. Their character and their person, who they were,
should have shielded them from the sniper.
Then there is the case of Alton Sterling, killed in Baton
Rouge and Philando Castile
killed outside Minneapolis.
People are saying strange things like:
“It’s a shame
Philando died, but so what about Alton.”
Philando Castile was the
beloved cafeteria guy,
Alton couldn’t keep a regular job and
instead sold CD’s in the open air, he’d been to jail and had to hustle
to make ends meet.
Imagine that,
do any of you
have relatives or friends that work odd jobs?
or have seen
the inside of a cell? Imagine if society decided that meant it was okay to kill
them! Who they are allows for execution.
Likewise, both the Black Lives Matter folk, and the police, are similarly
feeling targeted for who they are.
With all that weighing on our shoulders and our speech, we come up against
Jesus’ command to love God and neighbor.
In the face
of today’s readings and our current reality, I would suggest we must ask how
questions, not who questions. When confronted with this command to love
our neighbor, we must ask how questions,
not who
questions.
Let us pray:
Today, Jesus is asked the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus, responds with his own question, “What does it say in scripture? How do you read our tradition?”
Let us pray:
Today, Jesus is asked the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus, responds with his own question, “What does it say in scripture? How do you read our tradition?”
The Lawyer’s response is not unusual, he thinks back to the second verse of the
Jewish morning and evening prayer known as the Shema:
“Hear O Israel
the Lord our God, the Lord, is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
To which he adds from Leviticus, of all places, “You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
And that could have ended the discussion right there. Jesus answers, “Yup. So go on and love God with your whole self and love your neighbor as yourself.”
But, the Lawyer insists upon asking the who question.
“Who,” he asks, “is my neighbor?”
“Who,” he asks, “must I love as myself?”
“Who,” he asks, “must I love to gain eternal life?”
But Jesus takes this question about eternal life
To which he adds from Leviticus, of all places, “You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
And that could have ended the discussion right there. Jesus answers, “Yup. So go on and love God with your whole self and love your neighbor as yourself.”
But, the Lawyer insists upon asking the who question.
“Who,” he asks, “is my neighbor?”
“Who,” he asks, “must I love as myself?”
“Who,” he asks, “must I love to gain eternal life?”
But Jesus takes this question about eternal life
—this who
question
—and takes it
out of the abstract
—he
solidifies,
“love your
neighbor as yourself,” in story.
After all, “Once upon a time,” is a more effective instructor than, “thou shalt not,” or even, “thou shalt.”
He takes this lofty concept and lowers it onto a road
After all, “Once upon a time,” is a more effective instructor than, “thou shalt not,” or even, “thou shalt.”
He takes this lofty concept and lowers it onto a road
—the Road
from Jerusalem to Jericho.
This road winds and twists, gets narrow, and is an easy place from which to ambush someone.
This road, was a dangerous road and a deadly place to ponder earning eternal life.
For that matter, Jesus answers the “who question” very clearly and very concretely.
-Who? The bloody carcass of a man mangled on a dangerous road—he is your neighbor.
-Who? A man stripped naked, so you can’t tell if he’s your kin or not—he is your neighbor.
-Who? A man without any means to repay you—he is your neighbor.
This road winds and twists, gets narrow, and is an easy place from which to ambush someone.
This road, was a dangerous road and a deadly place to ponder earning eternal life.
For that matter, Jesus answers the “who question” very clearly and very concretely.
-Who? The bloody carcass of a man mangled on a dangerous road—he is your neighbor.
-Who? A man stripped naked, so you can’t tell if he’s your kin or not—he is your neighbor.
-Who? A man without any means to repay you—he is your neighbor.
Confronted with the ways in which our country devalues the lives of black men:
-Who? Alton Sterling, the father of five selling CD’s, surprised and shot.
-Who? Philando Castile,
the man pulled over for a torn tail light, caught in his car and confessing to
the cop that he had a concealed carry permit and a gun, before he was killed in
front of his girlfriend and her 4 year old daughter.
--They are
your neighbor.
Confronted, as well, by the ambush in Dallas:
-Who? The 5 officers slain there in the street and all the injured that night.—They
are your neighbor.
In the face of these tragedies…
-Who? The families of all the fallen.—They are your neighbor.
Acting merciful in the midst of death and danger—that’s how Jesus answers the eternal life question and the who question.
When you can’t even tell who it is you’re helping and you help them anyway
—that’s when
you know you’re loving your neighbor.
But he doesn’t stop there.
He then turns to those who ask the who question,
and shows how the who question leaves men stranded and dying on deadly roads.
The Priest asked the who question,
But he doesn’t stop there.
He then turns to those who ask the who question,
and shows how the who question leaves men stranded and dying on deadly roads.
The Priest asked the who question,
“Who is that
there, is he dead?
Who is he?
Is he
Israelite?
Who will
ambush me if I try to help him?”
He then decides that he’ll go to the other side, to be on the “safe side.”
The Levite asks the same questions—the who questions. And he too decides to go to the other side, in order to be on the “safe side.”
Then—to add insult to injury—the man who helps the injured man—the man who doesn’t ask the who question—is a Samaritan!
He then decides that he’ll go to the other side, to be on the “safe side.”
The Levite asks the same questions—the who questions. And he too decides to go to the other side, in order to be on the “safe side.”
Then—to add insult to injury—the man who helps the injured man—the man who doesn’t ask the who question—is a Samaritan!
Now, that might not strike us as odd… after all we know this story as “The Parable of the Good Samaritan.” But at that time, and at that place, there was no such thing as a “good” Samaritan.
I could tell you all the historical reasons for Samaritans being considered bad news to 1st century Jews—but I think the startling nature of Jesus’ story can be made in another way—by placing him into our present crisis
—by sticking
him here and now.
The way some people are framing our life together in this country…
Jesus would
tell the police the story of “The Good Black Lives Matter Activist.”
and tell the
Black Lives Matter Folk the story of “The Good Policeman.”
The hero of Jesus’ story—the one that doesn’t ask who—is a Samaritan.
And this Samaritan asks a different question, he asks how.
“How
am I going to help this man?”
And his actions answer this question loudly. He becomes personally involved.
And his actions answer this question loudly. He becomes personally involved.
He personally
binds up wounds, he gives of his oil and his wine, he puts the
wounded man on “his own beast” and gives of his own monies.
When confronted by someone broken by the conflicts and snares of this world
When confronted by someone broken by the conflicts and snares of this world
—by banditry
and by pain
—he did not
ask who is that?
Is that
person worth helping?
Is he someone
of my religion?
From my
nation?
My race?
My social standing?
No!
No!
He asked, “How can I help him?
What
resources do I have, or do I know of, that can help that person!”
And once Jesus finished up his parable, he asked another question of the Lawyer. Because you see the Lawyer was busy asking who is my neighbor?
And once Jesus finished up his parable, he asked another question of the Lawyer. Because you see the Lawyer was busy asking who is my neighbor?
So Jesus
asked a different question—“Which of these three was neighborly to the man who
fell among the robbers? Which one was neighborly to his neighbor?”
Sheepishly the Lawyer must admit, “The one showing mercy on him.”
Sheepishly the Lawyer must admit, “The one showing mercy on him.”
That is, the
one who is moved in the gut, so that they are forced to move with hands and
feet, moved to minister and give aid!
Jesus isn’t concerned with who the neighbor is
—he’s
concerned with how we treat the neighbor.
He is
concerned with showing mercy in the midst of death and danger!
As we light these seven candles for the five officers killed in Dallas and the
two men killed in Minnesota and Louisiana, let us honor
their lives,
who they were,
but let us
also consider in our hearts the how.
How we can love as Jesus calls us to
love.
I, for one,
will reach out to our local police today, just to let them know our prayers as
with them in their time of mourning,
and check-in
with my colleagues of color,
and I guess,
just try to listen, right?
To ask God
for the courage to connect with people whose experience of life is not like my
own,
so that I can
continue to ask that how question.
How
will you love your neighbor as yourself?
A+A
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