Go And Do Likewise

 “Luke 10:25-37    July 13, 2025 Rev. June Wilkins

 

The parable of the Good Samaritan only shows up in the gospel of Luke

and it is one of the most familiar of Jesus’ parables

It’s so familiar that the term “Good Samaritan” 

is a cliché in our language. There’s “Good Samaritan hospitals” 

There’s “good Samaritan laws”.  Even someone who’s never heard of this story –

or even the bible– knows what a “good Samaritan” is.

It’s someone who does something good for a stranger in need.

 

And that is usually our understanding of this parable too.

Be nice to strangers. That’s the whole thing. 

No need to go on with the sermon, right?

 

But does Jesus ever just give a nice story with a swell easily

Wrapped up moral, does he? Of course not.

 

Especially not to a lawyer who it says is trying to test Jesus.

Now when it says lawyer,  

it’s not exactly like we understand lawyers today.

Back in Jesus’ day, Jewish lawyers were those people who

understood and interpreted the law of Moses.

They were religious leaders too.

 

The question this lawyer asks doesn’t seem too outrageous.

It’s a question that we all want to know the answer to:

“What do we have to do to inherit eternal life?” And we know lawyers

don’t ask questions unless they already know the answers.

Jesus knows that this man knows the answer. 

He works with the law every day. The lawyer has studied and interpreted it.

It’s an answer that he has heard since he was a boy.

So Jesus throws the question back to him.

“What’s written in the law, lawyer?”

 

And the lawyer says it:

“Love the lord your God with all your heart soul strength and mind

and love your neighbor has yourself.”

 

And Jesus says, Sure that’s perfect. 

 

And I’m sure if the lawyer had left it at that,

we probably wouldn’t have heard about this story

But the lawyer doesn’t leave it at that. 

 

It says that the man wanted to justify himself.

In other words, he wanted to make sure that he had

already done what was necessary to inherit eternal life.

He wanted to check it off his list.

He wanted to go away knowing that he was

secure and had earned it already.

 

This shouldn’t be foreign to us, we do it all the time.

Just read the bible for a little while and see how you do it in your head.

 

So the man asks the question to justify himself,

“Who is my neighbor?”

The man was hoping that Jesus would answer with something like:

“Your family, your friends, the people who live next door,

those who are culturally similar, the people you like,

the people who don’t make you feel uncomfortable,

That is your neighbor”

The lawyer would have loved for Jesus to tell him that.

Then he would have been able to justify himself.

 

But Jesus doesn’t let him do that.

Jesus never lets us do that.

Jesus is always turning things on their heads.

 

In response, Jesus tells the story of a traveler

on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

This was a notoriously dangerous road. The listeners knew that

someone was bound to get in trouble on this road.

And the story does not disappoint.

And the traveler is robbed and beaten up and

left on the side of the road half dead.

 

Then Jesus says that a Levite and a Priest go by.

As you might know, Levites and priests

are the Jewish religious leaders the dedicated temple workers,

the ones that everyone looks up to and assumed

will follow the law and ways of God.

 

But when they come across this other guy in the road who needs help, 

they both cross to the other side of the road to avoid him.

Now we don’t know why. Maybe they were in a rush.

Maybe they were afraid, it was a bad neighborhood after all.

Some say it’s because they were going to the temple in Jerusalem

and didn’t want to defile themselves.

I don’t think it matters, actually.

There could be countless reasons why they didn’t stop.

Think of all the various reasons that you or I have given ourselves

for not helping a stranger who needed our help.

The point is, the church people did not help.

So two people have passed by this injured traveler.

 

Now everyone knows, since the beginning of time,

that all stories happen in threes.

And then here’s where Jesus delivers the whammy.

 

If the first two guys fell through,

then everyone knew the last would be the hero of the story.

So the people listening are ready for the hero to come in.

And that hero was a Samaritan.

 

Samaritans were hated by Israelites.

They were originally Israelites, but years ago had stayed behind

in a gentile land and married gentiles. 

So in some people’s eyes, they were unholy and unpure. 

They were looked down on by Jewish people,

They were seen as second-class citizens.

They were the butt of Israelite’s jokes.

Samaritans were actually the people that the apostles, James and John

offered to destroy by commanding fire come from heaven

a couple of weeks ago.

 

Most Jewish people didn’t include Samaritans

in the scope of God’s favor.

For a Jewish person to call someone a Samaritan was an insult.

 

And yet that is how Jesus’ story goes, The Samaritan comes near,

the Samaritan is moved with pity. The Samaritan helps the man,

 takes care of him and saves his life. 

The Samaritan is the one who fulfills the law to love your neighbor as yourself. 

The Samaritan is the one who acts like a neighbor. 

And is also the one that the hearers of the story should be like, 

should emulate, should aspire to be like.

A shocker to all that lawyer, and the disciples

and all the other people hearing this story.

 

For Christians, this story might be rephrased:

A person was beaten up and left for dead,

A great pastor crosses to the other side of the street to avoid them,

and a beloved church member crosses to the other side 

to avoid them, just then – and then we can fill in the blank ourselves -- 

whoever we look down on, whoever we  would never

imagine would be the helpful one in the story,

whatever group you think is ruining America,

whoever we might consider asking fire to come down

from heaven and obliterate.

 

THAT person is moved with pity

and comes over to help the one in the road.

 

Last week there were horrible floods in Texas that killed many people.  

One of the first groups of outside people who came to help

were volunteer firefighters sent from Acuña, Mexico.

From Mexico, with all the horrible, inflammatory, 

Fire Fighters from Acuña, Mexico
Who came to help after the floods in Texas

and racist things said about Mexico, and Mexicans and Latinos in general,

by our president, and actually 

by the Governor of Texas too,

and the hostile way that many people of our

country have echoed those terrible sentiments,

Mexico still sent volunteers 

to help the people of Texas.

 

This really is the good Samaritan story in real time.

Who is my neighbor? The one who showed us mercy.

Mexico is our neighbor.

And our neighbor is not just someone who we pity and feel sorry for.

A neighbor is someone who serves us too.

A neighbor is someone who an teach us and we can learn from.

 

And this is how this is a super-clever story on Jesus part.

Jesus could have easily made the Samaritan the person that

was beaten up and left on the road for dead

And then the moral would be to help that person.

That is often the position that we put people who

are oppressed, hated, or outcast when we’re trying to include them.

 

While most of us pride ourselves on not hating people

of other races, classes, and cultures

a lot of us will still look down on people in another way

we see them as hopeless and helpless, not as advanced as us.

We see them as always needing assistance.

Like they will never become full people without our good guidance.

They just need to learn to be like us.

This is how many caring but privileged people think.

“Just learn our way. Poor, poor Samaritan. And you won’t be so sad.”

 

But no. Jesus takes the Samaritan, the hated one,

and puts him in the role of the one who helps

The one who is to be admired, emulated, imitated, learned from.

The Samaritan is the helper, the hero.

Jesus tells the lawyer, “Go and do likewise.” Go and be like him.

Find your eternal life in that whole arrangement.

 

Remember, the original question was

“What must I do to gain eternal life?”

And here is another layer to this amazing story.

Jesus is saying with this story that our salvation will not

be found with the religious leaders, or religious institutions.

 

Our salvation will be found in the outsider,

the one who is despised,

looked down on, and the butt of rude jokes.

Our salvation is found in the one that we make the other –

whoever that may be at the time.

 

And our neighbor is not just there to feel sorry for

and to have pity on, our neighbor is there

to teach us, to emulate, to learn from, and partner with.

That’s the new system Jesus has ordained.

 

In other words, for the people of God,

Salvation is found outside the usual places.

 

All this with a simple story about a man who gets robbed.

 

Jesus tells this man that we cannot put a box or limits on God’s love. 

God will be working wherever God is needed, 

God will be on the dangerous roads, in the streets of the city, in another country.

 

God will even work through those that we have labeled as unholy,

or unworthy, despised and hated, or poor and pitied.

God will work through people outside the Judeo Christian Faith.

And, on occasion, God will even work in and through us,

the people of Christ’s church

 

Jesus is our neighbor. Jesus has shown us love and mercy.

Jesus has rescued us, cleaned our wounds,

taken us to a safe place, and paid for our protection.

Jesus was the one who was despised and looked down on,

and he was crucified for it.

 

Jesus has shown us how to be neighbors to each other,

by being our neighbor first.

 

And Jesus’ love and mercy

is what moves us to go and do likewise.

Shake It Off

Luke 10 1-11, 16-20

July 9, 2025

 

Last week, the apostles noticed that the Samaritans

weren’t really receptive to Jesus message.

And so James and John’s suggested to Jesus that they might

“Command fire to come down from heaven

and consume them.”

 

Hmm. I question whether any of the disciples could actually do that.

And in their question it sounded like maybe

they were asking for Jesus to give them that power,

which I don’t think would be a good idea at all.

And, thankfully, in response to the question,

the Prince of Peace rebuked James and John, the sons of Thunder,

and probably gave them a good side-eyed stare

that let them know that that was a crazy idea.

I’m not adding dialogue. I’m just adding stage direction.

 

This is not the last time Jesus followers have thought

that violence was the best way to deal with those who don’t

believe or don’t behave the way they think they should.

The most famous one is the various Inquisitions from the

Roman Catholic Church which went on for hundreds of years.

The Spanish Inquisition alone resulted in an estimated

5,000 plus executions by the church.

 

Even Protestants had their moments.
John Calvin the father of Presbyterians, Congregational, Baptist,

and other churches, was a great advocate 

of burning people at the stake for heresies and for not following his rules.

 

And, not to be outdone, even our own Martin Luther wrote a 

treatise against Jewish people that was so nasty, it was widely read

by the Nazis and was used as justification for the Holocaust.

 

And today, people still come to these disturbing conclusions,

that non-believers or just the non-receptive 

to their brand or interpretation of Christianity deserve to be hurt or killed

or banned, or shunned from places, or barred from political office.

 

Jesus, should we command fire to come down from heaven and 

consume them?? “No”, says Jesus. with his best side-eye stare. “No.”

 

But then we have this other side of the spectrum.

The side that thinks that we just need to make

a better effort to just get along .

That Christianity is about not taking any sides in anything.

That Christianity is about making peace with everyone, 

no matter what they say or who they are or what they do.

 

It’s the side of the spectrum that seems to scold me on social media

whenever I take a strong position on anything.

The ones that says, “not very Christian of you.”

and quotes: “judge lest ye not be judged”

(Always with the old English “ye” by the way.)

 

And less sarcastically, the one that always tries to calm rhetoric.

The one that attempts to understand

and to see the good in all people.

The one that says that a few really good conversation,

could repair everything.

I have to say I was that kind of Christian for a long time.

But I’m not sure that’s serving us or the Gospel right now.

I mean I’m always going to be in the “we’re all God’s children”

camp, but maybe not everyone wants to get along.

Maybe not everyone is aiming to understand.

Maybe a few good conversations will NOT make everything better.

 

Just this week, We have people who have gone out and killed 

political opponents in Minnesota,

and then political leaders who don’t seem to care that it happened.

 

And we have people who laugh and react with glee at the prospect

of detaining immigrants basically in concentration camps

whose only misdemeanor offense is coming across the US border.

 

And then this horrible bill that passed the senate and the house.

Which cuts funding for Medicaid and feeding programs 

for millions of people, which will decimate poor hospitals, close nursing homes,

and harm whole communities who need this care so badly

at the same time it’s given tax cuts to rich people and corporations,

and increasing the budget of ICE and immigration enforcement

to unprecedented levels.

 

And I understand that government is government,

and compromises have to be made and choices are

always going to be at least annoying and, at most, infuriating.

 

But some of our representatives that supported this bill,

did it with prayers, kneeling on the house floor thanking

God for its passage, instead of asking for forgiveness.

 

And that’s just this week. And that’s just in our country.

I mean if I go to situations in other countries

and in other weeks, we’d be here all day.

  

I’m not sure if I can pretend that some people

just have a different views of how to get things done

I’m not sure I can say anymore

that we have the same objectives in the end

and that we’re all really on the same side.

I mean, I thinking that maybe there are some people,

some Christian people, who just aren’t

hearing or accepting  Jesus message.

 

So, Jesus, should we command fire to come down

from heaven and consume them? Huh, Jesus?

No. (Side-eyed stare, and extra eye roll added from Jesus.)

 

This week, Jesus sends the apostles

out into the world to spread Jesus word and way.

He sends them in pairs,

he says that harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers are few.

 

He tells them to go into people’s house

and to offer God’s peace.

But it’s apparent from Jesus pep talk

sending them out that not everyone is

going to welcome them.

 

Not everyone is going to be receptive

to the message they have to share.

Not everyone is going to be on the same page.

He tells them that he’s sending them out

like “lambs in the midst of wolves”.

Meaning some people may even be hostile and

try to do them harm.

 

And Jesus says in response to those people say:

'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet,

we wipe off in protest against you.’

 

Or as it says in the similar passage in Matthew.

“Shake the dust of that town off your feet.”

Basically, shake it off and move on.

 

Jesus doesn’t tell the apostles to try and convert everyone.

They don’t have to psychologically analyze everyone

and figure out why this is happening.

They don’t have to understand why people have hate

in their heart for the most vulnerable people.

They don’t have to sort out why people

always have such distain for the poor.

They don’t have to try and convince people

that their way is the right way.

They don’t have to exorcise every demon.

They don’t have to convert everyone.

 

They just have to shake the dust off their feet

and move on, and keep doing

the work they were called to do.

 

I still thoroughly believe that, one day,

this world will see the reconciliation of all people,

I know that we will see the day when

“every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

 

And I think that the struggles that we have experienced and

are experiencing are the pains and wrestling

of the journey to that promised land.

This suffering will not be in vain.

But we’re not there yet.

Not by a long way.

 

And in this in-between time Jesus has given

his disciples a way to deal with those who

are rejecting the ways of Jesus and life

and following the ways of evil and death.

 

We are not asked to consume them with fire

and change people by threat or by force.

But we are also not asked to sit around in a circle,

holding hands and signing Kumbaya either.

 

Sometimes the best thing is to is just

shake the dust of them off our feet,

and go on with the work of the gospel

we’ve been called to do.

Repairing the breach.

Healing the sick.

Feeding the hungry.

Binding up the broken hearted.

Rectifying the damage that has been done.

And standing up for justice.

 

And one day we will see Satan fall like a flash of lightning.

One day the glory of the Lord will be revealed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let the Dead Bury Their Dead?

 Luke 9: 51-62 June 29, 2025

 

 “The son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”

 “No one who puts his hand to the plow

and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

“Let the dead bury their dead"

These are some of many quotes from Jesus that

your grandma never had needle-pointed on a pillow.

 

Jesus is kind of cranky today. No explanation why really.

Maybe it was the Samaritan’s rejection of him and the disciples,

Maybe it was because the disciples went right to

violence when things didn’t go their way,

like so many followers after them would.

Maybe it was because people seemed luke-warm

in their discipleship and Jesus knew he didn’t have

a long time to get things done.

 

It’s clear that Jesus is kind of frustrated over people’s lack

of commitment to his message

and their lack of urgency when it comes to God’s call.

 

I always thought that the roughest of Jesus’ quotes from this one

was “let the dead bury their dead”.

That’s definitely not making the

tag line or mission statement of any churches. 

 

I always thought that it was kind of rude

of Jesus to say this to a man who’s

father had just died and was just about to go bury him.

You think Jesus would be more sympathetic.

Maybe even go the funeral.

 

But I have read that the phrase “go and bury my father”

is a euphemism that has lost a some significance over time.

The thing is, this man’s father isn’t dead yet.

 

It’s a turn of phrase that means he has to

take care of his father into his old age.

After that, then he would be happy to follow Jesus.

 

So it wasn’t that he was grieving and needed

to actually have his father’s funeral right then.

It was kind of just a cop out. He was just saying,

I’m too busy for you now, Jesus.

Come back later, Jesus. Much, much later.

 

But Jesus face is set towards Jerusalem.

He was getting ready to face the religious authorities.

He didn’t have time to wait.

He didn’t even have time to wait for the person

who just wanted to say goodbye to everyone.

Things were happening.

 

And even though Jesus will be with us forever now,

we still have that same kind of urgency when

it comes to following Jesus.

People are hurting, people are dying,

People are falling prey to false religions

masquerading as Christian.

Food is being taken away from food banks,

families are being torn apart by deportations.

People are scared and they’re hopeless.

Jesus can’t wait for a couple of years.

 

And yet we still put Jesus off like that guy.

I know I’m always doing it.

We’ve all said, “Oh I’d love to do that.

I can see that thing needs to be done,

but I’ll have to  do it later.”

When this project is over,

when I have more time, when I’m retired,

when I’m not so busy doing other things, when I feel better.

When I don’t have other things to do.

 

We all have to set boundaries in our lives and

not take on too much in our lives. I respect that.

But I always seem to feel like there is some better time

in the future when I can do what needs to be done for God

but you know what? That time never seems to come.

 

We would really love to answer Jesus calls.

But life seems to get in the way.

And tomorrow, becomes the next day, becomes never.

 

And churches are usually bad examples for action.

As a whole body of people we often react to

God’s call in that same, slow, cautious way.

 

We keep saying we would do that ministry “if only”

If only we had more people,

if only we had more money,

if only we had more younger people,

If only we had better leadership,

If only we were in a better neighborhood, or a worse neighborhood.

If only we were different than we are right now . . .

 

If only we were like that church over there

then we could do what God wants us to do.

(Funny thing is, that church over there is saying,

“If only we were more like Christ Lutheran!”)

 

Jesus, we’d love to follow you,

we’d love to chase after the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

but call us later. Much later.

 

But Jesus says, No. There’s too much to do.

“let the dead bury their dead”:

Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God is here now.

There is something happening now that can’t be put off,

we can’t wait until the perfect moment,

when we have whatever we think we need.

 

And besides that following Jesus way

and doing what God calls us to do

is what brings us life here and now.

It’s what gives us energy, and meaning, and purpose.

It organizes us and makes us into what God needs us to be.

 

Besides that, following Jesus is something that we can do

while we’re taking care of everything.

It is the way we take care of everything.

No need to wait to get our lives together.

Following Jesus puts our lives together.

Sometimes it turns everything upside down,

but still, it puts it together.

 

We follow Jesus in the way that we run our congregation,

in the way that we spend our money, lead worship,

conduct business,  deal with each other in meetings,

care for each other.

We follow Jesus in the way that we reflect the love of Christ,

embrace diversity, and serve Hilton Head.

It’s the way that we do everything that we do in the church.

And it’s the way that we live our personal lives as well,

the way we treat people,

the way that we interact our family and friends,

and the people we work with,

the way that we spend and give our own money,

the way we think, and vote, and engage the world.

The way that we live life every day is following Jesus.

We shouldn’t always need to stop what we’re doing to follow.

 

And whatever Jesus calls us to do,

we have to know that we can trust God.

We can trust that God has given us everything

or will give us everything we need

to do what God wants us to do.

Even if we fail, God will always bring

something new out of our efforts.

 

So, when we hear that call

we don’t need to wait for that ideal time and place.

or until everything is taken care of.

Don’t wait until summer is over, or until

you get your life straightened out a little more.

 

We can follow Jesus where he asks us to go now.

God will make the extra time in our lives,

God will prepare us for the task,

God will give us the strength and the wisdom,

God will give us what we need.

The Kingdom of God is at hand.

 

So let’s put our hand to the plow and keep facing forward.