We often try to justify ourselves to God through all kinds of sophistry, but God is not fooled. We can’t create loopholes which allow us to ignore what God expects us to do. We can’t argue ourselves out of what God rightfully and justly expects from us. After we have learned what God wants, we can’t feign ignorance saying God wasn’t explicit enough, giving us room to do as we please. Even if what we are told is vague or ambiguous, there will be something for us to consider and use in our lives. And if we have not been told what to do, we have our conscience; we must follow its promptings, that is, we must do what it suggests. Our conscience is not all knowing, it can make mistakes due to ignorance, which is why we should do what we can to best inform it. But, we can’t use that as an excuse to do nothing. We must act based upon what we know and understand, even as we should be willing to change when a better understanding of the situation requires it. Thus, when a lawyer went up to Jesus asking how to be saved, Jesus told him to love his neighbor as himself. The lawyer thought that was vague enough that he could make all kinds of loopholes to justify himself without really doing anything to help his neighbors, which is why we are told, “But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” (Lk. 10:29 RSV).
The lawyer thought he found a way to limit what was expected of him. Who was his neighbor? Just those people living next to him? Isn’t that what the literal command implies? And if that were the case, then, he thought he had done enough: he was a good neighbor as he didn’t cause any problems with those who lived next to him. He thought he trapped Jesus and Jesus would confirm it, saying it was indeed the proper interpretation for the divine command. But that was not what God wanted. God wanted him, and therefore us, to consider everyone as our neighbor. And so Jesus responded, as he often did, with a parable, a story which went to the heart of the matter, showing what it truly meant to love our neighbor without excuses:
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 a 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 these 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 likewise.” (Lk. 10:30-37 RSV).
Most of us have heard and read this parable multiple times. We know precisely what it tells us to do. We know that it tells us that we should consider everyone our neighbor, and so we should do what we can to help those in need. We certainly should not use some sort of religious obligation, like having to go to church, as an excuse, saying it is more important than helping someone in need. This is because those who stop and take care of someone in need are fulfilling their obligations, and in a very profound matter. They are fulfilling the expectations of the law and prophets, that is, the expectations of love, expectations which Christians are called to follow. The Good Samaritan, in this parable, was a better follower of the law than the priest or Levite. We should take that into consideration, knowing that if we try to find excuses to ignore the plight of those in need, the poor, the vulnerable, the helpless, those dying with medical needs who could be saved, we cannot justify ourselves by pointing to our adherence to our rituals and our dogmatic beliefs because we would have denied the spirit of the faith. Indeed, those who help those in need, those who care for their fellow humanity, will be found to follow God’s expectations better than those who just seek mere religious observances and think those observances fulfill what God wants out of us (a truth which Jesus revealed many times in his ministry). For we are called to be good neighbors, to love others, to show mercy to those in need. We are called to Christ, to take on Christ, to be a christ in Christ, and Paul, knowing this, said:
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-3 RSV).
We are to live our lives worthy of the grace given to us. We can’t justify ourselves with loopholes, excuses created to ignore what Jesus told us to do. We can’t say we are taking time to worship, time to study, time to learn the doctrines and teachings of the faith, and use that to prove our faith and believe ourselves to be justified if we ignore the implications of what we learn. If we did that, we would follow the way of the lawyer who came to Jesus, seeking loopholes to ignore what it is God expects from us. We can always find excuses if we want. Such excuses, in the end, will satisfy no one. The fact we are making them shows we know this. They certainly will never satisfy God. We can’t get away from it. The Christian faith is primary about a way of life; we are to cooperate with grace so that we can experience and participate in the divine life, a participation which requires us to act in unison with God’s all-embracing love for the world. To be sure, religious rituals have value. The teachings of the faith have value. They can teach us what we need to know, to satisfy a basic part of the human experience, even as they will show us what we need to do. But if we do not live what is being taught and shown through them, if we are using them as excuses to ignore what God told us to do, saying, for example, all we need is faith, we will only have a dead faith for faith without works is dead. God wants us to have faith, but for it to be true, it must be a living faith, one which takes seriously what God wants us to do instead of ignoring it and thinking God will just save us despite all we put between us and God’s desire for us.
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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.
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