Stories Jesus Told: The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37

Sermon 2-7-2010 the good Samaritan-Luke 10:25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

²⁶"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" ²⁷He 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'^[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'^[d]" ²⁸"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." ²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" ³⁰In reply Jesus said: "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 went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He 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. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coins^[e] 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.' ³⁶"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" ³⁷The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Bob Fillmore likes to talk about “sitting under a scripture”

What must I do to inherit eternal life? What does the law say?

Love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself. - Who is my neighbor? – tells story

Why did Jesus tell this story?

He is answering a question about inheriting eternal life…….

He does not say, say the sinners prayer or even believe in me.

A shift in theological paradigms……….

No longer simply to believe

But a choice to live a life based on the principles of Christ

Its not what you believe that counts, its what you believe enough to do. 87

This story gives us a real glimpse into what Jesus taught.

As we sit under this story, there are multiple things to consider.

Jesus did not tell this story in hopes that we would walk on by

We are the righteous. We don’t hang w folks like that.

I might get hurt. It might be a trap. I am going back to the safe haven

I am a believer, that is what Christianity is about

He is not setting up the priest and the levites as examples to follow…..

Jesus did not tell this story in order to make someone feel guilty

You didn’t stop, you are bad. You didn’t do enough, you are bad.

The good ones stop and help. You didn’t, you are bad.

Guilt, shame,

While you are at it, wear nice clothes. Don’t play cards. Don’t drink smoke or cuss.

You are bad if you do bad things and you and bad if you don’t do good things.

Remember the movie the princess bride…..

Princess buttercup is being shamed………..

Boo boo boo

Bow to the queen-Queen of refuse- Bow to the queen of slime-The queen of Filth

The queen of Putrescence -Boo, boo, boo

Jesus was not in the business of guilt and shame

Jesus didn’t tell this so the Samaritan, whoever it was, could feel smug

Maybe that person was in the crowd that day, maybe it was a parable,

It was not his intent that this would be a one time thing.

Yes, I helped the broken man. I did the right thing.

I went on the mission trip. I wrote a check to Haiti.

We should never feel smug or satisfied when we do something good in the name of the lord.

The purpose of the story is not an invitation to interrupt your regular life to help someone, and then go back to whatever you were when it is over.

This is a story that invites people to make a life change and to stop the practice of justifying themselves.

The expert in the law wanted to justify himself…..

Get himself off of the hook. So do we

I do this, I do that. I go here, I go there.

Then the other 90% of my life I do whatever I want

Are you starting to feel the pain of this story?

In this story, Jesus invites us to touch the wounded.

Giving money is fine. The Samaritan did this.

Would it have been enough for the Samaritan to leave some money with the man, or to go to the next town and give money to the rescue mission, saying hey, there is a guy laying out there…..

Something happens when you touch the wounded. When you hug the weary. When you spend time with the lonely. When you wipe the brow of the sick.

Mother Teresa would not be remembered as mother Teresa if she only sent a check.

In this story, Jesus invites us into a lifestyle chg- what did Samaritan do?

1. Samaritan took no consideration of what country the man was from
2. went to him
3. bound up his wounds
4. put him on his beast/took him to the inn
5. cared for him at the inn
6. left money for his care
7. promised to come back and take care of anything else
8. he is full engaged in an act of caring

Priests and Levite walked by, on their way to their business

Samaritan put aside his business for the man

He Recognized that God’s business is his business

But if God’s business is our business, how much of it should we be doing?

How often should we be doing it?

I am not talking about some guilt laden list of rules

I am talking about the basic principles with which you live your life.

The Christian life is an invitation to live outside of ones self

To be outward focused. Other focused- what did Jesus teach?

• Take up your cross and follow me
• Go the second mile
• Lose your life to find it.
• Go ye into all the world

This story is not an invitation for you to help, the next opportunity that you get

It is an invitation for you to see every moment of your life as an opportunity to share gods love and grace with others.

Again, I am not talking about a guilt laden list of rules

I am talking about a change in your heart and brain that says, I am about them. I am looking for the lost, the broken the hurting. I will set aside my comfort and my preference and my schedule to be Jesus to the hurting.

And not really just to the hurting. But to everyone. I will “see” and care about every person. I refuse to pass any one by.

Mother Teresa quote……..

I celebrate WCC missions.! Awesome.! But I am gripped occasionally by a feeling that there is more. That we have yet to fulfill our potential. That God’s call beckons us to something more

I recently read the book, The hole in our gospel by Richard Stearns

And I wonder if some of the thoughts in this book will send us in God’s direction

Baseball is like church, many attend, few understand. Leo Durocher 169

We have drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium. Paul Harvey 169

Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God- Bob Pierce 9

The true gospel is a call to self denial, not a call to self fulfillment. – john macarthur 25

When we say that we want to be his disciple, yet attach a list of conditions, Jesus refuses to accept our terms. His terms involve unconditional surrender. 38

What if there are children who will suffer somehow because I failed to obey God?

15,000 Africans are dying each day of preventable diseases…..this would never be allowed to happen anywhere else……

Can you imagine the impact on our own culture if American Christians began using their riches as if they belonged to God? 208

If we truly love god, we will express it by loving our neighbors, and when we truly love our neighbors, it expresses our love for God. 66

Don’t fail to do something just because you cant do everything. 152

Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. Henry van dyke 257

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret mead 241

If you are looking for a way to give yourself away- bulletin insert

Worrying about the economy, striving to collect what we want in this life, we end up depressed-there is a reason for this. – we were created for something more….”just as the bird sings and the flower blooms when we are living out our true purpose we do so without effort. In fact, we find exhilaration from doing that which we were always intended to do.

Close the service….with a question….

What must I do to inherit eternal life- love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself-

which of these three was the neighbor? The one who showed mercy.

Go thou and do likewise.