Glory to Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I'm grateful to God for gathering us together,
for assembling us. I'm grateful to God for this
marvelous parable that the Lord told that man
that was trying to trip him up on a legality.
religious legality such a well -known parable
you know there's even a law in some states called
the good samaritan law in which following which
you must stop to help somebody that is in distress
but beyond that further the church gives us this
parable in her wisdom providentially it's recorded
in chapter 10 of the gospel of luke We're given
it at the beginning of the fast for Christmas.
I think it helps us examine our love for God,
our love for our neighbor. You heard the Lord.
What is the greatest commandment? The man answered
this, do it. Do it. The story is, of course,
about love for our neighbor. It is about... but
not only, about doing a good deed for a person
in need. We're Christians, of course we do that.
For we are God's handiwork, says St. Paul. We're
created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Not
to just keep the joy to ourself. No, we're to
be outwardly. View outwardly, not always just
inwardly. And God has prepared us for this, it
says, for us to do those good works. He has prepared
us. He equips us to do it. So let's not be afraid.
But the parable is more than doing good works.
The good Samaritan cares for this man from Jerusalem
who is dying and who hates the Samaritan. He
hates him. He despises him. He's prejudiced in
every way against him. Samaritan and Jew, they
were at enmity. They hated each other. There's
no need to go into Bible study questions about
this. Now, why that is, they did. Leave it there.
So yes, good deeds are a part of the story, but
deeds, works of mercy, also for those who hate
us and for whom we might not feel any warmth
for. Because you know what the Lord says, not
just love your neighbor, which we tend to take
as ignore your neighbor as much as possible.
And if he irritates you, then bring it to confession
and wonder why you don't love him. I mean, that's
the way I am. But love your enemies, bless them
that curse you. How? How are we to love our enemy?
By feeling good about it? No, because love in
this instance, this kind of agape love, the kind
of love that Christ shows us on the cross is
not about how we feel. It's about what we do.
And the Lord tells us how to love our enemy.
It's very simple. He gives us one short phrase.
Do good. That's it. Do good. You may not feel
good, but do good to those who hate you. Pray
for them which despitefully use you and persecute
you. This is the call for the Christian. Why?
That you may be the children. Of your father.
Which is in heaven. Children. Following God.
Like God. And we're invited. We're called. We're
equipped to do godly deeds. That's the story.
Like Christ. Even for those that hate Christ.
This gospel. The fast are calling me to reorientate.
My love away from myself. To recalibrate. And
revitalize it. with the three pillars of the
fast. To fast, to pray, and to do alms. The gospel
is calling me to do that. But how am I to do
this? It's against my nature. It's not something
I am naturally inclined to do. Perhaps we should
for a moment just consider that maybe Let us
see ourselves not as the good Samaritan, the
one who's doing good on the road, the guy that
has the flat tire, or for the woman in need in
the parking lot or at the store. Maybe we're
not the good Samaritan here. Maybe we're the
man that went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
And we heard St. Paul's words today, and that
changes our perspective. He said, God, God who
is rich in mercy. You know, we may be sinners
and not worthy to stand before the Lord, but
we are precious before him, each one of us. God
who is rich in mercy because of his great love
with which he loved us, even when we were dead
in trespasses, hadn't done a thing good, not
a thing. He still loves us, made us alive together
with Christ. What St. Paul says here is what
the parable describes. We're dead in trespasses.
We have been made alive. The parable says a man
went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Jerusalem
is 2 ,500 feet above sea level. That height implies
holiness. It implies the mountain of God, the
place of goodness, peace, the city of peace.
It may not be that in reality. But in the story,
that's what it means. It implies the kingdom
of God. And Jericho, you don't have to raise
your hands, but who's been to the Holy Land?
Jericho is 950 feet below sea level. Way down
there near the Dead Sea. And that depth, along
with what we read in the book of Joshua, implies
a place of sin, a place of forgetfulness, a place
of shameful and harmful things. And the way from
Jerusalem to Jericho is fraught with dangers,
with demons, with sinful things. And the man
is beat up and left for dead, naked. He's lost
his clothes. He's lost everything. It's like
what St. Paul says. We were dead in our sins,
yet he made us alive. What do I mean? What I
mean is that when the parable says the Samaritan
brought the wounded man to the inn, a special
place, it means for me that I was brought to
the church, the inn, which is his body. I was
baptized. I was clothed. I was healed. I'm in
the process of being healed. I received the power
of the cross of Christ within me. I received
communion. I received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And we have the forgiveness of sins. The inn
in the story, my friends, is a key point. For
us, it means the church. It means a place of
healing. That's to say, it's the church. The
mystical. Divine reality. The body of Christ.
Not just a human organization which has institutions.
No. It's the assembly of God. It's the people
of God. Bless ye God and the churches we hear
at Pascha. The Lord from the wellsprings of Israel.
The church. The church is the renewal of all
of that. the wellsprings of Israel. It's the
assembly that God called from the beginning when
he called Abraham. And then it grows into this
amazing and wonderful and beautiful organism,
the body of Christ, which we become members on
Pentecost, of which we each have shared. And
we see the spiritual medicine given to us. In
so many different ways. Which we cannot acquire
anywhere else. Anywhere else, not by our own
merit, that's for sure. Not by my so -called
virtues or that I am a good person. As if that's
going to save me from anything. What did we hear
Jesus say? When the Pharisees said to his disciples,
your teacher, he's eating with sinful people.
Of course, these sinful people change and become
saints. They don't stay sinful once they're with
Christ. Jesus said, those who are well have no
need of a physician, but those who are sick.
But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy,
not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous
so -called righteous. but sinners to repentance.
This is what we receive in the church. Can we
identify ourselves as that man in the ditch?
Because if we can't, we won't receive healing.
Can we see ourselves as broken and wounded and
need of all this glorious medicine? If we can,
We will be lifted up. We will become saints.
And it happens in the church. Not just in any
place. No. The church founded by Christ and the
apostles. And continues even to this day. Here
in Santa Rosa. In this place. And in all over
the world. And St. John of Kronstadt tells us
how important that is. He says the church is
one and the same with the Lord. His body. His
flesh, his bones. The church is the living vine,
nourished by him, growing in him. Never think
of the church apart from Jesus Christ, from the
Father and the Holy Spirit. This is a weakness
in our own time. People feel like, well, the
church has these rules, a lot I don't agree with,
and they're obsolete, and I know so much better.
The church gives us the wisdom, To the path of
holiness. We can accept it and walk that way.
We can reject some things we don't like. And
we will never know. We'll never know. The end
of the parable of the church. Finally, it's where
I can safely entrust my life, my whole life to
Christ. Unsuccessful and sinful as it is. Because
I know I'm precious before God. Here in the church,
the inn, we can walk in repentance, which is
to change the way I live, the way I think, and
have my being. I can stop trusting. I can stop
trusting in my own individuality. I'm safe here.
This is why we are in the church, the new creation,
the renewal of the covenant, where you and I
exist as someone who can love. And someone who
is loved. Loved by the saints who give each one
of us a name. They know you, brothers and sisters.
The saints know you. We have to extend a little
bit of ourselves to know them. And then, then,
like the good Samaritan, we learn how to love
others despite their sinfulness. We learn to
measure up to the love of Christ and the saints
and to do good even to those that hate us. Then
it becomes possible to fulfill this commandment.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your strength,
with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.
May the Lord bless us during this time of the
fast and grant us the healing so that we can
do that. Amen.