July 9-11, 2022 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 10:25-37 “THE GOOD SAMARITAN…”

 

PROPER 10

July 9-11, 2022

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 10:25-37

 

“THE GOOD SAMARITAN…”

1.     Exposes me.

2.     Inspires me.

 

Luke 10:25-37 (EHV) “Just then, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “What do you read there?” ²⁷He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” ²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹It just so happened that a priest was going down that way. But when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²In the same way, a Levite also happened to go there, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³³A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was. When he saw him, he felt sorry for the man. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day, when he left, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.’ ³⁶Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?” ³⁷“The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

 

          The Bible is not as popular as it used to be. Shocker, right? Instead of loving the God who sacrifices His own Son to save those who sin against Him many of our fellow Americans reject Him. A God who demands payment for sin? What God says about sex and marriage? Creation? The Flood? Most of  the Bible is flat out rejected. There is still one Bible story most if not all people still like. The Good Samaritan. Google that phrase and find out how many organizations that seek to help people have that name. We have Good Samaritan laws that protect people who accidentally cause harm while trying to help other people. Everybody admires the idea of the Good Samaritan. But that’s only because they are ignorant of the real reason Jesus told that parable in the first place.

          But you aren’t. “Just then, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” An expert in the law. This is someone whose life work is to try to put into writing every possible scenario of what is right and wrong. Look carefully at his question. “What must I do?” He wants to know how to earn heaven on his own. Jesus replied, “What is written in the law?” he asked him. “What do you read there?”  Okay, expert in the law, show just how expert you are. “He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.” At least he knows what God said. That is the simple summary of God’s holy will. Jesus answered him.  “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” There it is. If you want to be good enough for heaven all you have to do is love God first perfectly 24/7. Love others in the exact same way you love yourself all the time. Simple. Do this perfectly all the time and you will live eternally. Unspoken? Don’t do this perfectly and you will die eternally. Gulp! The expert looks for some wiggle room. “And who is my neighbor?”

          And then Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Its purpose? To help the man see he needed a Savior, he needed Jesus to get to heaven and without Jesus he was headed for hell. You think most people in our country would like to hear that message? I think not. But they need it. We need it. See, the Good Samaritan exposes me. It shows me how badly I need a Savior. You too! Let’s see how. To help I’ll modernize it a bit. And because it’s really hard to find a modern parallel for Americans that is like the Jews and Samaritans let’s all pretend we are Ukrainians. So one of our fellow Ukrainians is walking down Forest Home late at night to Pick n Save. He gets beat up and mugged and is lying at the curb by some bushes. We need some “recognized as religious” people. Ahh Principal Walker is walking home after a late night of work, sees the man lying there, pauses, looks things over, crosses to the other side of Forest Home, jaywalking, and keeps on going. Then Pastor Waldschmidt is out for his evening stroll, sees the man, sizes up the situation, also crosses over to the other side. Now wait a minute before you judge too harshly. There’s no 911 to call. It’s dark. Could be a trap. Think about it? If you were by yourself would you really stop? But someone did. The former Russian soldier. Remember, we’re Ukrainians who didn’t stop to help a fellow Ukrainian. But the Russian enemy did. That’s the picture Jesus painted.

          “Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?” ³⁷“The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” The expert in the law got exposed. You want to claim you are really keeping God’s commandments then show sacrificial love, that costs you, that endangers you, to your worst enemy. Exposed. Not just him. Me. You. The Good Samaritan exposes the fact that we do not love as God commands. We don’t even love each other as ourselves. I’ll prove it to you. You don’t have my children listed as beneficiaries in your will, do you? You only have your own children. You don’t love me as your love yourself. That’s OK. I don’t have your children in my will so I’m not loving you as I love myself either. Our love is limited. We practice levels of love with different groups deserving of more or less love. We extend it to family, but not all. We grant it to friends and fellow church members but only in a limited way. Not the way we love ourselves. The Good Samaritan exposes us. We can’t do what is required to inherit eternal life.

          And yet we will inherit eternal life. That is only because someone did what was needed for us. Someone once told me that when you study the parables of Jesus look for the person who does not act like people normally do and there you will find a picture of your Savior God. Look at the Good Samaritan. Who is that? The one who puts Himself in harms way to help us. The one who provides for our future at His own expense. The one who helps the helpless. The Good Samaritan is Jesus. He does love God with all his heart, soul and mind and He does love all people more than He loves Himself. He perfectly kept the law earned eternal life and then shares that inheritance with you and me. He pays the sin debt we owe at His own expense. The only real Good Samaritan is Jesus.

          And that Good Samaritan inspires me and you to be like Him in showing love further than we normally would. I remember a long running commercial when Michael Jordan was in his prime. “Be like Mike!” They were trying to get you to buy and drink Gatorade. Didn’t inspire me. But Jesus does. Jesus who loves me no matter what. Jesus who forgives me over and over again. Be like Christ. We love because He first loved us. Who do we love? Family. Friends. Fellow church members. Look back at what Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia. It’s not always easy to love each other. We are messy people with a sinful nature that is capable of everything Paul listed and worse. But the Good Samaritan inspires us. As we have been shown love we can now love. As we have been forgiven we too can forgive. As He has sacrificed for us we can make sacrifices of time and money to help one another. But can we go even further inspired by the Good Samaritan who is really our Good Savior Jesus? Remember what He taught in the Sermon on the Mount? “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  

          God’s love extends to the unrighteous too. So our needs to. Remember how so many of our fellow Americans reject the Bible? That makes them our enemies. If we are going to get any opportunities to speak God’s truth in love to them so that the Spirit can change their hearts we can’t be known as the haters. We need to be known as the lovers. That’s how the first Christians made a good impression on their neighbors. They too lived at a time when most people rejected the Bible and did not look to Jesus as Savior. But people saw how they lived and said, “See how they love each other!” And they got opportunities to speak. Our fellow Americans may not know the real reason Jesus told story of the Good Samaritan. But we do. It exposes our need for a Savior. It inspires to follow Him. “Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?” ³⁷“The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Amen.