Preaching on the 5th Sunday After Pentecost, Sunday, July 10, 2022

I was preaching again, at the Presbyterian Church of Ruston this week.  You can hear the scripture lessons read, plus my sermon entitled, “Our Desperation, Our Measure, and Our Doing” BY CLICKING HERE.  

You can also check out the manuscript:  

“ Our Desperation, Our Measure, and Our Doing ”

“ Imagine the desperation that leads one get into the back of a tractor trailer to cross the border. ” 

…But I can’t! 

That’s just something I WOULDN’T DO! 

And …my “comfortable life” affords me privileges, so that I’m reasonably protected from the circumstances that might lead to THAT decision. 

So, the key word is: DESPERATION! 

I believe that most people, the whole world over, know that traveling in an 18-wheeler trailer is not “safe”  …whether in a wreck, or in hot or freezing environments; I also believe people know trying to evade immigration—however their circumstances—is wrong. 

…so, I believe people who travel that way …are genuinely DESPERATE. 

 …NOT the product of “political” decisions, job-stealing designs, or society-ruining motivations.  These are people DESPERATE enough to try unthinkable risk! 

 

…If it would SAVE my family, maybe I would also get into a trailer to cross the border. 

…If it would SAVE someone threatened with death, maybe I, too, would accept such risk. 

…If it would SAVE …what other things might I do? 

 

…but I can’t imagine it.  Even if my life weren’t insulated from this desperateness, I’m well-formed by my own deeply engrained “plumb line” that guides my actions. 

 

You may know that a PLUMB LINE is a tool used in building things.  Nowadays, it’s no longer a weight on the end of a string, we use those fancy bubble-windows in a straight edge, and you can measure for “plumb” and “level” at the same time!  You probably have one in your workshop or tool kit; or you’ve seen one used on home improvement shows on TV. 

The “plumb line” is a literal, visual demonstration when something is “plumb”—that is, “right and true”—or, if you’re building is “off”—“out of line.” 

And for the prophet Amos, God is measuring God’s people …are they “in line,” or “out of line”? 

We sometimes measure people, too. 

Recently, when more than 50 travelers were discovered in that 18-wheeler near San Antonio, succumbed by conditions, we “measured” them as migrants who intentionally avoided legal immigration or asylum-seeking, we called them “out of line.” 

This doesn’t mean it wasn’t lamentable. 

But our visible, public measure made for an easy assessment that the victims were “out of line.”  And often it ends there, serving to cut off further reflection and SAVING US from learning or addressing the underlying issues of injustice these victims experienced that created the DESPERATION key to their willingness to RISK “crossing the lines” in the first place. 

 This “plumb line” effect can be used to drive public opinion.  In fact, it is why a lawyer stands up to test Jesus,

 “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

 

So that when Jesus answers, he’ll be “measured” by his response.  Yes? 

I wonder …did Jesus recognize this, too?  …Because Jesus refuses to answer, turning the question back to the Tester—a known expert in matters of the law:

" What is written in the law?  What do YOU read there? "

And I wonder …does his knowing the law perfectly allow the tester’s response to be quick and easy:

 "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." 

 

 Jesus says this was the right answer.  So, “Well done, Tester!”  …But Jesus added just a little bit more: 

 " …do this, and you will live. " 

 

Hmmm.  …I wonder if the Tester also heard the hint of “already, but not yet” when Jesus SEEMED to say—“Good job,” …yet implying the WORK wasn’t complete. 

The gospel tells us that after Jesus’ response, the Tester “wanted to justify himself” and asked,

“Who is my neighbor?” 

  

However.  The question was never about WHO is neighbor!  Rather, the Tester had asked “What must I DO.” 

So, Stanley Saunders, an associate professor of New Testament at Columbia Seminary, unpacks Luke’s story this very way, and points out some key differences from many of our typical assumptions:

“ Jesus and most of his audience, …[never saw] themselves as individuals seeking personal salvation.  Salvation was understood …in corporate terms: it was Israel’s life that was at stake.  One did not secure eternal life by oneself.  “Eternal life” in God’s presence is only and always a gift from God, not something human beings can demand or achieve.  In short, the [Tester’s] question is based on [a false premise].” 

 If we’re listening, we know this to be true …Luke places the lawyer “to test” Jesus—to have Jesus be seen “out of line.”  The Tester is knowingly barking up the wrong tree on purpose—every “trick question” does! 

Then, Saunders fingers what Jesus is doing with his story.  Ironically, it’s not an answer for “WHO” is our neighbor, but a re-statement of what the Tester must DO.  In the story of a man who was left for dead in a ditch,

“ The priest and the levite are not symbols of what is wrong with the law or with Judism, as many have claimed, but simply [they reveal] a failure to DO what needs to be done.  [The priest and the levite] are …highly religious people [FAILING] to act …toward one who is in DESPERATE need. ” 

Rather, Jesus means to SHOW US, that the Tester is a follower of the priest and the levite—who were not DOERS of the word. 

Jesus also appears to make use of God’s plumb line, naming that it isn’t WHO is our neighbor, but the failure to DO for neighbor, that marks us “out of line.”  Jesus’ measure:

“Are we DOERS of the Word, not merely hearers of it?” 

In the ancient world, a plumb line as Amos speaks about, was a tool for building walls.  …WALLS meant to keep people OUT. 

We have those walls in our world, too. 

We also know some of our walls aren’t constructed with bricks and mortar or impenetrable steel beams.  Walls, like we see in Luke’s story, in the enmity between the Tester’s people, and the Samaritan whom Jesus places as the hero of the story.  Yes? 

…Walls—between human beings—always make it easy for GOD to measure US “…out of line.” 

…the SAMARITAN was a neighbor, when the priest and the levite were not! 

Not WHO—but might we ask, HOW.  How does the Samaritan “neighbor”? 

…he crosses boundaries. 

 NOT that the Samaritan “goes where he shouldn’t,” waywardly crossing borders—but he refuses to allow walls intentionally built between peoples to stop him from DOING that which the law sets forth.  To love one he was told, was un-loveable. 

The question that SAVES is not, “WHO …is my neighbor,” but what have you DONE for your neighbor. 

…Salvation is about joining arms with others …even our enemy …even if we have built walls. 

So when we discover 50-some victims from having chosen to evade “walls” and “rules” in their desperateness, it’s not “who” they are as much as it might be what we have not DONE for them—by which we are judged “out of line” ourselves. 

People following the priest and levite will see no need to DO anything. 

But people who follow Jesus …I wonder what we see? 

 

This last week, celebrating our nation’s Independence Day, there was much rhetoric about “freedom.”  We Presbyterians often note two distinct kinds of freedom—

“False” freedom, where we are FREE to do what we like; and the “True” freedom, where we are FREE to do what we OUGHT.  

I believe Jesus points us toward DOING what we OUGHT.  Yes? 

  

Surely, both the law and the gospel declare that borders and walls—physical or otherwise—can’t exempt us from being neighbors! 

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, famous for helping the creation of a modern nation of South Africa is credited with saying:

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. 

We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” 

 

I wonder if we’ve seen enough of terrible consequences of the desperation of people crossing our borders.  Maybe, rather than stand and address their crossing, it’s time to go and address the conditions causing the desperation in the first place. 

I suspect considering this whole pericope this way offends us because it promises a due based on what we have NOT done.  Just. Like. The. Tester. Demonstrates. 

Our goal—the lesson—should not be to imagine ourselves “like” the Samaritan.  Rather, we must be able to measure ourselves as DOERS as the Samaritan does. 

I wonder …are we? 

 A border wall with rules about immigration doesn’t prevent us from crossing over and seeking to LOVE our neighbors beyond it. 

So, if you

“ Imagine a desperation that leads to an 18-wheeler trailer to cross the border…” 

…shouldn’t that be OUR measure of DESPERATION to go …and make a difference …as Jesus teaches and leads us? 

I wonder …are we doing it? 

And if not, how does our salvation really stand? 

 

--+     And let all of God’s people say …Amen.