How many of you have heard the parable I just read in our Gospel lesson before?  What do we call this parable?  Yes, the Parable of the Good Samaritan!  You know, to the Jews of Jesus’ day, this name would have been an oxymoron.  There was no such thing as a "good" Samaritan.  I would equate it to labeling someone a “good terrorist” today.  It just didn’t make sense.  Nevertheless, Jesus chose to have the hero in the story be the one who was least expected to be the hero.
 
To begin, though, I don’t want to focus on the Samaritan.  I would prefer to talk about one of the other characters first, the “lawyer.”  Let’s clear the decks of our old views of this character.  Let’s recognize that the lawyer was doing what he was supposed to be doing and what Jewish tradition had taught him to do.  He was seeking answers to tough questions.  He came to try and learn something from Jesus, but Jesus was an unschooled teacher who had not received a “formal” education.  If this man was going to learn anything from Jesus, he needed to make sure Jesus knew what he was talking about.  The lawyer was being a faithful believer.  Luke tells us he was “testing” Jesus.  Jesus professed to know the Law, and this lawyer was trying to ensure that Jesus truly did know the Law.
 
The question that was asked was a religious question (Luke 10:25):  “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  For the people of Jesus’ day, this was not a question of eternal salvation, it was not a question about how to get heaven; this question was about how one should live their life here and now.  For the Jews, the Law was intended to give life, and eternal life was achieved by following the Law, by living a life that found its source in the Eternal God.  The lawyer was asking a great question, “What action does God expect of me, here and now?”  Moses answered this same question in the dessert (Deuteronomy 5:32-33):  “You must therefore be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn to the right or to the left.  You must follow exactly the path that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you are to possess.”  When we live as God commands us to live, life will go well and we will live long.
 
For us Lutherans, these are dangerous waters, though, aren’t they?  We like to proclaim that we are saved by faith in Jesus, and not by works of the Law.  Now, this is true, but, just because we are saved, we are not excused from living our lives as God intended in the here and now.  According to Jesus, the answer is to do what is written in the Law, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:26-27).  With this said, Jesus now says, “Do this, and you will live” (Luke 10:28).  In this life, we are to love God, and we do that by loving our neighbors.  This is the way of life that will be eternal, unlike another way of life that the people of Jesus’ day were being told was eternal, the Roman way.  Rome taught that they had figured it all out and that the Roman way was eternal; thus, the nickname for Rome, The Eternal City.  What was their way?  Military conquest, controlling all commercial activities, as well as selective assimilation of neighboring civilizations.  But just as we heard last week with Pax Romana, Jesus says, “No!” to this; Jesus says that eternal life is found in loving God and loving our neighbor.  To use an old popular advertising slogan, Jesus says, to achieve eternal life, “Just do it!”  That is, love each other.

But the lawyer wanted clarification.  He wanted to ensure that he loved the right people.  Don’t we want to know the same thing today?  Who do we have to love our neighbor to show that we love God?  If eternal life is found in loving our neighbor, then the question that must be asked and inquiring minds want to know is (Luke 10:29) “Who is my neighbor?”  This is a great question, because if we know who we must love, then the converse of that is we also know who we do not have to love.  You see, if we know the Law, then we can follow it to the letter and we will live eternally.  I like this lawyer.  He is asking tough questions that need to be asked.  But when you ask the tough questions, you also better be ready for the tough answers.

It is obvious that this lawyer knows the letter of the law, but what Jesus does here is point out that if, in following the letter of the law, life is destroyed, the law is no longer valid because the spirit of the law has been violated.  To highlight this, Jesus tells a story.  First, there is the man who was robbed and beaten.  The crowd would have felt pity for this man.  He deserved to be helped, but in this story, the two most obvious people who would know to help chose not to.  It isn’t that these men didn’t love God.  Their entire lives were dedicated to God.  In fact, in not stopping to help this man they were following the “letter” of God’s Law because, if they touched this man, they, themselves, would have become unclean and not been able to fulfill their duties.  God’s Law always gives life; it never harms life.  But the Samaritan, who also knew the law, saw the man in the ditch and showed mercy to that man.  The Samaritan saw someone who needed help and acted in that person’s best interest, not caring that he, himself, would now be made unclean.  The letter of the law must never be separated from the spirit of the law.  When we separate these two parts of the law, we get faith without works, which is not true faith, or we get works-righteousness, which, as we heard last week, kills.

When we ignore the spirit of the law to follow the letter of the law, we can then justify things such as bigotry, racism, sexism, elitism, and even war.  When we ignore the spirit of God’s Law, which was meant to always give life, then it is easy to walk by those in the ditch and it becomes easier to not show mercy to those in need.  Have you ever walked by someone “in the ditch”?  Have you ever been present when others were talking about someone behind their back and remained silent?  Have you ever refused help to others because you were just to busy with your own life; if you stopped to help, you might not get done what you “need” to do, just like that priest or Levite?  I am ashamed to say I have done all of these things.  In each of these instances, Jesus tells us to show mercy.  On the contrary, have you ever been the victim when nobody stood up for you or stopped to help you?  I have.  When I was twelve years old, I was riding my bike home down one of the busiest streets in town when two older boys whom I had never seen before jumped me and beat me up to steal my watch and the dollar I had in my pocket.  Car after car drove by as I lay on the ground being beaten, and no one stopped.  I don’t remember walking home, but somehow I did, with one eye swollen shut and a face full of blood.  So often, we are willing to walk by those most in need.  The truth is, too often, we don’t want to get our hands dirty.  Our call as stewards in this world is that we be willing to get our hands dirty and not to stay on the sidelines. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are called to share our gifts to help others with basic human needs.  Jesus tells us to be like that Samaritan who couldn’t just walk by.  Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

So how can we do likewise?  There is need all around us; all we need to do is look for it. 
This week, seven of our youth and one adult are in Florida seeking to help those in the ditch.  The ELCA has numerous programs that serve those in the ditches around the world.  Programs such as ELCA World Hunger, Stand with Africa, and Disaster Response are just a few.  Right here in our own backyard, our local food pantry is in need of food and money, and today we have an opportunity to help them by offering food and money.  Programs like these take seriously Christ’s command to go and do likewise.  If you cannot think of a way to go and do likewise on your own, one of these may be a great opportunity for you to serve. 
 
Brothers and sisters, there is good news today!  Life is not doomed; there is a better way, God’s way.  As you walk through life this week, look in the ditches around you, see those who have been beaten, and show mercy.  Just do it, and you will live!  Amen.

Lessons:
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Luke 10:25-37