The following sermon was presented by the Rev. John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on July 13, 1986. The title is, Can't You Lead a Good Life Without Christ? And the scripture reference is the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 25 through 37. 

I'm reading from the 10th chapter, beginning of the 25th verse. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the tent, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, What is written in the law?

How do you read? And he answered, 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. And he said to him, You have answered right.

Do this, and you will live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed leaving him half dead.

Now by chance the priest was going down that road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan as he journeyed came to where he was And when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.

Then he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. Which of the three do you think proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?

He said, The one who showed mercy on him. And Jesus said to him, Go and do life on us. I was at a party some time ago, and a man who obviously had had a bit too much to drink came up and sought to engage me in what he hoped would be an argument. And his opening comment, I'd met him only once previously and that very briefly, his opening comment was, I don't need to believe in Jesus and I don't need any preacher to tell me how to live. I can lead just as good a life as any Christian.

what would your response to that have been I said you're absolutely right and I turned away and he said wait a minute don't you want to argue you already said you're absolutely right don't want to argue with you have you ever noticed how some people would rather argue than be right I said you can lead just as good a life as any Christian of course that misses the point and I turned away again wait a minute what's the point gotcha I said the point is you're choosing your beliefs not on the basis of whether or not they're true but on the basis of whether or not you like them. Christians don't claim to be better than anybody else. What they call themselves is miserable offenders.

We're the ones who need a Savior. That's why we're in love with Jesus. But you see, you're telling me that you don't care about that.

You don't care what the universe is ultimately like. You don't care whether or not there's a God, whether He's good, bad, or indifferent. You don't care whether or not life is eternal, whether there's a heaven or a hell, whether you're going to live forever either in heaven or hell.

You don't care whether Jesus is who He claims to be, whether He died for your sins, whether He rose again, whether He sits on high at the right hand of the Father, whether He's the Lord of life and whether He has a claim on your life, like it or not. You don't care. So, what do we have to argue about?

I don't know if you've noticed as you've driven around, I sometimes see billboards, especially in some of our southern states, they're obviously hand-made, hand-lettered, and they usually spell out in fairly garish, bright red colors, Christ is the answer. Have you seen one of those? Trouble is, somebody has usually come along and put on the bottom of it, but what is the question?

And that's really the issue. Christ isn't the answer unless you're asking the right question. And this guy obviously wasn't. Wasn't interested in the question.

I noticed that out of the many things that Jesus called himself, and it would be a good Bible study sometime to just go through the Gospels and notice all of the things that Jesus called himself. Never did he claim to be the answer. You ever notice that?

He said he was the way, the truth, and the life. He said he was the good shepherd, the door, the bridegroom, the firstborn of all creation, the word, the light, the lamb, the lion, the king, on and on. The Messiah, Son of God, glory of the Father.

Never did he claim to be the answer. And I'm interested that oftentimes when people engaged him in direct questions, he either blunted the question, answered it obliquely, told a little parable, a story that left them scratching their heads, or sometimes refused to answer it altogether. I think he had the sense that beneath the question, sometimes they were not asking the right question.

Often you read, as we did this morning, Behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test. He asked the most important question you could possibly ask, and yet it's a put-up job. He's trying to trap him.

He's trying to ensnare Jesus in his answer. He says, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Do you notice Jesus doesn't answer the question?

he says you've read the scriptures you tell me your own answer and you know the lawyer got it absolutely right he said you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself and we usually call that the summary of the law it sums up all of the laws of the old covenant It sums up the two tablets of stone on which were written the Ten Commandments. First four commandments on the one side have to do with our relationship with God. It's summed up in two words, love God.

The latter six have to do with our relationships with each other, summed up in two words, love neighbor. We usually attribute the summary of the law to Jesus Himself. And as a matter of fact, on one occasion, he did quote those very words to a scribe who asked a similar question.

It's recorded in Matthew and Mark. But you know, that wasn't Jesus' own original answer to the question. You would find the same thing in the Apocrypha.

You would find the same thing if you asked almost any rabbi of the day. And as a matter of fact, all of them were simply quoting the Old Testament. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, strength.

Deuteronomy 6.5 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Leviticus 19.18 But the interesting thing about it is that in this encounter, Jesus doesn't even do that. He doesn't quote scripture.

He doesn't give an answer. He says, you've read the law. What's your answer?

And the lawyer quotes it exactly. And Jesus said, you're right. Do it.

There's the problem. See, apparently you can be absolutely correct in your theology. Absolutely correct in your doctrine.

Absolutely correct in your creed. Absolutely correct in your understanding. You can know the answer.

The question is, what do you do about it? And I notice verse 29, but he, the lawyer, desiring to justify himself, asked another question, but who is my neighbor? See, he knew he was supposed to love his neighbor.

He just didn't know who his neighbor was. I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but I submit to you that the desire to spell things out in detail which leads to the making of laws and the making of more laws upon laws and the interpretation of laws and court rulings and applications and the whole incredible legislative pile up is not in fact a desire to increase our obligations which it might look like at first but it's exactly the opposite it's a desire to limit our obligations I want to know who my neighbor is because I've got to love him but all those other guys out there who are not my neighbors I don't want to love and I want to be off the hook you get it? those folks in that particular class those folks of that particular background those folks with that racial background those folks of that color But those people who believe that way, I don't want anything to do with them.

They're not my neighbor. It doesn't apply to them, does it? And Jesus told one of his infuriating little stories.

And you all know it very well. I want to just notice four additional things. I've already made the first point.

The desire to spell everything out is really a desire to limit my obligation. I ask things, how much do I have to do? Because once having done that, I want to be off the hook.

Jesus says that's not the way it is. He said, as a matter of fact, having done everything that is required of you, still say we are unworthy servants. That's not good news, is it?

that's bad news you can spell out all the obligations you like refine it, apply it spell out some more interpretation having done all of it I'm still an unworthy servant I have earned nothing I have no right because of my achievement to be here that's not good news first point I want to make is the issue is not how little will God settle for but how much can I offer not how little will God settle for but how much can I offer I read a story some time ago about a woman whose husband of 20 some years was sent by the army to the Korean conflict and while he was there he divorced her she had absolutely no forewarnings she simply got a letter one day telling her that she was now no longer married and that he had done that. He had gotten a Korean divorce so that he could marry a girl less than half her age, a teenager. And then shortly thereafter, another letter arrived and said that he had died in conflict.

And this story was reported in that little guidepost magazine. They followed up on it because they wanted us to know what had happened after all of that transpired. And do you know what the story was?

That woman, out of love for her husband who had left her and divorced her, out of love for someone that he loved, and most especially out of love for Jesus, went through all of the red tape and all of the expense to bring that young girl and her child, fathered by the lady's husband, to America. to go through all of the business of helping them get citizenship, paying out of her own savings for the child's education, and all for the love of Christ. Not how little will God accept, but how much can I offer?

The priest and the Levite are obviously rushing to a meeting of the Jericho City Council on the subject of how to keep our streets safe for citizens. I've got obligations to meet. Busy people could obviously justify walking by on the other side.

The issue isn't what can I justify. The issue is how much can I be available. Second point is that there is some good news here.

Because when I run out of my own resources, when I find that I just don't have it in me to love, to care, to minister, to serve, to meet the needs, when I just run out of my own resources, the good news is that Jesus doesn't. And He wants to express Himself in me and through me. He's just waiting for an opportunity to make Himself known not only to me, but through me. He's saying, will you be available to me?

You don't have enough love in you to do that of yourself. I do. Will you let me love that person through you?

That's gospel. That's gospel. Jesus didn't come to give us answers.

He came to give us new life. He came to give us Himself. He came to give us the power to live out the answer that we already knew, but otherwise couldn't possibly live out.

thirdly there's a subtlety here I don't know if you've caught it we often miss it we see that I'm supposed to be the neighbor of the guy lying in the ditch I get that point I don't like it very much but I get the point that I'm supposed to be the neighbor to the guy lying in the ditch I'm not supposed to be like the priest and the Levite who walked on by I'm supposed to make time I'm supposed to be available I understand that there's another point the question was, who is my neighbor? And the answer was, the one who proved himself neighbor, namely, who? The Samaritan.

You mean the Samaritan is my neighbor? Not just the guy lying in the ditch. He's my neighbor and I have an obligation to him, also that dirty Samaritan.

What's my obligation to him? Well, maybe the obligation to him is to let him minister. Maybe.

See, the priest and the Levite would have said, he has absolutely nothing to give anybody. He is the scum of the earth. He is a pariah.

We want nothing to do with him. You notice many times you've read in the Gospel, Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. You know why.

All the way back to the time of the Assyrian conquest, when they drove many of the people off the land of the northern kingdom in Israel, it became state policy then to import others from around the Assyrian Empire to repopulate the land and to intermarry with each other so that you would have an amalgamated race and you would also have an amalgamated religion. It had some resemblance to the religion of the God of Israel, but it also incorporated all manner of foreign atrocity as far as the Jews were concerned. Worship of foreign deities, idolatry, other kinds of abominable things.

So they want absolutely nothing to do with a Samaritan. Isn't it interesting how often Jesus singles out the Samaritan, either as the example to his Jewish friends, or as an object of his own love? Have you noticed that?

The good-bad Samaritan. The woman at the well. Samaritan lady.

First evangelist outside of Judah. Interesting thing, how often Jesus invests people with dignity when everybody else thinks they have nothing to offer. Comes to that woman at the well, who nobody else wants even to associate with.

They consider her just a sinner of the city. And before he offers her the living water which he wants to give, he asks of her a drink of well water. and says, in essence, you have something to give me.

You are a person of worth. I value you. She's shocked.

He goes to the home of Zacchaeus, a tax collector, who sold out his people. Other folks won't even let him into the crowd to see what's going on. He has to climb a tree.

Jesus stops at the foot of the tree. Says, Zacchaeus, come on down. I'm coming to your house for dinner today.

You have something to give. You're a person of worth. It says, this too is a son of Abraham.

The lady that comes into the dinner party when he's at the home of Simon, a Pharisee, and she begins to weep over his feet and to anoint them with oil and to wipe them with her hair. And all the Pharisees are sitting around saying if he knew who she was, he'd have nothing to do with her. She's a sinner.

He says, you're absolutely right. Did you notice how she's kissing my feet? How she's anointing them, wiping them with her own hair, Her sins, though many, are forgiven.

And that's why she loves so much. And He receives from her. He invests people with dignity, saying, you have something to give, and I receive from you.

I wonder if there are any Samaritans in your life. I don't know about you, most of the time, I find it easier to give than to receive. Do you have that problem?

I love to receive, but I have a problem with it. I don't like for people to do things for me. I would rather be in the position of power of being the one to do for others.

Sometimes we need to allow folks to do for us. Sometimes, say this very carefully, sometimes it's more blessed to receive. Because that is giving to the other person the opportunity to give.

so my neighbor is not just the guy lying in the ditch my neighbor is also the Samaritan who I thought had nothing of worth and Jesus holds out as an example to me and then finally the issue really isn't what we think about any of this anyway the issue is what God thinks about it come back full circle to my friend at the party the issue isn't what we think constitutes a good life the issue is what does God think constitutes a good life I said to him you know you may be satisfied with your performance but that simply tells me that your standards aren't all that high you can live a life as good as any Christian yeah I suppose you can but are you? the lawyer knew what he was supposed to do it's just that he had a problem doing it we know what we're supposed to do it's just that we have a problem doing it Jesus Christ did not come to give us new answers he came to give us new life to enable us to do what we knew all along we were supposed to do Listen to Paul's prayer for the Colossians. He said, From the day we heard of it, your faith, we haven't ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. they're two kingdoms you're in one or the other and you can't sit on the fence the good news is that God has already transferred us from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom is light and power and life to lead a life worthy of the calling to which we're called let's bow our heads together Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days and fill them with endless praise. take my mind that I might think your thoughts after you take my lips that your word would be upon them take my heart and fill it with your Holy Spirit I ask you this day to be exalted in my life be glorified in my life for Jesus sake Amen.