Good Samaritan 2023

And maybe the Father, and the Son, and the Holy

Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. Most everyone

knows the phrase, the Good Samaritan. It's even

on law, named after this parable. Good Samaritan,

all here in California. You can look that up

on your own. Perhaps the parable of the prodigal

son is the most beloved and certainly the most

well -known. You could say if it's American,

most people have sort of an idea of what that

means. Just a short word of background on it.

A lawyer, don't think of an attorney. It's not

like that. A lawyer of the Jewish law. some of

whom spent this entire day studying the law of

Moses and then teaching. St. Luke says he came

up to trick Jesus, to tempt Jesus, to try and

prove Jesus wrong. He wanted to justify himself,

make Jesus wrong, and he's right. So he comes

with these questions, and Jesus kind of gives

it back to him. Well, you said it. What's it

say in the law? You're the teacher. You know,

Jesus could have just said, Love everyone. Love

your brother. Love your neighbor. Do good to

everyone. But he needed to put it in a story.

The most amazing story. Jesus was the consummate

storyteller. Because of course he is the word

of God. So he didn't let this man justify himself.

But he wanted to show This man, that in his heart,

he had dislike, disdain, indifference, I won't

say hatred, for a certain category of people,

namely the Samaritans. Again, you can look that

up, that's Bible study stuff. So the church in

her wisdom gives, and her care for us, gives

us this parable. now, today, just before we begin

fasting, the 40 -day fast before Christmas. What's

the connection? You've all heard this verse from

St. John's Epistle. If anyone says, I love God,

but hates his brother, and you see, the parable

to this man is to show that everyone is your

brother, even those that hate you. that seek

your destruction, that you probably hate. If

anyone says I love God and he's his brother,

he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother

whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has

not seen. And this commandment we have from him,

whoever loves God must also love his brother.

This would be the answer to everything in this

world. When we look around. But in my mind, it's

easier to love God. He can be distant. We cannot

see Him. Much easier than it is to love our neighbor.

Especially the neighbors that irritate us. Those

that we look down upon. Or those that look down

upon us. Those that we see on the news. causing

destruction and anguish and pain and suffering.

Those that we criticize, those that criticize

us, those that we find evil, sinful, offensive,

hateful, or smelly. Love your enemy, Jesus says.

Not just your neighbor. There are lots of enemies

around. But of course, we're indifferent to them.

We don't love them. We keep them far. And we

can be indifferent to them. More or less. Why

is it impossible to love God, says St. John,

unless I love my neighbor? Why is that impossible?

Why does he say, you're a liar? That's strong

language. In order to love God, we first have

to know him. Isn't that true? You can't love

something or someone you don't know. And the

way to do this, the way to love God, to learn

how to love God, to learn to know Him, is found

in this parable of the Good Samaritan. It's the

same as St. John has said in that epistle. It's

the same as the Lord says in the parable of the

last judgment. To know Him, we have to meet Him.

We have to encounter Him. We have to spend time

with God by being with the icons, the images

of God that we are surrounded by all the time.

Each person, that kind of icon, every human being,

even that enemy that hates us that you see doing

terrible things. If I can't bring myself to love

like that Samaritan did going to that man, Actually,

I have two other guys passing by. I can go through

my entire life wondering why God is absent from

me. Distant. Not truly needing Him. Despite what

I believe, what I confess, how I serve, how I

recite the creed in the liturgy, and so forth.

If I have not met Him, I don't know Him. And

if I don't know Him, I can't love Him. This kind

of Samaritan love, let's call it, is not about

our feelings. Our feelings don't do anything

for the needy person if we just think we're sorry

for their condition. Perhaps the priest and the

Levi thought that as they passed on the other

side. I wish I could help, but I can't get involved.

I have to go to the temple. I don't want to be

defiled if this man is dead. I'll be defiled.

I can't do anything. This kind of Samaritan love

is not about our feelings. So forget how you

feel about your enemy. Love here in this case

is action. Action. On the other hand, when I

realize that every interaction with others, all

those idols of God that I'm surrounded with,

that's time getting to know God. Because there

he seems. The image may be severely broken in

some. It may be distorted in others. It may be

smudged and disfigured in most of us. But that's

the path over and over and over again in my life's

journey that God has set out for us. Getting

to know God in His images. I can truly love Him

the way He wants me to love Him and the way He

wants to love me. It's not the way I would have

preferred. But it's the way, the hard way, that

God has given us. Go do likewise, Jesus tells

the man. How is it possible to do this? Because

we don't like spending time in these ways. But

it is possible. I understand finally in my life

that it is indeed possible. It's possible because,

in fact, we are the ones that Christ has come

to save. We heard St. Paul's words in the epistle.

God who is rich in mercy because of his great

love with which he loved us, even when we were

dead in our trespasses, our soul dead, unable

to do anything, despite what good we might have

done in this world, there would be no eternal

value in it whatsoever, doesn't matter how beautiful,

how epic it might be. Without God, it's nothing.

And we were dead in trespasses. He made us alive

together with Christ. By grace you have been

saved and raised us up together and made us sit

together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Think about where you're sitting right now. Isn't

this one of the heavenly places in Christ Jesus?

You're here, brothers and sisters. Just as St.

Paul said. He has made us sit together in the

heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The liturgy

is his place. When we were dead, being dead in

our sins, our soul dead, he made us alive. And

we have the wine and the oil that that Samaritan

poured on that man to heal him. The chrismation

and the Eucharist, the body and blood. The gift

of the Spirit. We have the church, the inn, where

we may be, if we want, healed by the Savior and

be seated in the heavenly places together. And

we become like the Samaritan who is Christ himself.

Wonderful book called By Elder Thaddeus of Serbia.

Thoughts determine our lives. He says, we are

the children of light and love. The children

of God. his sons and daughters. As such, we must

have his qualities and his attributes of love,

peace, and kindness toward all. That's the connection

with the Christmas dice. Advent means coming.

Christ's coming. He came to us. He continues

to come to us. He continues to hold out the healing

touch. Metropolitan Anthony Bloom said this in

his sermon on this day. We're going to leave

the church after the week. We will meet more

than one person perhaps today and during the

course of the coming week. Are we prepared to

love our neighbor as Christ has taught us? The

Lord knows our capabilities, our limits, our

blessings. And those blessings that we have neglected

and become poorer for that in life. Maybe we

won't reach that level of love of the Samaritan,

which is the gift of God, but at least let us

think of this parable as our itinerary, our agenda,

our spiritual outline. And act upon that as we

journey, not from Jerusalem to the old city,

a thousand feet below, literally, Jericho, as

we have in the parable, but to the cave in Bethlehem

and to the incredible revelation of God to us

at Christmas. Amen. So be it.