Who Really Needs Mercy?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today we hear about the lawyer who wanted to test Jesus. He stood up and questioned Jesus about what a person must do to inherit eternal life. So Jesus asked the lawyer a seemingly simple question: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” A good question to pose to a lawyer – what does the Law say?

Of course, the lawyer knows exactly what the Law says, and he rattles it off almost without thinking, “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.” That is the right answer, the classic textbook distillation of the whole Law of Moses, found in Deuteronomy, chapter 6. The lawyer knew this is the way to eternal life, and so did Jesus. But as Jesus would show, this is not the end of the matter.

Jesus tells the young lawyer, “Do this, and you will live.” Here is the raw rub – who of us actually does this? Who can really say that he loves the Lord God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind, and loves his neighbor as himself? Seeking to justify himself in the word of the Law, the lawyer had trapped himself in his own words, just as we do when we attempt to justify our own lives.

Just look at your own life. Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Oh, sure, it is easy to say yes when your neighbor is nice and respectable. It is easy to say yes when your neighbor is like you, at least enough to stay in your comfort zone. It is easy to say yes when your neighbor is doing relatively well and leaves you alone unless you need him.

But what about those who are not like you? What about the abused child in the home down the block? What about the nephew with the drinking problem? What about the wife whose husband cheats on her? Do you love these people as much as yourself?

What about the poor and starving children in places like Nigeria or Guatemala? What about the homeless orphans left alone by the quake in Haiti? What about the children stranded in refugee camps in Asia? Do you love these as much as yourself?

What about the physically or mentally disabled? What about the deaf and the blind? What about the unborn at risk from their own mothers? What about those tortured in the confines of their own minds? Do you love these as much as yourself?

We all know the answer to these questions. No matter what we might do, the answer will always be a resounding “No”. I can never do enough for others to balance out my inborn selfishness. You can never give enough to balance out what you hang onto, in your heart and in your bank account. And all this selfishness is but a symptom of the fact that neither you nor I is even capable of loving God wholly and perfectly, as the Law demands.

But the lawyer in our gospel account wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” To this, Jesus replied with the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man was beaten by robbers and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite passed by on the other side of the road, not even condescending to touch him or even send help. But a Samaritan saw him and nursed his wounds, bound him up, took him to an inn, and made provision for his convalescence. Now where are you in this story?

You are the man beaten and battered, robbed and left for dead. The forces of sin and Satan have torn you end from end and left you for dead. Satan wants nothing more than to see you dead in your sins and trespasses. And by all accounts, you ought to have been left for dead. There was nothing in you or me that would endear God to us.

And this is where the great miracle of Jesus' work takes place. He entered our broken, dying human sphere and took all our failings and frailties upon Himself, and took them to the cross. Upon the cross, Jesus received the punishment from the Father for all that we have failed to love and to do. In His death, Jesus showed His glory. In His resurrection, He displays for all the overwhelming triumph wrought by the love of God over the forces of sin, death, and Satan. The love of God was powerfully displayed for the unlovable.

And here and now, Jesus comes along your road and picks you up out of your misery and despair. He gives you forgiveness, life, and salvation. He breathes His life-giving Spirit upon you and gives you His very life. He picks you up out of the ditch and binds up your wounds. He pours oil on your head and cleans your wounds with His holy waters of Baptism. He pours the wine of His precious blood into your mouth to cleanse and purify you and give you strength. He bears you out of the valley of the shadow of death and into the safety of His holy ark, the Church, where he lays up provisions for you to be fed and nursed to health. He leaves His Word to strengthen you and His Holy Sacraments to feed and nourish you. And he promises to give you everything you lack when He comes back again. When He returns on the Last Day, He will call you to Himself to join in the feast that shall never end – the marriage feast of the Bridegroom in His kingdom forever and ever.

So, do you love God with your whole being? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Now the answer is a joyful, resounding “Yes!” You truly love God because His love has been poured out for you and poured into you. And that love of God bubbles up and overflows throughout your life, so that you cannot help but show love and mercy to your neighbor. And like a light shining on a hill, your neighbor sees the love and mercy of God in your face and in the works of your hands.

Let us recall that in our midst

Dwells Christ, His only Son;

As members of His body joined

We are in Him made one.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Ryan McDermott

St. Peter Lutheran Church

Elma, IA

11 July 2010