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Pride or Mercy
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The
young lawyer in today’s Gospel was so blinded by his pride that he could not
see that he was in need of the Lord’s mercy. It was pride that drove him to
show off his education and intellect. It was pride that caused him to think
that he could trap Jesus. It was pride that urged the lawyer to believe that he
had already succeeded in loving God with all he was and all he had. And it was
the man’s pride that Jesus used to trap him.
To
omit mercy in your dealings with others; to refuse to forgive to the same
degree that the Lord has forgiven you; to insist that others meet your
conditions before you will forgive; to hold a grudge; to refuse to see that
anyone you come into contact with is the neighbor the Lord has given you—that
is where this brilliant young lawyer stumbled. His pride threatened his inheritance
of eternal life.
The
lawyer did not beg for mercy. He would never stoop so low; his pride would
never allow him to admit he needed it. But what about you? When you fall to
your knees and plead for the Lord to overlook your sins; when you cry out for
help; when you sing, “Lord, have mercy”—do
you let the Lord’s mercy stop there? Do you let it die within your heart by
storing up anger or resentment? Do you live only for yourself? The Lord gives
His mercy so that it has it’s way with you, so that it comes alive in you, so
that His mercy is lived in you and through you toward your neighbor.
The
mercy you seek from the Lord is the very mercy you ought to live: without
demands, without conditions, without envy, without pettiness. It is a selfless
love, a love willing to empty yourself and all that you have in order to
bandage another man’s wounds and bring him into the inn of Christ’s holy
Church.
The
Good Samaritan is the very picture of our Lord Jesus. Just as the Samaritan was
despised and rejected and laughed at by the Jewish leaders in that day, so was our
Lord. And just as the Samaritan stepped in where the priest and deacon feared
to tread, so does our Lord. And just as the Samaritan spared no expense for the
well-being of his enemy, our Lord does not even spare His own life to save you
from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Just as the Samaritan poured on
the healing medicine of oil and wine, so our Lord pours over you the bloody
waters of baptism to cleanse you of your sin, and then He nurses you back to
spiritual health with His holy body and blood, the medicine of immortality.
Yes,
the Good Samaritan is the very picture of our Savior. And yet, with this
parable, Our Lord is also telling the young lawyer—and you—that the Samaritan
is equally the very picture of your life in God, for we are to “be
merciful, just as our Father also is merciful.” We are to “let brotherly love continue”—not
strangling it with harsh words, nor killing it with the refusal to love as you
have been loved. For “if you will not love your brother, whom you can see,
how can you love God, whom you have not seen?” You are to love everyone,
even your enemies, to “bless those who curse you, do good to those
who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”
I
urge you in Christ: do not deal with others in harshness or meanness. Do not
harbor anger or bitterness toward those who have hurt you. Do not turn away
from those who need the healing balm of your kindness and compassion. Instead, show
mercy to your neighbor in the same way that you beg the Lord to have mercy on you.
After all, our Father readily and
mercifully gives you His Holy Spirit so that you might be united to His Son by
the Holy Supper. Through these gifts, you live in Him and His abundant mercy,
even as He lives His love in and through you toward all your neighbors. In the
name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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