Pastor T.C. Arnold
13th Sunday after Trinity
Luke 10:25-29
September 6th, 2009
About a month ago I took my oldest son Jacob golfing for the first time. On the 6th hole of Shiloh Springs Golf Course in Platte City there is a water tower straight down the fairway, well beyond the golf course, maybe about 1000 or 2000 yards away from the tee box. Jacob is an inquisitive child. He asks, “Dad, how far is it to that water tower?” I respond, “I don’t know – 1000 or 2000 yards away.” “Dad, have you ever hit that water tower with a golf ball?” No, Jacob, I have not.” “Has anyone ever hit that water tower with a golf ball?” No, Jacob – That’s pretty much impossible. It’s too far away.” “What if someone hit that water tower – would that be a record?” And the questions went on and on and on.
I love my son, but sometimes he drives me nuts with all the questions. But to his credit – as it is many times with the questions of children – they were sincere. You see, I’m convinced that there are many different reasons why people ask questions. The first way is the most sincere – like Jacob’s questions. People ask questions to find out information they did not previously know. Those kind questions make the most sense. But there are other types of questions we ask.
Sometimes we ask questions to confirm what we already know. Perhaps we already know the answer but we want to hear someone else say the same thing. It makes us feel safe and right to hear someone else say an answer we already know. That way we can see if they know what we know.
Sometimes we ask questions to confirm our own actions and beliefs. There could be a hidden agenda in this question. We will even structure this question to make sure the hearer will get the idea of what we feel, think and believe already. Maybe we will even asking a question in a certain way to try to get the one who is answering the question to agree with what you did or believe – even if what we did or believe is wrong.
And then there is the question that attempts to try to trap the hearer. There is most definitely a hidden agenda in this question. This is the kind of question we hear in the Gospel text for today from Luke chapter ten. The expert in the law put Jesus to the test by asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus saw this trap a mile away. Not only did He understand that it was a loaded question – He also knew that it was the wrong question to ask – and that someone like an expert in the law would ask such a question because of “preconceived” notions.
Now without getting too technical and bogged down with the philosophy behind the question – let’s see what Jesus accomplishes. How does Jesus respond to the question? He responds with a question of His own. Jesus asks the expert what he believes the answer to be. Jesus already knew that the lawyer had the answer. “What is written in the Law? He replied. How do you read it?”
And then the correct answer was given by the one who knew the law backwards and forwards. “Love the Lord you 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.” Jesus said that he was right to answer this way and said, “Do this and you will live.”
But there was more – and the more is “asking a question in which he thought he already knew the answer to” and the “confirming my actions and justifying myself,” question. And the question to confirm himself in his right beliefs and actions was…”And who is my neighbor?”
Because, I mean… come on… my neighbor could not possibly be everyone – right? It can’t be the unbeliever down the street. It can’t be that person who I don’t agree with on anything. It can’t be that one guy who is very rude. It can’t be that Muslim I saw in the supermarket or that Hindu I heard about that lives around the corner. We try to “justify” ourselves by making excuses and exceptions to God – not unlike the expert in the law. You don’t have a Godly excuse to not be a neighbor to your neighbor – and that means all those people we just listed. It also means your friends. It also means your family. And that sometimes is the hardest of all – to be “neighborly” to our family of all people.
So, if you are going to ask questions – make sure they are the right questions to ask. Don’t ask questions like the expert in the law asked. Ask your neighbor the right question -- a question that attempts to know and understand or seeks to know better. Ask a true, sincere and genuine question that seeks to know and understand and not to justify self and lord things over others. You know how this is done. You know a genuine question when you hear it – when you speak it.
Here’s the question to ask your neighbor. Do you know who Jesus is? Once, years ago while at the seminary, I was out making calls with a fellow seminary student and a man who was teaching us “Dialog Evangelism” (a program we were required to go through for a class). The calls we made that afternoon gave us no opportunity to talk with the members of the community. No one was home. The man driving the car and teaching us this program was not so quickly deterred. He saw a man raking leafs in his front yard. He pulled the car over, stopped and rolled down the window and said, “excuse me sir, do you know who Jesus is?” To my surprise and to the surprise of the other seminary student in the car the man said, “No.” This gave our teacher the perfect opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with someone who didn’t know who Christ was. This world is dying, folks, and there are more and more who don’t know Jesus.
Not many of us are so bold. But can you ask this question: “Do you have a church home where you worship regularly?” Can you ask this question: “Would you like to come to church with me this Sunday? I would be more than happy to pick you up or meet you in front of the church so we can sit together?” Those are the right questions to ask. The expert in the law didn’t want to know Jesus. He wanted to trap Him. He wanted to justify himself so that he would not have to treat those who were not like him as neighbors. Who’s your neighbor? Who are you going to ask the tough question to ask this week?
What about our questions to God? Do we have any tough questions to God? I bet we do. We all do. Am I really forgiven? The answer – from God – is YES – by My grace and My faith I give to you. That answer depends solely on Jesus and Him alone. We ask that kind of question usually because we aren’t sure if God can stomach all that we have done to deserve such far more deadly consequences. But He did it – not you. He did it all for you and you have life. This is why we can be sure.
Here’s another question – “Am I really justified purely based on what you did Lord, or, does my righteousness depend on so much more?” Remember, we cannot justify ourselves. We are subject to the Word of God. We will never be able to stand before our Lord and say – “look at all the good I did, Lord. Surely this must merit eternal life.” This is what the expert in the law would say. He has kept the law – but his keeping the law was without faith in Jesus. Works without faith are not God-pleasing works – even if God does great things through them. But rather, what flows from the gift of faith – our works – are God-pleasing because of what God has given to us first. That’s the justification. The justification came through Christ to you. It comes to you first in this place. Rely on what Christ gives to you.
“What must I do to have eternal life?” asks the expert. But his question had a hidden agenda. Jesus saw through that in a hurry. Here’s the better question: “What have I done to deserve eternal life?” Jesus’ answer: “nothing.” Here’s another better question: “If I have done nothing, what then has been done?” Jesus’ answer: “I died for you.” Here’s the better question again: “Why did you die for me?” Jesus’ answer: “because I love you and you are mine. Now the life I have is yours. Now go tell your neighbor.” Our question comes back to that of the expert in the law: “who’s my neighbor.” Jesus’ answer: “I died for all. I died for you.” Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.