August Trinity
Luke 10:25-37
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.
“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the
Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’”
“You have answered
correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is
my neighbor?”
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| Charalambos Epaminonda |
In reply, Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was
attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away,
leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw
the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed
by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he
took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.
Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of
him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and
when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do
you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
6th August Trinity
Sep 1, 2019
Luke 10:25-37
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| Van Gogh |
One of the scripture experts asks Christ how to attain eternal
life. Christ asks him how the scripture reads and the expert answers: to
love God with one’s whole being and to love one’s fellow human beings as well
as oneself will lead to eternal life. And Christ affirms this; love directed
outward, beyond oneself, overcomes the deadening effects of mere self- love.
Yet there comes the man’s somewhat defensive next question: which
of my fellow human beings am I supposed to love? Christ’s answer in story form
is: Not just my family, not just my own tribe or those with whom I can
identify. Any fellow human being in need whom I happen upon along the way can be the
recipient of a love that expresses itself in concrete action. For it is our
deeds, not our feelings, that live beyond the boundaries of this life. The key
here is to regard others with an attitude of mercy, of loving-kindness. And
then we give and do what we can.
 |
| Corrine Vonaesch |
It may be that the priest and the Levite felt that they
could not touch the unclean man because they were on their way to a work that
required their ritual cleanliness. The Samaritan, however, though despised by the Jews,
was truly free to help (or not). He helps a stranger, a potential enemy, in a personal,
hands-on way. And he also helps by deputizing and paying the innkeeper to complete the
work of healing. He is thereby encouraging others to help. And in this way he, therefore, maintains his own freedom to help the next victim he finds, to further practice
his love for his fellow human beings.
Christ is saying that our neighbor is not
necessarily one whom we know, the one who lives next door. It is the stranger
whom we meet along the way. It is we who are to act neighborly. A poet
expresses the universality of this in a little parable:
Some fishermen pulled a bottle
from the deep. It held a piece of paper,
with these words: "Somebody
save me! I'm here. The ocean cast me
on this desert island.
I am standing on the shore
waiting for help. Hurry! I'm here!"
"There's no date. I bet
it's already too late anyway.
It could have been floating for
years," the first fisherman said.
"And he doesn't say where.
It's not even clear which ocean," the second fisherman said.
"It's not too late, or too
far. The island Here is
everywhere," the third fisherman said.
They all felt awkward. No one
spoke. That's how it goes with universal truths.*
*Wislawa Szymborska,
“ Parable” Poems New and Collected
1957-1997, trans. S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh)
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