What Can You Do – A Matter of the Will
St. Luke 10:23-37
August 29, 2021 – anno Domini
You can choose not to help your neighbor. That’s what the Priest and Levite did. You can choose to help your neighbor. That’s what the Samaritan did.
You cannot however choose your own way into heaven. You cannot choose to believe in God. Apart from Jesus you have no choice but to sin and die, but with Jesus you can choose to love God by loving your neighbor and thus fulfilling the law of God.
Today, you’re in for a treat – maybe. For the first time, I think, in the history of my preaching I’m going to tackle the topic of free will. What is a human free to do and not do. Over what can you make choices and over what do you have no choice?
Free will differs among humans because humans differ in their relationship to God. You have one sort of free will before you believe, another kind once you believe, and still another in the resurrection. The characters in the parable of the Good Samaritan will be our teachers of human will.
How much free will do you have when you are born? After a couple of months you can choose whether strained peas or strained carrots are your favorite, but in spiritual matters you have no free will. You are born bound to sin, bound to death, and a subject of the Devil. You are like the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He did not choose to get beat up, stripped, and left for half dead. So you, when you were born did not choose to be a sinner, but you were born one – and sin set upon you, beat you up, stripped you of all righteousness, and will leave you all the way dead. There is one difference between you and the “beat up” guy. He is not to blame for the robbers attacking him, but God’s Word makes clear you are to blame for your sin and the bondage of your will.
Adam and Eve chose to sin in the garden. Before sin they had free will to choose against God and they did. Therefore, the blame for sin falls on every human because Adam and Eve were every human. Because of sin you have no power over sin, not a stitch of righteousness to cover yourself, and not a single good work with which to earn God’s favor. You can take all the vitamins in the world, wear 8 masks, get triple doses of every vaccine that comes along, and you will still find yourself penniless, naked, and dead at the end of your road. Because of sin, death and devil hold you and will take everything from you and you can do no more than the Jerusalem to Jericho man did – you’ll just have to take it.
If you have ever been beat up along the road, if you’ve been robbed of a treasured spouse or lucrative job, if you have ever been consumed by a shamed and soiled conscience at your sins, then God has taught you how much free will you have, how much power you have against sin and death. None. You ought not be surprised at the chaos on the US – Mexico border or in Afghanistan or the ever-changing scientific facts about COVID-19. We cannot help ourselves. Left on our own we are bound to sin, which means we are bound to hate God, hate our neighbor, serve ourselves, and die trying to live. Don’t be surprised at shame, guilt, violence, confusion, and chaos – it is what you do naturally.
Your sin beats you and leaves you dead. The unbeliever does not have the power, the will to change his life before God. In spiritual matters you are beaten, naked, and dead. The Jerusalem to Jericho man was going to die, unless someone helped him. His only hope was someone who would stop on the road. Enter the Good Samaritan
You cannot save yourself, but God can and He chose to save you. The Good Samaritan is Jesus. He walked our road. He took on our flesh, then in His baptism He took on our sin. On the way to the cross He was beaten and stripped. God’s wrath at our sin beat the life out of Jesus on the cross. No one helped Jesus at the cross, not even His Father. The wages of sin is death and Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God paid the price in full. Then He rose again.
The story of the Good Samaritan even hints at the resurrection. When the Good Samaritan gave the innkeeper two denarii that was enough to keep the beat-up man for two days, which meant the Good Samaritan would return on the third day. And when he returned he would have with him whatever was necessary to fully pay the man’s bills. When Jesus returned from death on the third day He had enough to pay your full bill, complete forgiveness, full restoration to life. It is most certainly true that because of Jesus you will rise from your sick bed, your death bed, your grave and will fully recovered. That’s what the resurrection is.
When you believe in Jesus, that He came along the human road to take your sins and die with them, you are a changed person. You are no longer only a sinner, bound to die; you are also a Saint, a child of God. The Holy Spirit gives you a will, a power you never had before. Now you can do good works. Now you can be like Jesus, not as Savior of the world, but choosing to do good, choosing to love your Father by helping your neighbors. Scripture makes it clear that only Christians can do good works that are pleasing to God. This is not because our works are better, but rather because our sins are forgiven. The Good Samaritan has made us good again – by cleansing our wounds in baptism and by anointing us with His blood. Our good works do not make us good – Jesus did that. Our works are good because we are good – forgiven, righteous, children of God.
A believer has a free will to choose good, to do what is right. However, you are not yet completely free of your old sinful self. He will always be pestering you to take the low road, the road of lust, gossip, greed, and hatred. But you can choose the high road of chastity, truth, contentment, and love. You can choose to walk by like the priest and Levite (and that would be sinful), or you can choose to stop and help. If you choose to sin – repent and flee to Jesus before your sin gets ahold of you again, beats you, strips you and leaves you dead. if you choose to do good – thanks be to God. You don’t get the credit – Jesus does.
On the last day your will will finally be free. You will experience the fullness of Christ’s forgiveness and your old man will finally die forever. You will rise with a will free of sin. The Devil and all his demons, together with the unbelievers will be locked away eternally and there will be no more temptation. You will want to do and you will do only good.
To review. Unbelievers only have the power to choose between Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, or strained peas or carrots. They cannot choose God or Jesus or salvation. God chooses to save, and He chose to save you. Now, because you believe, you can choose to love God by obeying His commands as Jesus did. In the resurrection, your sanctification will be complete, and you will love God and serve your neighbor perfectly, even as He has perfectly loved and served you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.