Trinity 13
Luke 10:23-37
September 15, 2019

“Living Neighborly”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

We know we should love our neighbor as ourselves. But with any law or commandment, there’s always ways to find loopholes or make up loopholes. Like the classic driving over the speed limit. We say, “Well, they allow you to go 5 over.” There’s our loophole for that. Or when God says don’t gossip about others, our classic loophole is, “I’ll only tell just this one person.”

With the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself,” the classic loophole is to just change the definition of neighbor. “Well, who’s my neighbor?” If there’s someone we don’t really want to make the effort to love, then we just tell ourselves, “Well, they’re not my neighbor. They’re not my responsibility. I don’t have any connection to them. They don’t deserve any help. Etc.” We can also change the definition of love. Instead of love being “caring for them, wanting the best for them, putting their needs above our own”—we change the word love to mean “leave them alone and let them do whatever they want to do.” So instead of love our neighbor we get leave our neighbor alone. That’s another way around the commandment to love our neighbor.

But in the Gospel reading it’s the first redefinition. Changing the definition of neighbor. Jesus tells this lawyer to love his neighbor as himself if he wants to get life in heaven. But the lawyer is expert at loopholes in the law. He says, “Well, who’s my neighbor?” Now we will talk about today a right way to ask that question, “who’s my neighbor?” Because that’s important too. To know exactly who God wants us to help. But this lawyer isn’t honestly asking the question. What he means is, “I don’t have any neighbors.”

That may sound strange, but it’s true. The lawyer actually thinks there’s no one that needs his help. He actually thinks there aren’t any neighbors that need his love. Now I’ll show you how this works because we also do it all the time. The lawyer is a well-off guy. Most likely in the middle to upper ranks of society. The people that he hangs around with are also all like him. They’re doing just fine all by themselves. So the lawyer says to himself, “There’s no one that needs my help. All of my neighbors are just fine. Who are these neighbors I’m supposed to be loving?” Of course, there are truly people he should be loving and helping. But to him, those aren’t his neighbors. Those are all people way beneath him. People that don’t deserve his help. So he honestly thinks he doesn’t have any neighbors to love.

To this Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus restores the right definition of neighbor. Who is our neighbor? We are the neighbor. And we are to be a neighbor to everyone who’s in need of our help. So, in essence, everyone is our neighbor. No matter who they are. With this, Jesus puts us to shame.

Who can Jesus honestly call His neighbors? Who’s a neighbor to Jesus? Well, He has the Father and the Holy Spirit. Who else reigns in heaven with the Son of God? Who’s Jesus going to be neighborly with up there? There’s no one, right? But Jesus wasn’t content to only love His neighbors in heaven. Instead, like a loving, good Samaritan, He came down off His heavenly road and descended into the dirt with us.

Jesus was pleased to come down here and be your neighbor. He’s your good neighbor. Your good Samaritan.  He’s the real State Farm, “Like a good neighbor, Jesus is there.”  He’s the real Mr. Rogers, singing, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” Jesus is your good neighbor. He saw you and me in our sin, dying. And He didn’t say, “Well, these guys aren’t my neighbors. They don’t deserve my help. I don’t have anything to do with these mortals.” Instead, He did everything for us.

Here’s what Jesus, your good neighbor, has done for you. He saw your wounds, the battle wounds of your sin and death. He saw you bleeding and dying. And He had compassion on you. He bound up your wounds. This He did by taking your sin and death to the cross. As He died for your sin and died your death, your wounds were taken away. Stitched up. Bandaged and healed. Then He poured oil and water onto your wounds. These are Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

He washed you clean in the waters of Holy Baptism. Just like Mom does when you fall off your bike and skin your knee. She’s there to clean you up and dress the wound. There’s Jesus with the water of Baptism to clean you up and make you whole again and pure again. To give you a good conscience and take away all fear.

And there He is with the wine of Holy Communion. He’s there to sanctify you. To kill all the germs of sin and death. To give you His own body and blood—His own life. Which is the health of your soul.

And then Jesus puts you on His back and brings you to His inn. This is His holy Church. His Father’s house. That’s where you live now. You live in the Father’s house. Jesus has paid your reservation and room fee. And you will live in the Father’s house for eternity. We’re members of His Church here on earth and when we die we’ll continue to be members of His Church in heaven. And He pays the entire bill.

You are Jesus’ neighbor. He loves you. He loves you as His own self! Praise God. And now He says to you and me at the end of the Gospel reading, “You go, and do likewise.” You go and be a neighbor to others.

Now we’ve already said that everyone is our neighbor. And this is true. But the fact is—we’re not Jesus. Are you really going to be able to help every single person in the world? I don’t think so. Jesus can do that. He’s the Son of God. But we cannot possibly help every single person that needs help in the world. So now we want to ask that question in the right way, “Jesus, You are my Good Neighbor who has shown me mercy. Now who is my neighbor?” There’s a right way to ask that question and there’s a right answer.

Have you noticed the world becoming less and less neighborly? Neighbors don’t talk to each other as much? People don’t observe simple courtesies and politeness as much? Have you noticed people are too busy to make small talk and spend time with one another? Of course we have. Now what’s to blame? Well, all kinds of things. Of course there’s TV and the internet. Social media. We can throw some blame that way. Smartphones. Everyone staring down at their phone instead of talking to one another. Sure, we’ll throw some blame that way.

But there’s another aspect that’s changing in America—we’re losing the doctrine of vocation. You’ve all heard that less and less people are Christian in America all the time. Well, the more Christianity goes away, then the more this commandment goes away—“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Christians understand that we have a vocation to love our neighbor. In fact, that’s pretty much the whole point of life is to love our neighbor. Love God and love neighbor.

But as America becomes less Christian, love your neighbor as yourself is simply replaced with love yourself. Wouldn’t you agree? Wouldn’t you agree that the American way now seems to be love yourself rather than love others as yourself? We’re losing our way. We’re losing the doctrine of vocation—which is that God’s main desire for us here on earth is to serve and love our neighbor.

So we’ll reclaim a bit of that right here and now in the last part of this sermon. Who is your neighbor? Jesus has told you, “You go and do likewise.” He wants you to live neighborly. So who is your neighbor? Well, to figure that out you look to the doctrine of vocation. You ask, “Who has God put in my path for me to serve?” Remember—the point of your life is not to serve and love yourself. But to serve and love others. So who has God put in your path to love and serve?

It starts in your immediate family. When you’re born, the first people you love is Mom and Dad. Then brothers and sisters. Grandma and Grandpas. So forth. Then if God gives you a spouse and children—these are your immediate neighbors. The word “neighbor” in English and in Greek literally means those close to you. Those near to you. There’s no one nearer than your family.

Then we walk out a little further from our family. And the next closest neighbors are our church family. Our brothers and sisters in Christ. Who is your neighbor? The people right here in this building with you. And the people in all the other church buildings. We give our offerings to Church to make sure that this family is provided for. To make sure the Gospel continues to be heard and delivered. And we make sure to help whenever any one of us needs mercy.

And, finally, then we walk out a little further to the people in our workplaces, our communities, our state, and our nation. And there also we find more neighbors that God puts in our path. People close to us that need our love and mercy.

As you all know, it can very often be difficult to know when to help and when not to help, who to help and who not to help. But the doctrine of vocation helps a lot with that. We realize that God puts people in our paths that He wants us to love and help. Just like He did for the Good Samaritan. We can’t help everyone. But God will bring to us the people we are to love. It starts with our family. Then with the Church. And then to the workplace and the rest of society.

In our vocations we can live neighborly and do just as Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

In Jesus’ name. Amen.