“WHAT MUST I DO?”

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON JULY 15, 2007

Luke 10:25 "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

The Good Samaritan has a lot to answer for!

Jesus' final words to the lawyer "go and do thou likewise" have resulted in christians carrying out all sorts of works of charity and welfare ever since the time of the apostles.

In every age the church has done what it could to follow Our Lord's words, often blazing a trail that others would follow later, sometimes not getting it quite right. The local Mercy Hospital reminds us that the first people to care for the sick in San Diego were christian nuns.

I had a personal experience of following this command of Our Lord in my previous parish in Australia. From Monday to Friday the parish hall became a day center for street people, attracting 100 people a day. I have many stories to tell - and one of the more amusing spin-offs was that the people would say to me "you're really christians at St. Marks" - as if all the other churches weren't!

People usually associate being a christian with doing good. The Good Samaritan parable is one of the best known stories in the bible. Combine that with the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", and you have a powerful philosophy for doing good. The problem is that doing good doesn't make you a Christian. The existence of Jewish and Muslim welfare societies and agencies illustrates that there are good Jews and good Muslims. And, like Christians, they also are following the injunction we find in St. James' epistle: "I, by my works, will show you my faith."

When we look at today's gospel reading we see it is more than about doing good. For a start, the priest and the levite certainly don't follow the Golden Rule. When they saw the man lying on the road they did not "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." No - they passed by on the other side. We might say they are representatives of all those who did not do good. But the twist is that they represent the Old Covenant. They personify all that the Law of Moses means - and they failed. So we can't dismiss them as symbolic of uncaring people. And put yourself in the mind of the young lawyer who comes with this trick question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds to the question - and the lawyer proudly indicates that he knows the law. For his job as a Jewish lawyer was to know the law. And he sums it up brilliantly: "You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself."

But there is something going on here. He knows the law, but it's not enough. St. Luke says he wanted to justify himself. The lawyer knew that this wasn't all there was, and something was missing.

Now we might think that it was simply a matter of that man doing something for others. That going and doing likewise was the solution to the question. This is to ignore that question which started the conversation: "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

The lawyer said he was looking for heaven - for salvation. And salvation was standing there right in front of him. The lawyer was looking for Jesus - if he but knew it.

Put yourself in the same situation. We might be devout Christians, and we may love our worship, and we may be very good at doing all those things. But sometimes faith like love grows cold. And then maybe we have the same question the lawyer had: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Then it is time to renew our relationship with Jesus.

For this parable is about relationships. The priest and the Levite didn't want to get involved. They would not have a relationship with the man lying on the road. But the Samaritan held nothing back. He didn't want to just help him - he wanted to be there foor him, even coming back again later to make sure the man was all right.

So the way to heaven is about relationships - firstly with Jesus, and secondly with his people. And here we have a problem within the church. Lately we have been hearing about the Millennium Development Goals. If you haven't heard about them yet you soon will. Last year the Episcopal Church's General Convention named them as a priority for Episcopalians. Our diocesan convention followed suit, enthusiastically endorsing them as a significant priority for Christians.

The Millennium Development Goals are about redressing the inequality between the rich nations of the world and the poor. Since the United States is the richest nation in the world maybe we should be concerned to do something.

The problem is suddenly the MDG are the new gospel. This is what Christianity should now be concerned about. But I have a real problem with those who speak forcefully about the MDG, but speak less forcefully about Jesus. You may well hear a bishop say in a sermon that as Christians we must take on board the MDG - and in the same sermon they also say that Jesus is just one of many ways to the divine. Suddenly the personal relationship with Jesus is irrelevant. Somehow Jesus got replaced by an economic program.

So what is the message of the Good Samaritan?

Yes, "go and do thou likewise."

Yes, show your faith by good works.

But watch out that the hole in your spiritual life is not filled up with good works.

And remember the question that led to the parable: "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"