Title: Love your neighbor
Text: Luke 10:25-37 (The parable of the Good Samaritan)
Introduction (v25-29)
“On one occasion an expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” What is written in the Law?” he 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.” You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
1. The law of God commands us to love our neighbor.
A.See Lev. 19:18
B.5 of the 10 Commandments address loving your neighbor
2. There is more to “Loving your neighbor” than we might think.What can we do to really show our neighbor we love them?
I want to share a 3 step process on how to really love our neighbors.
Step 1. Prayer (v30)
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and left him half dead.”
4 terrible things happened to this man
1.He fell into the hands of robbers
2.He was stripped of his clothes
3.He was beaten
4.He was left half dead
A.Jesus is telling a parable here: He is telling an earthy story that has a spiritual application
B.The spiritual application here is clear;
1.When sin entered the world all of humanity fell into the hands of the Devil. The devil is the thief who comes only to steal, kill and destroy.
2. They first stole his clothes.
Back in Jesus’ time a person’s clothes had a lot to do with a person’s identity. When they stripped him of his clothes they also stripped him of his identity. Take a person’s clothes away and there is no way of telling if he is a rich man or a poor man.
Application:
The Devil loves to strip people of their true identity.
The Bible says “We were all created by God and for God.”
The Devil’s favorite passage of scripture
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped various gods of the people around them.” They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. (Judges 2:10-13)
2.They next beat him up
The simple fact is this. Sin beats us up. It never builds us up!
Sin will take us further than we want to go
Keep us longer than we want to stay
Cost us more than we want to pay
3.Finally they left him half dead.
The Bible tells us because of sin we are physically alive but spiritually dead.
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.” (Eph. 2:1-3)
In light of verse 30 Step 1 to loving our neighbor has to be Prayer.
Here’s why: v29 “but he wanted to justify himself…”
The 6 most dangerous words in the Bible: “but he wanted to justify himself…”
Translation: How dare you say I’m a sinner; I’m not a sinner I’m a saint!
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor. 4:4)
This is our prayer: that the Holy Spirit would open the eyes of those who are blinded so that they might see their need for a savior.
It’s hard to not like someone if you pray for them.
2.If Step 1 is prayer then step 2 has to be Care
“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, took him to an inn and took care of him.” (v31-34)
A.God has called us to follow up our prayers with care for our neighbors
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2)
Question: Does God want us to personally care about everyone?
Answer: He wants me to really care about more than just myself and my family.
If you are a person who really cares about more than just yourself and your family you are in the minority.
A. “A sign of the times” – A priest and a Levite both passing by on the other side.
And notice there is no mention of a reason from Jesus why neither the Priest nor the Levite stopped to help.
Why: Because in Jesus’ view no reason was acceptable.
But what about those who need more care than we can give?
The Good Samaritan only did what he could. When it was clear that more help was needed he shared the need with someone else.
Does God really notice whenever we care for those who are hurting?
Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take the inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go and visit you? The king will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matt.25:34-40)
3. The third step in loving your neighbor is to share (Jesus)
This 3rd step is only going to be effective if we have successfully being doing the first two. We first love our neighbor in prayer and care.
People don’t care about how much we know until they first know how much we care.
Where does it say anywhere in our passage that we should not only have prayer and care for our neighbor but also share Jesus?
“What is written in the Law? He 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.” (v26-27)
How do you read it?
The goal of Loving our neighbor is not just so that our neighbor loves us back. The goal of loving our neighbor is so that they will come to love God with all their heart, soul, strength and mind!
The danger is that we can be very caring but never go on to sharing.
This is why prayer is so important. Because if we are fearful about sharing we can start praying for God to help us.
In conclusion
Who might God want you and I to begin praying for? And in what ways can we also show our care for that person? And finally let us pray that God will give us the boldness to also share the good news of Jesus.
