Love with the Savior who paid for your care.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 5, July 13, 2025

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Luke 10:25-37  ²⁵Just then, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  ²⁶“What is written in the law?” he asked him.  “What do you read there?”  ²⁷He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.”  ²⁸He said to him, “You have answered correctly.  Do this, and you will live.”  ²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  ³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.  He fell among robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  ³¹It just so happened that a priest was going down that way.  But when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  ³²In the same way, a Levite also happened to go there, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  ³³A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was.  When he saw him, he felt sorry for the man.  ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them.  He put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him.  ³⁵The next day, when he left, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him.  Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.’  ³⁶Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?”  ³⁷“The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied.  Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (EHV)

Love with the Savior who paid for your care.

Dear wounded travelers,

            There is a good chance that from many a contemporary pulpit, today, you might hear a sermon theme based on this text that goes something like, “Be a good neighbor,” or “Rescue the hurting stranger on your path,” or “Who is my neighbor?” or “Jesus says, ‘Go and do likewise!’”  All of these are textual, but all are obvious applications of law, and many would likely miss Jesus’ point. 

While trying to put Jesus to the test, that lawyer tried to redirect Jesus by asking, “And who is my neighbor?”  However, Jesus saw through the lawyer’s subterfuge and answered not just the “who” question but especially “how” one should love, teaching us to Love with the Savior who paid for your care.

The Jewish teachers were experts in the Mosaic Law.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t see how they failed to obey it.  This lawyer repeated a summary of the law with stunning accuracy, yet he never once considered that he might not love God as well as the law commands.  He didn’t even doubt that he could properly love his fellow man, but still trying to trip Jesus, the lawyer asked how to identify those people who were worthy to receive his love.  To be merciful, Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan to picture for the lawyer, and for all of us, what kind of love He was talking about.

Now, I could spend a lot of time telling you precisely how we need to help and serve our neighbors.  I could tell you that your neighbor is anyone you ever meet, or anyone else who may ever need your help.  I likely could make you feel guilty about all the times you have failed to measure up.  And, it would be pretty easy to leave you wondering how you could ever be saved, since we all so often fail to show mercy like that Samaritan.  However, the reason Jesus told this story is so that we all could understand what He has done for us, so that we may Love with the Savior who paid for your care.

For just a second, take a look at the picture on the front of your bulletin.  Now, close your eyes and think of the wounded man lying on that long ago road.  With your eyes closed, remember the face.  Do you recall what he looks like?  Ideally, I would have you see the face like you were looking in a mirror.  You see, that wounded man, who had been attacked by robbers, represents you and me. 

You and I, and every other person in the history of the world (including that lawyer), have been surrounded by thieves who stripped us of all righteousness and stole every good thing we could have offered to the Lord.  The devil stole our innocence in the Garden of Eden.  He took away our peace with God, our ability to love, and our universal kindness.  Not only did we lose everything to the thieves, but knowing we now sin against God and our neighbors, our consciences beat us with accusations of guilt.  We daily suffer the cruel blows of the temptations of the world.  We have often endured the taunts of those who reject God and think we are fools for believing.  Furthermore, sin stabbed us in the heart leaving us for dead in the roadway of our earthly lives. 

Dear friends, the world doesn’t care if we never make it home.  In fact, the devil is actively trying to keep us from reaching our Father in heaven.  Truly, Satan would much rather see us rot right where he left us lying in the filth of our uncleanness.

Now that you know the thieves’ victims, take a look at those who passed by on the other side of the road.  Jesus made a point of showing that those were the kind of men the lawyer respected.  They are the law-preachers and sometimes leading politicians—the legalists of every age—who may know what is right but are not able, or not willing, to do what should be done to rescue the hurting.  They look good to the world.  They can be highly respected among men, but in God’s eyes they are sons of the devil.  Jesus once said, “They tie up heavy loads, burdens that are hard to carry, and place them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to help them.” (Matthew 23:4)

On the other hand, into a world of naked, bloody, beaten, dying sinners came a Man who was willing to help.  To the Jews, a Samaritan was a mixed blood person they despised.  Strangely, the leaders of the Jews mocked Jesus by calling Him a Samaritan.  If you look closely at the picture in our minds, though, you see Jesus truly is that Samaritan in the parable.  To rescue those of us who were dying, “God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons.” (Galatians 4:5)  The holy Son of God came down to earth to walk our road so that He could rescue us from the murderous robbers.  Christ took on human flesh so He could fulfil all the demands of the Law for us.  You see, before any of us entered life, Jesus already saw us lying wounded, dying in the dust, unable to help ourselves or lift ourselves up for healing.

After describing the victim’s sad position, Jesus told that lawyer, "A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was.  When he saw him, he felt sorry for the man.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them.  He put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him.  The next day, when he left, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him.  Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.'”  God doesn’t demand that we come to Him by works of law; rather, His Son came to us, overlooking our uncleanness, so that He could make us whole.

Our rescuing Savior cleaned our wounds with the blood and water He shed on the cross.  There, Jesus dirtied His hands by taking upon Himself all our sins and our guilt.  Our Savior washed away our oozing guilt with the water and Word of Baptism.  He dressed our wounds with the Gospel of His grace, and He wrapped us in the robe of His own righteousness.  Our Savior didn’t stop there.  He picked us up, still hurting and bleeding into the bandages He had wrapped around us, and He brought us to the Church, where He tells the innkeepers (the preachers of Christ’s Gospel), “Take care of him.  Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.” 

Dear friends, our Savior loved that lawyer too.  In His merciful kindness, Jesus was reaching out to him with open arms, showing how He had come to the world to save those who were dying.  Jesus didn’t tell the man point blank how to be saved.  Rather, Jesus gave him a picture and asked him to see the Merciful One.  Then, Jesus asked him, " Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?”  “The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied.  Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise."  No one could ever be as merciful as Jesus has been to us all.  If I told you to go out and love your neighbors but never teach you how to do so, you might give away all your money, spend your whole life serving the poor, but still be lying there dying in the dirt. 

Now, I don’t know whether that lawyer understood what Jesus was trying to show him, but Jesus gave him much the same command He gives us.  Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."  It’s very similar to what Jesus told His disciples before He returned to His Father’s side; He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you.  And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Jesus teaches us to go and share His mercy and healing with the dying and abused of our world.  What an amazing command our Savior gives us.  You and I could never save the world with our works.  We couldn’t even save ourselves, but we can be good neighbors and rescuing Samaritans to the hurting and abused sinners of the world by sharing Jesus and His Word.  In other words, as we Love with the Savior who paid for your care.

Now that we have been healed of the spiritual abuse that had left us dying in the filth of our sin, our Lord has commissioned us to walk the dusty, dangerous roads of this world, so that whenever we might find some poor soul dying along the road, stripped of any good, beaten, and abused by the devil, the world, and his own sinful flesh, we too can rescue the injured soul with the One Man who lived and died to rescue us all.  Whenever we meet one of those poor broken sinners, we can wash his bloody wounds with the water and blood Jesus shed.  We can bind up the injuries with the Gospel of Jesus’ holy life and innocent death in our place, and we can lead that hurting soul to the place of healing, the Church our Lord Jesus built to give respite to the recovering, wounded soul, and where He still, today, heals and gives life.

Furthermore, our rescuing Savior promises to return to repay us for this healing work.  It costs us very little, but the reward will be everlasting.  When the last day comes, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat.  I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.  I was a stranger and you welcomed me.  I was lacking clothes and you clothed me.  I was sick and you took care of me.  I was in prison and you visited me.’” (Matthew 25:34-36)  Jesus says, "Go and do likewise."  Love with the Savior who paid for your care.  Amen.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever.  Amen.