Boundaries are important. A boundary is “something that indicates or fixes a limit or extent”. The fence around my backyard marks and separates the property I own from the property of those around my house. I can do whatever I want on my side of the fence and the people on the other side can do whatever they want on their side of the fence. The fence places a limit on what we can do. For the most part it seems to keep everyone happy as long as we observe and follow those boundaries.
Not all boundaries are physical. There are lots of other boundaries that govern our lives. The mores of the communities we live in dictate boundaries of what we can do and can’t do . . . what is acceptable and unacceptable. Organizations provide us boundaries. The places where we work . . . the sorts of careers or jobs we do . . . they all have boundaries. Our politics and our faith place boundaries around us. Even the relationships we have between us . . . individual and familial . . . come with boundaries.
As a member of the clergy, I must take boundaries training every two years. In this training the goal is to educate the clergy as to what is acceptable and unacceptable within the realm of being a pastor. It deals with everything from behavior, finances, social media, touch, and especially relationships. And the ultimate goal is to avoid conflict. The idea being that in knowing one’s boundaries the unacceptable will not happen.
So, I once again reiterate, boundaries are important.
This morning we have before us in our reading a familiar story and parable . . . “The Good Samaritan”. We have all heard this numerous times in our lifetimes. It is simple in its structure. A lawyer asks a question of Jesus to put him to the test, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Like the lawyer in the story, we already know the answer to the question: “‘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.’” Every good follower of the faith knows the answer. It is pretty cut and dry.
For the lawyer there is not enough satisfaction in the answer . . . he needs to know more. He wants to delve deeper. He is looking for answers, not so much as to convict Jesus, but to understand . . . to understand this man before him and what he believes. With such resolve he asks Jesus: “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus’s response? We hear the parable of the Good Samaritan. A guy is journeying from Jerusalem to Jericho. On this journey he is robbed and beaten . . . left for the dead. Two people come by the man—a priest and Levite. Both walk on by without providing any assistance to the man for whatever reasons they have . . . let’s say “boundaries”. Finally, a third man comes by—a Samaritan . . . a “bad” guy. The Samaritan is bad because of the division between them and the Jews. Also, in this story, the Samaritan is a “bad” guy because of what we had learned in the previous chapter . . . they had refused Jesus and shown no hospitality to Jesus and his disciples.
Whatever the case, the Samaritan stops and helps the man. He bandages the man’s wounds. Gives his something to drink and eat. Places him on his own donkey to take him to a place where further assistance can be applied. He promises that he will pay whatever is necessary to help the man. Then Jesus asks the lawyer: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The lawyer answered: “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus tells the man to “go and do likewise.”
Too often the lawyer in this story gets labeled as a “bad guy” or the “enemy” because the writer tells the reader that he was “testing” Jesus. But is he? Or is he just trying to understand? Trying to understand what it is that Jesus is teaching. Trying to understand what it is that makes one a faithful person. Trying to understand this whole thing that Jesus represents and calls others to come and join. He is “sizing” Jesus up. In the “test” that he presents to Jesus there is nothing heretical in Jesus’ answer. In fact, he learns what he already knows.
The lawyer knows the laws and teachings. He knows the “black and white” of all of it. He knows his boundaries . . . he knows which side of the fence he falls. He understands that the priest and Levite in the parable technically do nothing wrong by walking past the beaten man in the road. They were just staying within the boundaries of who they were within the groups they belonged. According to the law he can find no fault in their actions.
On the other hand, the Samaritan crosses all sorts of boundaries . . . breaks all sorts of written and unwritten laws to help the man in distress. And . . . he doesn’t care. He is willing to do whatever is necessary to help the man who had been robbed and beaten. According to the understood boundaries of the culture, religion, and politics of the time, the Samaritan did everything wrong. The lawyer would have no
problem is recognizing this. But when he answers Jesus’ question about who the lawyer thought was the “neighbor” . . . well, here in lies the struggle. It was “the one who had mercy on him.” It was the Samaritan.
For the lawyer to answer Jesus correctly he had to cross a boundary. To answer the call of God to do what is right in the eyes of God a boundary had to be crossed. To help the distressed man one had to cross cultural, political, and religious boundaries in order to do the right thing.
This past week, driving between Joliet and Billings, I was saddened to see our nation’s flag flying at half-mast once again because of another senseless mass shooting in our country. Since the shooting in Uvalde, Texas on May 24th in which 19 children and two teachers were killed there have been just over 100 mass shootings in our nation according to research. It has become an epidemic which we continue to mark with lowered flags and calls for prayers and thoughts.
But lowering the flag . . . offering prayers and thoughts . . . it is not enough. This has become a major divisive issue in our nation. Lines have been drawn in the sand . . . boundaries are set. Shootings continue. People die. Who is the neighbor? Where is the mercy being lived out?
There is a mental health crisis sweeping across our nation that is marked in the rise of suicide across the country. Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in our country where there are 130 suicides a day. Since 2020 there have been 1.2 million reported attempts . . . which makes one wonder about the number of unreported attempts. Within Montana our suicide rate is nearly doubled in comparison to the nation’s rate. Montana ranks third nationally. Central to it all is mental health . . . a divisive issue with clear boundaries on so many levels of our lives. People die. People suffer. Where is the neighbor? Where is the mercy being lived out?
War. Poverty. Prejudice. Racism. Hunger. Famine. Climate change. Homelessness. And the list could go on and on. Within each . . . where is the neighbor? Where is the mercy being shown?
As I see it . . . enough is enough. Jesus challenges the lawyer to see things differently when it comes to loving God and others. Challenges the lawyer to move beyond the boundaries that impede and separate and to move into that relationship of love . . . to do the right thing . . . to do what God desires. And that challenge comes in finding the courage to step across that boundary to do the right thing . . . to show mercy to those who need assistance.
There is not a “bad” guy in our reading this morning. There are no “bad” guys in the parable. There are only people trying to complete the journey . . . to find their way home. Sometimes it takes a little help. The question becomes whether or not we are willing to be the help someone needs. We draw lines in the sand to keep others out . . . Jesus draws lines that bring all in. There is no limit to the love of God. We are the children of God. We belong. Amen.
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