Our Neighbor Needs our Works
St. Luke 10:23-37
September 3, 2023 anno Domini
It’s Labor Day weekend so we should talk about work. In the story of the Good Samaritan Jesus tells us who needs our work – our neighbor. Right now, we have a neighbor in Minnesota who drastically needs our good works.
Who is our Minnesota neighbor in need of our work? The unborn Minnesotan. The Minnesotan still in the womb. I know you may not read the bulletin, unless the sermon is boring and you need something to do, but a couple months ago, there was an insert outlining the laws recently passed by our Minnesota legislature and Governor.
- Abortion was established as a “fundamental right” through all nine months of pregnancy. That means a child can be aborted until the moment of birth.
- The Born Alive Protection Act which protected infants born alive during abortion was repealed. Reasonable medical care is no longer required.
- Pregnancy Resource Centers were stripped of all state funding, while medical assistance and Minn Care were expanded to fund abortions.
- All reporting requirements for abortion facilities have been removed.
- The Law requiring abortions to be performed by physicians was repealed.
- The Law requiring abortions in the 2nd and 3rd trimester to be performed in hospitals was repealed.
- The Law requiring a woman to be informed of the potential health consequences of late term abortions was repealed.
- For comparison’s sake there are only three other places in the world with abortion laws as violent as Minnesota – Canada, North Korea, and China.
In today’s Gospel reading the lawyer asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered with the story of the Good Samaritan. Your neighbor is that person near to you who is beaten up, robbed, and left half-dead. These unborn Minnesotans are being beaten up, robbed, and left fully dead by our governing officials and the Lord has called us to love them, to stop along the way and care for them.
Before Jesus encounters the questioning Lawyer He says these amazing words to His disciples, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Jesus is praising their faith in Him. Their eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit to see Jesus as God’s Son and their Savior. When you see Jesus that changes the way you look on everything. Jesus is the corrective lens to view this fallen world. When you see Jesus, you see God the Father as the Creator and Preserver of Life. You see that humans are created in the image of God and that they are worthy of life from the moment of conception to natural death. You believe that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness, and you see and rejoice that Jesus is your Savior. You see that because He loved you, you ought to love your neighbor.
The starting point for being pro-life is not being Republican. It’s being a Christian who has been brought from death to life by Jesus. It is seeing Jesus as your Savior. It is believing you are the beaten-up guy in the story of the Good Samaritan. This guy is leaving Jerusalem and going down to Jericho. That’s no happenstance journey. Jerusalem is where God dwelt in the Temple. Jericho is a city God cursed. The man was leaving God’s dwelling place to go to a cursed place. Sounds like Eve eating the forbidden fruit. Sounds like you lusting after another woman or abusing a child or getting drunk and driving. What do you deserve for your sins? You deserve to be stripped of life, robbed of everything, and left not half-dead, but eternally dead. That’s the wages of sin.
But consider Jesus’ description of this man on that journey. There’s compassion and mercy in how Jesus describes his fate. Yes, he was heading to a cursed city, but then he was set upon by robbers, stripped of his clothes, beaten, and left for dead. Jesus is describing the reality of this broken world. Sometimes you choose to leave the presence of God to sin and other times you are set upon by others, by the Devil, the world, and other sinners and they beat you and rob you.
Here’s the mercy in this story. The Good Samaritan doesn’t chide the beaten-up guy for going down that road. He doesn’t say, “Don’t you know how dangerous it is to go away from God?” I’m guessing the half-dead guy knew he shouldn’t have travelled that road. This is the grace of God toward sinners. Even if you don’t repent and won’t believe, Jesus still stopped by the road for you. His death on the cross is for all sinners. He bore the sin of the world. He put you on His back and carried your sins to His cross. He paid the price, just like the Samaritan paid 2 denarii. Jesus paid with His holy and precious blood. Three days later Jesus returned from the dead, just like the Samaritan returned to pay the full debt. Your debt is paid. Your sin forgiven. Your wounded soul and conscience healed.
If you’ve been ignoring the news, which isn’t a bad idea, you might not know that we are entering another election cycle. As a Christian you should vote pro-life, but I don’t think we should put our hope in voting or politicians. You should vote pro-life, but more importantly you should live pro-life.
Our hope and life are in Christ Jesus, He has shown us mercy in our sins. He has been our neighbor like the Samaritan. The Samaritan would normally have nothing to do with a Jew. It was safer that way. God should have nothing to do with us. It’s safer that way, but God is not safe. He is merciful and loving to you. You are Christian because of Christ travelled the road of sinners and stopped to save you. You should act like what you are. Be a little Christ in the world. It won’t be safe, but mercy and compassion still work miracles.
Think about those unborn children that the state wants to kill. A woman chooses to have sex outside of marriage – it’s a sin and she wasn’t thinking about a child. She foolishly thought a man would love her for sex. But now the state of Minnesota comes along and works evil – robbing that child of life, stripping it of its human rights, and leaving it fully dead. That woman and that child need mercy. Sadly, where there is no mercy there is only death. That’s Minnesota’s solution to the sins that leave us beaten, robbed, and half-dead.
We have two pregnancy resource centers in Saint Cloud. Support them, volunteer at them, pray for them, attend their events. When you meet an unwed mother, show mercy and compassion. You don’t need to ignore the sin, but that woman has been beaten and robbed by a man who wouldn’t marry her. Get involved with Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life or the Minnesota Family Council. Talk to your elected officials. It’s campaign season. When a candidate knocks on your door, confess your faith, but don’t put your hope in a candidate or a party. Your hope is Christ. By His Words and Deeds you have been saved from your sin and the beating of this world. By your deeds and God’s Word the Holy Spirit can save others who also have sinned and are beaten. Those good works will keep you busy, and they’ll make the world a better place until the day comes when we can all rest from our labors, safe in the name of Jesus. Amen.