Proper 10C - July 15, 2007
Trinity VI
All Saints' Church - Thomasville, GA
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 25
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

Grant that we may both perceive and know the things we ought to do, and possess the grace and power to do them.

In praying the collect of the day several times over as I was preparing my sermon, I was intrigued by two instances of repetition.  The first occurs in regards to how we APPROACH something.  We ask God to help us perceive and know the things we ought to do.  That caught me as quite interesting.  What's the difference in perceiving and knowing?

My first inclination was to check out a couple of dictionaries and see if this led me to any conclusions.  A few that I consulted defined the word perceive the way I had always thought of, but there was something that my definition seemed to leave out.  Almost all of the definitions made note of the fact that part of perception deals with the use of the senses, especially sight and hearing.

But I was still curious what the senses had to do with it, and why the collect prays for both perception and knowledge.

When I looked up the word know, the American Heritage Dictionary had a very telling definition.

KNOW - to perceive directly; grasp in the mind with clarity or certainty; to regard as true beyond doubt.

To know is to take perception to the next level, and recognize what we are to do beyond a shadow of a doubt.

This collect, which dates back to the Gregorian Canon in the seventh century AD, wants us to recognize that there is a difference in perceiving what is right, and knowing what is right.  This collect suggests movement and maturity in our Christian journey.  This prayer is one that asks us to know with every fiber of our being what the will of God is for our lives.  When we find ourselves in situations that require an ethical and moral decision, we have asked God to allow us to know in our heart, and to heighten our senses those things that we ought to do.  It is supposed to tingle in the pit of our stomachs, make the hair on our arms, and back of our neck stand up.  We need to have our senses awakened and enlightened for what lies ahead, so that we can recognize the situation for what it is, and make sure that we act in a manner that is right in God's eyes.

The collect then continues toward action.

We call upon the Almighty that we might possess the grace and power to do what is right.

Now I've reached another doublet of repetition.

What's the difference between the grace to do something, and the power to do it?

First, I recognize that the grace to do the will of God is an attempt on our part to mirror what God has already done for us.  One definition of grace is unmerited benevolence.    As we read in Holy Scripture, as we hear in our liturgy, as has been preached in this pulpit, our salvation comes to us through no work of our own, but rather through the unmerited goodness of our Heavenly Father, through the redeeming work of His Son.

Our response to that grace - that unmerited benevolence, is our actions in return.  This is not justification by works.  Rather, it is our way of giving thanks back to God for His gift in our lives.  It is an offering back to him, and it does not seek to justify anything.

Our prayer also asks for the power to do what is right.  It seems like such an unnecessary request after we have prayed for the grace to do God's will.

However, on this side of the eschaton, we never escape the temptation of Satan in our lives.  Throughout the Gospels, there are instances where Satan appears in different forms to tempt Jesus.  The most notable are the temptation narratives and in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The temptations that we read about are attempts to derail Jesus' mission of redeeming the world, and overcoming the power of death forever.

In each instance, Jesus possesses the power to resist temptation and remain on the course that the Father has set for him to follow.  Through the power of the Holy Ghost we have the source of power within us to resist temptation, and fulfill those things which God asks of us.

Our Gospel lesson this morning is perhaps one of the most familiar of Jesus' parables.

I wish to focus only upon the last verse and how it pertains to our collect.  When Jesus asks the lawyer who the neighbor was to the man who fell victim to the thieves, he cannot even bring himself to admit it was the Samaritan.  I'm almost a bit surprised that Jesus did not press the lawyer to call him by name, but rather let him go with his answer of the one who showed mercy.

In that brief dialogue, the lawyer is not even being neighborly to the Samaritan in the story when he cannot even mention him personally.  His worldview is so tainted by the relationship, or rather, lack there of, of Jews to Samaritans, and I'm sure he was caught off guard by Jesus words.  The mere fact that Jesus would make this outcast, sinner the hero of the story is almost too much to believe to a First Century Jew.  At least the lawyer acknowledges the actions of the Samaritan even if he can't bring himself to admit that's who did it.

I want to dig just a bit deeper into one word in his answer that brings me to my final point.

He says that the neighbor in the story is the one who showed e#leoj.  This word is the word in Greek that almost all English translations of scripture render as mercy.  There is an interesting attribute of this word in the Greek language.

It has two connotations depending upon the one showing mercy.  In our text, we see the first connotation - that is one human being showing mercy to another.  Several occasions appear throughout scripture where this word is used to describe mercy amongst men.

However, there are significantly more instances where this word is used to describe God's mercy toward us.  I believe that in this parable, we are to hear both definitions together.

As we show mercy toward each other, we should always be reminded of the mercy that God shows each of us.

There is one additional definition of the word e#leoj that I believe makes a critical point.  It can also be translated as clemency.   That definition should conjure up images of atonement theology.  Jesus granted clemency to us with the debt he paid on our behalf upon the cross.  It is a good thing, because on our own, there is no way we can do anything to clear that note.

And Jesus responds to the lawyer, and tells him to "Go and do thou likewise."  Our lives should emulate the One who first showed us mercy.

When do Jesus' words ring in our ears?

When we remember that parishioner who has not been at church lately - is it just a fleeting thought, or do we pick up the phone; ask them how they are doing; tell them you miss them, and that you hope to see them soon.
Who is our neighbor?

What about that phone call that we've been putting off, and putting off for the right time, praying that the right time never comes?

Our neighbor is the one that needs to hear our voice on the other line.

Our neighbor needs to know that we are there to listen.

As we heard last week our Epistle, our neighbor needs us to help bear their burdens.

Of course, we're always tempted to make the mental reply, "If I'm neighborly to everyone else, who's going to be neighborly to me?"

I've only got so much I can give, and I'm already overloaded as it is!

Jesus says, "Love one another, as I have first loved you."

If we remember, Jesus' love cost him everything.

Our love should cost us no less.