190915 Sermon on Luke 10:23-27 (Trinity 13), September 15, 2019 Our Gospel reading today teaches us what God considers the highest and best life. That is important knowledge. Many kings and prophets would like to know such knowledge, and here it is, right before our eyes. The best life is the one where we love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and with all our mind. We should love our neighbor as we love ourselves. This is the highest ambition a person can have, and the best possible life that a person can live.But as a way of life there are very few who take it up. The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to eternal life, and few there are who find it. Broad is the gate and easy is the way that leads to destruction. The reason why loving God and loving the neighbor is hard is because it is so contrary to the way that we are by nature. How we are by nature is that all our love is directed inwardly instead of outwardly. We want stuff for ourselves and for those who belong to us. Others can fend for themselves. Our selfish desires shape and form our ambitions.We should not think that these desires and ambitions are obviously sinful. According to our reason and according to the world’s thinking there is nothing wrong with self-gratification. Capitalists, for example, believe that selfishness is what makes the world go ‘round. Squeezing your neighbor for some extra profit is good business sense. Dumping some friends for better friends is the way to move up the social ladder. Awards and honors for one’s self makes people try and compete for the prize, and therefore is the secret to success and progress.Talking about this way of life as being bad might be confusing to you, and that’s understandable. It’s what comes naturally to us. Most people have never even considered the possibility that there is another way of living one’s life. But there is, and we are taught that today by our Gospel reading. What should motivate all our actions is love for God; love for the neighbor. Instead of trying to please ourselves, we are to please God. God is pleased when we do good things for other people besides ourselves. This is the chief way that we can love God and serve him—when we do good for others. God doesn’t need our good works. We can’t enrich him because everything is already his! God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does. Our neighbor needs those good works very much.“Who, then, is my neighbor?” This is the question that the expert in the Law asked Jesus after he heard that his interpretation of the Law was correct. Jesus said that he would live if he loved God and loved his neighbor. But the expert in the Law wanted to know whether he was in good stead. I assume that he thought that he had been pretty good to his family and to his friends. But what about other people? “Who else am I required to help?” he wondered. Jesus answered his question by telling him the parable of the Good Samaritan. The answer to the question of who the neighbor is, is whoever happens to cross your path. And how much should be done for such people that we happen to come across? The parable shows us that it is a lot. This parable forces us to see that our notions of generosity are off base. If we came across some miserable person and gave them a couple hundred bucks, boy, would we ever feel like we had done our good deed for the day! But the Samaritan does so much more than that.He picks the man up, bandages his wounds, and tries to make him comfortable. He puts the man on his own animal and walks beside him until they find a place to stay. When they get there he checks into a room and stays with the man. He nursed him along through the night. He probably didn’t sleep well with the moaning of the injured man, and the help he needed to give him. It wasn’t until the next day, after the hardest work as far as nursing is concerned was over, that he continues on his journey. That’s when he gives a couple hundred bucks to the