Abridged text of a sermon preached at Fair View UMC 14th July 2013
I trained as a minister on a part time course. Evening classes and weekend residentials. And it was on one of these residential weekends that I started to think of the story of the Good Samaritan in a different way. The particular course was called something like “Christianity around the world”. We went to a Bible college in the English city of Birmingham that specialised in training ministers from around the world. There were Koreans there, Christians from India and Sri Lanka and from many parts of Africa. And it was one of the speakers from Kenya who made me stop and think.
The idea behind his lecture was that our own cultural back ground will determine our understanding of a Bible passage. And he gave as an example the parable of the Good Samaritan. And he said to us – all white, British, middle class, men and women – “When you read the passage who do you identify with?”
We all said we mainly identified with the Samaritan. In that we wanted to try and do the right thing for those in need. And some of us said that from time to time we could associate with the Priest and the Levite when we pass by on the other side – ignoring the plight of the person begging perhaps.
The Kenyan said that in his culture most people hearing the passage would associate with the victim. The person who’d been robbed and beaten.
That was an eye opener to me. And maybe, because of your circumstances that is you. Maybe you feel more of the victim than the Samaritan.
And I don’t know but maybe some of you feel like the robber having done something in the past you feel bad about. If that is the case hear the words of grace “Your sins are forgiven”
So we’ve mentioned the priest and Levite, we’ve mentioned the victim, we’ve mentioned the Samaritan but the story contains one more character. Who is that? The innkeeper.
Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”
In this story it is only the Samaritan who Jesus says is a neighbour. And yes of course he is. He didn’t pass by on the road. He gave first aid to the victim and treated his wounds. He took the victim to the inn, found him a bed and paid the innkeeper to look after the victim. But then the Samaritan moves on and it is left to the innkeeper to ensure the victim gets back on his feet.
Jesus’ story ends of course. It is left for us to imagine whether the victim got better. It is left for us to imagine that the innkeeper did take care of the victim.
I like to think the innkeeper was an honest fellow, a caring fellow. As opposed to being a Thenardier type character in Les Miserables – the scheming, plotting thieving innkeeper if you’ve seen the film.
So why do I focus on the innkeeper? I focus on him because even in the story we have he becomes a neighbour. OK you might argue, he is getting paid to be a neighbour. True, but that does not mean he is any the less detached. When he took the victim in, when he agreed to look after the victim once the Samaritan had left, the innkeeper becomes a neighbour.
I don’t know how familiar you are with the English metaphysical poets of the 16th and 17th century? No me neither! But one I have heard of and I only know of part of one of his poems. The 17th century poet John Donne wrote a poem entitled “No man is an island”
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
It is actually a poem about death and in the poem Donne is trying to get over the fact that whenever he hears a church bell tolling, to signify that a funeral is taking place, he is connected to the person who has died and the family and friends.
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
John Donne’s point – no man is an island – is that all of us are connected to one another. We are all neighbours whether we like it or not.
So the innkeeper is a neighbour. He becomes connected. He becomes involved whether he wanted to or not.
The Gospel of Luke contains at least one other reference to an inn – though not an innkeeper. Any ideas? Yes the Christmas story
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
I imagine that if you have what we call a nativity play here, someone will always play the part of the innkeeper saying “There’s no room at the inn” So even though in Luke 2 the innkeeper is not mentioned, we like to invent the character into the story.
Every year I get down off the book shelf a great children’s story called “Jesus' Christmas Party” by Nicholas Allen. It tells the story from the perspective of the innkeeper. It’s for very young children and they love it because there are lots of actions. The inn keeper stomping around. The innkeeper being woken by people knocking at his door asking where they can find Mary & Joseph. “ROUND THE BACK!”
Eventually, the innkeeper gets fed up and goes to see what all the commotion is about and finds the baby. He is so enthralled by the special baby that he wakes up everyone else in the inn and then throws a party to celebrate.
It is a story. And yet it contains truth just as Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan contains a truth. And the truth in both stories is that the innkeepers become connected to others. They become neighbours. Whether they want to or not.
I think the idea of the innkeeper as a model for us is good as often we become involved with something as Christian neighbours even though we were not there are the outset. And even though we might not want to be involved.
Take Stephen Ministries at this church. As I understand it Stephen Ministries was founded back in 1974. And as far as I know no one from this church was involved at that time. But those of you who are Stephen Ministers have become involved. You are innkeepers. You weren’t directly involved at the start but have become involved as the Lord Jesus has called you to your ministry.
And maybe when we hear the story of the Good Samaritan that’s another interpretation of it? Maybe Jesus was the Good Samaritan. A Samaritan let’s not forget was shunned by Jewish society – just as Jesus was for the most part.
So maybe when we think of the story we can imagine Jesus being the Samaritan coming to the victim first and foremost. But then Jesus entrusts the care of the victim to the innkeeper – and the innkeeper represents you and me. We become involved whether we want to or not for Jesus has a way of calling us to do something for him whether we want to or not.
We might not feel equipped, we might not want to do it but Jesus calls us. And through his Holy Spirit he gives us what we need to enable us to be of service him. And to serve others.
Of course being an innkeeper can be highly inconvenient. We have other plans; we have better things to do. But then Jesus has a way of knocking on the doors of our hearts and getting us involved. And he’ll keep on knocking until the innkeeper within us opens the door and lets him in and before we know it we’re involved in whatever ministry he calls us to.
This can of course take a long time for some of us. But believe me Jesus keeps on knocking until that grumpy old innkeeper within us answers the door and decides to join the party!
I just want to go back to the verse in which the innkeeper in the Parable gets a mention
35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”
Let’s imagine once again that it is Jesus, and not the Samaritan, who is speaking to the innkeeper
“Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”
This to my mind is Jesus saying to the innkeeper in each one of us
“I love you. I trust you. I have a ministry for you. Feed my sheep, take care of my lambs until I return. This may cost you personally, it may cost you financially. But I promise you. When I return you will be rewarded greatly. And your reward will be to be with me in paradise.”
As the words of an old hymn have it
Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
Amen.
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