Beyond Cotton Ball Sheep

Last night, I spent several hours completely paralyzed as I tried to write this morning’s children’s sermon. Doug went off lectionary this morning to preach about the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), and I was stuck. What to say to the kids about this very familiar story, without dumbing it down to the virtually meaningless moral “be nice”?

Making matters worse, I got the old opening credits theme for the Australian soap opera “Neighbours” stuck in my head. Then I started thinking about Mr. Rogers and how he called everyone “neighbor.” None of this was particularly helpful. I also spent some time thinking about the excellent Iris deMent song “He Reached Down,” but that wasn’t really where I wanted to go with the text, either.

I read the story again and again, and something started to bother me. The lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”, but Jesus never gives him a straight answer. Sometimes we suggest, especially since the Samaritan is a member of a rival ethnic group, that Jesus’ answer is “everyone is your neighbor, especially your enemy.” That’s a reasonable assumption, and a very nice answer, but it’s not actually how Jesus concludes the parable. Instead, he answers the question with a question, “Which of these men acted like a neighbor?” After puzzling this out with my awesome husband and theological sparring partner Greg, we realized that Jesus transforms the whole concept of neighbor from passive to active. Neighbors are not just people you tally up into a list. Being a neighbor is something you do.

So then on to the next challenge: translating that idea into a chat with the kids. Here’s what I came up with:

I have a question for you this morning. It’s a math question. If I have five apples, and you take away two, how many apples do you have? (as I expected, the kids all proudly chorused “three!”)

That’s not the right answer. Listen to the question again. If I have five apples, and you take away two, how many apples do you have? (this time, they all got it)

It’s a trick question! Trick questions don’t have the answer you think they should have. People asked Jesus trick questions all the time. They wanted to make Jesus look stupid, and they wanted to make themselves look smart.

One day a man said to Jesus, “I know I need to love my neighbor. But who is my neighbor?” This was a trick question! He hoped Jesus would give him a list of all the people he needed to love. Then he could love those people and not love everyone else.

S0 instead of answering the question, Jesus told a story.

Once upon a time, a man walking down a road was attacked by robbers. They beat him up, ran away, and left him lying in the road, badly hurt.

While the man lay there, a priest came walking by - like Pastor Doug. The priest saw the man who was hurt and lying in the road. But he didn’t stop to help him. He just kept on walking.

Then, another man came walking by, a Levite. The Levites helped the priests - just like I help Pastor Doug. The Levite also saw the man who was hurt and lying in the road. But, just like the priest, he didn’t stop to help him. He just kept on walking.

Finally, another person came walking down the road, a Samaritan. Samaritans were from a different country, an enemy country. They didn’t usually help people who weren’t like themselves. But this Samaritan saw the man who was hurt, and stopped, and put bandages on his cuts, and helped him get to an inn, where they would take care of him until he was well. The Samaritan even paid the innkeeper with his own money!

After telling the story, Jesus asked a question. He said, “Which person was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?” And the answer was, “The Samaritan, because he was merciful.” And Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

The person asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” But Jesus showed us the real question: How can you be a neighbor to other people who need you? Don’t ask who you need to love. Ask how you need to love. And God will help you care for other people who need your help.

Let’s pray: Dear God - help us love our neighbors - all our neighbors - and help us show mercy - and loving care - Amen.