Love Thy Neighbor
THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Some fourteen weeks ago, we celebrated the reality of God as Holy Trinity on Trinity Sunday. Thus began the longest season of the Christian year called Trinity-Tide, a season that inspires every baptized believer to grow spiritually. And by spiritual growth, I mean our growth in virtue and holiness. It is an exercise of the will, enabled by grace. True growth engages the mind and the heart, and when these two (the head and the heart) attain an equilibrium, stability is achieved, and the fruit of righteousness can grow. Father's such as St. Augustine referred to this state of being as tranquillitas ordinis, meaning the tranquility of order or well-ordered concord of the soul.
Stability of heart, mind, and soul displaces instability as we turn from sin and mortify our unholy proclivities and, instead, actively seek a deeper union within the Divine Life. You see, the Christian life is one of participation. This is what the in language found throughout the New Testament is speaking of: our being in Christ, participating in the life of God.
The Apostle Paul writes, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." Friends, when God's loving-kindness saved you, you were saved into Christ into his body, the church. Think of it as having been outside of Noah's Ark versus being inside, and Jesus is the True Ark. That Jesus intended to bring us into Trinitarian fellowship is clear in his prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of St. John's gospel. Listen to his heavenly request:
"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us... I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one" (Jn 17:28-30). Notice that our Lord not only brings rebels like us back into communion with the Divine Trinity but with our each other, with our neighbor.
And he has gone to incomprehensible lengths to bring us back into Divine Union. Having set his eye upon our hearts, that he might show the cosmos the greatness of his merciful works, He left the riches of heaven and assumed lowly humanity: he made himself low. The Creator of the world and everything in it willingly suffered at the hands of the created; he was mocked, scourged, spit upon, and finally crucified on a cross. He came to his enemies and bore their burden upon himself.
All to bring us back into communion with the Divine Life: into the sublime beatitude of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: back into Eden! You see, the baptized life is to be lived within God himself as St. Paul says, "In him, we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). We in him and he in us. Participation in the life of God.
This is why, in Holy Scripture, marriage serves as the primary understanding of God's relationship with his people. It is nuptial in every sense of the word. Christ is the bridegroom, and we, the church, are the bride. We are of Christ as Eve was of Adam, taken from him, "flesh of flesh and bone of bone" again, we are his bride, his body, in union with Christ and one another.
Throughout this Trinity-Tide season, we are endeavoring to participate more fully in the Divine Life by being much more attentive to the spiritual life. Exercising a daily rule of life, one of prayer, study, and service, cultivating more openness to God's action in our lives and eagerly receptive to his presence. Hospitable and open to our Lord, joyfully inviting Him in so that we, along with St. Paul, can say, "I am crucified with Christ, yet I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2. 20), transformed daily by the activity of Divine grace within.
And over these many several weeks, we have sought wisdom and knowledge from the Old Testament and the inter-testamental readings, seeking the ancient path unto virtue and holiness, from the prophets and books like Ecclesiasticus and The Wisdom of Solomon.
We have and are presently confronting the many sins that lead to death and degrade Divine participation (pride, vainglory, and anger). And we are seeking the way of life, a path that always begins with humility, no matter how many times we fall, repent, and begin the journey back to God.
Spiritual growth necessarily implies growth in virtue, growth in holiness. To grow in Christ is to become like him- it isn't any more complicated than that. Are you sinning less? Then, yes, you are growing. Are your affections and desire for God intensifying? Are you ordering and prioritizing the day (not simply Sunday) more and more around your baptismal duty to Christ and his church? Are you keeping the Prayer Book Feasts and fasts, the Daily Offices, times of personal devotion, and scripture reading? Then yes, you are growing. Is your trust in God reflected through sacrificial giving of time, talent, and money?
Then yes, the interior life is blossoming, the weeds of sin and concupiscence are being displaced by virtue, by grace you are willing all that is good, true, and beautiful; the tree of the soul is producing fruits of the spirit. But the spiritual life is never solely concerned with the interior life, for there is an exterior component of the spiritual life that cannot be ignored: loving our neighbors as ourselves.
"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?" And he answering said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?"
Note how our Lord puts forward an interesting question pertaining the interpretation of scripture to this expert in the Law, “what is written in the law, how readest thou?” Jesus is asking the man, "how do you interpret the scriptures?" In particular, Leviticus 19:18, which reads, "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." In other words, is my neighbor merely my fellow Israelite?
You can sense the narrowness with which this lawyer is interpreting the commandment to love our neighbor by his question: “who is my neighbor?” It rings of Peter's inquiry on forgiveness, "how many times must I forgive?" What’s is the minimal requirement for me check the box of forgiveness! But aren't they just like us? Isn't our default just as narrow as theirs? Who is my neighbor? "Well, certainly, my immediate family, their blood!" And certainly my extended family (who I get along with). And of course, my friends and co-workers (who fit my friend profile). Oh, and of course, my parish, they're my friends." And rightly so, praise be to God! These are all good and natural.
But through his parable, Jesus expands the definition of neighbor to include our enemies. The hatred between Samaritans and Jews is well documented both in Scripture and history. And yet, the one declared good of the three men in the parable is a Samaritan, an enemy. Not the Priest. Not the Levite. He is good because he shows no boundaries or limitations to love; no litmus test or criteria must be met to be deemed worthy of love. And isn't this the heart of the Lawyers question to our Lord? Who is worthy of my love?
Oh, my friends, who among us is worthy of God's love? Which of us is deserving of glory, honor, of eternal life? What have we ever done to be called son or daughter of the Most High God? Who among us is worthy so much as to eat the crumbs from under his table, let alone be called to the heavenly supper? And yet, Jesus, the True Samaritan, suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God (1 Pt 3:18).
In a real sense, the poor man in the ditch is each one of us. For which of us has not suffered as a result of the assaults of the devil? Which of us hasn't been stripped of our righteousness, that is, which one of us was not born in original sin? And who among us suffer not the wounds of individual sins we commit day by day? Who among us fails to recognize the great need for the help of some Good Samaritan, some Savior?
If today you testify God's love, which has been revealed to you in the face of Jesus Christ... if this Good Samaritan has healed you, is healing you, then love as he loves. Love your enemies. Love your allies. Love your husband, your wife, your children; love your dearest friend, the stranger; the foreigner; weak, strong, old, young, whoever they are. I ask, "who isn't your neighbor?" Who in this beautiful world isn't worthy of your love, kindness, and compassion? According to our Lord: no one.
"Take care of him" is Jesus' commandment to each one of us. Who is my neighbor? The sick bound in the hospital, or the aged confined to a nursing home; the lonely; the single parent; the student away from home for the first time. Our neighbors are those beset by sorrow or struggling in sin- the lapsed and the unregenerate. "Take care of him." Friends, we cannot allow our religion to be like the religion of the Priest or the Levite. Religious ceremonies and personal holiness are not enough in themselves. To these must be added the love of neighbor.
Remember, Jesus told this parable in response to a question: "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And our Lord's answer amounts to this: if we wish to have any part in the Divine life, we must be concerned about others. Yes, Love God. But love your neighbor as well. "Thou shalt love thy Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. And love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hand all the law and the prophets." Love: this is the totality of the Christian religion.
In this parable, the injured man was left in the innkeeper's care, given two shillings by the Good Samaritan, and told that he would repay whatever expense incurred in taking care of the injured man upon his return. This required faith on the part of the innkeeper, who most certainly would come out of pocket to care for the man not knowing the amount or when the Samaritan would return.
The Gospels are full of Jesus' statements made in parables and direct warnings, that though he is going away, he will return again to take account of how faithful those left behind have been in using their divinely given gifts and talents. And that each will be rewarded or punished according to his just desserts. We are assured by our Lord that whatever time, energy, or money we expend in building his Kingdom, will be repaid. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it" (Mk 8:35).
Beloved, do you believe this? Do you trust our Lord's promise? If so, then expend your life in love. "Blessed are those servants," our Lord says, "who when he returns, he finds faithful" (Mt 12.37). But woe unto those who have squandered and misused that with which they have been entrusted.
Friends, God has given each of us talents, resources, skills, and abilities. He has given each of us a mission to work with him, the Good Samaritan, to save and heal this beleaguered world. So as you come to the Holy Communion, offer yourself, all that you are, all that you have (all of which has been given to you) offer yourself for the fulfillment of this high and holy calling. And may our love of God and neighbor be our true and laudable service.
Let us pray, Almighty and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service: Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen+
