Proper 10 C + Getting on God's Good Side + by ACL+ 7.13.25

 

Getting on God’s Good Side
Proper 10C, Deuteronomy 30, Luke 10

 

St Paul’s Emmanuel, Santa Paula
The Rev. Alene Campbell-Langdell

 

Today's Gospel lesson starts with a question to Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Now, it’s possible the lawyer meant this question literally, but I don’t think that cryogenics or better health care is what this lawyer had in mind.  Instead, this question echoes Moses’ final speech to the Israelites in Deuteronomy.  Moses describes the fundamental choice that we all have: we can choose blessings or curses, life or death.  And so, in a sense, the lawyer asks Jesus, “How do I make sure that I’m always on the side of life?” How do I stay on the blessing side of things rather than the other?  How do I get on God’s good side?  This is a fundamental question for anyone who is not actually an atheist.  Because anyone who has even the slightest idea that God might exist has to wonder at some point how to make sure that that divine, powerful being is disposed to bless me rather than curse me. 

Furthermore, we know from Moses’ farewell speech in Deuteronomy that this desire for a blessing for oneself, one’s family, and one’s community and country is as old as recorded history.  Moses is recorded as telling the children of Israel that God will “take delight in prospering you…when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees…because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 30: 9-10).  And that’s the difficulty.  What does turning to God with all our heart and soul mean?  How do we even do that?  Jewish tradition identifies 613 commandments or mitzvot (good deeds) given in just the first five books of the Bible.  With all those possibilities of going wrong, how could I possibly stay on God’s good side?   “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

Since this has been a question from time immemorial, Jesus and the lawyer also know that scholars and tradition have worked to condense these 613 commandments into something more concise and easier to remember.  So, Jesus asks the lawyer for that summary and then commends him for his knowledge.  “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” (Luke 10: 27).  “Do this,” Jesus says, “and you will live” (vs 28). 

But still, the question nags because so often in history, religion has placed love for God and love for our neighbor as opposites. We are even seeing this play out in our day to day life in Ventura County. We are told that loving God means following a strict set of rules and excluding anyone who doesn’t follow those rules.  The list of most important rules for “loving” God has varied over the centuries and usually includes outward markers to distinguish who is in and out of the “law following” group.  This sets up the internal conflict that the lawyer expresses so well.  How can I love God (i.e., stay in the law-following group) and still love my neighbor?  Is there an exception for those who are outside the group?  In other words, does my neighbor only include those who follow the law?  Or, does my religious duty for worship, attendance at church, etc., outweigh the duty to care for my neighbor?  

In response, Jesus tells a story, as he so often does.  In this story, there is someone who gets walloped by life.  They are trying to live their life, get from one place to the next, when they are attacked, robbed, and left for dead.  The following two characters in the story are symbols of the religious establishment.  One is a priest, and the other belongs to the tribe of priests.  They represent worship at the temple in Jerusalem.  On one level, they appear to follow the equation's first part.  Who else could be said to love God with heart, mind, soul, and strength more than those who have dedicated their lives to the worship of God at the temple?   In contrast to this is the Samaritan, one who was seen as an outsider, and who didn’t worship God in the same place or in the same way. 

As Jesus tells this story, the initial question continues to resonate.  What does it mean to choose life in this context?  Who is actually blessed in this story?  The fear of those who continue on their solitary way is almost palpable.  There is no blessing, no life, in that response.  Deep down, as we listen to the story, we know what is right.  We know what is truly life-giving.  We see it in three remarkable characters and their interaction with one another.  We see someone walloped by life and willing to accept help from another person walking that same road.  We see an outsider willing to risk being vulnerable as he leaves behind his provisions to care for someone else.  Now he, too, like the disciples in last week’s passage, will be dependent on the hospitality of others as he continues his journey.  And we see the innkeeper who opens the door and accepts the responsibility of caring for someone without absolute guarantee that he will be reimbursed. (Melissa adds) When I was at Camp Stevens this past week, a theme was that of serving each other. We all go out with our sunblock and water, but in 85–90-degree heat, sometimes one person carries a bottle of water for another, or shares their bug spray. We do this because, while sometimes we can do it alone, we know it is better to do life together.  It is in this community of mutual trust and care that life and blessing are found.  In the judgment passage in Matthew 25, Jesus makes it clear that there is ultimately no conflict between love of God and love of neighbor, for “as you did it to one of the least of these… You did it to me.” 

And yet, open-ended, risky, leave-your-sandals, phone, and wallet-behind love is hard.  If this story were all we had to answer the question of how to be on God’s good side, I’m not sure this would be good news.  In Deuteronomy, Moses told the children of Israel that God delights in prospering them.  God has already chosen you.  Jesus has already chosen to come and find us, pay the price, and bring us to the inn.  We are already surrounded by a group of people who, however imperfectly, are all trying to be a community that chooses life, that chooses the blessing of loving and caring for one another. We are reaching out and trying to care for those who are under attack right now.  Like the disciples in the villages to which they were sent, Jesus stands at the doors of our hearts, our churches, our cities, and the borders of our country, asking if we will let him in.  Yes, it’s risky and vulnerable.  It’s also life, blessing, and joy.