Readings for Proper 10C
Luke 10:25-37
July 15, 2001
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Church, Cupertino CA,
"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." (Lk. 10)
Most people define themselves as being clear and rational thinkers. But the truth is, there are many times when all of us engage in distorted thinking or are misguided by our irrational beliefs. At the core of the gospel message is the imperative to seek the truth and to allow God's thoughts to become our thoughts. If the Great Commandment calls us to love God and love our neighbor, then how should this affect the way we think and the way we respond to challenging situations? What I would like to do today, is to use the story of the "Good Samaritan" as a vehicle to explore distorted thinking and to show how distorted thinking turns us away from embracing the Great Commandment.
Today's story from the gospel of Luke is one of the most familiar stories in the New Testament. So familiar is this story of the "Good Samaritan", that hospitals, outreach ministries, and churches name themselves after it. While trying to explain what it means to be a neighbor, Jesus tells the story about a man who has been beaten by robbers and left to die on the side of the road. A Jewish Levite and a priest walk right by him and do not offer him help. However, a Samaritan man sees the victim, is moved with pity, bandages his wounds, and provides a place for him to heal from his injuries. It is this kind of compassion and action that summarizes the New Testament understanding of extending love to one's neighbor. Now I want to take this story and go a little bit deeper. Have you ever wondered why Jesus used the example of a priest and Levite in the story? Do you think Jesus was anti-clerical? I don't think so. I think Jesus was pointing out the dangers of how religious legalism (in particular purity codes) can hinder one's ability to be compassionate. Let's take a closer look.
For the people of Israel, faithfulness was equated with following the purity codes. All societies have purity codes. These codes determine what is clean and what is unclean; what is permissible and what is forbidden. Purity codes establish the identity of a group of people whether it be a religious group, an ethnic group, or a social group. The people of Israel however, had a much more distinct and precise set of purity codes that helped them maintain their unique identity and separateness in the midst of foreigners. Their purity codes determined what they could eat, whom they could marry, when they could have sexual relations, whom they could touch, and how they were to handle discharges from the human body, etc.
For example, it was forbidden to eat fruit from a tree that was less than 5 years old. It was forbidden to wear clothes made from two different fibers. (So much for cotton-polyester!) Discharges from the human body were problematic and would cause a person to become unclean for a period of time. For instance, a woman who is in her menstrual period is unclean for seven days and her uncleanness is so contagious that it can affect others indirectly through their touching any furniture on which she lies or sits. It was forbidden for a man to lie with another man and it was forbidden to ordain a man to the priesthood who had an injured foot or hand. Samaritans and gentiles were deemed unclean.
A priest was forbidden to touch a dead person lest he become unclean. Usually, there was a set period of time a person would have to wait before becoming clean again. Thus, if the priest or the Levite were to have touched the bleeding or perhaps "dead" man left on the side of the road, they would have been deemed "unclean" and thus forbidden from completing their duties at the temple. So you can see how the purity codes might interfere with a person's ability to show compassion.
Throughout the gospel stories, Jesus challenges the purity codes when they interfere with a person's ability to act compassionately. He is basically saying that instutionalized purity codes need to be radically subordinate to the purity of the heart. Thus, when external purity codes fail to engender love and justice, then they need to be broken. When purity codes prevent us from taking the path of compassion, then they are in fact a form of distorted thinking that alienate us from one another. Now most Christians, (except those who want to hold onto a particular prejudice), do not believe that the purity codes of the Hebrew Scriptures will save them. We believe it is the grace of God that will lead us into wholeness. However, all of us engage in other forms of distorted thinking that keep us from loving God, our neighbor, and ourselves. These are called irrational beliefs. Dr. Albert Ellis, a well-known psychologist, identifies 10 irrational beliefs that cause alienation, despair, and dread. Identifying and then moving beyond our irrational beliefs can be a process of healing that can move us to more fully embrace the Great Commandment. Let me give you an example.
A few days ago, a friend of mine came home from work after a long and arduous day. She had reviewed a document that had already been sent out for publishing. In the document, she found several mistakes that she had failed to notice the week before. Immediately, she began to condemn herself for her failure to find the errors. Then she began to lose confidence in her ability to work at her position. By the end of the day, she became so anxious and was churning inside from guilt, shame, and disappointment. "Condemning the offender, anxious overconcern, and the need for perfection," are three "irrational beliefs" that sapped her joy and kept her from being in a loving state of mind. Now this is the green season of the year; the time in which we read, study, and grow into the likeness of Christ. If growing into the likeness of Christ is about growing in love, then we need to examine and move beyond those obstacles/irrational beliefs that keep us from being loving and compassionate disciples.
So I want you to do some homework. In the middle of your bulletin, is a list and explanation of ten irrational beliefs: Demand for Approval, High Self-Expectations, Condemning the Offender, Low Frustration Tolerance, Emotional Irresponsibility, Anxious over-concern, problem avoidance, historical determinism, Need for Perfection, Passive Happiness. I want you to go home and examine what kind of distorted thinking you might be engaging in. I want you to get a partner, or a covenant group, or you can do it by yourself, and try to list at least two irrational beliefs that prevent you from loving yourself or others. And then pray for God's grace to overcome this way of distorted thinking. Recently, I did this exercise with a group of friends. Instead of playing "name that tune", we named out loud what we thought the other person's irrational beliefs were. When you know a person well, his/her irrational beliefs are quite transparent.
The religious life is about transformation, and transformation occurs when you can "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all our soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
A list of Irrational Beliefs that keep us from experiencing the fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self-control. (by Dr. Ellis)
| Updated 7/16/01 |
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