Calvary Presbyterian Church
The Rev. Debra May Cerra
July 11, 2010

Luke 10:25-37 (NRSV) Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 27 He answered, "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 neighbor as yourself." 28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

“Are We Good Samaritans?”

You may have heard this story before but it begs repeating: Mary Ryerson  always loves the moment when the choir begins to sing and her children settle into the pew by her side. Every Sunday morning at that moment, she looks at her family and thinks: “I’m so blessed”
But once in a while, her eyes search out an empty pew in the back – as if looking for the stranger who once sat there, a stranger who saved her family from unthinkable grief…
Mary had two miscarriages after the birth of her first son. So, when Mary finally gave birth to little Michael, she and her husband were overjoyed. They finally had a brother for their nine-year-old son, Loren.
“He’s perfect!” Mary smiled as she held him for the first time.
“Yep – even if he did get the Ryerson head,” her husband said. They fit the blue stocking cap over Michael’s head and it filled the cap completely. “Like father, like son,” Mary thought. She was always teasing about the difficulty of finding hats big enough for her husband.
Still, as Michael grew those first few weeks, his longish head nagged at her. At his three month check-up, she confided in her pediatrician and he sent Michael for x-rays to make sure he was developing normally. “Everything’s fine,” the radiologist told her.
“Thank God!” Mary cried, relief washing over her.
A few weeks later, her worries forgotten, she drove to church with four-month-old Michael and big brother Loren.
When she entered the church, Mary headed for the spot she always sat in, on the right side in the second pew from the front. But she paused halfway up the isle when she noticed a seat in the back on the left-hand side.
To Loren’s surprise, she said, “Why don’t we sit back here?” It was the first time in years they’d sat anywhere other than their usual seats.
As she settled the boys, Mary sensed someone staring. Looking up, she saw a man nearby looking intently at her. The congregation was small, but Mary had never seen him before. “I wonder who he is?” she thought, and smiled at him.
 Then, at the Passing of the Peace, the man reach right over others to shake her hand, “Peace be with you,” he said softly, holding on to her hand longer than was normal. “He wants to say something,” Mary realized. But the man hesitated, then let go and sat back down.
When the service was over, Mary glanced at her watch – she was late for a soccer meeting. As she hurried out with the children, she heard a voice. “Excuse me,” a man called, “May I speak with you?”
Turning, Mary saw the man who’d been looking at her earlier in the service. “I don’t want to intrude,” he began, reaching out and gently touching Michael’s head. “Have you taken your baby to a doctor?”
“Yes,” Mary replied, “He’s fine.”
“No, he’s not,” the man said gently. “He has sagital cranial synostosis.”
“What?” Mary gasped,
“It’s a condition where the plates in the head prematurely fuse together,” the man explained. “I suggest you consult a pediatric neurosurgeon immediately.”
“But – but –,” Mary stammered. “How do you know?”
“I’m a pediatric surgeon visiting from Ohio. Your son needs help. The doctors will explain everything but you have to get there soon.”
Alarmed, Mary called her pediatrician as soon as she got home. The doctor recommended a surgeon in Denver. “But it’s almost impossible to get an appointment with him. You may have to wait.”
Incredibly she didn’t have to. “We just had a cancellation the call before you,” she was told. Mary took the appointment and within a couple of weeks the surgery was performed. “Luckily, he’s young so his skull is still soft enough to operate on,” the surgeon said. “You brought him in just in time.”
Though Michael had to wear a helmet for a year to protect his head, the surgery was successful and he healed completely. Today, when Mary watches her son Michael play street hockey or ride his bike, she thinks about that fateful day in church when a stranger cared enough to stop – a day that changed the lives of an entire family.
In the framing story for the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is headed towards Jerusalem. He is on his way to his death when a man stops him and asks: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (25b) It is not certain why this man asks about eternal life. Maybe he is challenging Jesus; maybe he is testing. Maybe this man is looking for a deeper relationship with God. We’ll never know.
What we do know is that Jesus responds to the man’s question with another question: “What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?" (25b) The man, quoting from the Torah, answers: "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself." (27)
When Jesus says, “Good answer,” the lawyer pushes the point. He asks Jesus: "And just how would you define 'neighbor'?"
I would think that there is a bit of lawyer in each of us – many times looking for a loophole or trying to muddy the water when we’re being challenged. But Jesus does not bite on this tactic. Instead he answers with a story – the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
You know the story. Listen to a more contemporary spin on this parable:
Behold, a certain black middle-class Presbyterian deacon went through a predominantly white neighborhood and fell among some hoodlums who robbed him and beat him and left him half dead in the gutter.
Now by chance, a very well-dressed Republican businessman passed by on his way to Rotary, a most solemn assembly, where a speech on humanitarian betterment was to be heard. He already was late, already in danger of not fulfilling his attendance quota. So he really couldn't risk stopping, and pretended not to notice.
So likewise, a little less well-dressed Democrat passed by on his way to the Lion's meeting, a slightly less-solemn assembly, where he was to be the tail-twister. Since this was his first time in that honorable position, and since he already was late, he felt he could not stop. He did, however, give a moment's serious consideration to calling Washington to see if there might be something they could do to help this poor fellow. But alas, he was without his cell phone.
But after that, there journeyed by a blue-collar, Pentecostal, Polish factory worker from Cicero, Illinois, on his way home from work. And seeing the beaten, wounded, black, middle-class Presbyterian deacon in the gutter, he stopped his car, administered first-aid, called the ambulance and the police, followed them to the hospital, where the blue-collar, Pentecostal, Polish factory worker paid for the black, middle-class Presbyterian deacon's room and care in advance.
Like this Polish factory worker, the Samaritan in Jesus’ parable did not pass by. He came close to the injured Jew, moved by the Spirit of God in his heart. This man bandaged the wounds of stranger – a Jew. He took him to an inn and paid for his care. He lived God’s command: Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and love your neighbor as well as you do yourself. (27) In doing so, “this Samaritan had already received eternal life. He was living it right then and there.”
A couple of years ago, “there was a story about a twelve-year-old Palestinian boy, Ahmind Khatib, who had been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers during street fighting near his house in Jenin, on the West Bank. The boy had been holding a toy gun.
He was taken to an Israeli hospital, where he died after two days. His Palestinian parents made the decision to allow his organs to be harvested for transplant to Israelis. Five people received his heart, lungs, and kidneys, including a two-month-old infant. His mother, Abla, said, “My son has died. Maybe he can give life to others.” This act of love – love of God and love of others allowed these grieving parents to make their own journey into the compassion of God. They,too, were living eternal life.”
The Bible tells us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbor as ourselves. (27) To love God is to love neighbor and to love neighbor is to love God. Remember the pediatric surgeon who stepped out in faith to tell a mother that her son needed surgery. Remember the Palestinian parents who allowed their son’s organs to be harvested to save the lives of five Israelis. The ongoing flow of love in these and other stories allows eternal life to begin now, even as the Parable of the Good Samaritan confirms.
Brothers and sisters, are we good Samaritans? Are we living a life that longs to share God’s love with others? “The parable of the Good Samaritan is a story for travelers on the road, a scriptural GPS, guiding us in the only direction God desires – the way of love and compassion for others. The story of the Good Samaritan is more than a parable about a helpful stranger; it is about the transforming power of God at work in those who travel the dangerous roads in our world, moving us into the fullness of life, eternal life, here and now.”
          Friends, take the challenge. Be a good Samaritan. Amen and amen.