Let’s begin today with a fun little quiz. I am going to name some neighbors from TV shows and you try to identify which show it was from. Some of these shows are really old so, unless you are my age, you may not know them. But all these shows are being shown in reruns. So let’s get started.
1) Fred and Ethel Mertz I Love Lucy
2) Eddie Haskell Leave It To Beaver
3) George and Louise Jefferson All In The Family
4) Barney and Betty Rubble The Flintstones
5) Steve Urkel Family Matters
6) Arthur Fonzarelli Happy Days
7) Wilson Wilson Home Improvement
8) Cosmo Kramer Seinfield
So, how did you do? Did you recognize most of these neighbors? Today we are going to look at a parable that Jesus told about a neighbor. It has all the elements of a good movie: violence … crime … racial discrimination … hatred … neglect … unconcern … love … mercy. We are going to look at six characters and their interaction in the story. So let’s read Luke 10:25-37 “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?’
Jesus replied, ‘What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?’
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.”’
‘Right!’ Jesus told him. ‘Do this and you will live!’
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’
Jesus replied with a story: ‘A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down 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.
‘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. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
‘Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 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. 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.”
‘Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?’ Jesus asked.
The man replied, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’
Then Jesus said, ‘Yes, now go and do the same.’”
For the first person we meet in the story the wounded man was a subject to be debated. He is the expert in religious law. He is oozing with knowledge. He’s attended every seminar, listened to every lecture that has been made available, and read any book he could get his hands on. He has accepted the knowledge that he feels applies to him but rejected any knowledge against his personal beliefs. His desire is to “test” Jesus. He wants to match wits with him. Even at the end of the story we detect his reluctance to recognize the hero of the tale by not naming him.
Gaining knowledge of God is not a bad thing. We are told that fact time and time again. But knowledge not applied properly is dangerous. Paul addressed this in the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 “Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.”
We sense that an issue of whether it was alright to eat meat sacrificed to idols had arisen. Probably the knowledge of some dictated that eating this meat was prohibited. Still others had the knowledge that it was allowed. Paul stated the obvious that, even though it was opposing arguments, everyone was filled with knowledge. But that knowledge was self serving and foolish. Paul said to the know-it-alls, you know nothing. Love strengthens the church. And those who show love instead of knowledge are recognized by God. Paul would later exclaim “If I possessed all knowledge but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.”
Jesus was not impressed by the vast knowledge of the teacher of the law because he showed no compassion at the end of the story. Love, not books and seminars, is the key to knowledge. Soon after this Jesus would confront these teachers of the law. Perhaps this guy was there to hear these words. “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” (Luke 11:52)
For the second person we meet in the story the wounded man was someone to be exploited.
Luke 10:30 “Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down 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.”
These are the robbers. Jesus tells us a couple of things about the wounded man. First he was Jewish. He was in his own element. Secondly he was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. Perhaps he had been to the temple to worship. But he was traveling a winding, rocky path that was notorious for robbers. The bandits took his clothes, beat him up, and left him for dead beside the road. Perhaps some listening to the story thought that he got what he deserved. They may have felt that the bandits were justified in taking advantage of such a foolish person.
I sit on the board of Vision Possible in Charlotte. I constantly receive updates on the human trafficking that takes place in Charlotte. North Carolina ranks 8 in human trafficking. It’s a nation wide business bringing in more than $32 billion a year. Most are women from other countries who are promised jobs and citizenship only to be sold for sexual pleasures. Some are young girls who placed their trust in older men only to have that trust betrayed. They are sold to people that they believed they trust; doctors, lawyers, police officers, even the clergy. Too often we sit in judgment of people and the circumstances they find themselves in. And if we are not careful we become guilty of joining in on their exploitation by doing so. Let’s guard ourselves from thinking they are getting what they deserve.
For the third person we meet in our story the wounded man was a problem to be avoided.
Luke 10:31 “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.”
Here is the priest, let’s call him the pastor, walking down the road when he spots a body. First thing he did is the cross the road. Second thing he did was keep on walking.
He didn’t know who this man was. He didn’t care who this man was. He didn’t know what had happened to him. He didn’t care what had happened to him. It wasn’t his problem. Speaking as a pastor too often we are not concerned with what takes place outside our own realm. We are charged to care for our flock and most do well in doing so. But when we are called upon to show compassion beyond our doors we delegate others to handle the situation while we cross over to the other side of the road. We witness those in need and pass them by. We charge fees to do weddings and funerals as if our calling has become a business. We justify it by declaring that it takes away from our free time. However, I believe as a pastor you have no free time. All your time belongs to God. I challenge all pastors to get of their buildings and do some hands on service themselves in their community and discover those wounded lying by the roadside. Now excuse me while I get off my soapbox.
For the fourth person we meet in our story the wounded man was a problem to be observed.
Luke 10:32 “A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.” The Temple assistant, lets call him a Christian, does more than the priest. He walked over, looked at him, but also crossed the road. He would be the type of Christian that goes on Facebook and sees a video of a homeless person and their struggles. This video moves him to tears so he shares it with everyone. But that is the end of his involvement. His life is much too busy to slow down and help someone.
Can I offer a suggestion this morning? For those who commute to the big city, make up a gift bag. Put in it some one dollar toiletries, a roll of toilet paper, some snack foods, maybe even some canned meats. If you are really ambitious, put them in an inexpensive backpack. When you see someone begging on a corner take the time to simply give it to them and say “Jesus loves you.”
Or perhaps visit a nursing home and find a patient that no one visits anymore. Just visit and listen. That’s all they really want.
For the fifth person we meet in our story the wounded man was a problem to profit from.
Luke 10:35 “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.’”
The innkeeper had no compassion on the wounded man. He realized that he had an opportunity to make an extra buck. He is getting rent on the room and being paid to insure that his guest will continue getting proper care. He has in hand two silver coins and an open-ended contract for additional fees. He was offering a charity but it was for profit.
In North Carolina commercial fundraisers raised approximately $239 million for charities. Of this $239 million, however, the charities themselves only received about $142.9 million or about 59%. I have given you a website this morning that will assist you in making wise choices if you are going to donate to a charity. It is on your bulletin. http://www.charitynavigator.org
This website will show you how much of your donation actually goes to the cause, how much goes to administration, and how much is squandered.
For the sixth person we meet in our story the wounded man was not a problem but a person in need.
Luke 10:33-35 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 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. 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.’”
Here comes the shock factor to the audience listening to this story. They’re not shocked by the robbers. Robbers rob and the wounded man was asking for trouble. They’re not shocked by the priest and Temple assistant passing the wounded man by. If he had been dead and they touched him they would have been ceremonially unclean. They couldn’t have taken that risk. What was shocking to them was the fact that the help came from a despised Samaritan, enemies to each other.
Today in our country there are a group of people who have become despised. They are the Muslims. Because of horrendous acts of terror around the world, they have become perceived as an untrustworthy group. In our society the shock factor would be if Christians were refusing help to those in need but the Muslims were coming to their aide.
Notice what the Samaritan does. He uses his own personal collection of olive oil and wine. Olive oil and wine was rather common so probably not expensive. He applied that like a soothing balm and wrapped his enemy in his personal effects to make bandages. He forsakes his own comfort to transport his enemy to a place of care. Once there he rented a room and stayed the night caring for his enemy. The next day he invests his own money to insure the proper care for his enemy and offers to pay the entire medical cost of his enemy’s recovery. Can you imagine taking a stranger who despises you based on your beliefs to a hospital? And telling that hospital to treat him although he has no health insurance. And covering the entire medical bill for his stay.
There are no indications that when the Samaritan returned to settle up that the Jewish man was still there. He received no accolades. There were no parades. He didn’t seek attention. He just saw a man in need and met that need.
Jesus finished with a question back to the expert in religious law. Luke 10:36-37 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” (The expert just couldn’t bring himself to say the one I call my enemy.)
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
That’s it, plain and simple. We are to go and do the same. So what stops us? The one thing I noticed about the Samaritan, besides his willingness to part with wealth and material things, was his sacrifice of his time. It seems everyone on that road in our story was in a hurry to be somewhere. I imagine the Samaritan had somewhere to be also. But he gave this wounded man at least 12 hours of his time.
John Darley and Daniel Batson are two Princeton University psychologists. Some years ago they decided to conduct a study, inspired by the story of the Good Samaritan.
They conducted the study at Princeton Theological Seminary. They met with a group of students and asked each one to prepare a short talk on a given theme. Then they would walk individually to a nearby building to present it. Along the way to the presentation each student would run into a man who was planted in an alley. He would be lying there, moaning & groaning in pain.
The question was who would stop to help the man.
Darley and Batson asked half of the students to give their talk on ministry opportunities available for students after graduation. The other half was asked to prepare a short devotional on the story of the Good Samaritan.
The day of their presentation they told one third of the group that they had plenty of time to get to the building to give their talk so they could take their time. Another third was told that they would just make it in time if they left right now. And the last third was told that they were already late—they’d better get moving immediately!
So, which ones offered to help the man in pain?
They first discovered that it made no difference whether the student was giving a talk on job opportunities or the Good Samaritan as to offer help. What did make a difference was how much of a hurry he was in.
Of the “low hurry” subjects, those who were told they had plenty of time, 63% offered help; of the “intermediate hurry” subjects, those who were told they would have to rush to be on time, 45% offered help; and of the “high hurry” students, those who were told they were late, only 10% offered help.
Reality is we all want to be one who helps those in need. But our lifestyle has become so crowded with deadlines and commitments that we have forgotten the need there is to assist our neighbor, those in need. Look around you this week, find someone hurting, and take time to help your neighbor.
