Weekly Sermon: You Make a Difference -07-13-25

The Holy Gospel, according to St. Luke, which came to check,

an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

The teacher, he said, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

He said to him, what is written in the law?

What do you read there? He answered, you shall love the word your God with all

your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, with all your mind,

and your neighbor as yourself.

He said to him, You have given the right answer. Do this, and you will live.

Why don't you vindicate yourself? He asked Jesus. And who is my neighbor?

Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,

and fell into the hands of Robles, who stripped him, beat him,

and took off, leaving him half dead.

Now, by chance, a priest was going down the road, and when he saw him,

he passed by on the other side.

So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,

passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, while traveling, came upon him, and when he saw him,

he was moved with compassion.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine.

Then he put him on his own hand, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper,

and said, Take care of him.

When I come back, I will repay you whatever you spend.

Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of prophets?

He said, The one who showed him mercy.

Jesus said to him, No one can do it like us. The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Grace and peace to you are yours, the Savior, Jesus Christ.

It's a powerful story. A familiar story. It's so familiar that we haven't given us the American law.

That says we're supposed to stop and help someone on the side of the road. We're not hurting.

But to me, this is a really, really difficult story because it so connects with

our heart in the day world that we live.

There's some things I think that's important to be reminded of in this story.

It's about more than just telling people.

It's, uh, there's an everything in this kind of overused term, I think, it's about,

more than just telling people. It's about breaking down your views.

Briding our idea of who our neighbor is.

Why? Because what we know about Samaritans and And the relationship they would

have had with these Jewish scribes, law makers, the ones asking the correct questions,

we know that was not only in them relationship, but they literally never talked to each other.

Samaritans were believed to be lesser human.

But what does this move do to break down that barrier?

It's not unlike people from Expo coming together during the floods right today.

People who have been, maybe spoke badly of, or sometimes,

not only being political, but this gospel is somewhat political because it breaks down areas.

Samaritan does what he's not supposed to do, he's not accepted in society.

And in spite of the way that some have treated people in Mexico, they still don't know.

They do the right thing.

Which is the next thing I want to talk about.

It's about doing what's right even when it's not cruel or not accepted or maybe

might even cause conflict or persecution.

He said, I don't believe anything at all.

You might have heard the phrase, being silent, is a choice.

That's something, you know, remaining silent when you see the justice is sort

of like just letting it be okay.

So we're called to use our voice to stand up for those who are being wounded.

It's not always a cool thing.

It's not only about helping or doing what's right, but it's about healing wounds.

As we say here this morning, each and every one of us have wounds.

We all have wounds.

Some of you can see the scars, those outward wounds, those physical wounds,

like this one on my finger when I got my first hockey knife and I'm like,

you're not supposed to have towards yourself.

My first wound as a kid.

We all had wounds that were turned on.

Healing wounds, coming close, healing relationships.

I work with young people who come to us incredibly wounded by whatever it is

that's happened to them in their lives. Much of it are things that they did not choose.

Some of it are things that they did choose.

But much of it happened to them.

How do we heal their wounds? How do we help them heal?

I can tell you this, and I'm not a therapist, but one of the things that has

to happen is they have to admit they have to.

Lord, for it to be healed.

And it's a powerful thing when you see that in young persons.

And they are willing to say, I need to be here. I need to heal.

And this is the wound that needs to heal me.

And once that happens, there's sort of this slow becoming of new life,

like a flower that slowly blooms each day, getting a little bit more and more and more.

Until suddenly they're becoming a new person.

It's a powerful thing to watch.

We need to be part of healing wounds as a church.

Finally,

this story is about transforming us to see each other through the eyes of God.

Boy, that's hard to do when I'm like someone.

Right? You know there's people in your life that think, well,

I just can't stand right now.

I can't stand right now. Or whatever. I can't stand in the other person.

It's really hard for you to be around that person.

But that person is a child of God. When we see each other through the eyes of Jesus,

when we look in the eyes of our brothers and sisters around us,

and we literally think of Jesus, what do we do now? It's powerful.

And it says, I don't care what we look like.

I don't care what our economic status is. I don't care what your sexual orientation

is, I don't care about any of that.

Because I know that God cares about you no matter what.

No matter what your past has been, this is what we tell the kids' explanation.

Your past, the things that have happened to me in the taxation grade, don't divide you.

They are not who you are.

Because God says, I love you in spite of all that.

In spite of the differences that you have with one another, I love you all.

So may we be, may we be the ones who are bold enough to break down the barriers.

May we be the ones, we be the ones that are willing to care for each other's wounds.

May we be the ones who can put aside our need to be right, so we love.

May we be the ones whose hearts are transformed and we are able to see our neighbor

through the eyes of Jesus.

Forgive us, Lord, for walking by.

Lead us down the road of life, and give us your strength to heal the wounds of this world. Amen.

Go now with hearts open wide, trust in that Christ will seek forgiveness.

Open the doors with compassion, cross boundaries, seek out the stranger and the angel friend.

Share the love of Jesus and the words of action Let your life be an invitation

As you go in peace To love, to deserve, and welcome all Thanks be to God And with you, God.