Meeting Jesus - The Good Samaritan
In 1993, two and a half years after I became a follower of Jesus, I sensed God was leading me to move 7 hours away to Columbus, OH, and serve at a new church that was meeting in a middle school. Everything I owned in life I stuffed into two large black trash bags. I had a 1986 Buick Regal with a bad thermostat, four bald tires, and a transmission that was stuck in one-gear, drive. Along the interstate, I replaced the water pump, changed a flat tire, and made it to Columbus with $60 left in my wallet. I arrived on a Sunday morning as worship was beginning, dropped $20 into the offering plate, and thanked God for getting me there safely. Now I had $40, no job, and no place to sleep, but I was following GOD! I had peace in my heart because I knew God would provide.
Sunday afternoon, the Pastor of the church plant made a few phone calls, and later that day, I drove my car to one of the nicest neighborhoods I had ever seen. Blowing white smoke out of the exhaust, I parked my car on the curb of a beautiful five-bedroom home with a perfectly manicured lawn and a water fountain near the front door entrance. I had been living in the rented basement of a run-down house. Dark low ceilings, musty, broken plumbing pipes, barely getting by…
The Moser family welcomed me into their home and treated me as if I were one of the family. I had my own bedroom, bathroom and lived rent-free for the next year and a half. I ate meals with them and participated in everything the family did. Games, birthday celebrations…I was welcomed into their home not as a guest but as a stranger who became part of their family.
My entire life changed because of their willingness to take care of a stranger. When I moved back to Tennessee, I enrolled in college and later went on to Seminary. Had God not put this family in my life, at a critical time after I had surrendered my life to Jesus, I do not think I would be married or in ministry. Maybe you have experienced somebody who went out of their way to help you. And they helped you in such a way that it changed your life.
If you have ever been the recipient of selfless service like I have, this passage of scripture will speak to you today. Let’s read:
Luke 10:25-37 (NLT2)
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” 27 The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” 29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. 31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ 36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
Throughout the Gospel of Luke, the Religious Leaders are often seen trying to trick Jesus, kill Jesus, or accuse Jesus of sin. This religious lawyer had memorized the Old Testament and was an expert on how Jewish people were supposed to live. Every religious leader had summed up the entire Old Testament commands in one sentence:
To love God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
And, like every good lawyer who searches for loopholes, this religious lawyer was interested in discovering the loopholes in the command to “love his neighbor as Himself.” He wanted to define his neighbor so did not have to love ALL people.
Who was His Neighbor?
Was it just those that lived near his home?
Maybe just the people he attended synagogue with?
Maybe just the people he saw on the way to work?
What about people outside the Jewish faith? Are they his neighbor, too?
This man reminds us that…
RELIGIOUS EXPERTS CAN FAIL AT RELATIONSHIPS
Sometimes people become such experts at knowing what the Bible says about right and wrong that they fail to have genuine connections with others. They become the authority about living correctly for followers of Jesus. They desire to control others through the commands of Jesus…and they love the grey areas of scripture:
Like:
If you are a real follower of Jesus, you should not drink alcohol.
If you are a real follower of Jesus, you should not smoke or vape.
If you are a real follower of Jesus, you should wear nicer clothes to church.
If you are a real follower of Jesus, you should be like me.
Then, when others do not meet their expectations, the relationship is over, until or unless the other person’s behavior changes.
Some families are like that.
Some marriages are like that.
Some churches are like that…
I am grateful, we are not. And If we have been in the past, that is not who we are now. Attempting to “control the behavior of others” will never deepen your relationships. The more we expect others to follow the rules, the more disappointed we will be in them because we all are sinners! We are all going to miss the mark. Don’t look for loopholes in relationships. Love all people as you love yourself and recognize that meaningful relationships are built through difficult seasons.
PEOPLE MAKE BAD DECISIONS; HELP THEM ANYWAY
Jesus was intentional about the road he included in this story. If you wanted to travel from Jerusalem to Jericho, you could only take one road. The “road” was more like a trail or a path, cut through hills and valleys and twisted and turned for about 25 miles. If you traveled the road, you would put your life at risk. Dehydration, Wild animals, and Thieves and bandits would hide along the trail, steal your money, beat you up, and leave you for dead.
The traveling man thought he could travel the road alone, but he was beat-up and left for dead. He made a bad decision. He didn’t think he needed people with him. He thought he was immune to all the bad things that would happen to him along the route. This man thought he could walk the road alone. Often, we do the same thing. Pride tells us that we do not need others. God designed us for relationships. God created us to do life with people who sin and make bad decisions. When people get in trouble because of the poor decisions they have made in life, help them anyway. You get that if you are a follower of Jesus. You understand that you made poor decisions in life, yet God helped you anyway.
Jesus did not allow our mistakes to keep us separated from him.
If you have come to a point where you understood God created you and loved you, that on the cross, Jesus paid the price for your sin, and that God wants a relationship with you through the forgiveness of sin, and you have surrendered your life to God and trusted Jesus as your Savior. Then you understand that God did not allow our failure to prevent him from helping us. So don’t allow other people’s bad decisions to prevent you from helping them. The religious people walked on past this man.
Maybe they thought as they walked by:
“Actions have consequences.”
“You play with fire, and you will get burned.”
All these sayings are true…but I have made bad decisions before, and I needed help.
You have made bad decisions before, and you needed help. So show others mercy, and help them even when they have really messed their lives up. Remember,
SELFLESS SERVICE REQUESTS NOTHING IN RETURN
“Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
This man selflessly served and asked for nothing in return:
He used his emergency kit.
He walked the rest of the journey while the wounded man rode his donkey.
He paid the medical bill of a stranger.
Beach Church has a pattern of Serving selflessly. We serve with a “no strings attached” mentality, expecting and asking for nothing in return.
Some examples:
Gift Cards for Families at Christmas
Parent’s Night out
Whenever you purchase a drink in the Cove, all of that money goes directly to local missions.
We have provided breakfast for local schools
Clothing drives for Fostering Hope and Homeless shelters
Annual food Drives for local food pantries
Monthly food distributions
I could go on and on…
When we are serving, we serve with no strings attached. We do not try to coax people into becoming a follower of Jesus before we help them. We serve selflessly.
And remember,
A NEIGHBOR’S NEED IS A CALL TO ACTION, NOT PITY
After this story, Jesus asked, “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” In today’s culture, when we see somebody in danger, we are more prone to record it than to help them. But, because Jesus tells us to go and do the same, a neighbor’s need is a call to action…and feeling sorry for people is not what God wants. God wants you and I to be light in a dark world.
He wants us to make a difference to those who are hurting.
To those in need.
To those at the end of their rope.
To those who feel beat up by life and left for dead.
To those who think they do not matter and nobody cares for them.
God does not want us to feel pity for them. He wants us to go out of our way, to serve selflessly, and to take action. So, if you have established a pattern of walking past those in need, change your pattern. Make a decision today that you will never walk past a person in need without helping them. Let’s be a people here at Beach Church that serve selflessly and make a difference in our community.