July 18/19, 2010 sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

July 18/19, 2010 - Pentecost 8
Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - Luke 10:23-37
"WHAT MUST I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?"
I SOME GOOD QUESTIONS
II A TEACHING TOOL SITUATION
III DO YOU SEE THE CORRECT ANSWER?
23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27 He answered: "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’"
28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
There is a saying to this effect that there is nothing more sure than death and taxes. With regard to taxes some might question that. Not too long ago a news report stated that well over 40% of people because of their income level do not pay taxes, and even some very wealthy people avoid taxes because of tax provisions or loopholes in the system. Yet, because of so many indirect taxes we aren’t even aware of, it may be correct that all pay taxes in that way, and when we buy something we are in fact paying the manufacturer’s taxes because he has added them to what he charges us.
But what about death? Even if we could avoid taxes, can we avoid death? Here there are no loopholes. Unless the final Judgment Day comes first, without an exception every one of us will die. The question is not whether we will die, but when that will happen.
Knowing death is inevitable, then what? In one way or another all will have to ask what the expert in the law in our sermon text asked.
"WHAT MUST I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?"
I SOME GOOD QUESTIONS (25-29)
1. A good question, but also bad (25)
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
a) "inherit" might make this sound like a good question - after
all, isn’t an inheritance something we did not earn, something
someone else wills to a person who has not paid for it?
b) but "what must I do" changes the thought, doesn’t it, even
with an inheritance: "I’ll be super nice to someone rich even if
I don’t like him; I’ll do things for him, and maybe he’ll put me
in his will" - and what sticks out here but "what must I do"?
2. A good question and a good answer (26-27)
"What is written in the Law?" [Jesus] replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’"
a) when it comes to doing, Jesus asked a good question, pointing
the man to God’s Law, to what God demands that we do
b) the expert in the law showed he knew the law, knew that God
demanded love for God above all and for your neighbor as
yourself; and we know that too, don’t we? our children in
confirmation class would give that correct answer - but is that
answer really understood, or is it just head knowledge?
3. Jesus now stated what the Law said and meant (28)
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
a) the answer is simple: don’t just know the law, but do it; and if
you actually do all of it perfectly, you will earn eternal life
b) here let’s think of baseball: what if baseball law said that in
order to make the team you had to get a hit every time you
came to bat? that would tell you that you had better not strike
out or fly out or ground out even one time; and now apply this
to God’s law: if you want to get to heaven by what you do, you
better do, obey God’s law every time and not slip even once
4. The expert tried to justify himself (29)
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
a) this man tried to justify himself, to find a loophole to excuse
himself: "sure I’ll love my neighbor, help him if he needs help,
but it has to be convenient for me and he has to be the right
nationality, doesn’t he? - sure I’ll love God above all, but
obviously that shouldn’t get in the way of some things I really
like and want to do, right?"
b) how might we try to justify ourselves? "sure I’ll respect my
government as God wants, but surely that does not apply to
speed laws and stop signs, does it? - sure I’ll love my wife or
husband, but if they aren’t nice to me surely I don’t have to be
nice, do I? - sure I’ll listen to what Mom or Dad tell me to do,
but surely it’s okay to get away with something now and then"
c) do we, like the man in our text, try to justify ourselves? - you
know the answer; so what Jesus does next is also for us
II A TEACHING TOOL SITUATION (29-37a)
1. First think of a similar OT example (2 Samuel 12:1-7a)
a) as we heard four weeks ago, King David had committed
adultery, had the woman’s husband killed, then took her as his
wife, and obviously had justified himself, excused himself that
what he had done was okay - after all, wasn’t he the king!
The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said,
"There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other
poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle,
but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had
bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!"
b) the story helped David, who had justified himself, to see his sin
2. Here Jesus also used an illustration (29-36)
But [the expert in the law] wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’"
a) the church workers here, like King David, probably justified,
excused themselves for passing by
b) but they, like the robbers or muggers, were guilty too
3. Like David, the expert saw the point (36-37a)
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man
who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law
replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
a) just knowing what the law says is not enough
b) knowing, but not doing, makes you guilty, just as knowing
you should get a hit, but not getting a hit, means you’re out
4. How do we fare when we look at ourselves? (37b)
"The one who had mercy on him."
a) yes, we have to be wisely careful with all of the solicitations and appeals we receive in the mail and in other ways; there are
plenty of crooks and deceiving people ready to scam us
b) but if God places a genuine need before us, do we pass by; or
will we try to be like the Samaritan, as God enables us?
c) and here please don’t forget the greatest genuine need: the
world needs the Gospel, the message of the world’s Savior;
will we (and here I’m thinking of all of us) be like those who
pass by, who see no need to use for example our offering
envelopes to enable our congregation and our synod to share
the Good News of salvation? - the priest and the Levite did not give help and probably justified themselves; in contrast the
Samaritan gave much help; whose example do we follow?
III DO YOU SEE THE CORRECT ANSWER? (36-37,23-24)
1. You don’t if you see only the Law (37b)
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
a) the Law does show us God’s holy will, but it cannot justify us
b) instead the Law, like an umpire, has to call us out because we
don’t, we can’t, get a hit every time; our failures strike us out
2. But more than the Law has been revealed (23-24)
Then [Jesus] turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."
a) the people of the Old Testament did not see Jesus in person,
hear His voice in person, see His body on the cross where He
paid for our sins, or His body risen and alive and victorious the
way the disciples of Jesus’ time saw this
b) but they had the same Gospel promise of what this all meant,
as we do today: Jesus died because we could not and do not
keep God’s law perfectly; Jesus atoned for our sins because we
could not pay for even one; Jesus proclaims forgiveness and
promises life in glory to all who believe
3. Now do we see what should motivate us? (37b)
Jesus told [the expert in the law], "Go and do likewise."
a) "Go and do likewise." would drive us to despair because we
cannot keep God’s law perfectly, as little as the Good
Samaritan was able to be perfect always - and that is what the
expert in the law should have learned and what we should see
b) where we need to start is with God’s Gospel, with God’s
mercy to us; and, knowing His merciful forgiveness, we then
will strive to love, to show mercy not to save ourselves or to
earn an inheritance, but because God first showed mercy and
loved us, loved us so much that we can live in His forgiveness
and there receive strength to want to do God’s will
4. Will we now show that we know the answer?
a) we are not told what the expert in the law did after he asked
the question "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" - but
each of us knows what we are doing
b) may we answer that question by asking and saying, "What
must I do? Jesus did it for me! Jesus saved me! Jesus
forgives me!"
c) let that mercy and love of God motivate us to love and serve
God with all of our heart and soul and strength and mind, and
to let that be evident in loving our neighbors as ourselves
Is there something more sure than death and taxes? Definitely! It is God Himself. It is His Son’s victory on the cross and over the grave, His proclamation of forgiveness to sinners like you and me who in our weakness don’t always "Go and do likewise." It is His Spirit’s working in our hearts through Word and Sacraments to make and keep us His own, and to strengthen us to serve Him and follow His will out of love and gratitude for His mercy to us.
Knowing this, Jesus can say to us too, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see."