Who isn’t my neighbour?

The Parable of the Good Samaritan has all the makings of a good story: conflict, bandits, plot twists, unlikely protagonists, and a call to action. Sounds like an action movie that my friends and I might watch on a Saturday night. The first thing that occurred to me during my preparation, was the sense that this gospel is the sermon that writes itself, now what I mean by that is: we all know the story. in fact, the story is so embedded in our universal conscience that many countries have Good Samaritan laws where you are legally required to stop and help someone.

The basic story as we've just heard; somebody’s hurt and requires help, the character in the story who did the right thing was the Samaritan, the one who gave help: the moral of the story is true Christians are the ones who respond to need. We all know that: end of sermon: now let's have a cup of coffee. While that approach, isn’t wrong, I’ll hope you’ll journey with me today as we have a closer look at this familiar story. As Amanda Brobst-Renaud states “The command to “Go and do likewise” presents a tantalizing invitation to preach the call to care for the downtrodden and disenfranchised.

It is a fine invitation, and — along with the innkeeper — we are drawn into the care for those in the proverbial (or actual) ditch”

Perhaps today, we can use this story to remind ourselves of when we were stuck in a ditch, now obviously that can be a literal ditch or the wonderful world of metaphor and imagery. Speaking as someone who has used a wheelchair for most of my life: I could recount many stories in which I've been helped out of ditches and I'm sure like many of you I have received the gift of comfort and support to help me out of life ditches. With that in mind, we can use the image of the ditch to reflect on the times in life in which we are the ones being pulled out and the times in life in which we are helping people out.

Here's today's first pause, I'd like to invite you to think about a time in which you were struggling with something working through something and you received fabulous support from those around you I'd also like you to think about a time in which, you felt like no one was around for you: because I think part of the gift of this story:is not only “oh the Samaritan helped the man out of the ditch isn't that lovely” Part of the gift of this story that I've never heard talked: about is, for Us to remember what it's like to be stuck, confused, tired and lonely with questions that we can't find answers to: take a moment to think about that.

I don't know about you, but I find the question who is my neighbour? Interesting: Is the Torah expert asking the question to confirm his worldview or asking it to learn? Both responses are what make us human aren't they? If your mind is anything like mine; sometimes we ask a question to make ourselves secure. To confirm something, we already know and other times we ask it to push past what we know to learn something new; and all this happens because of what could be seen as a simple question. Christ uses it to push his audience past their cultural and religious comfort zones to make them and us embrace the idea that love, grace and social responsibility: go far beyond the barriers we create.

In fact, you could argue quite successfully that one of the main thrusts of this beautiful story is that inside the Kingdom of God there are no others only us. As we look at this story, it's important to remember that the image of God is carried by every single person inside the narrative, it's carried by the man in the ditch, it's carried by the two people that walked past him and it's carried by the man who stops. One of the challenges that we face, it's not to fall into the ditch of saying “you fit all the right boxes, you have the same morals as me, same views on the afterlife as I have: we connect well, so let's become friends and care for each other”

While a statement like that would create a nice comfortable, secure: echo chamber life,it won't go very far in either challenging us or helping us live a grace-based life. While Luke, doesn’t really go into what separates the Samaritans from the other components of Israel, it's interesting to note that the main reason for the separation is religious practises and approaches to worship. On a human level, and religious level: that makes sense right? Because a huge reason people step into religious and spiritual practises is to do the right thing! to get it right, to love right, to pray right and to Worship right.

Ever been there? I know I have. While, it is not my intention, to theologically beat anybody over the Head: as Christians following the grace of Christ, we must ensure that our values open doors rather than shut them. This story is indeed a reminder, that we are called to serve all we encounter: despite all the things that we might see as barriers such as sexual orientation, political stances, social philosophies and of course religious or spiritual beliefs or none. Here comes todays second pause, I like to invite you to think about The people that you really have a hard time connecting to let alone loving?

Now this could be that grumpy neighbour down the road, the overly friendly neighbour down the road, the one who's always smiling and that really annoys you!

It could be the person close to you and no matter how you put it they just don't get your point of view. Or it could be a group in society that you just wish wasn't here. You’re human and so are they! The point of `this gospel is to look past it and see as God seeslabel free. We are all Human. Take a moment to think about that. Here's the other thing that I was thinking about as I was writing this the other night, through scriptures like these we are not only called to think about who we love, but when was the last time we thought about how we love: with a lot of things, we see in the world: it might be very tempting to begin to moralise and say stop doing that! the scripture says this so on and so forth.

In fact, my best friend Leo who's here today often gets mad at me: because we're always engaging in introspective conversations and we'll both go off on our tangents and I'll often say “yes that's a valid point and a concern but when was the last time you or we examined our own moral system in the way we are critiquing the world?” I think that one of the things we often forget, especially if we've been in the church a long time, is the power and influence that scripture and church culture carry. Surely things we hold close and dear to our hearts deserve introspection?

I wonder if scriptures like these call us into a different role entirely: in this society which seems to be very quick to judge, divide and separate? Are we called instead: to love openly, vulnerably without ambition? If we look at the Samaritan, he loved and cared for the man with no goal in mind other than to love. Simple but powerful invitation, isn't it? Maybe the final thing that is worth considering: is that although we've spent most of our time today challenging whom and how we love, it is equally important for those of us who are servers to think about the idea of giving ourselves permission to be served by others. I don't know about you, but I have many people in my life who are great it being there and loving other people, but they don't know how to receive; they get uncomfortable when the love they offer is offered to them. Sound familiar? Here’s today final pause, I like to invite you to think about how you receive from others, in what ways do you need to open your heart? Is it around receiving compliments, vulnerability or possibly acts of service: maybe it might be just getting your head around the fact that God loves you. Take a moment to think about that.

Today, as we've looked beyond the words in a universally known story. We may have found ourselves challenged in some unexpected ways. Today, we have been invited to remember the occasions where we Have been called to help other people and we have also been reminded of the times we have required help ourselves. Today, we are challenged through the gospel to look past all the barriers that we put up to keep each other out and see as God sees label and barrier free. Today, we are being both invited and challenged to ensure that our value systems religious or otherwise are doorways into relationships rather than barriers to them.

Finally today, while we are being asked to think about how we love the world around us. Today's message is also an invitation for us to think about how we allow others to show love and grace to us. I hope and pray that this moment in time and some of the ideas expressed inside it; can play a role in your understanding of how you are called to love and be loved. In your role as neighbour. May God bless you all, may love and grace be the languages you Speak and hear now and forever.

Amen