And maybe the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. Most everyone
knows the phrase, the Good Samaritan. It's even
on law, named after this parable. Good Samaritan,
all here in California. You can look that up
on your own. Perhaps the parable of the prodigal
son is the most beloved and certainly the most
well -known. You could say if it's American,
most people have sort of an idea of what that
means. Just a short word of background on it.
A lawyer, don't think of an attorney. It's not
like that. A lawyer of the Jewish law. some of
whom spent this entire day studying the law of
Moses and then teaching. St. Luke says he came
up to trick Jesus, to tempt Jesus, to try and
prove Jesus wrong. He wanted to justify himself,
make Jesus wrong, and he's right. So he comes
with these questions, and Jesus kind of gives
it back to him. Well, you said it. What's it
say in the law? You're the teacher. You know,
Jesus could have just said, Love everyone. Love
your brother. Love your neighbor. Do good to
everyone. But he needed to put it in a story.
The most amazing story. Jesus was the consummate
storyteller. Because of course he is the word
of God. So he didn't let this man justify himself.
But he wanted to show This man, that in his heart,
he had dislike, disdain, indifference, I won't
say hatred, for a certain category of people,
namely the Samaritans. Again, you can look that
up, that's Bible study stuff. So the church in
her wisdom gives, and her care for us, gives
us this parable. now, today, just before we begin
fasting, the 40 -day fast before Christmas. What's
the connection? You've all heard this verse from
St. John's Epistle. If anyone says, I love God,
but hates his brother, and you see, the parable
to this man is to show that everyone is your
brother, even those that hate you. that seek
your destruction, that you probably hate. If
anyone says I love God and he's his brother,
he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother
whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has
not seen. And this commandment we have from him,
whoever loves God must also love his brother.
This would be the answer to everything in this
world. When we look around. But in my mind, it's
easier to love God. He can be distant. We cannot
see Him. Much easier than it is to love our neighbor.
Especially the neighbors that irritate us. Those
that we look down upon. Or those that look down
upon us. Those that we see on the news. causing
destruction and anguish and pain and suffering.
Those that we criticize, those that criticize
us, those that we find evil, sinful, offensive,
hateful, or smelly. Love your enemy, Jesus says.
Not just your neighbor. There are lots of enemies
around. But of course, we're indifferent to them.
We don't love them. We keep them far. And we
can be indifferent to them. More or less. Why
is it impossible to love God, says St. John,
unless I love my neighbor? Why is that impossible?
Why does he say, you're a liar? That's strong
language. In order to love God, we first have
to know him. Isn't that true? You can't love
something or someone you don't know. And the
way to do this, the way to love God, to learn
how to love God, to learn to know Him, is found
in this parable of the Good Samaritan. It's the
same as St. John has said in that epistle. It's
the same as the Lord says in the parable of the
last judgment. To know Him, we have to meet Him.
We have to encounter Him. We have to spend time
with God by being with the icons, the images
of God that we are surrounded by all the time.
Each person, that kind of icon, every human being,
even that enemy that hates us that you see doing
terrible things. If I can't bring myself to love
like that Samaritan did going to that man, Actually,
I have two other guys passing by. I can go through
my entire life wondering why God is absent from
me. Distant. Not truly needing Him. Despite what
I believe, what I confess, how I serve, how I
recite the creed in the liturgy, and so forth.
If I have not met Him, I don't know Him. And
if I don't know Him, I can't love Him. This kind
of Samaritan love, let's call it, is not about
our feelings. Our feelings don't do anything
for the needy person if we just think we're sorry
for their condition. Perhaps the priest and the
Levi thought that as they passed on the other
side. I wish I could help, but I can't get involved.
I have to go to the temple. I don't want to be
defiled if this man is dead. I'll be defiled.
I can't do anything. This kind of Samaritan love
is not about our feelings. So forget how you
feel about your enemy. Love here in this case
is action. Action. On the other hand, when I
realize that every interaction with others, all
those idols of God that I'm surrounded with,
that's time getting to know God. Because there
he seems. The image may be severely broken in
some. It may be distorted in others. It may be
smudged and disfigured in most of us. But that's
the path over and over and over again in my life's
journey that God has set out for us. Getting
to know God in His images. I can truly love Him
the way He wants me to love Him and the way He
wants to love me. It's not the way I would have
preferred. But it's the way, the hard way, that
God has given us. Go do likewise, Jesus tells
the man. How is it possible to do this? Because
we don't like spending time in these ways. But
it is possible. I understand finally in my life
that it is indeed possible. It's possible because,
in fact, we are the ones that Christ has come
to save. We heard St. Paul's words in the epistle.
God who is rich in mercy because of his great
love with which he loved us, even when we were
dead in our trespasses, our soul dead, unable
to do anything, despite what good we might have
done in this world, there would be no eternal
value in it whatsoever, doesn't matter how beautiful,
how epic it might be. Without God, it's nothing.
And we were dead in trespasses. He made us alive
together with Christ. By grace you have been
saved and raised us up together and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Think about where you're sitting right now. Isn't
this one of the heavenly places in Christ Jesus?
You're here, brothers and sisters. Just as St.
Paul said. He has made us sit together in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The liturgy
is his place. When we were dead, being dead in
our sins, our soul dead, he made us alive. And
we have the wine and the oil that that Samaritan
poured on that man to heal him. The chrismation
and the Eucharist, the body and blood. The gift
of the Spirit. We have the church, the inn, where
we may be, if we want, healed by the Savior and
be seated in the heavenly places together. And
we become like the Samaritan who is Christ himself.
Wonderful book called By Elder Thaddeus of Serbia.
Thoughts determine our lives. He says, we are
the children of light and love. The children
of God. his sons and daughters. As such, we must
have his qualities and his attributes of love,
peace, and kindness toward all. That's the connection
with the Christmas dice. Advent means coming.
Christ's coming. He came to us. He continues
to come to us. He continues to hold out the healing
touch. Metropolitan Anthony Bloom said this in
his sermon on this day. We're going to leave
the church after the week. We will meet more
than one person perhaps today and during the
course of the coming week. Are we prepared to
love our neighbor as Christ has taught us? The
Lord knows our capabilities, our limits, our
blessings. And those blessings that we have neglected
and become poorer for that in life. Maybe we
won't reach that level of love of the Samaritan,
which is the gift of God, but at least let us
think of this parable as our itinerary, our agenda,
our spiritual outline. And act upon that as we
journey, not from Jerusalem to the old city,
a thousand feet below, literally, Jericho, as
we have in the parable, but to the cave in Bethlehem
and to the incredible revelation of God to us
at Christmas. Amen. So be it.