A Too Familiar Story

Luke 10:25-37

July 15, 2007

^{Luke 10:25}On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

²⁶"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

²⁷He answered: " '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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

²⁸"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

³⁰In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coinsand gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

³⁶"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

³⁷The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

The story is familiar, so familiar in fact that we have laws, “Good Samaritan laws” – named for the protagonist of this story – to protect the liability of those who have simply interrupted their routine to help others in need. Many in our world have never heard the story, though most of us in the church have heard it many, many times. The Samaritans were the remnant descendants of the ten northern tribes of Israel who had intermarried with non-Israelite immigrants who had been resettled into the area by the Assyrian empire. By the pure-blood Jews they were considered second-class, half breed, mixed blood, sub-human. It was scandalous for Jesus to make a Samaritan the hero of the story. It would have been a more comfortable story if he’d let the priest, or the religious leader be the one to show mercy; more comfortable for Jesus’ hearers, and for me, too.

I would like to think that I, as a caring Christian, and a clergyman to boot, would be naturally identified as the Good Samaritan – but alas, I often find myself more like the priest or the Levite – pre-occupied with ‘working for God’ or remaining ‘un-stained by the world’ that I neglect the weightier matters of mercy and justice. The reality is that sometimes we clergy, and even we church folks, can forget what it is to be lost in sin, desperately in need of a Savior.

For Father’s day my children bought me the first six books of the Harry Potter series, and I read the first five while on vacation. I am aware that many Christian churches have been antagonistic to the series, because of its fantasy setting in a world of wizardry, but the reality is that they are among the most popular reading of our nation’s young people. Toward the end of book five, the basis of the movie that came out this past week, there is a scene in which Professor Dumbledore says to Harry… (p 862)

“Harry, I owe you an explanation,” said Dumbledore, “an explanation of an old man’s mistakes. For I see now that what I have done, and not done, with regard to you, bears all the marks of the failings of age. Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young … and I seem to have forgotten lately…”

I have not seen the movie, but I hope they didn’t lose that line – ‘Youth cannot know what they have not experienced – and we who have gone through those experiences of youth must not forget what that was like.’

People who have not known Jesus as Savior cannot be expected to know what a difference he makes. But we who have received Him as Savior must not forget what life was like without a Savior.

Friends, I, like most of us in the church, am out of touch with the lost people of our community who do not know their need for a Savior, or that a Savior is even available! Jesus gave His life to save the world, not just a few of us. We’ve been commissioned to make disciples for Jesus, but I tend to retreat to comfortable fellowship with like-minded people, wondering why ‘they’ don’t see the light. God has not called us to create a cozy community – God has appointed us to change the world; to go out, to carry the light, to tell the story.

Romans 10:14 reminds us “How can they call on Him to save unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?”

It is hard to realize that as familiar as our language of salvation and redemption, grace and mercy, may be to us, it is a foreign language to the majority of our community!

The Samaritan’s dialect may have been imperfect, his accent an object of snickering. The Samaritan’s heritage may have been suspect. The Samaritan’s religious practices may have been unorthodox. But his mastery of the language of compassion made the rest immaterial. If we are to be faithful in the call to make disciples, to share the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ, we will have to learn to speak the language of love and caring that transcends generations and life styles. It doesn’t mean that we will come to complete agreement on everything, but we can still love one another.

I’d like to try something here – and see how well statistics hold true. My dad used to say that statistics was “the art of lying with numbers.” But let’s see how this works.

Please stand if you were born before 1944 – Builders (46M) – Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation,” values and life perspectives were shaped by the Great Depression, WW2, Korean War. They started most of those things that we have ‘always done that way.’ They built most of the ‘institutions’ for future betterment; Church congregations, ministries, Social Security, etc. Popular music was the great music of the Swing and Big Band era. Virtually everyone identified themselves religiously as Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish. (65% Christian)

Please stand if you were born between 1945-64: “Baby Boomers” (78M) The “me” generation that challenged and broke all the rules. It was a time of material prosperity and desire to provide a better world for our children – Disney generation – amusements, games, child centered culture. I saw an advertisement the other evening – I didn’t get the name of the place, but it was essentially a “Chuck E Cheese for Boomers”, marketing to this age group. It was the era of the Cold War with ‘godless communism’ being the common antagonist. The new popular music of this generation was classic rock and roll. Most of them were taken to church as children, but a significant percentage discontinued church attendance in adulthood. (35% Christian)

Please stand if you were born between 1965-80; “Generation X” (50M) the smallest generation with the highest percentage of only children – no siblings. Advent of birth control pill, and (1973) legalized abortion (9.5 million). Instead of child centered homes – parental convenience centered. 50% saw their parents divorce, majority had both parents in work place – ‘latch key kids’ raised by TV, Atari, Nintendo, getting their own meals – disintegration of family time. Disney did not market to this generation – too small a market or disconnected with Disney family focused values! They saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet empire. The popular music scene evolved primarily to Heavy Metal and Rap, hip-hop and ‘gangsta,’ expressing the anger and loneliness of this generation. 50% have had no church exposure. (15% Christian)

Please stand if you were born between 1980-2000; “The Millennial Generation” the Boomer echo, “Look At Me” Generation – numerically nearly as large as the Boomers (70.4M) [25 M of this generation were legally aborted] – dominated by technology; cell phones, email, internet, MySpace, Facebook, posting pictures, information on interests to connect with others – desperate need to be noticed, to connect with other people. If you hug someone from this generation, who doesn’t go to church, it will likely be the most significant human touch in 2 weeks. The popular music genre of this group carries heavy beats and high volumes; metal and techno. 80% of this generation has had no exposure to church - none. And only 1 in 5 of those in youth groups today are projected to remain in the church as young adults => 4% - (4-6% Christian).

We don’t know much about the next generation – we’re just 7 years into this group – but we do know that they are growing up in a post 9-11 world.

So, here's the summary of the church and world today;

The current population of the Builder Generation is about 46 M, 65% are still active in the church (30 M people).

The current population of the Boomers is about 74 M, 35% are still active in the church (27 M people).

The current population of the Generation X'ers is about 50 M, 15% are active in church life (7.5 M people).

The current population of the Millenials is about 70.4M; 4% are still active in church life (2.8 M people).

Here’s the sobering reality of what is going on in the church. In the UM Church, we tend to think institutionally, myself included, We think that way, because 80% of us are still of the Builder generation.

But outside our doors, it is a different world. People today are not looking to institutions or programs which were so effective for the Builder Generation. They are looking for a place to belong, and people to relate to. What people are truly looking for today is evidence that their existence matters to someone else, and that God has not given up on them. We are shockingly like the priests and Levites, who also thought institutionally, busily caring for our own, folks like ourselves, thinking we were doing God’s will, but forgetting what life was like without a Savior.

Most of us attending church today are of the Builder Generation and you have much to teach us of the next generations. But each generation thinks in terms relative to their experience. In many ways we are all victims on the road, needing a helping hand before we die – a savior. The good news is that we also have the possibility of being the Samaritan, of a different generation, language, culture, life experience – sharing the language of God’s love.

I’m going to ask you to do something this morning that I suspect will be both uncomfortable and exhilarating if you’ll take it seriously. It will be even more uncomfortable if you don’t take it seriously and just sit and wait, so you might as well participate! If you are not of the Builder Generation – please stand up. Go find someone, or a couple, who is still seated, and I want you to introduce yourself and to ask each other these two questions:

Hi my name is… What’s your’s? How long have you been coming here?

I’ll give you three minutes to go find someone, and share before I give you the next step.

[3 minutes]

Now, I want you to ask, and answer, each other this question: How can I pray for you?

Maybe it is a family concern, a health issue, a career decision, a social dilemma… share and pray with each other …

[3-5 minutes]

Stay with your new friend until the end of worship – maybe you’ll want to exchange phone numbers and call each other during the week. The reality is that you matter, you matter to each other, and to God.

You are the wounded victim that needs help, and you are also the Samaritan caring for this one beside you this morning…

A Too Familiar Story - The Good Samaritan