LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 89

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Convention Essay
❸ Baptized for Mercy

(“A man who fell amongst thieves”)

Luke 10:25–37

By the Rev. Ted Krey, regional director for latin america and the caribbean for
the lcms
65th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod | July 23, 2013

M

y greatest privilege is to serve on your behalf. I am bewildered
about being here. I have things to say, but most often it is to those
who do not have much more than a high school education in the
Dominican Republic. I must say, I would prefer it that way too.

If you would indulge me, I would ask that my fellow area directors
and Rev. Randy Golter, our head of International Mission, rise.
These are they who oversee the mission of your church in the
different regions of the world on a day-to-day basis. Perhaps an
applause of thanks and appreciation for them.
The excuse—la excusa—a lawyer asks Jesus, seeking to justify
himself, “Who is my neighbor?” This man is perhaps embarrassed.
Jesus responded to his first question with such ease. Instead of a
protracted conversation in which he sought to entrap Jesus in a
conversation of 613 laws, Jesus deftly turns the conversation into a
simple but poignant lesson. Now, perhaps stung, he looks to justify
himself; he wants to be front and center.
Again, seeking academic debate, he asks, “Who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replies: A man traveling from Jericho to Jerusalem takes a
perilous road. The road is steep and very isolated. As a traveler,
he is vulnerable. A man falls amongst thieves. He is beaten. His
clothes are taken away from him, and he is left to die. This is to
murder. Whether he is dead or not is immaterial to God in question
of degree. These thieves have committed an injustice to this man
in his body. They have hated him in his person and left him to die.
This is the furthest from love. It is raw hatred. It is reminiscent of
Cain rising up to kill his brother.
This continues to happen in many forms even today. Whether it
is a mother abandoning her son in a central plaza, as she did with
this boy in our orphanage, or whether it is the life of an unborn
child torn out of its mother’s womb, the result is a victim, who
because of evil and sin, is “merciless.”
“A neighbor is one who is near to us.” A neighbor does not need to
be sought out. Antonio and Marisela came to the Divine Service
one day. After church, they asked for money. Fellow Christians were
quick to point out that they were nothing more than professional
C o n v e n t io n E s s ays

beggars. They have six children; none are in school. None of them
have any documents, as their parents have not declared them, and
they lived on the hill outside of the village. Here they were, standing
in front of the two of us as pastors, asking members. The collective
wisdom of the church was to turn them away, but they were near
to us. You are the neighbor if you show mercy.
Who is my neighbor?
A priest approaches. Perhaps he has just finished his temple duties.
Most certainly the Word of God has been read. The Word of God
has entered his earholes. Yet as he travels this dangerous road from
Jerusalem through to Jericho, he finds himself on the same road,
and the same side of the road, as “the man who has fallen amongst
thieves.” No one else sees him. Perhaps the victim himself does
not see the priest. He crosses the road and puts distance between
himself and the victim.
Suppose that the priest represents us pastors. We are called to the
preaching of the Word. We in the Missouri Synod understand
that our chief task is to witness of Christ and Him crucified. How
does giving money to the local food bank, soup kitchen, or co-op
give a witness to Christ? Is having this on the budget line of the
church finances sufficient?
I am not speaking about bait and switch. I am speaking about
the beginning of this chapter where the 70 are sent out and they
simultaneously preach and heal (Luke 10). I am speaking about
our Lord beginning His ministry and preaching that the Kingdom
has come, repent. He heals the sick, the lame, and the blind (Luke
4:23–27). If our Lord does this, is this an academic question or
much more of a fleshly Fifth Commandment one: How do we serve
our neighbor in his body?
Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, how do we and what
do we teach our congregations about the relationship between mercy
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