The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year C (Proper 10) - July 11, 2010
Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37
I would venture to guess that most of you know what a “plumb-line” is? For those of you that don’t know, a plumb-line (or plumb-bob). It is a weight, usually with a pointed tip, that can be used as a vertical reference line. It has been in use for thousands of years, even before anyone knew anything about gravity. The way it works is: The builder or craftsman, would dangle the weighted string from up above, and use it as a reference to make sure that whatever they were building was in “plumb” or truly vertical.
I built houses for many years, so this imagery from the Old Testament lesson sort of jumped out at me. But, little did the prophet Amos know that the plumb line that God was setting in the midst of God’s people, was none other than Our Lord Jesus Christ. By the virtues and witness of Christ, are we all measured by God…
Our readings today, as familiar as they may seem to us, say something very profound about who and how we should be. The Lawyer (or Scribe) that questions Jesus about eternal life made a distinct choice to frame his question trying to trick Jesus…
He asked him a question related directly to the Mosaic law (of which he is considered an expert!). Jesus answers the question with a question and the Lawyer, who is the resident expert in the law, responds with the summary of the law…
“Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength… and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Then the Lawyer tries to backstroke, knowing that Jesus had outsmarted him, and “justifies” himself by asking Jesus to define neighbor. Jesus, as he does though-out his ministry, chooses to use a parable to explain things…
We know the parable well, probably because it is one of the first that we learn as a child in Sunday School… The parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus presents his parable story, but St. Luke doesn’t explain to the reader why some of the characters involved, did what they did… Maybe because the folks Jesus was talking to already understood the roles of the characters involved, and the predicaments that they were in. But today, if we don’t understand who these characters are, it becomes pretty easy to place a lot of blame on the two guys that made the choice to ignore the injured man.
We need to step back a second and look at examine the scene more closely… to dangle a plumb-bob in their midst and measure their actions. Looking at the parable this way allows us to gain some understanding about why the characters in Jesus’ parable did some of the things they did.
Let’s look first at the priest and the Levite… we can understand why it’s pretty easy to let these guys catch all the blame… They seems pretty arrogant as they trot by on the other side of the road.
But what we sometimes overlook is that the priest and Levite rank pretty high on the purity list. According to Mosaic law, they had to remain pure, that means that they were to avoid, at all cost, ANY contact with a naked body, especially one that was bleeding and was possibly dead or dying. So contact with the naked body of the injured man on the road was not an option for them. So they decided to remain pure rather then help the man… To remain pure – true to their office and maintain their religious purity according to mosaic law – and pass by on the other side of the road, to avoid any contact with the naked bleeding body. As far as they were concerned, they had no other choice…
The Samaritan, on the other hand, didn’t even rank on the purity list… they were despised by the Jews… This particular Samaritan was traveling back and forth on the road, from Jerusalem to Jericho and carried with him oil, and wine and what seemed to be considerable funds. Some of the Biblical scholars suggest that he was probably a trader.
And a trader of goods at that time was a despised profession, because they were thought to have gotten rich at the expense of others. But this Samaritan trader decides to stop… to stop, and to help the poor man that was injured, bleeding, and lying in the road…
Using the wares that he carries with him… He cleans, anoints, and dresses the injured man’s wounds… and goes beyond the call of duty, and loads him on his own donkey and takes him to an inn.
So we have Jesus’ parable told a group of listeners that understand the characters in the story and they also understand what a “predicament” Jesus presents to the Lawyer.
And although we learned this story as a child, we may not have seen it this way… On the surface, the story seems pretty simple… but Jesus gives the lawyer a clear reference point… a “plumb-line,” from which to measure…
He puts care for a fellow human being ahead of any of the “Mosaic purity laws”… And therefore explains the true sense of the law – “to love your neighbor” without the need of worrying about who your neighbor is…
It kind of makes us mad today, that the priest and the Levite ignored the injured man… But Jesus understood the folks he was talking to… He knew that the folks wouldn’t think anything of a priest or a Levite deciding to pass by on the other side of the road.
The people understood the role of the two men and why they did what they did, as they used the “plumb-line” of the law… Jesus even knew that the group would be completely “outraged” because he used the Samaritan in the story to show mercy to the man… and be the one who became the neighbor… to be the new standard by which to act…
In our lives, and our walk as Christians, we always feel as if we are measured by this or that… trying to figure out how “in-line” we are… But, if we focus on moving forward in our daily lives and use Christ as our plumb-line then we don’t need to worry about how the world measures us. We are doing exactly what Jesus wants us to do!
As we approach the holy table this morning, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ… It becomes for us our food for our journey through our Christian lives… As we receive it, we are reminded of our salvation, that we have through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ…
In response to our salvation, it is our responsibility to make decisions in our life guided by the Holy Spirit… It is our call from Jesus to Go Forth and Do Likewise.
Christ Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year C (Proper 10) - July 11, 2010
Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37
I would venture to guess that most of you know what a “plumb-line” is? For those of you that don’t know, a plumb-line (or plumb-bob). It is a weight, usually with a pointed tip, that can be used as a vertical reference line. It has been in use for thousands of years, even before anyone knew anything about gravity. The way it works is: The builder or craftsman, would dangle the weighted string from up above, and use it as a reference to make sure that whatever they were building was in “plumb” or truly vertical.
I built houses for many years, so this imagery from the Old Testament lesson sort of jumped out at me. But, little did the prophet Amos know that the plumb line that God was setting in the midst of God’s people, was none other than Our Lord Jesus Christ. By the virtues and witness of Christ, are we all measured by God…
Our readings today, as familiar as they may seem to us, say something very profound about who and how we should be. The Lawyer (or Scribe) that questions Jesus about eternal life made a distinct choice to frame his question trying to trick Jesus…
He asked him a question related directly to the Mosaic law (of which he is considered an expert!). Jesus answers the question with a question and the Lawyer, who is the resident expert in the law, responds with the summary of the law…
“Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength… and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Then the Lawyer tries to backstroke, knowing that Jesus had outsmarted him, and “justifies” himself by asking Jesus to define neighbor. Jesus, as he does though-out his ministry, chooses to use a parable to explain things…
We know the parable well, probably because it is one of the first that we learn as a child in Sunday School… The parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus presents his parable story, but St. Luke doesn’t explain to the reader why some of the characters involved, did what they did… Maybe because the folks Jesus was talking to already understood the roles of the characters involved, and the predicaments that they were in. But today, if we don’t understand who these characters are, it becomes pretty easy to place a lot of blame on the two guys that made the choice to ignore the injured man.
We need to step back a second and look at examine the scene more closely… to dangle a plumb-bob in their midst and measure their actions. Looking at the parable this way allows us to gain some understanding about why the characters in Jesus’ parable did some of the things they did.
Let’s look first at the priest and the Levite… we can understand why it’s pretty easy to let these guys catch all the blame… They seems pretty arrogant as they trot by on the other side of the road.
But what we sometimes overlook is that the priest and Levite rank pretty high on the purity list. According to Mosaic law, they had to remain pure, that means that they were to avoid, at all cost, ANY contact with a naked body, especially one that was bleeding and was possibly dead or dying. So contact with the naked body of the injured man on the road was not an option for them. So they decided to remain pure rather then help the man… To remain pure – true to their office and maintain their religious purity according to mosaic law – and pass by on the other side of the road, to avoid any contact with the naked bleeding body. As far as they were concerned, they had no other choice…
The Samaritan, on the other hand, didn’t even rank on the purity list… they were despised by the Jews… This particular Samaritan was traveling back and forth on the road, from Jerusalem to Jericho and carried with him oil, and wine and what seemed to be considerable funds. Some of the Biblical scholars suggest that he was probably a trader.
And a trader of goods at that time was a despised profession, because they were thought to have gotten rich at the expense of others. But this Samaritan trader decides to stop… to stop, and to help the poor man that was injured, bleeding, and lying in the road…
Using the wares that he carries with him… He cleans, anoints, and dresses the injured man’s wounds… and goes beyond the call of duty, and loads him on his own donkey and takes him to an inn.
So we have Jesus’ parable told a group of listeners that understand the characters in the story and they also understand what a “predicament” Jesus presents to the Lawyer.
And although we learned this story as a child, we may not have seen it this way… On the surface, the story seems pretty simple… but Jesus gives the lawyer a clear reference point… a “plumb-line,” from which to measure…
He puts care for a fellow human being ahead of any of the “Mosaic purity laws”… And therefore explains the true sense of the law – “to love your neighbor” without the need of worrying about who your neighbor is…
It kind of makes us mad today, that the priest and the Levite ignored the injured man… But Jesus understood the folks he was talking to… He knew that the folks wouldn’t think anything of a priest or a Levite deciding to pass by on the other side of the road.
The people understood the role of the two men and why they did what they did, as they used the “plumb-line” of the law… Jesus even knew that the group would be completely “outraged” because he used the Samaritan in the story to show mercy to the man… and be the one who became the neighbor… to be the new standard by which to act…
In our lives, and our walk as Christians, we always feel as if we are measured by this or that… trying to figure out how “in-line” we are… But, if we focus on moving forward in our daily lives and use Christ as our plumb-line then we don’t need to worry about how the world measures us. We are doing exactly what Jesus wants us to do!
As we approach the holy table this morning, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ… It becomes for us our food for our journey through our Christian lives… As we receive it, we are reminded of our salvation, that we have through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ…
In response to our salvation, it is our responsibility to make decisions in our life guided by the Holy Spirit… It is our call from Jesus to Go Forth and Do Likewise.
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