Justifying yourself doesn't work

Luke 10:25-37 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?" ²⁷ He 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." ²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" ³⁰ In 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. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He 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. ³⁵ The next day he took out two silver coins and 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?" ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

We Christians know the parable Jesus told about the Good Samaritan. We also know that we should join with the unnamed good-deed-doer and be Good Samaritans, too. Some of us even like to think we are good Samaritans and would never pass by on the other side.

I hope so, but I wonder how far we would go to help a stranger. I wonder if we would be as good a Samaritan as Michelle LaPlante.

Here’s the story: Jill Fink, took off her engagement ring so she could put sunscreen on her daughter. She put the toddler in a swing and dropped her ring into the child’s stroller. She forgot to put her ring back on. She forgot for two days. When she finally remembered she did a lot of crying. She quickly retraced her steps, but she knew the ring was gone.

Meanwhile, the ring was found by Michelle LaPlante, a lawyer. Michelle said, “If that had been my ring, I would have gone out of my head.” So Michelle posted a note at the park where the ring had been lost; then she posted fliers in the neighborhood; then she listed the ring on Craigslist; then she took the ring to the police department.

A receptionist at Jill Fink’s office spotted the Craigslist ad and, in a short time, the ring, the ring’s loser, and the ring’s finder were united.

So, how good of a Good Samaritan are you?

We all know we would be a lousy Good Samaritan if we kept the lost ring. But how far would you have gone to return that diamond to its rightful owner?

Would you be an OK Samaritan and take the ring to the police?

Probably.

Would you be a Pretty Good Samaritan and posted fliers?

Maybe.

Would you be a Really Good Samaritan and taken out ads? How far would you go to be not just a Good Samaritan, but a Perfect Samaritan? All the time? With no exceptions?

The expert in the law thought he was a pretty good neighbor, maybe even a really good neighbor. The lawyer had come to Jesus with the most fundamental of religious questions. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” What do I have to do to get to heaven? What do I have to do to be saved? How good do I have to be before I am good enough for God?

Jesus answers the law expert’s question with a question. “What is written in the Law?” The law expert gets it right by answering, “Love God completely and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus replies, “Do this and you will live.”

Stop right there! Just because Jesus tells you to do something doesn’t mean you can do it! I repeat. Just because Jesus commands you to do something doesn’t mean you can do it!

Do you get it? The lawyer didn’t. He believed he could use the Ten Commandments – the Law – in order to inherit eternal life. He tried justifying himself by asking, “What must I do? Who is my neighbor so I can love them?”

Luke records that “he wanted to justify himself.” “To justify” means to show he’s right. He wanted to save himself. To love God and his neighbor enough to get himself into heaven, without any help from anyone else. To show Jesus that he can keep the law.

That’s our problem, too. We want to justify ourselves. Husbands and wives justify going into debt so they can buy their big house. Kids justify to their parents why their grades are so poor. Employees justify to their boss why their behind on their workload. Christians justify to God why they skipped worshiping Him on a Sunday. God uses the word “justify” to mean “to be right and make right.” We use the word “justify” to mean “make up excuses.”

The Law says: “Love God. Love your neighor.” We justify ourselves: “I’m trying.” The Law says: “Love God. Love your neighbor.” We justify ourselves: “I’m doing the best I can.” The Law says: “Love God. Love your neighbor.” We justify ourselves: I can’t do it. But I have a good reason for not doing it.” The Law replies: “Love God. Love your neighbor. Or go straight to hell.” That’s what the Law says. That’s all it says. You can’t make excuses. You can’t work your way around it. Either love God and your neighbor perfectly or you are doomed.

The lawyer gets it all wrong. And if you’re like him, so are you. You can’t do what the Law says. You can’t keep it. You can’t justify yourself. No matter how hard you try. The Law’s job is to accuse you. It tells you what God demands and how you fall short of God’s perfect expectations. It reminds you that you are a sinner. It puts to death all notions that you can do something to inherit eternal life. Its job is to humble you. To crush you. To kill you. So that you are nothing. And that’s why Jesus says: “Go ahead. Do it. Give it a try. But the Law will not save you. Because you cannot do what it says! You don’t even come close!”

Jesus is the Savior. Not the Commandments. The Savior is standing right in front of the lawyer and the lawyer insists on justifying himself. Using the Law for eternal life.

That’s why Jesus tells the story of the man getting beaten up, robbed and left half dead. That’s why the priest and Levite, friends of the lawyer walk by on the other side. Jesus is teaching the lawyer who wants to justify himself that he is the poor man lying on the side of the road. Those who are trying to keep the Law by not coming into contact with blood or a possible dead body cannot, will not help.

But a Samaritan does. He has compassion on the poor man. And having compassion doesn’t mean he just stands there and feels sorry for the guy. It means he does stuff. He cleans and bandages the wounds and takes him to an inn to recover. He then covers any additional expenses.

You and I, like the lawyer, are not represented in the story by the priest or the Levite … or even the Samaritan. We are the poor soul lying in the ditch! The one who has been battered by sin, beaten up by the devil, kicked by the world and assaulted by death, and then left for dead. If that wasn’t bad enough, we inflict many of our wounds upon ourselves with our sins, making the situation even worse. And no one in this world cares. No one. Because they are all the in same situation as you. Wounded, bleeding, dying, and trying to find life.

Until along comes our Good Samaritan! He isn’t nameless, though! His name is Jesus. He couldn’t just pass us by. He couldn’t leave us lying there dying in our sins. He saw our need and stopped to help. Taking pity on us.

I don’t know how far you and I would go to help someone on the side of the road, but I do know how far Jesus went to help the bruised and battered sinners of this world. The Good Samaritan in the parable takes the injured man to an inn, pours oil and wine on the wounds before he bandages them up, and then provides for any additional medical expenses. In the same way, Jesus doesn’t just die for us and then go away. He pours the oil and wine of His baptismal waters upon our wounds every time we hear the words of absolution and see the sign of the cross. He carries us, by the preaching of His Gospel to the inn of His Church. There He puts us under the care of His pastors, His innkeepers, that we might have rest from our sins. He provides us with the food of His Lord’s Supper so that we can become strong and healthy. He covers all the expenses of our sins with His righteousness and makes sure that there is enough of that righteousness to cover us for the rest of our lives. That’s why in the Christian Church there is no limit to the forgiveness of our Baptism, no limit on how many times the Absolution is spoken, and no limit to how many times we may receive the Lord’s Supper in a month.

Do you see, dear Christians? We are half-dead and lying by the side of the road. And we'll die all the way, eternally, if the Law has anything to say about it, because it just passes us by. But not so Jesus, our Good Samaritan. He comes into our misery and mess and saves us. He is teaching this lawyer that HE is the guy who needs saving. He is teaching us that WE are the ones who need saving. No justifying yourself. No making excuses to the Lord. The Law will pass you by and leave you dying. But the Savior gives His life to save yours. He traded places with you by putting Himself in the ditch so He could put you in heaven. You will not die because Jesus has gone through death and suffering for you, in your place. That is what it means that God truly justifies you. Not your excuses, but the wounds of Jesus. Not your works, but the Word and Sacraments of Jesus. You can't justify you. But Jesus does by what He has done for you.

Now, I don't want you to think there is nothing to do for your neighbor now. The lawyer’s problem was that he wanted to say he loved God without doing anything for anyone else. God doesn’t need our hugs and kisses. We love God BY loving our neighbor. What Jesus is teaching is that our neighbor was not put on this earth to be the way in which we get ourselves to heaven! Rather our neighbor is given to us to love and serve. Jesus is teaching us to have compassion on others not by thinking about them but by DOING for them. When you see someone in need, don't mess around with whether you like them or not.

Rather, if you see them in need, help them out! And NOT because it saves you. Your salvation, your justification, is a done deal. Squared up by Jesus. The price is paid by the Good Samaritan and His money purse. You are now free to have compassion on your neighbor, precisely because you DON'T have to impress God. Which is a good thing, since we often mess up loving our neighbor. Never mind! Back at it. When you find yourself trying to be religious without loving your neighbor, repent! Likewise, when you find yourself trying to justify what you do or don't do to God, repent! Back to the inn, back to the church, back to oil and wine, that is found at the font and altar and Word. More Jesus for you. For He doesn't leave you but comes back to check on you. That is, He comes over and over to give you His gifts for forgiveness and healing.

The wrong way to read the story of the Good Samaritan is to think that Jesus is teaching us that if we do good things for other people, we’ll get to heaven. That’s what the lawyer thought. Jesus spoke to him to rescue him from that way of thinking. The right way to read this parable is that we are the poor soul in the ditch and our Good Samaritan comes along to rescue us.

I don’t have to wonder if you or I are going to be Good Enough Samaritans. Jesus is our Good Samaritan. The important question is not “how good of a Samaritan are you” but “how is Jesus your Good Samaritan?” Now we don’t have to justify ourselves. We are justified in Jesus. Because of His justification, now we will be Good Samaritans to our neighbors. That’s not you justifying yourself. That’s God justifying you in Jesus. Amen.