And behold, a lawyer stoop up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus said, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28)
When was the last time you asked your doctor what you should do about that weird sound your car engine is making and how sputters when you get above 35?
When was the last time you asked your pastor what you should do now that the new blood pressure medicine is giving you an extreme headache?
When was the last time you asked your mechanic what the Bible says about marriage or more importantly, what does God say in His Word about what He thinks about me?
The answers we are seeking help determine the question we should ask and the person we should ask it to.
Today’s reading has a lot of questions and a lot of answers to those questions:
Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? (vs. 25)
What is written in the Law? How do you read it? (vs. 26)
Who is my neighbor? (vs. 30)
Which of these three, do you think, proved to be neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? (vs. 36)
Our Lord wants us to come to His Word, come to Church, with questions.
The first question is what this reading seems to be all about: What shall I do?
“You shall love the Lord your God with all heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
This is the summary of the answer to every question the begins what “What shall I do…?”
What shall I do when I am worried?
What shall I do when I jealous?
What shall I do when I am angry?
What shall I do when I am depressed?
What shall I do when I cannot forgive?
What shall I do when I don’t want to pray?
What shall I do when I don’t want to read my Bible or go to Church and hear preaching and God’s Word?
What shall I do when I don’t want to do what God has told me to do?
Every sin begins by misplacing our love.
When we are worried, then we are loving money, or loving health, or loving someone else, or loving our life, or name, or reputation, or honor than we are loving our God. There is no room for worry in a heart that is all filled to the brim with love of the Lord our God.
When we are jealous, we loving other people and/or their stuff more than the Lord our God who gives us our stuff and surrounds us with people.
When we are angry, we are loving the thought and desire for justice more than we are loving the Lord who promises to be just, for vengeance is His.
When we are in despair or depressed, we so often end up loving ourselves in weird way – we end somewhat hating ourselves and the life God has given us. The point is – it’s about me rather than the Lord, my God, who has commanded me to love Him with heart, soul, strength, and mind that He has given me.
Every sin committed is a sin against our love of God. We could simply says, “I have not loved You with my whole heart…” and stop there because if we had indeed accomplished all that, we would have loved our neighbor as ourself because we love the people that God has given us to love.
And if we seek to fill ourselves up with excuses, if we seek to justify ourselves, if we seek to be right before God because of what we have done or are doing, then we can also ask: “Who is my neighbor.”
And He will tell us a story of a man who fell among robbers. Was passed by twice for people who would have seemed to have good reasons not to help him. But then was helped by a Samaritan who had even more reasons not to help him. Here’s a list of reasons the Samaritan could have given to pass by on the other side:
- This man, a Jew, is an enemy of my friends and family, why would I help an enemy?
- This man doesn’t belong to my people. His own people should help him.
- If others Jews come and see my helping him, they’ll assume I was the one who hurt him and they will hurt me.
- This man probably did something to deserve to get robbed and beat. He caused it. It was probably his fault.
- If I help, that’s more time for the robbers to come and do the same to me. I have to be my own neighbor first – care for myself first.
- If I pour wine and oil on his wounds and spend my money, I might not have enough to for myself later. If I place him on my own animal, then I’m going to have to walk everywhere else.
- He’s an enemy and I’m going to spend so much of myself for him to finally still reject me and my family and not thank me or realize what I have done for him.
Do you see, dear saints, that when our love for God and others has grown cold, when we have become hard-hearted to the hurt of others, we need to hear the answer to the question, “What shall we do?”
The answer is overwhelming. The answer is impossible! The answer is condemning to the degree that we cannot but say, “I have not loved God with my whole heart or my neighbor as myself.”
But then, come also with the question, “Where is the comfort that Jesus loves me? What has God done, is doing, and will do for me?”
That puts us in a different position in this parable.
We become the one beat up and robbed. Condemned by the devil. Death hanging over us. Stripped of any robe perfect love of God or perfect love of neighbor that we could possibly wear before our Lord to justify ourselves.
Naked and bare – full of shame; beat up by this life; exhausted by all the things that we have to do.
And then comes our Jesus, the Good Samaritan, with a million reasons to pass by on the other side, but one reason that impels Him to come to us: His perfect love for us. His desire to be your neighbor so that He can love you!
He who was stripped on the cross, clothes your shame today with His righteousness.
He who was beat up on the cross, brings the healing of His wounds today.
He has carried you here, not just so that you might hear “What shall I do.” But, “It is finished for you.”
He loves you with all His heart, all His soul, all His strength and all His mind.”
God so loved the world….
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins…
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus…
Jesus begin our reading today by turning His disciples and saying privately, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.”
It’s that private conversation that you have when you tell someone a secret.
You know the secret to help you see clearly what God thinks about you.
You know the love of God in Christ Jesus for you. You know His love for you is perfect even as your love for Him and others is only beginning.
You know that you have seen salvation. “Lord now let Your servant depart in peace…My eyes have seen Your salvation.”
Your ears have heard His love and you will see His face shine on you, not to condemn you, but to merciful and gracious to you. He looks upon you with favor and gives you peace.
Blessed are the eyes that see that. Blessed are the ears that hear that. Blessed is mouth that is constantly asking both, “What shall I do?” and “What has Jesus done, is doing, and will do for me?”
For that question gives us confidence and comfort from the right Person!