Jesus The Jester #4 | “Answers”

0:01 This fall, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is studying the parables of Jesus. And we've been working with a basic premise. In the parables, Jesus acts like a jester. He sneaks past people's defenses. He pops open windows that we thought were painted shut. He sends a crisp wind rushing through our souls. The logic rolling through these stories takes us by surprise. The rules for living described in these narratives are different. In the parables, Jesus challenges us to live as citizens of the realm of God. Now, what does that look like?

1:03 That's such a good question. In fact, it is the very question posed in today's passage by a lawyer. Listen now for God's word to you as it echoes to us from Luke chapter 10, beginning with the 25th verse. Just then a lawyer stood to test Jesus. Teacher, he said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him, what is written in the law? What do you read there? The lawyer 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. And Jesus said to him, you have given the right answer.

2:12 Do this and you will live. But wanting to justify himself, the lawyer asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 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 for half dead. Now, by chance, a priest was going down that road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

3:07 But a Samaritan, while traveling down the road, came near him, and when he saw the man, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. then he put the man on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 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. which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? The lawyer said, the one who showed him mercy.

4:08 Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. This is the word of God for you, the people of God. Thanks be to God. Thank you. Somewhere along the line, you may have heard Jews, Christians, and Muslims referred to as people of the book. This designation refers to the fact that these three religions each venerate a book, the Torah, the Christian Bible, and the Koran. It's impossible really to imagine these communities without their ancient manuscripts. Believers read them, study them, sing about them, argue over them, and preach on them. The people of the book have a deep reverence for the words that appear on the pages of these texts.

5:15 And this reverence filters into the wider culture. Right here in New York City, in April of 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States. At that inaugural ceremony held at Federal Hall down on Wall Street, Washington placed his hand on a King James translation of the Bible. And at that moment, a loyal, noble tradition began.

5:52 Now, in case you're curious, the Constitution of the United States does not require that the president-elect make contact with a Bible during the oath of office. Still, one is almost always used, with two notable exceptions. freewheeling Theodore Roosevelt a friend to this church refused to use a bible at his inauguration opting instead to be sworn in on a book of law earlier in 1825 John Quincy Adams the sixth president of this country, asked not to be sworn in with a Bible, even though he was at that time the vice president of the American Bible Society. The son of a former president, Adams was well acquainted with the rough and tumble world of civic affairs, and he argued that the Bible was too holy to stand in as a prop for political use. The actions of our sixth president raise a good question. How should we use the Bible? What kind of authority should it have over our lives? What are we 21st century Christians to do with this ancient book full of wild stories, romantic poems, obscure laws, heartfelt letters, and some rather disturbing dreams.

7:38 Today's text, a parable commonly titled The Good Samaritan, is a fabulous lens for exploring these questions. You know how the story unfolds. One day, Jesus is chatting with his followers when a lawyer poses a question. He wants, Luke tells us, to test Jesus. Now, what sort of test does this fellow have in mind? Well, maybe the lawyer wants to make Jesus look foolish, to embarrass him. Or maybe the lawyer is simply curious. He could be testing to see if this new rabbi is the real deal. Whatever his motivation, the attorney wastes no time. Excuse me, rabbi, I've been studying for the bar exam here in Galilee.

8:39 And when I get to the section on wills and bequests, there's still one question that stumps me. What must I do to inherit eternal life? It's a classic question. To many people of the book, it is the most important question. What do I have to do to get on God's good list? How can I obtain one of those hand-inscribed invitations to heaven? What must I do to inherit eternal life? The current president of the United States seems to be wrestling with this question. In recent months, Donald Trump has, on multiple occasions, mentioned that he's trying to get into heaven.

9:35 Perhaps some modern-day jester in his court will direct the president's attention to one of those autographed Bibles that he's been selling and to today's parable. Although admittedly, this text doesn't always sit so well with people in power. You see, when the lawyer asks Jesus a question about eternal life, our Lord does not respond with an easy, respectful, satisfying answer. Jesus doesn't say, don't worry about it, you'll be fine. Instead, Jesus fires a question right back at the attorney. What's written in the law? What do you read there? Suddenly, Jesus is the one doing the cross-ex and the lawyer's on the stand. It seems to me, says Christ, that the answer to your question is in the Bible, And you're a lawyer, right?

10:32 So I'm sure you spent a lot of time studying God's law. So tell me, when you read the good book, what do you find here? Put on the spot, the lawyer starts sifting through all the biblical texts he's committed to heart. He flashes back to all those late nights at the library and then inspiration hits. The lawyer recalls a Sunday school lesson when the teacher talked about the two most common themes in the law of Moses. Scripture says, love God and love your neighbor. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself. Good answer, says Jesus.

11:31 You have mastered your studies. You get an A. Love in this way, says Jesus, and you shall live. now that could be the end of the story the lawyer answers jesus applause done and dusted but it's not the end it's not the end for the attorney and it's not the end for us as is so often the case when the right answer hovers before us we start to waver we shuffle we hesitate. We see obstacles that will make doing the right thing difficult. The most demanding journey in life, I think, is the hike from a right answer to the right action. Do this and you will live, says Jesus. And once again, the lawyer looks anxious.

12:41 Hold on. Do it? Love God and neighbor? Now wait just a billable minute. How big of a job is that going to be? It could take over my whole life. Love God and neighbor? Come on. I can't possibly help everyone. How about a little clarification here? Tell me, the lawyer pleads, who counts? Who is my neighbor? Now this question turns the rabbi's head. Initially, when the attorney asks, how can I secure my eternal future? Jesus briskly responds, you know the law. But when the attorney asks, who's my neighbor? Jesus locks eyes. Now we're getting somewhere. Somewhere beyond riddles and self-interest.

13:36 Somewhere that borders on the holy, beckoning the lawyer deeper into the waters of faith, Jesus tells him a story. A traveler is on his way to Jericho when he's beset by robbers. The robbers beat the man and leave him for dead alongside the highway. Now by chance, a clergy person, a priest happens to be walking down the same road. Good news, right? Surely a man of the cloth will help this injured traveler. And yet the priest on catching sight of the bloody body crosses to the other side of the road. He passes by.

14:25 Christ's story messes with our expectations. And in the background you can hear a funny sound. It's the lawyer. Gulping. You see, any first century attorney would recognize that the priest and the Levite in this parable are people who also have a deep knowledge of the Bible. Like the attorney, these clergy know the law. They know the law well enough to make it work for them. Think of it this way. Jesus presents the attorney with a sort of moral puzzle. A religious man finds a bloodied body lying by the road. What should he do? What does God's law say? What case has precedent here?

15:19 There are passages in the Torah that say, love your neighbor. There are portions of the law that call on people to help those in need. But on the other hand, if you're smart and you want to avoid that messy roadside situation, you might also recall that there are verses that instruct a priest not to approach a dead body. You could become unclean. He looks dead. Best move on. What part of the good book applies to this situation? How do you read it?

16:05 In today's passage, Jesus tests the attorney's knowledge of the law, but the conversation doesn't stop there. In telling this parable, Christ tests the litigator's heart, tests his soul. You can claim to be a person of the book. You can sell Bibles on your website. You can quote the law of Moses. And still you can stroll right on by a person in need. Are we surprised when the villains in this parable turn out to be clergy?

16:49 I'm guessing no. Over the course of history, preachers have quoted the Bible to prop up slavery, to support the persecution of Jews, and to malign members of the LGBTQ community. In contemporary America, it doesn't take more than a few mouse clicks to find ministers who sprinkle their hateful diatribes with snippets from scripture.

17:21 What is written in the law, Jesus asks. How do you read it? The questions Jesus puts to the lawyer challenge the way we read the Bible. Do we use scripture to serve our own ends? Do we appeal to the texts of our tradition and find, surprise, surprise, support for our own perspectives, our way of living, and yes, even our prejudices? This parable cautions us. Just because you're waving the good book around doesn't mean you've cornered the market on holiness. A well-read person can use the law of Moses to justify all sorts of dubious stuff. Heck, if you want to, if you know scripture well enough, you can rationalize walking right past a man bleeding on the side of the road.

18:18 At the very first Godel Lecture back in 2018, Jonathan Haidt, professor of ethical leadership at NYU, stood in this sanctuary and argued that more than anything, our moral choices reflect the loyalty that we have to a certain tribe. As such, when we go to our touchstones, our holy books, we go looking for leverage. We go seeking to bring charges against our enemies and to find blessings for our friends. We engage in this selective reading, Haidt argued, because we've already decided who is evil and who is good. This accurate, if sobering, observation plunges us back into today's story.

19:26 In the aftermath of a highway robbery, two people switch lanes and speed on by. two people who know the law adjust their rearview mirrors and leave an injured man on the side of the road somehow in their heads and their hearts they justify this behavior it's not a pretty picture and it looks like it's about to get worse Jesus describes a third traveler coming down the path he doesn't tell you what the third man looks like although Jesus does let slip this fellow's nationality the third traveler is a Samaritan ah thanks the lawyer the real bad guy has finally appeared this could very well be the robber returning to the scene of the crime because Samaritans, let me tell you, they cannot be trusted. Samaritans come from the other side, the wrong side of the track. Samaritans have peculiar religious beliefs. They have different political allegiances. This foreigner, I gotta tell you, spells trouble.

20:48 but that of course isn't true. Jesus tells us that this man is kind. This man takes time. This man expends resources. This man does the right thing. He may be a stranger. He may not be able to quote Leviticus at the drop of a hat, and yet the Samaritan gets it. He's the very picture of hospitality. The Samaritan makes the trip from right answer to right action. My friends, Jesus is clear here. People can and will use the good book for their own nefarious ends. People can weaponize scripture.

21:42 In fact, it's actually pretty easy to whack your enemies around the ears with verses torn from its pages. It's easy to justify heartless behavior on the road of life. But that isn't the only way. Jesus dangles an alternative before the lawyer.

22:08 What if when you go to the Bible, instead of looking for loopholes, you commit to looking for God? Choose this approach, Jesus promises, and you'll find yourself tangled up in a love that's so outrageous, it'll scare the self-righteousness right out of you. In a former life, I was on the faculty at a seminary, Presbyterian Seminary in Austin, Texas. Among other things, I taught the basic preaching class there. The class met every Monday for a lecture, and then it broke out into small groups for the rest of the week. It was in those small groups that students preached their first sermons. One year, two of the students in one of my small groups took a serious disliking to each other. Tony was from West Texas.

23:10 William was from Ohio. Tony was a political and theological conservative. William was a political and theological liberal. On Friday nights, Tony put on his cowboy boots and met his friends at the Broken Spoke where they danced the two-step. On Friday nights, William slicked back his hair and met his friends at a gay bar down on 6th Street.

23:42 In class, the sparks between these two men started immediately. Each was quick to call the other's perspective into question, and both were good at using scripture to justify the darts that they would fling each other's way. When they offered feedback on each other's preaching, it wasn't pretty. The very thing that one fellow thought was the best part of his sermon was the very thing that the other fellow thought was the most troubling. Frankly, at the end of the semester, I was glad to be rid of their squabbling. Two years later, though, I had both of them back in an advanced preaching class. What fun.

24:29 Although this time the dynamic was different. In fact, the very first day of class, I watched Tony take William's side in a debate. And later that afternoon, I ran into Tony and I asked him, What the heck happened to you two? You used to circle each other like tigers, claws out. Did I just see you defend him?

24:55 Well, yes, Tony responded. We've become friends. How it happened, though, was kind of embarrassing. About a year ago, I had hernia surgery. William lives two doors down from me, and he offered to drive me home afterwards. I've never been so sick, and William stayed by me. He didn't leave my side. He held a bucket for me. He literally held a bucket while I retched my guts out.

25:33 And so that's the story. I learned a lot about William, a lot about myself, a lot about God's sense of humor that day, and we've been close ever since. Which of these three travelers, Jesus asked the lawyer, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? The one who showed him mercy, said the lawyer. Right answer. Right again, responds Jesus. And then leaning into the inquisitive fellow, Jesus whispers, Go and do likewise. Has Christ placed an impossible burden on this attorney? Maybe.

26:33 To a violent and transactional world, kindness will always look both foolish and rather weak. when the politics of retribution rule the roost, mercy appears laughable. And yes, the numbers game makes Christ's challenge feel well nigh impossible. Like other travelers on the road to Jericho, our hard, hard hearts search for a way out. Wise up, we think. There are far too many people in this world looking for compassion. So the smart play is passing by all their bloodied bodies on the road of life as fast as you possibly can. There's a sad wisdom in all that.

27:31 An acknowledgement of the ways of the world. and yet before we wave the white flag of surrender Jesus finishes his story he he draws our eyes to the Samaritan here is a reviled outsider whose actions do not cohere to the ways of the world here is a life that stands in stark contrast to the vengeance and the violence and the vitriol here on the road to Jericho is an answer to the lawyer's original question. What must I do to inherit eternal life?

28:20 My friends, today's parable asks us to picture the life eternal as more than a ticket for some heaven-bound train. The life eternal is something that is actively pushing its nose into this life. It appears when strangers become neighbors. It shows up when people extend acts of kindness to those in need. It is capable.