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“Free
Will”
a sermon by
Thomas L. Jenkins
Text: Luke 10:25-37
“Go
and do likewise.”
MY DEAR SISTERS AND BROTHERS, I have just read a passage of scripture,
from the good news of God, according St. Luke.
It was the famous parable of “The Good Samaritan.”
And the final words we heard were “Go
and do likewise.”
Of course, right off the bat, we ask ourselves in response, “How am I
to go and do likewise?” And
the next, natural question, we then ask is, “So, how are we to hear
this command?” Was it
just given to this lawyer because Jesus knew he was not going to?
We pretty much, know what it is to be moved by pity when we see someone
hurting; it is to feel sympathy with regards to someone who has
experienced tough luck. Also,
we know that to show mercy for someone is to be kind to them in their
helplessness. We know these
things. And as Christians,
we say yes to this. But, at
the same time, we see situations in our lives when we probably should
have reached out in love to someone, but did not, for many different
kind of reasons.
This past Tuesday, I was in the church office working on this sermon; I
had just read and studied “The Parable of the Good Samaritan” when
someone knocked on the door. When
I opened it, I saw a man about my age, who had two big plastic bags full
of food. He had been to the
Kaufman Help Center Food Pantry that we mentioned last Sunday and
received this food. He was
walking and carrying them. And
after we introduced ourselves, all he asked me for was something cool to
drink or a dollar, so he could buy a drink.
He told me a little bit of his story, and that he was hitchhiking
back home, but felt like he needed something cool to drink.
I didn’t have any cash in my pocket; nor did I have anything
cool in the refrigerator. Since,
I liked him, and had this kind of stuff on my mind; I offered to give
him a ride somewhere in the direction he was going.
It was east on 243 down to the Shell station.
And as we road together, we had a wonderful conversation.
We really liked each other.
Sometimes we do things like this. At other times we might not. When I was a young man, I picked up hitchhikers much more
than I do now. With a
family and loved ones, like right here in the church, and at my age, I
am much more careful about who I pick up, wanting to protect myself for
my loved ones. And we all
think much like this, too.
There is a message in the “Go
and do likewise,” but it is not really about our learning how to
be righteous according to the law.
Going and doing likewise is not left upon us alone.
When St. Paul was writing to the Romans, he expressed the conflict we
have with the light and the darkness within ourselves, “For
I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate …” When
it comes to the presence of sin in our lives, John Calvin, one of the
fathers of the Protestant Reformation, taught that every aspect of who
we are, in and of ourselves, is touched by sin.
We are familiar with the Bible verse that reads, “We
have all sinned and fallen short of the Lord.” Calvin is taking it even deeper; he is showing us that there
is not one part of who we are, in ourselves, that is perfect.
Even as my gifts and callings from God are teaching math and
preaching the gospel, I do not do these religiously perfectly.
Sin within me is present is all that I am.
That is true for all of us.
Jesus is not throwing the responsibility to go and do likewise upon us.
We are being told to go and do likewise, but we are not being
told to do it in our own ability so that we can inherit eternal life.
What be are being told is who Jesus Christ is in our lives.
Jesus is in Samaria. The
Jews were against the Samaritans for religious reasons.
Last week we saw that Jesus had picked 70 Samaritans, sent them
out in couples to minister God’s Word, and when they came back with
success, Jesus taught them that their greatest joy was not to be in
their accomplishments, but that their names were already written in
heaven.
Then this lawyer stands up and tries to test Christ. “What must I do to
inherit eternal life?” He
is trying to show the Samaritans and Jesus, that he, the legal expert of
the Hebrew Scriptures knows more than they do.
This lawyer is trying to show who he thinks he is and who he
thinks Jesus is. The first
thing that this lawyer is revealing is that he does not know who Jesus
Christ is.
Therefore, as Jesus then moves into telling the parable, He is revealing
who He is.
Yes, Jesus does tell the lawyer that he was right in summarizing the
law: “Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength,
and all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
And then the lawyer tries to justify himself by asking who is his
neighbor, because he believes the Samaritans, among whom he is standing,
are not his neighbors.
Then Jesus tells the parable. Now,
let me go back to where I started.
This lawyer is not really asking Jesus what he must do to inherit
eternal life, nor is he truly asking Jesus about his neighbor out of
interest and concern. This
lawyer is trying to show who he thinks Jesus is.
So, Jesus is not answering this man’s false questions; Jesus is
showing who He truly knows himself to be.
What Jesus is showing us, is that He is the good Samaritan in our
lives. Jesus is the good
Samaritan.
Whether people even like him or not, when we might not even be happy
with him; Jesus Christ is the one in our lives who sees us when and
where we are hurting, is moved with pity toward us, has mercy upon us,
and comes down into the ditch, pours oil and wine upon our wounds, wraps
us in clothing, puts us upon his animal, takes us to the inn and pays
for all we need.
What must we do to inherit eternal life?
There is only one thing we must do to inherit eternal life.
There is only one requirement for you and me to receive
salvation, death. It is
only by passing through this life that we enter into the heavenly inn
that Christ has already paid for with his life.
Today, in the PC(USA) is the Sunday of Small Church Ministry.
We are a small church, at least in the definition fewer than 100
members. But, we are a big
church in another way. God
is blessing us with a grand presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In grace, God comes to us and does for us what we cannot do for
ourselves. We are justified
by the very faith of Jesus Christ.
The Son of God entered into our hearts when He entered into the
heart of humanity. And He has already taken us back with Him to be with God the
Father in the Holy Spirit. We
are already in God. God is
already in us. That is true
for every human being we ever meet.
God is their neighbor too. We
have a great gift from God to share and experience right here in our
church.
God’s freedom comes after we make the choice of God’s will. We often think that freedom comes before our choice.
We speak of “free will.”
But, if we make a wrong choice, we loose our freedom.
Our freedom is in Jesus Christ.
And our choice may be to hear what he is telling us about who he
is, to say “YES” to him, and then pray and seek for Jesus, inside of
us, to reach out and love our neighbors as he loves us.
Jesus’ passion for us, in our lives, is that we join with Him in His
relationship with God the Father. May
we say “YES” to this, for in this is where we are free.
Let us pray…
Amen
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