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Many years ago, a survivor of a Nazi death camp wrote these embittered words: /"Here's to a world that did not care.
To those who had eyes but would not see.
To those who had ears but would not hear.
To those who had voices but would not speak."/
Let me ask you a number of questions: When it comes to the people around you, how well do you see?
How well do you hear?
Do you speak out on the behalf of others?
Do you care about people who have been wounded by life and are hurting?
Or do you have blinders on that limit the scope of your vision?
These are the questions you must ask yourself this morning as we consider the next Pillar of Christian Character—Compassion.
Our text this morning comes from perhaps the most well-known parable that Jesus ever told—The Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Like every story that Jesus tells, he tells it within a context of something that is going on around him.
The background for this parable is found just a few verses earlier in the chapter.
Luke 10:25 /"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"/
A Jewish lawyer was one who would have been well-versed in the Old Testament Books of Moses and Jewish religious law.
He knew the Jewish Bible backwards and forwards.
He’s one smart man!
The lawyer asks a reasonable question: /“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”/
He asks it with an unreasonable motive: It was to tempt the Lord.
It’s a word that means to thoroughly test.
This guy is not interested in discovering truth.
He is interested in having a debate.
Jesus answers the question by pointing him back to the law:
Luke 10:26-28 /"He [Jesus] said unto him, What is written in the law?
how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
And he [Jesus] said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."/
Jesus tells us in Matthew 22 that these two commandments—to love God with every fiber of your being, and to love your neighbor as yourself—are the two greatest commandments and that the whole law hangs on obeying them.
But, the lawyer is not finished.
The Bible says that in an effort to justify himself he asks, “OK, just who is my neighbor?”
He uses an old debating technique often employed by one who is losing or afraid of losing the argument.
He demands of Jesus; “Define your terms!
What do you mean by ‘neighbor’?”
And of course, the lawyer knows the answer to that question: His neighbors are people just like him.
They’re people whom he likes and who like him in return.
They’re people who look just like him, and think just like him, and act just like him, and worship the same God he does.
With a smile of smug satisfaction—thinking he is about to put Jesus between a rock and a hard place—he asks the question, /“Who is my neighbor?”/
He should have quite while he was ahead!
It is at this point that Jesus tells a story that leaves the lawyer—and everyone else in the crowd stricken in amazement: /“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho . . .
“/ and most of you can pretty well finish the story from there.
What does the parable teach us about compassion?
!
I. WE MUST BE INSIGHTFUL IN OUR LIVING
#. we cannot ignore a hurting world
* ILLUS The following poem appeared in Dimension Magazine some years ago: I need a truer vision, Lord.
A vision filled with Thee.
To see the needy world again.
With eyes willing to see.
A world where people are hurting.
And hungry every day, A world that's ready and waiting.
To hear what You would say.
I need a wider vision, Lord, A vision filled with Thee.
To see that lonely woman, Down the street from me.
The teenager who's all mixed up, The child who's been abused, The day-to-day cares in my neighborhood.
Lord, I want to be used.
Give me a new vision, Lord.
A vision filled with Thee, To see the world and my neighborhood, As Your eyes would see.
Help me use my gifts, dear Lord, In ways that glorify You, To act with loving kindness, Toward those with a different view.
A truer, wider, new vision, Lord.
That's what I need, To carry out Your commands,In word and thought and deed.
!! A. THE INJURED TRAVELER OF JESUS’ STORY
* /“In 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.”/
(Luke 10:30, NIV84)
#. the road this man takes was a dangerous road
#. it was called The Way of Blood because so many people were bushwhacked along the way by thieves and robbers
#. as this certain man makes his way to Jericho, the obvious happens
#. he is indeed set upon by highwaymen who rob him of his possessions, strip him of his cloths and beat the tar out him
#. the story that Jesus tells could have been ripped right out of the headlines of the Jerusalem Gazette: Prominent Jerusalem resident attacked!
Man mercilessly beaten, robbed and left for dead.
Citizens insist local politicians take action, (See story page 3)
!! B. THE INJURED TRAVELERS OF OUR DAY
#. we are surrounded in our culture by wounded travelers
#. everywhere you look, people are plagued with hardship, despair and discouragement
#. some are struck with injuries or illnesses that debilitate them and cause physical pain
#. some are dealing with the stigma and scars of emotional pain from a divorce, sexual abuse, or abortion
#. some are living in the darkness of addiction and the inability to cope with certain temptations
#. some live in spiritual confusion
#. the mission of the church—and that translates into the mission of believers—is to reach out with hope to a hurting world
#. with infinite love and compassion our Lord understood the human predicament
#.
He had deep empathy for people;
#. he saw their needs
#. he saw their weaknesses
#. he saw their desires
#. and he saw their hurts
#.
He was concerned about people
#. every miracle he performed, He did so because he saw a need in some person’s life
#.
His concern was always to uplift and never to tear down, to heal and never hurt
#. this is what the church today needs to emulate and model
!
II.
WE MUST BE INCOMPARABLE IN OUR COMPASSION
#. we must develop a heart of compassion
* /“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.”/
(Luke 10:31–33, NIV84)
#.
Christianity demands a level of caring that transcends human inclinations
#. it takes courage to care because caring can be dangerous
#. it leaves you open to hurt or to looking like a fool, or to being taken advantage of
#. have compassion anyway
#. let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate
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