Loving God, you are the source of all life and love, which you have shared with us most fully in your Son, Jesus Christ.  Continue to renew us by your Holy Spirit, that your love within us might grow into life in all its fulness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    The lawyer (or teacher of the Law) who tried to test Jesus was no dummy.  In fact, he pulls out of the Jewish Law the same two commandments that Jesus does when he is asked which commandment is the greatest.  “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 neighbour as yourself” (Lk. 10:27).  “Great!” says Jesus.  “Do this, and you will live” (Lk. 10:28).

    However, the lawyer doesn’t want to look silly, having just asked Jesus a question to which he obviously already knew the answer.  And so, he asks Jesus a second question: “And who is my neighbour?” (Lk. 10:29) Do you have any idea who this lawyer might have expected Jesus to name as his neighbour? [those in his own community] [if no response, who do you think of when you hear “love your neighbour as yourself”?] My suspicion is that most of us would think of the people who are just like us, and some of us might even think of the people who live next door to us.  However, in first century Palestine, people lived with those who were part of their own group – and so Jews would live with other Jews and Samaritans would live with other Samaritans.

    And so, as is often the case with Jesus, he tells a story that would have shocked those who heard it.  Do you have any idea why it would have been a shocking story? [the “respectable” people don’t stop to help, but a hated Samaritan does] So, in effect, the hero of the story is somebody who was hated and excluded by Jewish people.  At the same time, did you notice how Jesus changes the question?  The lawyer asked “who is my neighbour,” but Jesus asks who proved to be a neighbour.  And so, when the Scriptures say “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev. 19:18), who is included? [anybody who is in need]

    At the recent Joint Assembly in Ottawa, where Lutherans and Anglicans met both together and separately, some particular “neighbours in need” were brought to mind.  One of the joint resolutions focused on homelessness and affordable housing, as six different stories were shared of people and families who either do not have a decent place to live, or do not have any place at all.  This same concern was raised in the Winnipeg Free Press just this week, as the lack of affordable and decent housing in Winnipeg was explored.  What are the things that we can do that would show love to our neighbours who need a decent and safe place to live?

    Within the same joint resolution was a focus on neighbours both far and near who are adversely affected by the activities of Canadian mining companies.  You may or may not be aware that CIDA (the Canadian International Development Agency) has totally changed its definition of what constitutes international development.  Whereas CIDA used to support the kind of development work that Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) does, now CIDA supports Canadian mining companies that go into other countries in order to extract their resources.  The thing is, though, that often the mining techniques that are used poison the water and the soil and make the land uninhabitable for the people who live there.  At the same time, the inhabitants of these communities are poor and don’t have anywhere else to go.  What are the things that we can do that would show love to our neighbours who live in poverty and whose land and water are being poisoned?

    As for other neighbours in need, there continue to be people from around the globe, particularly women and girls, who are bought and sold as sex slaves.  This is referred to as human trafficking, and was addressed in a resolution by our own National Convention.  As long as there are people who are willing to pay for sex and who want to view pornography, supply is needed for this demand.  Can we partner with others who are already working to eliminate this form of slavery?  What are the things that we can do that would show love to our neighbours who are being bought and sold in this way?

    Two more examples of neighbours in need: The National Youth Project this year is entitled “Right to Water” and lifts up communities that do not have access to safe, clean, healthy water.  Many of these communities are right here in Canada, as our aboriginal brothers and sisters live on reserves without running water or safe, clean drinking water.  This congregation has acted to provide wells to communities overseas that needed clean, safe water.  What else can we do to show love to our neighbours who still live with unhealthy water?

    Finally, more neighbours in need: At the beginning of the Joint Assembly, many people’s minds were on the flooding in Southern Alberta.  Some of the delegates who had come from Calgary and the surrounding area spoke about the devastation, as well as the churches that were completely flooded out and would have to rebuild.  Bishop Susan spoke about her visit to Tanzania at the time when all of the flooding was happening in Germany.  She said that those in the Lutheran church in Tanzania immediately took up an offering for flood relief in Germany, in spite of the fact that most people in Tanzania are relatively poor.  She also suggested that our National Convention should take up an offering to give to CLWR for flood relief in Southern Alberta.  We did, and over $8000 was collected in one afternoon.

    Of course, since then there have been more disasters: Lac-Mégantic in Quebec devastated by a runaway train; severe flooding in China; more flooding in Canada, and probably other things that I’m not even aware of.  Certainly, none of us are able to give to everything.  We pretty much need to pick and choose where we will give our support.  Yet, we always need to consider what sort of response we would appreciate if it were our community that had been devastated.  How can we show love for our neighbours, both nearby and far away?

    It can be quite overwhelming to think about all these things, for there is a limit to what each of us is able to do.  However, that’s why we are part of a larger church body.  There are things that we can do together that none of us could accomplish on our own.  We also are invited to pay attention to which things God puts right in front of us – opportunities for us to help and to be a neighbour to those in need.

    Meanwhile, it is the Holy Spirit who strengthens us, and who renews us in God’s love, and who gives life in all its fulness through Jesus Christ.  Let us continue to come to God’s table of mercy and to the springs of the water of life, that God’s love might be renewed within us as we serve our neighbours in need.  Amen.

Lectionary 15(C)                                Luke 10:25-37
July 14, 2013
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison