A sermon on Luke 10:25-37

By Fr. Mike Paraniuk
HCP columnist

Have you ever been frustrated when Jesus said something in the Bible and you wonder, "What does Jesus mean?" 

It sounds important, but I don't get it. Here is one of them: "Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, 'When will the kingdom of God come?' Jesus answered, 'God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ for behold God’s kingdom is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21.) 

How does Jesus show His Kingdom is already here? What will God's Kingdom look like?

I found the answer in the story of the Good Samaritan. God loves everyone – no exceptions. You must love others – no exceptions. When you do that, God's Kingdom becomes alive and real in our midst. There are no exceptions to whom your neighbor is. Anyone needing healing is your neighbor. Anyone who suffers is your neighbor. Anyone needing compassion is your neighbor. Anyone needing anything is your neighbor. Jesus never made exceptions to whom He loved, healed, helped or cared for. Neither can you.

The Good Samaritan could have found all types of exceptions to justify why he could not help the beaten man. The man was Jewish, whom Samaritans hated. The man could have been bait to entrap another person to rob. The man could have been dead. To touch him would make you unclean. This did not stop the Samaritan from opening his heart with mercy from within. 

The seeds of God's Kingdom are inside your heart. Every act of love and mercy you do from your heart makes those seeds grow into a beautiful tree to show the Kingdom of God is already here, in your midst. Jesus compared God's Kingdom to a little mustard seed. "It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.” (Luke 13:19.) The mustard seed is your act of mercy. The garden is your heart. The tree is the Kingdom. The birds in the branches are those who receive your love from the garden of your heart.
 
I share with you one of greatest acts of love I ever witnessed – no exceptions. I left home at 14 years old to study for priesthood at St. Fidelis Seminary. In my seminary class was a young man named Bob. Bob was picked on mercilessly by a group of thugs in my class who had no business being there. Cruelty and meanness have no place in the priesthood. I remember one day they physically picked him up and shoved him halfway down the garbage chute. Myself and another guy pulled him out. Bob was a gentle soul. 

I asked him, "Why don't you fight back?"  

He would answer, "Then, I would be no better than them. I pray God forgive them." 

We tried to protect Bob, but it was hard. We were the nerds, and they were the jocks.

One Saturday we had a huge school soccer tournament in our football field. Bob was really good at soccer. He did even better that day because some of the jocks were missing. We found out where they were. In the middle of play, there was a huge crashing sound. A car going too fast swerved off the road, hitting a telephone pole right near our field. One of the passengers went right through the windshield. This was 1968 when most cars did not have seat belts. 

We ran to the scene of the accident. There were four persons in that car. They were the jock thugs who persecuted Bob. The main abuser was lying in the ditch gasping for air. We stood around like dummies, not knowing what to do. That's when Bob swung into action. He had been reading medical journals about this new procedure called "CPR." He cleared the guy's throat by pulling out his tongue and tilted his head back. Bob then proceeded to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He quickly showed us how to do chest compressions. We all took turns doing something that seemed so strange, but we trusted Bob. 

Bob saved the life of the one who made his life so miserable. I asked him later if he was tempted to just do nothing. He replied, "God led me to learn CPR. I never thought I would have to use it. Maybe God is giving him a second chance to be a better person." 

All four of the thugs were kicked out of the seminary. Bob left later to pursue another path in life. I will never forget his courage and mercy to the one who showed him no mercy. Bob revealed the Kingdom of God because he loved – no exceptions.

Jesus says to you, "Go and do likewise."