S
ermon Text: Luke 10:25-27
Sermon Excerpt
Jesus’ parables should grab our attention! When I shared with one of you that my sermon title was “The Good Hamas Member” your response was “please don’t put that on our sign. We don’t want those driving by to think we support Hamas in any way, shape or form.”
If the idea of a Good Hamas Member sounds like an oxymoron to your ears know that this is exactly what Jesus intends.
Today, you won’t find Israeli Jews talking about a “Good Hamas Member.” That’s absurd! In the first century of the common era you would not find Israelites talking about a “Good Samaritan.” That’s ridiculous! Then like now there are no “good enemies” and no “good terrorists.”
Except . . . perhaps this is possible in God’s Empire. Jesus teaches about and begins to make real on earth an Empire that looks very different from the empires of his day or of our day.
So perhaps the first of many meanings we can find in this parable is the reminder that God’s Empire, this reality we call the Realm of God or the Kingdom of God is capable of showing up when, where, and through whom you least expect it.
You may be processing this as a new idea and as one that sounds so unconventional. It isn’t the way we have usually interpreted the parable. Perhaps a television sitcom is a safer way to begin.
Do you remember Seinfeld? It was the best show ever that was about nothing. In the final episode – back at the end of the 1998 – the main characters end up receiving a one year prison sentence. Here is how that surprise ending came to be . . . (read manuscript or watch video)
So What?
Ask almost anyone what it means to be a Good Samaritan and they will answer in a way that is consistent with the many Good Samaritan laws found throughout the world. As part of the human community our caring for one another means being willing to step in and render aid to someone who needs it.
This, however, need not be the only meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Imagine yourself in the role of the one who was robbed, beaten and left half-dead. What does the story teach you from this perspective?