The One Thing Needful

The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Genesis 18:1-10a
Colossians 1:21-28
Luke 10:38-42

Text : Luke 10:38-42
Title : THE ONE THING NEEDFUL

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Romans 1:7)

Our Gospel reading for today is the story of Martha and Mary, two sisters who were close friends of our Lord Jesus while he was here on earth. These are the same sisters that John mentions in his gospel. John says that they had a brother, Lazarus, whom our Lord raised from the dead.

Well, Martha and Mary may be sisters, but St. Luke is apparently moré interested in showing us the differences between the two sisters instead of their similarities. In our text, we see the hospitality of Martha. St. Luke says that it was Martha who welcomed our Lord to their house. And it was Martha who was so very busy preparing food and refreshment for our Lord and for his disciples. Remember that our Lord’s disciples were fishermen, men with big appetites. How many times have we ourselves experienced preparing food for many people? Well, Martha felt the same worry, was probably as busy as we can be when we have to entertain many visitors.

We also notice in the story that the Lord does not admonish Martha’s busy-ness. Why? Well, because Martha was doing a good thing. St. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, says that “an overseer must be. . .hospitable. . .” (1 Timothy 3:2b). But, we also notice that Jesus does not praise Martha’s hospitality. More of that in a moment.

Well, let us look at Mary. If seen from worldly eyes, we would be apt to say that Mary is somewhat of a slacker. Ever since Jesus stepped into their house, Mary has done nothing. She just sits there at the foot of Jesus, listening to him, oblivious to the things that need to be done for the guests. The Lord also does not chide or reproach Mary for not doing anything. It is Martha who reproaches Mary, but she does this indirectly. She reproaches Mary by speaking to the Lord. Well, the upshot of this was that it was now the Lord, the guest, whom Martha reproaches, instead of Mary, the hostess: "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me."

Well, what can we conclude from this? First, we conclude that our good works do not earn points with the Lord. Our good works do not draw us closer to God. Our good works are worthless before God. And it doesn’t matter if we are Christians. God will not look at us as holier, or more precious, or closer to Him because of our good works. True, our good works, which are fruits of our faith, do indeed show others that we are the Lord’s disciples. BUT THIS IN NO WAY MEANS THAT OUR GOOD WORKS ARE IN ANY WAY PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. Martin Luther, in his Heidelberg Disputation, says that when we begin to think that our good works draw us closer to God, then that becomes mortal sin.

And that is what Martha thinks. Martha thinks that God will look at her good works and judge them to be good. Actually, that is not true. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is. Good works do not matter one whit to God, no matter who does it, Christian or not.

And how many times have we thought like Martha, how many times have we thought that our good works matter to God, that our good works are precious in the sight of God? There were people during Luther’s time who thought that way. They said “Facientibus quod in se est, Deus non denegat gratiam. To those who do the good that is in them, God cannot deny grace.” And so many times, we think the same way, don’t we, that God will have to recognize our good works as good and meet and right because they are good and meet and right.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.” Only one thing is necessary, and Mary, says the Lord, has chosen the better portion. Mary has chosen that one thing necessary. Only one thing is necessary: ONLY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS NECESSARY. Why? Because only the Lord Jesus Christ’s works will God accept. Only the Lord Jesus’ perfect fulfillment of the Law will God accept. Only the Lord Jesus’ suffering will God accept. Only the Lord Jesus’ prayers will God accept. Only the Lord Jesus’ death will God accept. Only the Lord Jesus’ good works will God look at as precious in his sight. AND HERE IS GOOD NEWS: ALL THE GOOD THAT THE LORD JESUS HAS DONE, HE DID FOR US. And because everything that the Lord Jesus did he did perfectly, we need only one thing: ONLY THE LORD JESUS. Nothing else, no one else.

And so, because of this, rejoice, people of God. Nevermore do we need to examine our works, if they were perfectly done, or whether God will accept them. Only one thing is necessary, only one thing is needful: ONLY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, for only the Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law perfectly; only the Lord Jesus Christ’s good works are acceptable to God; and only the Lord Jesus Christ’s death, FOR US, will God accept and look at as precious in his sight.

Only one thing is necessary, that, through faith we accept what the Lord Jesus has done for us. If we choose this, then, like Mary, we have chosen the better portion, and this will not be taken from us.
Only one thing is necessary: not our good works; not our striving; not our concern for the church; not our fulfillment of the Law. Only one thing is necessary: ONLY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Our Good Samaritan, Our Neighbor

The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost

Text : Luke 10:25-37

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text today is a favorite of Christians everywhere. It is the parable of the Good Samaritan. I know that we do not have a church named Good Samaritan Lutheran Church, but I am familiar with a Good Samaritan Methodist Church in Manila. And I think there is a UCCP church in Manila which goes by that name too. Why is this? Well, I think that the parable of the Good Samaritan appeals to the good side of most everyone we know, including ourselves. I think that the most common interpretation of this parable is that Jesus exhorts us to be like the good Samaritan in showing compassion to our fellow man. In fact, when we see or hear of people being good to others, returning a wallet full of money, returning a lost child, or even helping an old lady cross the street, we refer to that person as a good Samaritan. Even the bible commentator Matthew Henry exhorts us to emulate the good Samaritan, for, he says, that is Christ’s command, to “go and do likewise.” Well, this morning, may I offer a different interpretation of this parable.

Our text begins when a lawyer, an expert on Jewish Law, comes to Jesus and asks him, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, in typical rabbinical fashion, answers the lawyer’s question with another question, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” To which the lawyer replies, "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." Jesus then tells the lawyer: “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” And here St. Luke gives us a very puzzling line. St. Luke tells us that he, the lawyer, DESIRING TO JUSTIFY HIMSELF, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Why does the lawyer feel the need to justify himself in front of Jesus? Well, because of what Jesus told him: “Do this.” Jesus was actually saying that the lawyer DID NOT love his neighbor. That the lawyer was in fact NOT obeying the Law of Moses. And so, the question, “who is my neighbor” does not even have to be asked. Not by the lawyer, not by anyone, for all of us know perfectly well who our neighbor is.

And so, in answer to the lawyer’s question, “who is my neighbor,” Jesus tells this parable: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'

And at this point, Jesus asks the lawyer the fatal question: 36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" If we were asked this question, then undoubtedly we would at once answer, “The Samaritan.” But notice the lawyer’s answer. He says, “The one who showed him mercy.” The lawyer does not say “the Samaritan.” The hatred of the Jews and the Samaritans for each other runs deep indeed, that the lawyer cannot, in good conscience, utter the nationality of this man who showed mercy simply because he is a Samaritan. This also proves that Jesus was right about the lawyer, that indeed he did not love his neighbor, for Jerusalem and Samaria are, geographically speaking, neighbors. Jews and Samaritans hate each other so much that they cannot worship at the same place. And so, the Jews worship at Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, and the Samaritans worship God at Mt. Gerizim in Samaria.

And now for the interpretation of the parable. The parable indeed answers the question, “who is my neighbor,” but not in the way we expect. Like the lawyer, when we think of neighbor, we automatically think of a person in need who we must help. But our text does not say that. In our text, the neighbor is the one who helps the man who was beaten and robbed. Now, it would be very difficult for us to identify with the priest who crosses the road and ignores the man, for we are not priests to begin with; neither can we identify with the Levite, for we are not all connected with the overseeing of rituals. Also, it would be difficult for us to identify with the lawyer, for we are not experts in the Law. But neither can we identify with the Samaritan. The Samaritan was an outcast. We are not outcasts. The Samaritan was treated like a dog in Jewish society. No one treats us like dogs.

But if we cannot identify with these characters, who is left that we can identify with? Well, what about the man who was set upon by thieves, beaten and left for dead, dying, helpless to help himself? Yes, we can identify with this helpless man for we ourselves are helpless to save ourselves from our sin. Nothing we can do can ever win for us the forgiveness of sin which we need in order to be saved. We are like that man. We are helpless because of sin. We cannot help ourselves. We cannot save ourselves.

But if we identify ourselves with the helpless man, who then is the Good Samaritan? Who, then, is OUR NEIGHBOR? THE GOOD SAMARITAN IS JESUS, WHO SAVES THE MAN FROM CERTAIN DEATH. JESUS, THE GOOD SAMARITAN IS OUR NEIGHBOR, THE ONE WHO SHOWS US MERCY. But maybe you will complain. How can Jesus be the good Samaritan? Jesus is not a Samaritan. He is a Jew. In John 8:48, the Pharisees, in answer to Jesus, tell him, 48, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" But we might say, well, Jesus was not an outcast, was he? The prophet Isaiah has this to say about Jesus : “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

The GOOD SAMARITAN is Jesus, OUR NEIGHBOR, who comes and saves us, helpless men and women, from sin and from certain death. The GOOD SAMARITAN is Jesus, OUR NEIGHBOR, who pours wine to clean our wounds, and oil to soothe the pain, through his Word and Sacraments. The GOOD SAMARITAN is Jesus,M OUR NEIGHBOR, who came and died on the cross NOT FOR HIS FRIENDS ALONE, BUT EVEN FOR HIS ENEMIES. The GOOD SAMARITAN is Jesus, OUR NEIGHBOR, who paid the penalty of sin as our substitute, in our behalf, so that we may be forgiven and have eternal life.

Once more, Jesus, THE GOOD SAMARITAN, OUR NEIGHBOR, comes to us, now, through his Word and his Sacrament. Like the helpless man in our parable, you also, go and do likewise. Be like the helpless man. By faith, with no merit or work on your part, receive the saving grace of Jesus, OUR GOOD SAMARITAN, OUR NEIGHBOR.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

from John Donne, HOLY SONNETS XIV

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ;
breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.