Consider that we who will come to hear the word of
God on Sunday are both in the ditch and lifting up the one in need. What does
that give the preacher to say? Here are some thoughts from commentaries in Homily Service from 2007. Wise words retain
their help for preachers who want to dig deeply into these rich stories.
Luke 10:25-37
I'd be surprised if the Samaritan
were the next traveler to pass by. There may have been a caravan of
hard-working traders, just starting on their voyage home to the Far East. . . When
they saw the man in the ditch, they shook their heads, wondering who would have
been so unwise as to travel this road alone: he only got what he deserved for
being so foolish.
There could have been a group who
laughed at him, and said, if he would only stay sober, he wouldn't find himself
lying in ditches. . . Or another who stopped and mumbled that helping this man
would just encourage him to depend on others. There are always people getting
themselves into some kind of predicament and expecting someone else to get them
out. He just needs to crawl out of that ditch and help himself. . . .
Most of us haven't been beaten up
and left for dead. Our ditch might be defined in broader terms: deep business
troubles, lost marriages, nose-diving children; drugs, alcohol, gambling;
anger, hatred. . .
Finally, a traveler stopped. Did
the beaten man recognize the Samaritan by the hem of his garment? Did the man
give up hope at that recognition, or fleetingly think it would be better to be
left to die? What could the man have thought as this hated Samaritan cared for
him with oils and bandages, helped him onto his animals, found an inn? Who in
this world would you least expect to stop and help you? That's who the
Samaritan was to this man. . . .
Can we remember, or imagine, what
it is like to be in a ditch? Who was it who soothed our wounds and provided a
place of healing? Then we can begin to understand Jesus' description of our
neighbors. Can we imagine, when we are the Good Samaritans, what it feels like
for the one in the ditch to be so in need of help—how difficult it can be to
ask for help? Then we can understand why charity is not always graciously
accepted. – Hilda A. Parks
How difficult it is to ask for help. Maybe we can imagine that
as the beaten one by the side of the
road, we do not readily accept the gifts of healing and nurture we receive from
the Good Samaritan who came to us as God-with-us full of mercy and compassion.
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Some Christians may
feel uneasy about Deuteronomy's straightforward assertion that the law is not
too difficult to obey, and that God delights to bless the people who are
obedient. They may wonder whether these affirmations conflict with Paul's claim
that the law is unable to give life (e.g., Galatians 3:21) and that it is not
possible for any person to so fully obey the law so as to gain favor with God.
The preacher will
want to make it clear that Deuteronomy is not concerned with the question of
gaining salvation, but of how to live within the salvation God has already
given. Deuteronomy does not state that Israel will earn covenant relationship
with God by obedience to the law. Instead, Israel receives the covenant as a
gift. The law is given as a further gift to guide Israel in faithful living
with God. – Aaron Couch
Colossians 1:1-14
The theme of this sermon might well be words from Paul: “God
has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the dominion
of the beloved Son of God, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
(vss. 13-14)
Aaron Couch is
a co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.
Hilda A. Parks,
ordained in the United Methodist Church, holds a PhD in Liturgical Studies
from Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.
Homily Service 40, no. 8 (2007): 21-30.
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