Loving God, you call us to share your love and mercy with the people around us, especially with those who need it the most.  Grant us the grace to be able to put ourselves in the place of others, and to see them as you see them, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            In today’s gospel we hear a story that we have come to know as the parable of the Good Samaritan, and then, almost as an add-on, Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha.  While these two stories might seem totally unrelated, Luke has put them together for a reason.  As it turns out, both stories involve a radical change in perspective.

         It all starts with a lawyer – or Scribe – coming to Jesus with a question about what he must do to inherit eternal life (Lk. 10:25).  Jesus – like any good rabbi – answers his question with a question.  “What is written in the law?  What do you read there?” (Lk. 10:26).  The lawyer, it seems, already knows the answer.  Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.  “Do this,” says Jesus, “and you will live” (Lk. 10:28).

         The lawyer, however, wants to justify himself for having asked the question in the first place, and so he asks another question: “Who is my neighbour?” (Lk. 10:29).  Jesus’ response, of course, is to tell a story.  It is a story that challenges all those who listen to look at things with a new perspective.

         The hero of the story, of course, is a Samaritan.  As you may have heard before, Jews and Samaritans wanted nothing to do with each other.  And so, for Jesus’ Jewish listeners, it would have blown their minds that Jesus would tell a story like this.  After all, in the same story, there are a priest and a Levite who totally ignore the man in need and walk by on the other side.  These are the ones who would have been thought of as good people who took their turns serving in the Temple in Jerusalem.

         As with many of the parables, it is often helpful to ask where we see ourselves in this story.  Most of us would probably like to think that we would be like the Samaritan, but would we?  The Samaritan was taking quite a risk in stopping to help the man.  This was an isolated wilderness road, and who’s to say that he wouldn’t be beaten and robbed as well?

         We also don’t know the reasons why the priest and Levite might have walked by on the other side.  Perhaps they were on their way to the Temple and were late for their shift. Perhaps they were afraid of becoming ritually unclean and being unable to serve.  Perhaps they simply didn’t connect loving God with their whole heart, soul, strength and mind and loving their neighbour as themselves.  Whatever the case was, each of them made the decision that walking by on the other side of the road was the best option.

         Of course, if we were in the place of the man who was beaten up and left in his underwear by the side of the road, we would likely be extremely grateful that the Samaritan actually stopped to help.  This part of the story not only illustrates love your neighbour as yourself, but also the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lk. 6:31).

         While the parable began in response to one question, it ends with a different one.  “Who is my neighbour?” becomes “which one was a neighbour?”.  Unable to speak the word “Samaritan,” the lawyer responds, “the one who showed…mercy.”  “Go,” says Jesus, “and do likewise” (Lk. 10:37).  In this is life.

         Just as perspectives are challenged and changed in the parable, the same is true as Jesus visits Mary and Martha.  Our traditional assumption tends to be that Mary was sitting around doing nothing while Martha was doing all of the work.  However, this is not necessarily true.  When we are told that Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet”, this is another way of saying that she is a disciple of Jesus and is learning from him.  It is similar to when the apostle Paul says that he was “brought up… at the feet of Gamaliel” in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3).  It is also a place that was only occupied by men at the time.

         What if Mary wasn’t in the house at the time, but was out ministering to others?  After all, the text never explicitly says that she was there.  What if her focus was outward, like the Samaritan’s, while Martha was focused on being hospitable to Jesus inside her own home? What if Martha was not just asking for help, but wanting Jesus to tell Mary to get back in the kitchen where she belonged?

         Jesus, however, has no problem with having women as disciples, or even with talking to women out in public (which most self-respecting rabbis would not do)!  He also has no problem telling stories where Samaritans reflect God’s mercy more than priests and Levites.  In each case, Jesus is emphasizing God’s love and mercy for all people – especially for those who are normally excluded.

         May we, too, be open to the changes in perspective that Jesus brings, continuing to listen to the Holy Spirit, that through Jesus, we might not only have life, but have it abundantly!  Amen.

Lent 1 (NL 3)                                    Luke 10:25-42

February 21, 2021

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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