St. Margaret's Sermon Archive
Pentecost VII - Rev. Caron Gwynn - 7/15/07
Pentecost VII, Proper 10, Year C, RCL
Rev. Caron Gwynn
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Text: Luke 10:25-37
“In the name of the one God, creator, redeemer and sanctifier” Amen.
Stephen Mitchell shares this dialogue among the Good Samaritan story characters. Since heaven has no past or future, they found themselves in the inn on the road to Jericho. These three characters from the parable were having a reunion in heaven. You remember them, the priest, the Levite and the man who was beaten and left for dead on the side of the road by robbers. They were shooting the breeze and talked about old times. The priest expressed remorsefulness saying, “I felt awful about not helping you.” “My heart wasn’t open enough. But I’m working on it.” The Levite told them of his misfortune saying, “The last time I had stopped to help a wounded man by the roadside he beat me and ran off with my wallet. I was afraid.” Well the Samaritan told them, “It was my good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. I didn’t stop to think; the oil and wine poured themselves, the wound bound itself. My only problem came later, dealing with all the praise.” The man who fell among thieves takes another sip of wine. “Charity begins at home,” he says. “If I had only been kinder to myself, I wouldn’t have been in that mess to begin with. But I am very grateful to all three of you. It takes great humility to step aside, for a parable’s sake. And without a parable, I would never have been saved.”(Copied and adopted from Parables and Portraits by Stephen Mitchell, New York: Harper Collins, 1990).
The parable of the Good Samaritan most of us are familiar with is found only in Luke. Jesus continues on his journey toward Jerusalem but he encounters rejection as he moves forward with God’s plans of introducing changes as to how to live and follow God to bring about a new kingdom that is different from the current Jewish lifestyle, culture, and traditions. Opposition arises among the Jewish leadership such the lawyer, who posed certain questions to Jesus to discredit him with his answers among the people. These lawyers and others were not willing to be open to a new way of following God. Many people refused to have an open heart although the invitation was open to all people.
Jesus used this parable to help us to learn how to be a disciple by living according to the standards of the kingdom of God when the invitation is accepted in the heart. Jesus was the Master teacher for his disciples and for us throughout his ministry by his example. Luke’s parable demonstrates that one aspect of discipleship is carrying out acts of mercy, which Jesus did for those in need of help.
In the newspapers everyday we read of the hardship of others during various situations. This morning someone showed me this article in last Friday’s “Washington Post”, which speaks of a gunman who intruded a private party and threatened the life of a young guest at gunpoint while demanding money. One of the shocked guests immediately took action by offering the intruder some wine and cheese. Then the intruder put the gun away as feelings of remorse regarding what he intended to do and a “change of heart” over took him. The gunman apologized and asked for a group hug. This intruder left the premises not with money, not with taking a life but instead with hugs and a glass of wine given to him by all of the guests at the party he was crashing. This potential gunman was embraced as a neighbor (from Allison Klein article, “A Gate-Crasher’s Change of Heart”, Metro Section, July 13, 2007, p. B1).
Other instances come to mind as well. Years ago a case was in court for a woman was attacked and raped while others looked on and did nothing to help her at a nightclub. Every day we see evidence of the hardship from being homeless and living on the streets. We pull into a gas station and children are begging for money. Travelers in other countries cannot escape witnessing the hardship of starving or maimed individuals including children while walking or driving down the streets as a foreigner. Do you stop to help all the time? Your tension strings are being pulled deep inside while you ponder as to what to do. Perhaps we are in a hurry, we do not want to get involved, or we are afraid to take a risk and decide to mind our own business.
The Samaritan saw the situation of the man left for dead on the roadside and felt some thing within him. He took immediate action acting on the tension deep inside of him that tugged on his mercy strings driving him to help this needy man whom he came near to instead of crossing over to the other side of the road as the previous men had done. The Samaritan approached the situation without any thought of danger to himself. He had an open heart. Most likely, he put himself in the shoes of this person in need without wondering whom was this man lying here. Martin Luther King once wrote, “Who is my neighbor? ‘I do not know his (their) name’, says Jesus in essence. ‘He (Your neighbor) is anyone toward whom you are neighborly. He (Your neighbor) is anyone who lives in need at life’s roadside. He (Your neighbor) is neither Jew nor Gentile; he (your neighbor) is neither Russian nor American; he (your neighbor) is neither Negro nor White. He (Your neighbor) is ‘a certain man’ (person)--any needy man (person)--on one of the numerous Jericho roads of life. So, Jesus defines a neighbor, not in a theological definition, but in a life situation.” (copied and adapted from Martin Luther King, Jr., “On Being a Good Neighbor,” in Strength to Love, New York: Harper and Row, 1963)
Loving God requires us to love our neighbor. This Samaritan recognized this person as his neighbor without questions asked or placing limitations unlike the lawyer who is seeking the definition of neighbor from Jesus. This parable teaches us that we cannot enter the kingdom of God without ever extending mercy to others in need. When we feel our mercy strings being tugged deep down inside of us, this is perhaps a signal that here is a fortunate opportunity of finding yourself being at the right place at the right time to help a neighbor in need. As a disciple of Jesus, we only have to be willing to “Go and do likewise” as the Samaritan did in Luke’s Gospel. (adapted from Synthesis, 1998) Amen.
Rev. Caron Gwynn
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Text: Luke 10:25-37
“In the name of the one God, creator, redeemer and sanctifier” Amen.
Stephen Mitchell shares this dialogue among the Good Samaritan story characters. Since heaven has no past or future, they found themselves in the inn on the road to Jericho. These three characters from the parable were having a reunion in heaven. You remember them, the priest, the Levite and the man who was beaten and left for dead on the side of the road by robbers. They were shooting the breeze and talked about old times. The priest expressed remorsefulness saying, “I felt awful about not helping you.” “My heart wasn’t open enough. But I’m working on it.” The Levite told them of his misfortune saying, “The last time I had stopped to help a wounded man by the roadside he beat me and ran off with my wallet. I was afraid.” Well the Samaritan told them, “It was my good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. I didn’t stop to think; the oil and wine poured themselves, the wound bound itself. My only problem came later, dealing with all the praise.” The man who fell among thieves takes another sip of wine. “Charity begins at home,” he says. “If I had only been kinder to myself, I wouldn’t have been in that mess to begin with. But I am very grateful to all three of you. It takes great humility to step aside, for a parable’s sake. And without a parable, I would never have been saved.”(Copied and adopted from Parables and Portraits by Stephen Mitchell, New York: Harper Collins, 1990).
The parable of the Good Samaritan most of us are familiar with is found only in Luke. Jesus continues on his journey toward Jerusalem but he encounters rejection as he moves forward with God’s plans of introducing changes as to how to live and follow God to bring about a new kingdom that is different from the current Jewish lifestyle, culture, and traditions. Opposition arises among the Jewish leadership such the lawyer, who posed certain questions to Jesus to discredit him with his answers among the people. These lawyers and others were not willing to be open to a new way of following God. Many people refused to have an open heart although the invitation was open to all people.
Jesus used this parable to help us to learn how to be a disciple by living according to the standards of the kingdom of God when the invitation is accepted in the heart. Jesus was the Master teacher for his disciples and for us throughout his ministry by his example. Luke’s parable demonstrates that one aspect of discipleship is carrying out acts of mercy, which Jesus did for those in need of help.
In the newspapers everyday we read of the hardship of others during various situations. This morning someone showed me this article in last Friday’s “Washington Post”, which speaks of a gunman who intruded a private party and threatened the life of a young guest at gunpoint while demanding money. One of the shocked guests immediately took action by offering the intruder some wine and cheese. Then the intruder put the gun away as feelings of remorse regarding what he intended to do and a “change of heart” over took him. The gunman apologized and asked for a group hug. This intruder left the premises not with money, not with taking a life but instead with hugs and a glass of wine given to him by all of the guests at the party he was crashing. This potential gunman was embraced as a neighbor (from Allison Klein article, “A Gate-Crasher’s Change of Heart”, Metro Section, July 13, 2007, p. B1).
Other instances come to mind as well. Years ago a case was in court for a woman was attacked and raped while others looked on and did nothing to help her at a nightclub. Every day we see evidence of the hardship from being homeless and living on the streets. We pull into a gas station and children are begging for money. Travelers in other countries cannot escape witnessing the hardship of starving or maimed individuals including children while walking or driving down the streets as a foreigner. Do you stop to help all the time? Your tension strings are being pulled deep inside while you ponder as to what to do. Perhaps we are in a hurry, we do not want to get involved, or we are afraid to take a risk and decide to mind our own business.
The Samaritan saw the situation of the man left for dead on the roadside and felt some thing within him. He took immediate action acting on the tension deep inside of him that tugged on his mercy strings driving him to help this needy man whom he came near to instead of crossing over to the other side of the road as the previous men had done. The Samaritan approached the situation without any thought of danger to himself. He had an open heart. Most likely, he put himself in the shoes of this person in need without wondering whom was this man lying here. Martin Luther King once wrote, “Who is my neighbor? ‘I do not know his (their) name’, says Jesus in essence. ‘He (Your neighbor) is anyone toward whom you are neighborly. He (Your neighbor) is anyone who lives in need at life’s roadside. He (Your neighbor) is neither Jew nor Gentile; he (your neighbor) is neither Russian nor American; he (your neighbor) is neither Negro nor White. He (Your neighbor) is ‘a certain man’ (person)--any needy man (person)--on one of the numerous Jericho roads of life. So, Jesus defines a neighbor, not in a theological definition, but in a life situation.” (copied and adapted from Martin Luther King, Jr., “On Being a Good Neighbor,” in Strength to Love, New York: Harper and Row, 1963)
Loving God requires us to love our neighbor. This Samaritan recognized this person as his neighbor without questions asked or placing limitations unlike the lawyer who is seeking the definition of neighbor from Jesus. This parable teaches us that we cannot enter the kingdom of God without ever extending mercy to others in need. When we feel our mercy strings being tugged deep down inside of us, this is perhaps a signal that here is a fortunate opportunity of finding yourself being at the right place at the right time to help a neighbor in need. As a disciple of Jesus, we only have to be willing to “Go and do likewise” as the Samaritan did in Luke’s Gospel. (adapted from Synthesis, 1998) Amen.