“Someone Needs You Today!”
Luke 10:30-37
David P. Nolte
What would you list as your greatest needs? There are some universal needs like air, food, sleep, covering and so on. Many times, however, we confuse wants with needs. We convince ourselves that anything we really want, we also really need.
We need to beware of allowing our wants, and even real needs, to blind us to, or make us indifferent to, the needs of others.
During this 28 Days of Love, we will be challenged to do love – love is not something you feel, it is something you do. We will not be considering romantic, erotic love but the kind of love that is the very nature of God called Agape. Agape is the Greek word we translate as love but it is more an aspect of our will than it is of our emotions. We perform Agape more than we feel it.
The song said, “Someone Needs You Today.” For starters, let’s begin in a very familiar passage. Jesus said, “‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion ,and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.” Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?’ And he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’” Luke 10:30-37 (NASB).
There are four words I want you to memorize, and to repeat every morning for the next 18 days. Those words are, “Someone Needs Me Today!” Then ask the Lord to show you who, why and how. Who needs you? Why do they need you? How can you help?
Let’s look at this from four angles and not just for 28 days but from now on let us remember that:
I. SOMEONE NEEDS YOU TODAY!
A. In the text today the individual was a man who was accosted by robbers who beat him and left him half dead. He was a someone who needed help.
B. Neither the Priest, the Levite, nor the Samaritan expected to meet someone in such need. But when they did
1. The Priest and the Levite passed by not helping this someone. They may have
a. Feared a set up for ambush.
b. Thought he got what he deserved for some sin.
c. Refused to become unclean for Temple service by touching a dead body.
d. Feared being late for serving in the temple.
e. Felt that it was not their problem.
2. The Samaritan alone helped. He didn’t know the victim but he knew that it was someone who needed him and notice
a. He endangered himself and took a risk of being ambushed.
b. He inconvenienced himself and put the victim on his donkey while he walked.
c. He indebted himself.
C. Through which set of eyes do you see the “Someone’s” who we encounter?
1. The unhelpful religious leaders, who did not regard him as worthy of their help?
2. The helpful Samaritan, who saw this man as someone who needed care – his care?
D. Always remember that whoever it is, that other individual is a someone, not a number, or a thing to be abhorred. Status, or riches, or comeliness, or power, or fame, or popularity cannot make a person a Someone. Look at this family Circus cartoon: “When I grow up will I be a person or a somebody?”
Every person is already somebody!! Nobody is a nobody. None of us is a mere pile of chemicals – everyone is a significant someone! And Someone in that group of individuals needs you.
E. We need to remember that everyone is Someone to God. Dr. Karl Menninger, a world-famous psychiatrist, was answering questions after giving a lecture on mental health when one person asked, “What would you advice someone to do if he felt a nervous breakdown coming on?” Most people expected the doctor to say, “Consult a psychiatrist.” Instead he said, “Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find someone in need, and do something to help that person.”
Someone needs you today! Let’s phrase it a second way.
II. SOMEONE NEEDS YOU TODAY!
A. That poor man was left to die, even the religious passed him by. Then the Samaritan saw the need and saved the man by his good deed.
1. To the religious leaders he was someone to be avoided and dismissed.
2. To the Samaritan he was a fellow human with a terrific need that he could not ignore.
B. We need to be conscious of the multitude of needs around us. Let me illustrate in this way: A young man applied for a job as a Morse code operator. He went to the busy and noisy office and in the background a telegraph clacked away. The job applicants were told to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.
The young man completed his form and sat down with seven other waiting applicants. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. The other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. What did this guy think he was doing? They complained that they hadn't heard any summons yet.
Within a few minutes the young man emerged from the inner office escorted by the interviewer, who announced "Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled by this young man."
The other applicants were flabbergasted, and then one spoke up, "Wait a minute--I don't understand. He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That's not fair."
The employer responded, "While you have sat there the telegraph has been ticking out the following message: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’”
C. How often we miss the unspoken message coming from others, saying, “Help me! Notice me! I need you!”
1. The booming voice of our desires shuts out the call to help.
2. The discouraging voice speaks loudly within our minds, “There’s nothing you can do about it; the need is too great.”
3. The self-excusing words, “It’s not my problem, thank the Lord!” sound in our minds too loudly.
D. Here’s the motive for loving the Someone who comes our way: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:7-11 (NASB).
E. A man went to a convention where George Washington Carver was going to be speaking and giving presentations. When he arrived at the hotel, he saw a black man standing there and said, "Here, boy, help me carry my bags."
On the elevator the man bragged about his accomplishments in science, while George Washington Carver stood there holding his bags. In the room the man handed Carver some money for a tip.
"I don't want it." Carver said. "Why?" "Because I don't need it."
"By the way," the man said," I never got your name." "I'm George Washington Carver."
The man terribly embarrassed and taken back, replied, "I didn't realize who you were. One of the reasons I came to this conference was to meet you and listen to your speech. Why did you help me?"
"Well, sir," Carver replied, "You did need help."
someone needs you today. Let’s phrase it a third way.
III. SOMEONE NEEDS YOU TODAY!
A. The victim in the text needed the Priest or the Levite or the Samaritan.
1. The two said, by their inaction, “Nope! Not me!”
2. The Samaritan said by his goodness and sympathy, “I have to help this poor fellow. He needs me!”
B. If not you, then who?
1. When God questioned Cain about his brother, Abel, Cain replied, “I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9 (NASB). That’s one way of saying, “It’s not my problem; ask someone else!”
2. Jesus told the rich man who came to Him for eternal life, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. Matthew 19:21-22 (NASB). He in essence said, “Not me!”
C. Sometimes maybe we want the needed person to be someone besides ourselves because:
1. We are so overwhelmed by our own needs that we just can’t find the energy to help.
2. We are often unsure of what the real need is and don’t know how to help.
3. What think, “What I have to give is so insignificant it wouldn’t help.”
D. The song is a reminder
1. That “God made you special you're one of a kind!”
2. That we are not called upon to do what we are incapable of doing – it’s little things like
a. A gentle touch.
b. Reminding them that “Jesus loves them so much!”
c. A helping hand.
d. Someone to listen and understand.
e. Words of encouragement: “It'll be okay!”
f. Some help to pray.
g. Sometimes just a smile will do.
3. But those things can and should come from you.
E. a pastor handed each person a piece of a puzzle. He told them that God’s specific plan involves each of them. He told them to look at the puzzle piece which was handed to them., He then said, "You are an important piece to the vision and to the mission of the church. You are unique and God has a job for you to do because Someone Needs You Today.
Someone needs you today. Let’s phrase it a fourth way.
IV. SOMEONE NEEDS YOU TODAY!
A. The victim had no time to wait. Can you imagine the Samaritan telling the poor fellow, “Just hang tight, Buddy! I will come back on my way home tomorrow and if you are here and are alive I’ll check on helping you. Have a good rest of the day!”
B. The Bible reminds us:
1. “Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,’ When you have it with you.” Proverbs 3:28 (NASB).
2. To the Pharisees rule keeping was more important than human need. One day the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, "There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day." Luke 13:14 (NASB).
3. The someone in need needn’t wait when Jesus was willing to do it “today.”
C. Yesterday we can do nothing about, we can but plan for tomorrow – but today – today is ours to use for Someone who needs us.
D. If not you, then who? If not today, then when?
E. When crossing the Willamette Pass with icy roads and blizzard conditions, we were compelled to come to a stop when the truck ahead of us stopped. We were unable to get moving again though we had studded tires. With those perilous conditions we needed help right now, today, not tomorrow! A Highway Patrolman pulled in behind us and asked why we were not chained up. I told him that less than 5 miles back a sign said “Chains not required.” He said he realized that, but obviously chains were needed. I told him I had chains and would get them on. He said, “Sir, you sit in the car and I will put the chains on for you,” he did it in nothing flat and then watched for oncoming traffic as we drove around the still stranded truck. He met our need without delay right when it needed meeting.
Someone needs you today!
As we see our 28 Days Of Love unfold, let us commit to be here every Sunday, to take the challenge of each week to do love, and to make someone’s life brighter and better.
Pray like this kind of prayer:
“Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous,
teach me to serve as You serve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to seek reward,
except that of knowing that I do your will.
Adapted from a prayer by Ignatius of Loyola.
PRAY / INVITATION
