Dear Blog Followers,
This email goes out to leaders in the Gulf Coast Synod each Sunday at 1:00 Central Time. When I get to my computer, I put it up on my blog for those interested. If you would like this email to come directly to your email inbox, you can sign up to receive these by emailing Lucia at lucia@gulfcoastsynod.org. All emails have an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom, so you can remove yourself at any time.
Peace,
Mike Rinehart
Dear Gulf Coast Leaders,
Prayer List – Prayers to include in your private prayers and prayers of the church. This coming weekend the Synod Council will meet in retreat with new council members at Lutherhill.
Lectionary readings
St. John, Deanville, TX 100th anniversary was June 26.
Paul Wilson taught preaching track at Disciple Project (@TLU) last week.
Preaching Workshop Crew
Pastors Lorin Darst and Chris Markert, new pastor look?
Other DP Photos: Chapel, Pastor Erich preaches to his staff, World Cafe Discussions
Wilson comments: Preparing a Sermon, Passion in the Pulpit, Preaching vs. Teaching.
Register and join me at the Willow Leadership Summit August 5-6 at Fellowship of The Woodlands.
Please note my invitation to do 40 Days of Love this fall, in the upcoming Connections issue.
The Good Samaritan
Before I jump into the Good Samaritan, perhaps one of the most well-known stories in the Bible, a quick look ahead. July 11-August 1 we are in Colossians. Colossae is the region of the churches of Revelation 1-3. As many letters attributed to Paul, the first section is indicative and the second imperative. Christ is cosmic, and is drawing all of creation into the vortex of God’s reign. The second section addresses conduct. Christians should not adopt Mosaic dietary laws, circumcision or other legalistic practices. Families should care for one another.
In addition to Colossians, some lectionary highlights:
July 18 – Mary and Martha, a great time to talk about the balance between the inward and outward life. Amos warns us not to trample on the poor.
July 25 – Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, emphasizing persistence.
August 1 – Stewardship text: The Rich Fool
August 8 – Stewardship text: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
So a lawyer steps up to “test Jesus.” Perhaps an expert on the law, who is going to give this uncredentialed itinerant preacher a run for his money. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus wisely does not answer the question but throws it back on the guy, who responds with the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule. Love God/Love neighbor. These are the sum of the Torah. Get this right and you have the whole tamale. Luther said if we could keep the first commandment, we wouldn’t need to worry about the rest.
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus says, and turns to leave. But wishing to “justify himself,” the expert has another question. “Who is my neighbor?” The motives here are clear. Once the lawyer has tested Jesus, he needs to justify his limited definition of neighbor.
The Jews typically interpreted “neighbor,” meaning “one who is near,” in terms of members of the same people and religious community, that is, fellow Jews (as in Matthew 5:43-48). In fact, this week I stumbled across a Jewish web site that says just that: Leviticus 19:18 means you only need to love your fellow Jew (http://www.inner.org/responsa/leter1/resp22.htm). The Pharisees tended to exclude “ordinary people” from their definition. The Qumran community excluded “the sons of darkness” from their definition of neighbors.
The lawyer agrees that the essence of the Torah is to love one’s neighbor as oneself, but it sure is handy to define neighbor in a careful way. Certainly I don’t have to love everyone. Love your own race and faith community, he believes, and you have fulfilled the law. He is struggling with integrity between his beliefs and actions. In typical rabbinical fashion, Jesus responds with a story.
A man is beaten up, robbed and left for dead. Three people pass by. Stories like these abound. (Like, a priest, a rabbi and an Aggie…) Usually they are about a priest, a Levite and an Israelite. They are anti-clerical jokes. The priest and the Levite (clergy) get it wrong, and the Israelite (lay) gets it right.
The priest passes by and does nothing. Then the Levite. Levites were religious officials with less authority than priests. They had responsibility for liturgy. (Think “deacon.”) Both would have to become ritually unclean (think, violate the law) to help the wounded man. (Lev. 21:4, 11). What wins out, law or compassion? Jesus is consistent on the answer to this one.
Next, Jesus’ hearers are expecting to hear about an Israelite layman. But instead, in an unexpected turn Jesus surprises his listeners by throwing in a despised Samaritan. The relationship between Jews and Samaritans was more than uncivil. It was hatred. The term “Good Samaritan,” so prevalent in our society, would have been an oxymoron to the lawyer questioning Jesus about Torah and neighbor.
The Samaritan stops, has pity, and binds up the man’s wounds (trauma): καὶ προσελθὼν κατέδησεν τὰ τραύματα αὐτοu. He pours wine on them. Even without germ theory, and an understanding of alcohol disinfectants, ancients knew that pouring wine on stuff (wounds, graves, animals, altars) was cool. (See Isaiah 1:6.)
Without an emergency room, the Samaritan takes the man to an inn, an act well beyond the expectations of the law. He writes the innkeeper a blank check: Whatever he needs give it to him, and I will pay on my next time through. He’s a frequent flier, seasoned traveler perhaps. But he’s going way beyond the call of duty.
I’m familiar with Augustine’s allegorical interpretation. The two coins are the sacraments. It’s fun, and clever, but I’m not convinced.
Who is neighbor to the Samaritan? The guy in the ditch, we expect Jesus to say. But Jesus turns it on end again with another surprise: “Who is the neighbor to the man in the ditch?” Jesus has devised a story that leaves the lawyer with no other option than to admit the Samaritan is his neighbor. Jesus puts the words right in his mouth. He stammers at first. He cannot bring himself to admit it out loud. He responds, “The one who showed mercy.” He just can’t even say “Samaritan.”
“Eleos” is the word here, LXX’ translation of “hesed” in Micah 6:8. What does God require? Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God. “Go and do likewise,” Jesus says.
Love your neighbour as yourself” the Gospel says (Matthew 22:38). But who is my neighbor? We often respond to that question by saying: “My neighbours are all the people I am living with on this earth, especially the sick, the hungry, the dying, and all who are in need.” But this is not what Jesus says. When Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:29-37) to answer the question “Who is my neighbour?” he ends the by asking: “Which, … do you think, proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the bandits’ hands?” The neighbour, Jesus makes clear, is not the poor man laying on the side of the street, stripped, beaten, and half dead, but the Samaritan who crossed the road, “bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, … lifted him onto his own mount and took him to an inn and looked after him.” My neighbour is the one who crosses the road for me!
-Henri Nouwen
Last week at our preaching workshop (at Disciple Project at TLU), Paul Wilson, author of “The Four Pages of the Sermon” took us through an outstanding overhaul of our sermon preparation. My three key take-homes from Wilson are:
1. Write out your simple theme statement. What’s the main point you want your listeners to hear/experience?
2. Pay attention to gospel. What is God doing in the text and in the world? If it’s just law (do justice) then it’s heaping more guilt and human legalism. The law cannot save. The gospel frees us and empowers us. Where is the gospel in your sermon? Where is the good news?
3. Tell me your main point from the beginning. It’s not a secret. Only don’t just tell me. Use the rest of your sermon to take me there. Paint a picture. Make a movie. Pull me in. Don’t just tell me about hope. Show me. Be hope. Take me there.
Preaching for one another in a workshop setting is a humbling and grace-filled experience. We grew. Pastor Erich Schaeffer (Our Savior, College Station) and his colleague Sue Beall do this every week for staff, on Thursdays.
In order to keep grace in the sermon, which too easily default to law, Paul proposed a structure to balance law and gospel. He challenged us to keep in mind all four pages (sections) of the sermon:
1. Law/problem/judgment in the text.
2. Law/problem/judgment in our world.
3. Gospel/grace in the text.
4. Gospel/grace in our world.
Of course we’ll all see law and gospel in different ways, in any given text. Today, as I encounter the Good Samaritan for the hundredth time, I’m seeing it this way. My four pages:
1. Law in the text: The man on the road experiences violence and is wounded. The religious folks avoid suffering, responding with stilted moralism and cleanliness.
2. Law in the world: We live in a world filled with hatred and violence. We too are wounded. All too often we avoid suffering, responding with moralism rather than compassion.
3. Gospel in the text: At personal risk and expense, the Samaritan/outcast goes out of his way to offer compassion and hope.
4. Gospel in our world: Sometimes compassion and generosity come from surprising places. God breaks into our world in surprising ways, countering hatred, violence and our own woundedness with love, compassion, mercy, and generosity, from unexpected places. We have more neighbors than we realized. Not only do we receive mercy, but having experienced God’s healing touch, we get to be instruments of God’s love and mercy in the world.
Yours in Christ,
Michael Rinehart, bishop
Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod
12941 I-45 North Freeway, Suite #210
Houston, Texas 77060-1243
(281) 873-5665
Synod Webpage: GulfCoastSynod.org
Bishop’s Webpage: BishopMike.com
Leave a Reply