A Plan for Following Jesus.
Faithful Living for Hard Times: Honor All People.

September 3, 2017 ~ “Faithful Living in Hard Times – Honor All People” from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on September 3, 2017.

The eighth in a ten part sermon series on our community charge:
Go out into the world in peace;
have courage;
hold on to what is good;
return no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak,
and help the suffering;
honor all people;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture readings (which you may wish to read prior):
John 4:39-41, 46-54
and 1 Corinthians 12:14-27

Last week we took the opportunity to look fairly closely
at the parable of the good Samaritan.

If you weren’t able to be here, don’t worry.
It is perhaps one of the most well known of the stories that Jesus told
So you probably already know the basics.

A man falls prey to robbers on a dangerous highway
And they leave him there half-dead on the side of the road.
A Priest comes by, sees him, crosses the street to avoid the man
And continues on his way.

So too a Levite, a respected pillar of the community, happens down that road
Sees him, crosses the street and moves on.

The kicker, Jesus says, is that next comes a Samaritan.

And we reminded each other that part of the point is that
the Samaritan was a Samaritan
that these sorts of stories, the kind you’d hear at the local pub
or at the diner
or share while out on a stroll
usually compared a Priest, a Levite, and an Israelite
you know, be like the good Israelite
not like those elitist folk
whom everyone knows should do good things for ya
but who are all wrapped up in their business, whatever that is,
to help a man when he’s down. No. Be like the Israelite.

But Jesus didn’t do that. He didn’t tell the story that way.

Actually, he didn’t tell that story at all.
His was about a Priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan

Someone, depending on which historical source you looked at
Was either like the disowned cousin
That everyone was embarrassed about
For causing the family shame because of the way they dress and carry on…

Or, according to other sources, would be more like your mortal enemy
Your Hatfields and McCoys,
Your Nazis and the Brits
(If you watched Dunkirk last night, like I did).

A Priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan.

It was a Samaritan who did the good. This story, Jesus told to his Israeli audience
It was a Samaritan, who was a neighbor to that hurting man.
And would you, half-dead, accept the help of your disowned cousin,
your mortal enemy?

Can you go and do likewise?

///
The Gospel writers made do with what they had.

By that I mean the context and the stories and the history of that time and place
To describe what Jesus meant and taught,
To illustrate the point so that those hearers 2000 years ago
might understand.

And the audience would have understood quite potently what Jesus meant
When he extended the concept of “who is my neighbor” beyond my family
Beyond my clique
Heck, beyond my people
To the Samaritans.

It was part of Jesus’ appeal, and part of what turned people off to him.

It remains so, today: Jesus’ expansive, inclusive understanding of who God loves
The breadth and the depth and the reach of it.
[Read more…]

A Plan for Following Jesus.
Faithful Living for Hard Times: Help the Suffering.

August 27, 2017 – “Faithful Living in Hard Times – Help the Suffering” from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on August 27, 2017.

The seventh in a ten part sermon series on our community charge:
Go out into the world in peace;
have courage;
hold on to what is good;
return no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak,
and help the suffering;
honor all people;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture readings (which you may wish to read prior):
Matthew 25:31-40
and Luke 10:25-37

The sermon today is about our call to help the suffering.

We know there is suffering all around us.
Somedays more than we can take in.

This storm in Texas, Hurricane Harvey, its so new and ongoing
That we’re not even sure what the devastation is yet
Though Kirk members are reporting that family and friends are reporting
Lots of water, lots of wind, lots of stress.

This sermon could be all about that, but its all still unfolding
Meanwhile we particularly are thinking about the residents of Texas in its wake
and those first responders who are
In harms way this morning
We are grateful that they include people from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Who will be there not just for the immediate aftermath
But the long term recovery work as well.

In the meantime, we reflect more generally about the fact that our faith encourages us
To help when there are people suffering.

There is no lack of scriptural material for us to choose this morning for our reflection.
We’ve heard Kate read one of the most powerful passages in the Gospel of Matthew
a reminder that we always have opportunities to serve Jesus
by serving the very real and very pressing material needs of our neighbor
particularly the hurting neighbor:
the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the imprisoned.

That passage reminds us that its not always about how we help
But that we do something to help, that we want to help,
Rather than finding some excuse to avoid helping
Because we’d rather not,
Or because they don’t deserve it
Or because I’d rather keep what I have
Than alleviate your pain.

And its always an interesting companion text
To what is perhaps one of the most familiar parables of Jesus
The Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Let us turn to that story this morning, shall we
From the tenth chapter of the Gospel according to Luke,
Where we find these words:

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. 
‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 

²⁶Jesus said to him,
‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ 

²⁷He answered, ‘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.’ 

²⁸And Jesus said to him, ‘You have given the right answer;
do this, and you will live.’

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus,
‘And who is my neighbor?’ 

³⁰Jesus replied,
‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
and fell into the hands of robbers,
who stripped him, beat him, and went away, 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 while travelling came near him;
and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 
³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds,
having poured oil and wine on them.

Then he put him on his own animal,
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 

³⁵The next day he took out two denarii, 
gave them to the innkeeper, and said,
“Take care of him; and when I come back,
I will repay you whatever more you spend.” 

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

³⁷He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

And may God bless our reading, and our understanding, and our applying these words, to how we live our lives. Amen.

///
So lets start with a story:[i]

One day a man discovers a magical lamp,
and upon rubbing the lamp,
a genie appears offering him three wishes.

But there’s a catch. [Read more…]