Title: Who Is My Neighbor?
Text: Luke 10
Date: 1/1/17
Intro
Well good morning Real Life, welcome to the new year!
It’s crazy to think 2016 has already come and gone… Last year at this time my wife and I were getting ready to make the 33 hour drive out here. A few months before that we had sold our house, put all our stuff in storage, and decided to travel the country until God showed us what was next. A path that would eventually lead here.
We traveled all over for about 4 months, during the last months of 2015 and first week of 2016 my wife and I saw over 30 states. But a funny thing happened at the end of that trek. I started wanting routine. Don’t get me wrong, I loved traveling. But our life was so up in the air and filled with so much uncertainty that I was ready for routine and stability. Once we got here I was ready to settle down, get back to work, have projects around the house, and just have a semi normal routine. We are creatures of habit aren’t we?
We like our routines… We like to be in a familiar place, with familiar people, at a familiar time.
Take this church for example… If you have been coming here for awhile chances are you sit in the same seat… And if your seat is taken when you show up you might even get a little upset.
We are creatures of habit. We like to see things through the same lens the same perspective, the same place. This week I want to shake that up that tendency we have.
Tension
To do this we are going to look at one of the most famous stories Jesus ever told. So famous that we have named hospitals after the main character in this story. It’s the story of the Good Samaritan…
If you have your Bibles or want to pull out your phones, flip over to Luke 10:25…
On one occasion a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Luke 10:25
Let’s stop there for a minute. First Luke tells us that this guy came up to test Jesus. This guy knows the law inside and out. So the first question is why would this guy be interested in what Jesus has to say? His first question gives us a clue this guy is looking for.
This question he asks should set some bells and whistles off in our minds. “What must I do to inherit eternal life? The answer is nothing, we can’t do anything to get God’s love, we can’t do anything to deserve salvation. There’s no way we can be good enough. Though that doesn’t stop us from trying. That doesn’t stop us from thinking that if we just do enough good stuff it will out weigh the bad stuff.
Now before we start criticizing this guy… Don’t you and I do this all the time? I am the king of lawyering and finding the loop hole. When I was about 8-9 my mom starting leaving me alone while she ran to the store. She had two rules for me when I was home alone… Under NO circumstances could I go to the door. And if someone called I could not tell them I was alone. I knew exactly what the rules were. But I also knew exactly where the loopholes were… One day while alone I noticed my friend walking up to my house. I knew the rules I wasn’t allowed to go to the door. But my mom never said anything about going to the window… That blew up in my face when he went home and his mom asked if I was home and he responded “His mom’s not home, he can’t come to the door.” She asked how do you know that? “he answered the window.”
That’s what this lawyer is trying to do. He’s trying to find the window. He’s looking for the loophole. He wants to know how he can do what he wants to do without suffering the consequences.
Maybe you’ve see the phrase “Be a Good Person” on a bumper sticker or t-shirt. It seems to be a growing trend and belief system for many. Just be a good person, it’s our default way of life. And listen I’m all for being a good person, I vote yes. That’s a really good idea, but when it comes to living it out it gets messy.
We start having these little arguments. Well what is good? What is bad? And who’s good compared to who. And who’s bad compared to who? So it all seems like a good idea, but it’s not really isn’t firm footing to live your life on. But the Bible fortunately, teaches the exact opposite of that. The Bible doesn’t teach be a good person and hope for the best. It doesn’t say be a better person than that guy.
Christianity is ultimately about Jesus doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. You see this Lawyer’s perceptive as twisted as it is represents a lot of our views.
But Jesus knows this, he knows what he’s trying to do. And he knows that the lawyer and us today have no hope of being good enough. But Jesus isn’t going to force anything. He leaves the two deals on the table. We can try to be good enough. We can try to love God and love our neighbor perfectly every single day. That’s where the bar of expectation is set, 100% perfection, don’t ever mess up. Don’t ever fail. Don’t be kinda good, don’t normally fail. It’s perfection.
The other option is to rest in Jesus grace. It’s that grace that give us to freedom to follow Jesus strive to be like him not because we have to, but because we want to. It’s his grace that covers our mistakes so that we can come back into relationship with him even after we’ve messed up.
This story that Jesus is about to tell is not a story telling us to do as many good deeds as possible. To help as many old ladies across the street as possible. Serve as many community service hours. And just do more good stuff so that we can gain God’s acceptance. So that we can gain God’s love and salvation. That’s not what this story is telling us to do.
Doing good deeds has a great purpose and the Bible talks a lot about it. But that purpose is never to gain God’s approval or save ourselves. That’s why Jesus came. This story is about our response to others in light of what Jesus has done for us.
Truth
That’s continue on with their interaction.
“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:26-27
In typical Jesus fashion Jesus doesn’t actually answer the guys question, he instead responded with a question of his own. What do you think the Bible says? How do you read it?
Here’s the thing, look at his response. He gets it right. He’s 100% right. He’s quoting directly from the Old Testament, from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. He knows the right answer. He even answers the question the same way Jesus answers the question over in Matthew 22. So far it looks like this guy is right, he’s doing really way. He’s saying love God love people, sounds familiar right? We have the etched in our floors just outside those doors.
Jesus even affirms him…
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” Luke 10:28
Jesus is pointing to the two deals that we talked about earlier. He’s saying you do this and you will live. If you want to gain God’s acceptance. If you want to gain eternal life. Love God with everything you have. And love everyone around you without stoping. Perfectly. Never stop.
Simple. Not easy. In fact impossible.
How many of us have loved God perfectly our whole lives? Everything counts… Middle School counts… the 80s count… Spring break 99 counts… College counts, all 6 years of it… How you all doing? Not very good. We haven’t even got to the 2nd part yet. How many of us love our neighbor as ourselves all the time? We can’t even love a perfect God well, never mind our sinful neighbor who won’t take care of their yard!
How many of us can pass this test? No one… None of us can. And this Lawyer is starting to realize this. He is not dumb, he knows he cannot live up to this. He’s going to have to find a loop hole, he needs to do some serious lawyering to get around this. Instead of accepting God’s grace he’s still trying justify himself so he measures up to the law. So he tries…
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29
Jesus knew his motivation, it’s right there in the text. He wanted to Justify himself. The word justify means to be declared or revealed to be entirely innocent and right. You might notice that it would take a perfect judge to judge if someone was perfect in this. But in this case the lawyer is trying to justify himself. And the only way for him to do this is to move this discussion for this physical tangible thing of love God and love people, into this different place. He’s realized that he cannot live up to God’s standard. So now he’s got to find a way out.
Notice that this guy doesn’t take any issue with the loving God part. He doesn’t ask for any clarification on loving God. He thinks he’s got that part down, he thinks he can check that box. He thinks he can live up to that. In reality the only way he, or us today, can live up to that is by having a low view of God’s law and a high view of himself. In other words for this to work he has to think much higher view of himself and think he can do more then he actually can. And he has to lower what he thinks God expects of him. That’s the only way he can live up to this law.
In reality he can’t live up to God’s expectations. Maybe that hits home for you. Maybe you’ve been trying to live up to God’s law on your own. Maybe you’ve been trying to attain God’s love through your works. But listen it doesn’t work that way. You can never do enough good stuff to outweigh your bad stuff. And most importantly Jesus loves you anyway, despite your bad stuff.
You see this lawyer thinks he’s golden in loving God but he knows he’s in trouble with loving his neighbor. He asks a very lawyery question. What’s the definition of “is” what’s the definition of “neighbor”. Here’s the deal you don’t ask a question like this because you are interested in being so neighborly to people. The reason you ask a question like this is because you want to know who is NOT your neighbor.
So he asks this question Who’s my neighbor? But what he really means is Who isn’t my neighbor. He wants to know who he doesn’t have to love, who he doesn’t have to be patient with, who he doesn’t have to talk too.
Let’s be honest we still does this today… I was a Student Pastor for several years before coming here and I would get ask this question regularly. How far is too far sexually? I wasn’t asked that question because they wanted to stay as pure as possible. I was asked that question because they wanted to know right where sin began so they could go right up against it without technically sinning.
We are all the same. Listen, Our inward motivations are often revealed by our questions. And this lawyer is showing us what is motivating him. And I’m guessing this morning that many of us can relate. The questions you ask about God reveal your real motivation.
Imagine yourself standing there in-front of Jesus and this command is given to love your neighbor comes out. So you ask the follow up question, Jesus seriously who is my neighbor. In that moment Who are you hoping in that moment doesn’t come up? Who are you hoping Jesus doesn’t point too? Who are you hoping is left off the list? The people that act that way, or that do those things. Who are you hoping is on your not my neighbor list?
If you are anything like me, it’s a long one. That’s where the tension comes in, because Jesus is going to look us in the eye and tell us it’s those people that are our neighbors. He’s going to tell us the famous parable of the Good Samaritan. Which right of the bat the lawyer standing there would have thought that was ridiculous. In Jewish minds there wasn’t any such thing as a Good Samaritan. That didn’t make any sense, it was an oxymoron. The Samaritans were the bad people, there was no way the Jews could see them as good people. They were considered half breeds. Jews that disobeyed the law and married outside their faith. They were unclean and hated by the Jews. But Jesus still loved them.
Jesus tells this story to help show them a different way of seeing people.
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
The story starts off with a unsuspecting guy walking down a road known to be dangerous. And it comes as no surprise to the Lawyer listening that this guy was beat up and robbed. The first surprise in the story comes when the priest comes into the picture. And doesn’t just pass by, but goes to the other side. Soon a Levite comes and does the same thing.
Now we have to understand a little of what is going on here. The Priest’s primary job was to officiate sacrifices and the Levites primary job was to care for the Temple and services. These tasks required them to remain ceremonially clean. In other words they couldn’t do certain things because that would make them “unclean” and unfit for duty. When they saw this man who appeared to be dead they didn’t stop because that would make them unclean and disqualify them from there service.
However the rules they were following were stretched. God put these rules in place to protect his people not keep them from helping someone in need. Jesus makes this clear that people trump rules in Mark 3 when he heals a man on the sabbath, the day of rest, and shocks those around him. If there is a rule that is keeping you from helping or loving your neighbor, one thing is clear it’s not from God.
These first two guys let their rules keep them helping and being a neighbor. Really the rules where just an excuse on why they didn’t have to help them and still sleep well at night. Let’s be honest, that hits a little close to home doesn’t it? We’ve all made some kind of excuse like that. We all have made up an excuse why we don’t have time to listen to our coworker, or help our neighbor, or pick be there them, or give something of value away. We are just as bad as those two..
It’s here that the punchline of the story is coming… You and I can probably relate to these first guys, the lawyer in the story certainly could. But then a samaritan comes into the story. For us today think of the person you hate the most, think the enemies of this country. Or the person at work that just gets under your skin. This guy walks in and saves the day.
Look at this unlikely hero and see if this seems familiar at all. He sees this man who’s in a ditch and cannot do anything for himself. He is helpless and close to death. He decided to walk down a dangerous road and it didn’t work well for him. He’s on his way to death, unless someone intervenes. Is this sounding familiar to anybody?
This Samaritan sees him and has compassion on him. Which means that he did something about what he was feeling. He took action, he didn’t just feel bad for the guy and pass by on the other side. Listen to this, at great cost to himself he saves this man. Does that sound familiar to anybody?
See if this sounds familiar: You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8
Christ died for us at the right time, what’s the right time? Maybe like when we are about to die in a ditch with no hope. The guy laying on the road didn’t deserve to be saved, he was never going to be able to repay the Samaritan. But the samaritan demonstrated his love for him by giving of himself to save him. That’s exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross and what he is now calling us all to do.
Jesus is clear in this story what he saying. He is pointing to the sacrifice he made for us and telling us to go and do the same for our neighbors, which is everyone we come in contact with.
Application
Many of us when we hear this story we immediately start trying to find the loophole.
We start looking the for way that we don’t have to be the neighbor to the people we don’t like. That’s exactly what the Lawyer did. Check out his interaction after the story with Jesus.
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Jesus never actually answered the question. Look back he never answered who our neighbor is. Instead he tells a story of someone being a neighbor and said go do the same. He’s talking to us and He’s not leaving room to find the loophole.
What Jesus is calling us to do is very easy to understand. But near impossible to live out. The whole point of this isn’t to earn your way to heaven, as Paul said in Romans 5 Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Look we don’t love our neighbor to earn God’s love or salvation. This is an expression of what God has done for us. God did this first for me, he loved me first and now I get the opportunity to love those around me.
This isn’t a guilt trip. This isn’t what will save us. For all of us that follow God our sin is wiped clean. We took God’s deal where Jesus paid for our sins. We admitted that we could not save ourselves. We said no amount of my good deeds can make up for my sin. And we asked Jesus to help. We love those around us because of what Jesus did for us, not to get what Jesus has for us.
We’ve all heard this story and now it’s our chance to respond. Are you going to walk away because it’s too hard or are you going to say that you are going to be a good neighbor as Jesus has been a good neighbor to you?
Here’s what I want to do. I want to give you 2 questions that I want you to ask yourself over this coming season. These questions are easy to understand, but they will change how you approach people in your life. As you settle back into your normal routine, school plays, sports, work, holidays, and whatever else you have coming up ask yourself these two questions.
Who’s Around Me? (Leave Questions Up)
The first question is to identify who is around you. When the Lawyer asked who was his neighbor he was trying to get out of loving someone he didn’t want to. This question stops us from being able to do that. Who’s your neighbor? Anyone that you come in contact with.
Your family, neighbors, coworkers, baristas, doctors, workout buddies, who are you coming in contact with regularly? Those are the people that are around you.
This question also frees you up. You don’t to solve the worlds problems. Just the corner you live in. I think we often see the needs of the world and are quickly overwhelmed. But I’m convinced Jesus is has intentionally put each of us in a place to make an unique impact of a few people. You don’t have to solve the worlds problems. But you are in a place to change a few people’s lives.
The second question is:
What Do They Need That I Can Provide? (Leave the two questions up until conclusion)
The people that are around you have things in that they need. And I believe you are in a unique place to provide for some of those needs. Once you know who is around you start figuring out what they need that you can provide.
The Samaritan in the story saw a half dead guy and knew that he need to be bandage and brought to a shelter. So that’s what he did. What do you have that the people around you need?
Maybe a meal, someone to listen to them, school supplies for their kids, a ride to work, help doing yard work? What do you have that they need?
Here’s why I like these questions and hate them at at the same time. They don’t let me off the hook. See here’s my temptation. If I can be brutally honest for a minute my first thought when I see someone in need is “why did they put themselves in a position to end up like that?” If I saw that guy on the side of the road half dead, beaten by robbers. I’m going think, “Well that wasn’t very smart. Why didn’t he have a weapon? Why was he traveling alone? I’m not going to pay for HIS mistakes. Why should i be inconvenienced by this guy, he got what was coming to him.”
Maybe you’re like me. You see we are good at finding those loopholes. He deserved it. She got what was coming. They should have been smarter, saved more, spoke up sooner, shouldn’t have done that, they should be able to pull themselves up.
But aren’t you glad Jesus didn’t say that when he say you? Aren’t you glad Jesus came in just when you needed him the most and rescued you? Bound up your wounds, paid the price for your sins? Aren’t you glad he didn’t find the loophole and pass by the other side?
Conclusion
I don’t know about you, but I need this. I need to start being a better neighbor. As I was preparing this message I was thinking, who can I be a better neighbor too this year? I’ve found there areas where there are people I can be a better neighbor too this year. My actually neighbors I know most of my neighbors names, but it stops there, I can do better. My gym, I typically just walk in with my headphones in and go to work, what would happen if I took the time to meet some of the people there? And here at Real Life, I want to meet two people each week that I previously have not meet personally.
What about you? Will you do the same? Will you ask these questions in your life this year:
Who’s around me and what do they need that I can provide? Who’s in proximity to me and what do they need that I can provide?
Listen if you take these questions and live them out they won’t leave you any room to find the loophole. And remember you aren’t doing this so that you can earn God’s love or salvation. This is an expression of what God has done for you and now you are doing for others.
In our concrete just outside those doors we have Love God and Love Others etched into the floor. We believe that when Jesus said that he was serious. We want to live that out. With God’s help and grace when you stumble will you go out and love those around you? Will you provide for them with what you have?
