Do you know the Parable of the Good Samaritan?
That’s the story Jesus told about a traveler who was beaten and left for dead beside the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. Two members of the local religious leadership saw the man, but ignored him, but a Samaritan, a member of a group of people whom many of Jesus’ neighbors looked down upon, stopped, tended the man’s wounds, and made arrangements for him to get the care and rest he needed.
That’s the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Do you remember what prompted Jesus to tell it?
It was a conversation about looking for loopholes and setting limits on love.
Here’s how Luke describes that exchange.
An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 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 given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-29)“Who is my neighbor?”
That’s the question that led Jesus to tell one of–if not his most famous parable–a parable about how we shouldn’t equate religious knowledge or standing with compassion, a parable about finding grace in unexpected places from unexpected people.
“Who is my neighbor?’ the expert asked Jesus.
“Let me ask you a different question,” said Jesus.
Which of these three, [the religious leaders or the Samaritan], do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 25:36-37)So Jesus turned that man’s question on its head.
He wanted to know who his neighbor was, and by extension, who his neighbor wasn’t, but Jesus said, “Don’t go looking for loopholes and limits. Go and show mercy instead!”
I believe the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the circumstances surrounding its telling help us to faithfully unpack the scripture that’s before us this morning–the final verses of Matthew’s 10th chapter.
Matthew 10 recounts the pivotal moment in Jesus’ ministry at which he was sending out twelve of his disciples to serve, heal, and minister in the wider community.
We’ve read a little bit of that passage over the last few Sundays, so here’s a little refresher.
Jesus sent out [the group of twelve] with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for laborers deserve their food. (Mathew 10:5-10)Lest the disciples start doubting their ability to carry out this mission, Jesus continued,
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)The whole passage reads something like one of the countless ordination sermons or graduation speeches that was delivered this month—a combination of practical instructions and inspiration and wisdom.
On one hand, it’s fair to say that Jesus’ sermon had a very limited scope–the twelve people to whom he was speaking.
On the other hand, People of Faith in every age have always understood that this passage was of greater relevance to their present circumstances than just giving us some interesting historical background.
Jesus might’ve said these things to the Twelve, initially, and the specifics of what he said may or may not be unique to that moment or universally applicable, but, in every age, the Church has said these words are of contemporary relevance, that God still speaks through them today.
Now, of course, if we seized upon this passage as nothing more than fuel for the fire of our opinions about bags, tunics, and sandals, then I think it would be fair to say that we’ve lost the plot about what it means to be faithful disciples in our context.
But is there a lesson in Jesus’ words about grace, a lesson about depending on God to meet our needs, a lesson here about how materialistic priorities and pursuits can encumber and impede the Church’s mission?
Absolutely there is.
“To many modern Christians, this speech seems strange, even fanatical,” notes scholar Eugene Boring, “From another perspective, this chapter need not be alien at all. It reveals in concentrated form what the Christian life essentially is.” (p. 263)
In reading the words Jesus spoke to the Twelve, therefore, we should take on the same attitude and perspective that Jesus tried to cultivate when he told the parable to the legal expert.
We should be less concerned about whether Jesus was talking to us, or them, or those people over there, less concerned about finding loopholes and limits to his teachings, but more passionate about welcoming his wisdom into our hearts and minds, more passionate about discovering how Jesus’ lordship can lift us up and above the small ideas and parochial thinking that leave people broken, divided, and searching for real answers.
This brings us, at last, to Matthew 10:40-42.
Jesus said,
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”This is the ordination sermon’s conclusion, and, not surprising, it’s ripe to be picked over, to have its meaning parsed, to be neutered of all power.
I mean, sure, it seems to be calling for a level of love, hospitality, and welcome that would stretch each one of us into a new way of living, but, when we read what Jesus said closely, we can find plenty of excuses for our inaction.
It was given to the Twelve regarding their specific ministry, but the days of the Twelve Disciples are long gone.
And sure, we’d be happy to welcome the people Jesus mentions, but we don’t see many prophets walking among us, and welcoming a righteous person sounds fine, but how can we really know someone’s character or heart?
Isn’t it better just to keep to ourselves?
I mean, does Matthew 10 really have anything to say to us at all?
Yeah, I’m afraid it does.
If the Parable of the Good Samaritan was about our calling to be merciful and not, as some might’ve hoped, about identifying the people to whom we are excused from showing mercy, then the conclusion of Jesus’ ordination sermon was about undergirding the disciples’ ministry and their lives, in a culture of generosity, hospitality, and welcome.
And the same goes for you and me.
Jesus expects and empowers those who would follow him–from the first Twelve to you and me–to be generous and kind, to build relationships with those who are committed to doing good in this world, and to approach every conversation, engagement, charitable act done by us, and act of mercy shared with us as a potential encounter with God.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me,” said Jesus, “and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” (Matthew 10:40)
To be less concerned about finding loopholes and limits to Jesus’ teachings, and more passionate about welcoming his wisdom into our hearts and minds, more passionate about discovering how Jesus’ lordship can lift us up and above the small ideas and parochial thinking that leave people broken, divided, and searching for real answers—this is our mission, our duty, our purpose.
May we be found faithful, then, to the vision Jesus sets before us.
May we be merciful, generous, and welcoming.
And may we know the reward of all who go where Jesus sends them to love, serve, and minister in his name.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Image: Anonymous. Jesus Welcomes All, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57406
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