Luke 10:25-37
The lawyer is quick to counter Jesus by asking, “Who is my neighbor?” The parable of The Good Samaritan may be Jesus' most popular teaching story. We think of our times as so different from the days of the Bible, but there are some things that are remarkably similar. The landscape would have been much like today’s West Texas – semi-arid with limited water and resources. The demographics are similar too, with a mix of ethnicities and a society that played the groups off against each other for money-making and power purposes. In lifting up the Samaritan as “the hero”, Jesus was taking on all the stereotypical ways Jews regarded Samaritans. It would certainly have been noble for the story to have had the Samaritan as the one beaten and left for dead and how a holy priest or faithful Jew had helped the poor thing out. But it is the faithful Jew that is left for dead and it is that hated, low-life Samaritan that shows mercy. The lawyer is left to reluctantly admit that the neighbor in the story is the one that good Jews did not associate with, in fact, walked miles out of their way to avoid their neighborhoods.
Dr. Mark Abbott, son of Rev. Merriel and Darene Abbott, is a missionary to Spain. In a recent pastor’s gathering he said, “Do you really want to reach out to Hispanics in this region? Hereford is now more than 70% Hispanic. Student populations in Lubbock are approaching 50%. If you really want to reach out and be in relationship, you must be willing for your sons and daughters to marry them. Until then, you are not ready.” We are called not only to share with those we want to reach, but just as importantly to receive what they have to offer us. Loving our neighbor means getting past the stereotypical walls and rediscovering each other as loved and gifted human beings that also need each other to be whole.
I John 2:7-17
Repeated phrases in scripture are important and John, in this short letter, at least seven times refers to his readers as teknia, “dear or little children” (2:1, 12, 13, 18, 28; 3:7; 4:4 and 5:21). There are other words for child in Greek, but this is the most intimate. John is the only disciple we know that by scripture and tradition died a natural death. Some calculate that he wrote this letter in the early 90s AD (which would put him as the youngest disciple in his 80s). He writes as a spiritual patriarch or grandfather to the church. Like I Peter it is a general epistle, with no specific church or churches named. The other phrase he repeats is “dear friends.” This is not only a letter about love, it is sent with great love and affection.
John’s theme in the letter will be an old one that is forever new – loving one another. He applies that theme to the metaphor he has already been using: light vs. darkness. To live in love is to be “in the light” and to hate is to be “in the darkness.” The picture of the darkness is vivid, picturing the hateful one as groping and stumbling around in the night. His hate has blinded him. We all have our reasons for hating a person or group of persons. I am reminded of a song from the musical, South Pacific, that was sung during one of the memorial services following 9-11:
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
Sometimes we are taught through our own experiences of hurt and sometimes we are taught, often by quiet example or propaganda. I’m remembering that during the Cold War there were no pictures of beautiful women or smiling children who were Russian.
Hatred is highly addictive, creating a toxic energy that we have to keep feeding – always having to find yet another reason to hate, with those reasons always available because we are seeing things from hates perspective. John invites us to move from hate’s darkness into the light of Christ-like love. Even though hate, in some circumstances, is both understandable and human, it is always toxic over the long haul.
In verses, 12-14, John reaches out to the generations of the church, described as fathers, young men and little children (but surely females are also included). There has obviously been some text problems here, as phrases are duplicated. But he is emphasizing the enduring relationship of the older, the strength of the young adults and the experience of forgiveness and grace for the very young. We live in a day when there is such need for relationship between the generations. Churches have trouble doing that – because we fear losing our power and say (as older adults), we want those ahead of us to get out of the way and let us have our turn (as younger adults), and we will be noisy, inconvenient and messy (as children). Generational power plays are affecting churches in this generation more than any previous to it. Society at large plays the generations against each other in advertising, movies and even in some educational and business literature. The church needs the creativity and energy of the young adults and the mentoring and lasting faith of the older adults. And we always need the infusion of new faith experienced in the very young. At St. Luke’s we’re working on creating that coalition of people in relationship. I hope that you will be praying as we grow further in that effort.
John finishes this passage by telling us what not to love – the things of the world. Easier said than done, isn’t it? It is a struggle to choose that which lasts and takes longer to show results over that which is quick to yield and temporary. Again, I will resist a lengthy diatribe here. But we are to be people who put our life’s work and emphasis on that which is forever. Have a great day, you and that neighbor of yours.
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