Our Inheritance Through Jesus Christ (July 11, 2010)
By Rev. Bert A. Thompson

What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” What a strange question! An inheritance is a gift. An inheritance is not based on what you do but on who you are.

Our inheritance from God is based on who we are in Christ Jesus. God came to us when we were dead in our transgressions and sins. He adopted us into His family through the washing of holy Baptism. God the Father made us His sons and daughters. His Son Jesus calls us his brothers, His sister, His friends. The inheritance God gives His children is the forgiveness of all our sins and eternal life with Him forever.

Lawyers in Jesus’ day are experts in the laws of Moses. In our Gospel reading, one of these experts comes to trap Jesus. He asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” But Jesus is God, so Jesus knows what he is thinking. Jesus tries to show him his sins. Jesus takes him back to God’s Word. Jesus asks: “What is written in the Law [of God]? What is your reading of it?”

The lawyer is certain of his expert knowledge of God’s Laws. He quickly answers: “’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

This is a good answer. These are almost the same words Jesus uses in Matthew 22:37-39.

But what does this mean? To love God with all my heart is to say, “Although many people and things and places are so very pleasant and are gifts of God and I love them, yet when God calls me to do so, I will give them all up in an instant. To love God with all my soul is to have every second of my life directed toward God. If the love of anything or any persecution threatens to overwhelm me and drive me away from constant living for God, I will give it all up. Let anything happen to me that God allows; all this I will gladly endure rather than leave a life totally devoted every second to my God. All that I am and all that I have, I will give up rather than leave my God. To love God with all my strength is to risk all things with my physical body rather than do anything that is disobedient to God. To love God with all my mind is to accept nothing into my eyes and ears that does not please God and bring glory to Him alone, to have a mind that is centered on God alone and thinking only those things that honor Him.” (paraphrase of Kretzmann’s Popular Commentary, Luke 10; http://www.kretzmannproject.org)

To love my neighbor is to want for my neighbor every earthly and heavenly blessing I have, especially my faith, which is precious beyond price, and to be of constant assistance to my neighbor and spend my time, effort and money to assure that my neighbor receives the same temporal and eternal blessings I have.

Jesus tells the lawyer, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” Jesus is right. If you do this, you are without sin. And being without sin is crucial. Only perfect and sinless people will ever enter heaven because heaven is perfect. Who are these perfect and sinless people? Not us! There is only
one Man perfect and without sin. That Man is Jesus Christ.

What does this mean for us? We know that we are not pure. We are utter sinners. We cannot do what the Law of God requires. Unless we receive the holiness of Someone else, unless we are given the purity and sinlessness of Someone else, we will never be allowed to enter heaven.

You and I know this is exactly what happens. Jesus gives us His perfection, His holiness, His purity, His sinlessness in the waters of holy Baptism, in the words of Absolution and through His sinless Body and Blood for us to take into our sinful bodies and cleanse us of all sin. We are saved because Jesus makes us pure. Jesus takes away all our sin and makes us sinless.

That is why at St. Luke we preach Christ Jesus. That is why God the Father sent His only Son to save us because He loves us and He knows that we cannot save ourselves. That is why we preach Christ crucified: for us and for our salvation.

Sadly, this legal expert tries to justify himself; that is, he tries to prove that his lifestyle is one that pleases God. He actually believes he loves God perfectly above all things. Now, to prove he loves his neighbor, he wants to know if Jesus agrees with his definition of neighbor.

In love, Jesus knows that this lawyer does not understand. In love, Jesus tries to open his eyes to see his sin, so that he can see his dear Savior Who is standing right in front of him.

To do this, Jesus uses an example that could be taken from Jericho’s five o’clock news. The jagged, twisting Jericho road goes from Jerusalem down 3,000 feet to the city of Jericho. It provides safe haven for thieves and robbers. Just as in our day, people in Jesus’ day are afraid and afraid to help people in trouble. There’s real danger here. Yet, you’d expect a priest or a priest’s helper, a Levite, to do more than the average person.

But they do nothing. Besides danger to themselves, they have legal concerns. If the victim is dead, they must undergo a lengthy purification process that the Law of Moses demands. They use one Law to excuse another law.

What if I am driving here to worship and see someone lying on the side of the road. I’m late and you are waiting. If I stop and help, who is going to preach? I have obligations that conflict with each other. Maybe I’ll just call 911 and drive on. But, if I do that, will I be acting just like the priest and Levite? What should I do? Listen.

Along comes a man from the region of Samaria. The Jews consider Samaritans to be half-breeds and heretics, impure in race and impure in religion. But this man has no conflicts. He loves his neighbor as much as he loves himself. He not only puts his body in danger, and his possessions in danger, but he gives two days wages to the innkeeper and sets up a charge account in his name to pay for additional expenses. Is anybody this good?

There’s only one Man this good: Jesus Christ, our Savior. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. Jesus is called a half-breed. His mother is accused of fornication. Jesus is the One despised yet He’s the true neighbor Who anoints us with the oil of forgive-ness and the wine of His blood. Jesus sets us on His donkey, and takes us to the inn of His Church. The pastor is the innkeeper. He is called by God to heal our wounds of sin with the payment given by Christ.

And, just like the Good Samaritan, Jesus is coming back to the inn, for us. He will take us to be with Him forever. Jesus is our neighbor Who saves us from our ditch of sin and death. Sadly, this lawyer refuses to let Jesus be his Good Samaritan. He’s been robbed by Satan. He’s left spiritually half-dead and dying but he doesn’t even know it. He thinks he has rescued himself. He has not.

But you have been rescued by Jesus, the Good Samaritan. You are given power to begin to follow Christ and be as Christ to those around us. You begin to help others physically and spiritually, as Christ has helped you. You begin to love your neighbor as much as you love yourselves. And what is your neighbors’ greatest need? Your neighbors’ greatest need is the inheritance of eternal life given in forgiveness of their sins.

Jesus says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it for Me.” (Matt. 25:40 NIV) Christ has already done it for us and in Christ, we can start to follow Him. Go and live in the rescue Christ has accomplished for you. On the Last Day, Jesus will say to you: “Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Matt. 25:34 NIV) God grant that inheritance to each of us for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

-Thanks to Pr. Wm Cwirla for ideas for this sermon