Walk the talk

When I was a teenager I got stranded in Israel. Forget about the pros and cons suffice to say I found myself having to spend an extra day alone in Tel Aviv. It was July, it was very hot and the Mediterranean waves crashing along the seafront were very inviting. So I decided to add the finishing touches to my suntan and spend the day on the beach

Bad mistake. By the end of the day I was suffering from sunstroke. The cooling waves had given me a false sense of security as I was being burnt to a frazzle

They must have seen me stagger or show some sign of delirium. Anyway a very pleasant American couple came up to me and suggested I get in the shade. In the end they took me back to my hostel

I told them I was due to fly out to London early the next morning. Later they returned to see how I was and by then I was decidedly worse. They produced a small case that contained row upon row of medicines.

They prescribed several pills to see me through the night. They soaked towels in ice-cold water and wrapped them around my head. They returned every two hours or so to put fresh towels on me and to make sure I was drinking enough

In the morning they insisted on giving me a lift to the airport in time to catch my flight home

Their names were Miriam and Jacob. He was a Rabbi and she was a medical doctor. They lived in New York. When I offered to give them some money to cover expenses Jacob said: “ No, don’t give us money but as you go through life if you happen to meet someone in trouble try to help them. That way you will repay us many times over.”

Today Psalm 82 reminds us of the Godly imperative to do all that we can to “rescue or help the weak and the needy”. Certainly being on the receiving end of such help is an experience that never leaves you and in turn being able to help someone is a profound privilege.

In the twenty-fifth Psalm this helpful attitude and willingness to take practical action is inspired by the Lord. “Good and upright is the Lord: therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”

This inspiration to help is recognised in both our readings this morning.

Amos, a shepherd from the Southern Kingdom, travels to the Northern Kingdom and tells them a few home truths. He is the prophet of social conscience. His indignation and disgust at the corruption and idolatry in society erupts. He tells them their lifestyles are disgusting by God’s standards.

He urges them to sort out their values and behaviour. They are shallow people and empty of any sense of right and wrong. Amos uses the metaphor of a plum line and says they are way out of line. Their response is to tell him to get lost or words to that effect. They were angry. Their comfort zone had been invaded.

When you eat a hard boiled egg you can usually turn it over in the eggcup and present it as if it is a perfectly whole egg. But of course when you crack it open its seen for what it is – empty.

Amos was a visionary who saw the emptiness of a society that looked good, that was prosperous and comfortable but which lacked true values and dignity. He cracked them open and exposed their idolatry.

In today’s very familiar New Testament reading we see Jesus exposing the glib expert in the law. The lawyer’s lip service to rules and his rigid attitude to others amounted to spiritual deafness. He had no sense of practical social responsibility.

Of course he knew the commandments. He knew that he must

love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, strength and mind, as well as his neighbour as himself.

Jesus tells him that if he keeps these commandments he shall live, which then prompts the question: “And who is my neighbour?”

In the time of Jesus any question about who should be treated in a loving neighbourly way was dynamite – as it still is today. Gentiles had entered Palestine. So should Greeks, Romans and Syrians be treated as neighbours? Some Pharisees excluded Jews who lived in rural areas never mind foreigners!

How far then do I go with this “love your neighbour” stuff? Jesus doesn’t give the lawyer a straight answer. Instead he tells him the story of the Good Samaritan. He allows the lawyer to discover the truth for himself.

It is a shocking truth. Whoever stops to help this man, this victim, will do so not because of the man’s status but because of his simple humanity.

We know clearly that the robbers had no compassion. Indeed they were yobs that couldn’t have cared less about neighbours.

The priest and Levite are too religious to help. They don’t do the ‘love your neighbour’ bit.

And for all sorts of reasons people like the lawyer despised the Samaritans. So surprise, surprise Jesus makes a Samaritan the hero of the story. It is the Samaritan who does the right thing.

“Which do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The lawyer can’t bring himself to say the despised word Samaritan but he understands the point He replies: “The one who showed mercy”. Jesus tells him: “Go and do likewise”.

Amos showed deep concern for people who were out of line. In the name of God he urged them to find life in all its fullness and to escape the sinking sands of false values and hypocrisy.

Jesus tells us that there are no limits as to who is our neighbour. Christians are called to be helpers, to be positive and to uphold the dignity of all human beings.

It’s been said to be a Christian who doesn’t practice compassion would be like someone who played Wimbledon without a racquet. You just can’t do it.

We may learn something about discipleship from each of the characters in our readings this morning. We may learn that it takes guts to be an Amos – flying in the face of trendy emptiness. We may learn from the negatives, the priest and the Levite, who passed by the man in need as they went about their ‘religious duties’.

We may learn from the robbers the reality of human cruelty. We may learn from the Good Samaritan the openness of God’s love.

And the man, the everyman, who was in need of help – what do we learn from him?

Perhaps what I learnt on a Tel Aviv beach so many years ago. In human kindness there is hope. So treating others well, whether we’re told to or not, whether anyone sees us or not, whether we want to or not, is what we are compelled to do.

And as the Rabbi and his wife from New York suggested kindness is something we may pass on. Certainly we must not pass by for Jesus says: “Go and help, show mercy.”

“O Lord, we pray that as Christians we may take to heart the need to walk the talk and live out what we profess. We give you thanks for the kindness in people and for the hope and encouragement you give us on our journey of faith.”

Amen