I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1

Who is My Neighbor

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Luke 10:23-37 “Who is My Neighbor”
August 25, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church

In Nomine Iesu
+ + +
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank You that You have granted us to live in this accepted time, when we may hear Your holy Gospel, know Your fatherly will, and behold Your Son, Jesus Christ! We pray, most merciful Father: Let the light of Your holy Word remain with us, and so govern our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, that we may never forsake Your Word, but remain steadfast in it, and finally obtain eternal salvation; through Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 161)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)

The sermon text for today is taken from the 10th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
And he answered, “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.”
And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)

In Christ Jesus, who in teaching how to be charitable, reveals to you the charity He gives you, His life for yours, dear fellow redeemed:

Last week we entered into a new section of the Trinity Season. The readings that we are exploring will deal with the new life we have. The last section was about the righteousness of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom comes whether we ask for it or not which is good we can’t prevent it. With the coming of the kingdom of God, Jesus and John taught repentance and the hope we have in the Gospel. With the Holy Spirit bringing you the comfort of the Gospel, that God’s kingdom has come to you, now comes the part that we struggle with. How do we live it out today? How do we live a new life and avoid looking like a hypocrite? The sections of readings have this overarching theme: To learn how to live this new life. The great teacher, our Savior Jesus will teach us. Last week we learned how we are healed and today we learn, who is my neighbor?

This is a question we should be reminded of, especially in today’s climate. As we see all that is happening in the world we live in, it is very fitting we have this teaching from our Lord. It is through this teaching that we again see, nothing is new. Before we get an answer to our question, Jesus points out to His disciples how special it is for the time they are living in. “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Jesus is not saying the people of the Old Testament were abandoned. They had the promise of God. We have the fulfillment of God’s promise. The disciples are in the fullness of time. They are witnessing the Son of God work in front of them to be His eye witnesses. To be there witnessing, it comes with a price. So, the guidance of our text was needed for them as well. It gets started with a lawyer of the law. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

This seems like a valid question until you look at who is asking the question. [Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “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.” This expert does look like an expert. He lists out God’s Law word for word. God’s law is simply written. And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” We think, “if only it was that simple.” It is that simple. So, why don’t the people follow it and why don’t we follow it? Our nature actively doesn’t want to love God or our neighbor as ourselves. The lawyer believes he has done both of these things, which can be the mindset of a lot of people. It can look like we are doing a good job at loving God and loving our neighbor. But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

To answer this question, Jesus tells the man a narrative. Just like the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, He uses characters the people would have known. A man traveling on the road is beaten up by robbers. This is a serious crime as the man is almost dead. As this man is lying there dying, Jesus basically puts the lawyer right into the story. “Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.” Here are two men, who’s jobs are to know and preach the law of God to the people and they see this man lying there. Did these two do anything wrong? They weren’t the ones who beat up the man. They don’t know his situation, but they know they need to get to Jerusalem to perform their duties.

God is the most important right? These leaders are going to the place of His sanctuary. They will perform what He demands. This is part of the law, but it is not all. What looks like love for God is hollowed out when there is no action. If we aren’t loving our neighbors, then our love for God is null and void. The devil works very hard to get us to live out a lie. The lie, that loving God and having a relationship with Him is the only thing that matters. This mindset will put our love as primary, as a work that should get us something in return. As we see what looks like more and more divisions, the devil will look to strengthen those divisions blinding us to the other seven commandments of God’s law written on our hearts. If this is the way we are to live our lives, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come. He has to because often we don’t love our neighbor as ourselves, we love ourselves way more.

The enemy of the priest, the Levite, and the man comes walking by. The Samaritan is almost worse than the robbers who had beaten the man up to the point of death. The Samaritan could be like all of the others. He could walk on by his enemy. Instead, “he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’” The enemy delivers a proper understanding of the law. He doesn’t know this man, just like the priest and the Levite, but he has compassion. The right thing to do is to get this man off the road and bind up his wounds. He might be an enemy, but it is right for him to live.

The lawyer is given a neighbor who he will despise. He would have picked the priest and the Levite who were heading up to Jerusalem to perform their duties, keeping the first table of the law. To keep the second table of the law and be holy as God is holy, then the lawyer also needs to love his enemy. The man who is currently teaching him. The lawyer and his friends would accuse Jesus of being a Samaritan. It is this “Samaritan” who the lawyer needs to come and bind up his sinful wounds. Remember the lawyer is asking this question to justify himself. Deep down he knows he has not loved his neighbor as himself and as he lays wounded, beaten up by sin, the world, and the devil, Jesus is there with Him, who prophets and kings desired to see, and He picks him up off the road.

As Jesus picks the lawyer up, He asks him the question of the day. “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” This is the hard part. For us to show everyone mercy when there are people in our lives who we think are impossible to love. Is it impossible for God to love us? It should be when we mostly love ourselves. God is the one who shows us mercy. He picks up our almost dead bodies and carries us to safety. The law that the lawyer has studied guides us to the Savior. St. Paul writes, “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (Galatians 3:21-22). The promise of the good Samaritan who fulfills the law of obeying the Father and loving you until the end.

Jesus’ perfect love is what keeps you going. It is a love that supersedes anything you will find on this earth. You are here today because of this love. Your love, as good as it can be, will never be good enough for God or your neighbor. As selfishness condemns, Jesus’ merciful love takes care of you for eternity. He is the enemy, as He tends your wounds. And as He puts them on Himself, He is willingly beaten and flogged. Then in a merciful act that can never be copied, He died on the cross. He pays the innkeeper, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death.

Jesus is the perfect example with all that He has done. He demonstrates the ultimate love for all people. Your love won’t be perfect, but you see He has taught you who your neighbor is. He then finishes saying, “You go, and do likewise.” This will always be hard, but we see with how the world is that it is needed. St. Paul writes, for the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Romans 13:9). There are many who will not love you because of the message that you have, but that does not mean you throw away the law. If you do, the law stands firm and reveals God’s wrath. As the law points out sins, the cross points out mercy. The good Samaritan who picks you up again, points you to the blood He shed. Your neighbors are there for you to take care of, and with Jesus’ love taking care of you, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
+ + +