9 September 2009
St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Pentecost 14 Midweek Greenspring Village, Springfield, VA
“You
Are the Man!”
Text:
Luke 10:23-37
You are the man!
Yes, you - the man in
the Holy Gospel we just heard.
For you have been
assaulted by the devil and his merry band of demon-robbers, and left to die in
your sin.
Just as he did to Adam
and Eve in the beginning, and to men and women ever since then.
The devil doesn’t care
who you are, he just wants to use and abuse you.
To satisfy his appetite
for human flesh and bone.
To steal and take what
is not his.
To assault and murder.
You never see him,
though you see his work: the debris of humanity left by the side of the road.
You never see him
because he is more clever than to be seen.
Instead, he gets others
to do his work for him: namely, us.
Us and our sinful human
nature.
And so the assaults
come upon men and women through men
and women.
Through treachery and
deceit; through gossip and back-stabbing; through selfishness and pride;
through gluttony and lust and greed.
We’re killing each
other and killing ourselves.
But make no mistake who
is behind it all.
The old evil foe,
laughing with delight and leaving a trail of death in his wake.
You think it would be
different in church, but even here . . .
We are infected and
affected too.
Not stopping to help
when we should; not wanting to be bothered or interrupted or inconvenienced.
The priest and the
Levite who passed by the desperate, dying man were just as desperate and dying
as he, weren’t they?
They just didn’t
realize it.
They thought they were
living, but they were dying too.
Satan spares no man in
his murderous assaults, attacking from without and from within; attacking with
truth and with lies - whatever works; attacking with deadly persistence and
consistency.
You are the man.
Assaulted and left for
dead.
But to you has come a
most unexpected helper.
A Samaritan - someone
most folks wouldn’t even notice, or if they did, wouldn’t care about.
But he stopped, with
the very opposite of assault: with compassion.
His hands didn’t hurt,
but healed.
He poured out not
wrath, but oil and wine.
And he paid for the
man’s care.
Had he done this
before? He seemed to know the innkeeper and have his trust, that his credit was
good.
This Samaritan, who no
one wanted as their neighbor, was everyone’s neighbor.
Stopping, mercying,
healing, caring.
He is a saviour to this
man, giving us a picture of our
Saviour, come for us.
For, in fact, Jesus is
the Saviour come for us and all who have been assaulted and left for dead.
He is not only
everyone’s neighbor - even more, He is the Son of God come to be our brother.
The one who comes in
compassion, not to hurt but to heal, to pour out His own blood for our healing,
and to paid for our care with His own life on the cross.
A payment of infinite
worth.
That the sin we commit
be forgiven.
That the sin committed
against us and the death that seeks to devour us be overcome.
That the old evil foe
be robbed of his prey, and his laughter and glee be turned to mourning and
sadness.
This is our Saviour for
us.
Who stops for us not
because we ask, but because He has compassion.
Who raises us from
death and gives us life again.
Who demanded nothing
from the wounded man, because He knew what he would do.
That he would “go
and do likewise.”
Because those who have
been there, know what its like.
You know what its like - to have been
assaulted and left for dead.
To have little or no
hope.
To be despairing and
hurting.
But having been
forgiven, having been raised, having received the washing and the body and
blood of your Saviour Jesus, there is something now new in you.
Not the same as before.
A new Spirit, a right
Spirit, a compassionate Spirit.
That sees ourselves in
others, and others in ourselves.
And knows their desperation,
for it is our own.
And so stop to help. To
do likewise. To do as has been done to us.
Not perfectly, to be
sure. We’re a long way from that.
But just as the old,
evil foe uses us and our sinful nature to do his dirty work for him, even more
will our Saviour use our new, risen, forgiven nature to give His compassion to
others.
Just as He did for Adam
and Eve in the beginning, and for all people on the cross.
And when we do, it is
no longer satan laughing with delight, but the angels in heaven rejoicing over
sinners who repent.
And so yes, you are the
man - the man no longer dead, but risen and given life!
You are the man to whom
Jesus has come with His healing, forgiveness, and life.
Yes, you are the man,
now blessed and just.
Blessed and just in
Jesus, your Saviour.
That you may live in
His mercy, both now and forever.
In the Name of the
Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.