July 15, 2007 - Luke 10:25-37 / Proper 10C
The Rev. Stephanie E. Parker+


The Problem With "Goodness"

Okay, I want to bring you into my world a little bit. The world of a preacher who is given an amazing and beautiful piece of scripture to proclaim-one of Jesus' most stunning parables-and yet throughout the week I struggle.

As Friday approaches I'm thinking I might decide I just might preach on the Collect, on our gathering prayer for today. I mean in my defense, it is a lovely prayer: "O lord mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have the grace and power to accomplish them."

I mean who among us, as we search for meaning and purpose through our faith, have not wondered what it is we ought to do? And who among us has not desired the grace and power to faithfully accomplish those things? But, no...this lovely prayer is meant to prepare our hearts and minds for what is to follow-it is not meant to be the central message so back into the trenches I go.

What is it, do you think---and I really want an answer-what do you think is a preacher's greatest challenge in bringing today's gospel to life for all of you?

Yes, it's familiarity.

And there is also one obstacle you may not have thought about---and that is the traditional name we have given to this parable, "The Good Samaritan" ---quite frankly it is sort of misguided. Because here is the kicker... I do not believe that it is Jesus' central point that we learn from this story how to become "good people" (I hear the gasps!)

After all, I contend that the lawyer who stands to test Jesus today is a good person. And the Priest and the Levite, I assure you, are also good people-and that is not sarcasm. It is also my guess that the poor guy lying in the ditch is a good person.

Think of it this way...when has Jesus ever demeaned someone or some group in his preaching to make a point or teach us something new? Never! Granted, he has had some very charged confrontations but he never demeans his opponents.

So I guess an alternate title for this parable might be something like this: "The Parable About A Lot of Good, But Possibly Misguided People." It's not as catchy is it?

You see Jesus intends that we identify ourselves in this story and be challenged by that identity. We miss the rich subtlety and shock of this story when we paint it in simple terms of black and white:

Lawyer, Levite and Priest bad---Jesus and Samaritan good.

If the Jesus and the Samaritan are the only good people in the story we should just stick with them right?

I mean why go through the trouble of examining ourselves and rooting out our own surprising prejudices?
Why remind ourselves of those times we ourselves have passed by on the other side?

What is the point of reflecting on how we too may have limited the power of God's love to only those we find most familiar and least offensive?

Let's just go out there and try to be good people-like Jesus and the Samaritan. Let's go out there and stockpile good deeds and get our free pass into eternal life! Amen.

Ahh, how easy my job would be today if that were the message! But alas, it is not the message. The real message has far more power than that and contains a far greater promise for the kingdom of God than simply churning out a bunch of good people.

After all, good people don't go to jail do they? But then what do we do about all of those who have gone and continue to go to jail in their battles against segregation, oppression, and genocide? What about Peter and Paul and how many times they found themselves in jail?

Good people do not oppose authority. But then, what do we do about all of those who place water and food in the desert for people crossing the border illegally from Mexico so that they will not die in the heat? Is Jesus' command to care for the poor, the hungry and the thirsty only in effect if it's not against the law?

Goodness and morality become very ambiguous when we are dealing with the Gospel. Jesus knows this---after all Jesus lost his mortal life to this very ambiguity. Jesus died as a result of the decisions of religious authorities who were simply trying their very best to protect the faith as they understood it. I promise you they were for the most part truly good people.

So what is today's lesson? Could it be "Don't be good, get out there and get yourself arrested for a worthy cause---then you'll get your free pass to eternal life!" Amen. No, I'm afraid that's not it either-it would be a wonderfully controversial sermon to leave with you as I go on vacation, but it's not that simple either.

You see the whole point of Jesus' parables are to shake us up and encourage us to avoid easy answers. Jesus wants us to put away our own social and cultural limitations and help us to learn to think and feel with the heart of God. That is what the Samaritan in Jesus' story did.

The word used to describe the Samaritan's compassion and pity for the man in the ditch is used very seldom. I've talked about it before when we were in Chapter 7 of Luke's Gospel.

It is the word that describes a feeling of such depth and magnitude that we feel it in our gut. The only other time Luke uses it is when he describes Jesus' feelings for the widow who had just lost her only son. Elsewhere in scripture it refers only to the love that God feels for God's people.

What the Samaritan did that Jesus wants us to go and do likewise is to love one another not only as ourselves, but also with the heart of God. To see one another through the eyes of God.
To hear and understand one another with the mind of God and to serve one another with the strength of God.

When we really begin to do this-see one another as God sees us---- the simple shades of black and white just won't do. The easy labels of good and bad just won't hold water. Jesus desires that we be transformed and we are given ample space and time to become the people God created us to be.

Through the vehicle of grace we are given the forgiveness and courage to look at our own failures and put away our guilt or fear and grow from our mistakes. We do not have to become a people of denial and rigid punishing morality in order to perpetrate the myth that we are "good."

We receive an unlimited supply of second chances and God's love is ever before us. God's love is still teaching us and God's love is revealing new opportunities to us each and every day. New opportunities to be transformed and new opportunities to invite more and more people in to the circle of this AMAZING love.

So you see we do not need to have a simplistic formula or a high flung philosophy to help us inherit eternal life some far off day. Nor do we need to worry about that fearful day when our deeds and misdeeds will be tallied and weighed and we will either gain entrance to heaven or be thrown into the fires of hell.

You see that is black and white thinking-not God thinking. Jesus tells us today that eternal life is ours for free; it has always been God's gift to us. If we want to revel in it's joys and taste its sweetness and freedom in the present ---we need only surrender ourselves to the heart and mind of God. Not an easy task to be sure, but it is our ticket to stepping out of the limited frame of black and white into a rainbow of possibilities for new and unending life.

So with this promise firmly in mind I think I will revisit our collect for today--- our gathering prayer because somehow, suddenly, it seems to have new and deeper meaning. Let's listen to it again through the ears of God:

"O lord mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have the grace and power to accomplish them." Amen.





















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