Luke 10:25-37 - Love Your Neighbors

My neighbor Wayne in Vevay is 85 years old.

We love him to pieces. He was a grandfather figure to Hilary growing up. Former history teacher. Pillar in the community.

Wayne keeps his yard manicured.

Wayne would mow his yard in the morning, go in for some lunch, come out look at the yard take a nap, go visit with people in the neighborhood, come back look at the yard then decide it needed mowed one more time.

When I worked night shift, it was hard for me to do day-time activities.

When Silas was born, it was really hard.

There was a few weeks were it seemed to rain every day I had off and my grass started getting high.

Wayne not only liked his grass to look nice, but also his neighbors.

We shared an ally, and there was a small patch of grass on his side of my house.

He mowed a strip of that 4x12 ft patch, just to remind me that my grass was getting high

If you’re going to mow your neighbors grass, mow all of it.

Wayne is not a passive aggressive person at all.

I guess this was just his way of neighborly reminding me to be a good neighbor.

We’ve been in this sermons series where we’re preaching through our mission statement and values.

We exist to put Jesus first in our lives for our neighbors.

Let’s start with some commonality in the room.

We don’t love people or lean in with our neighbors well.

Our neighbors fall into categories like complete stranger: “Like a good neighbor, stay over there”

Or they tend to be the person we gripe about.

So what does it mean to put Jesus first in our lives “for our neighbors”?

Big Idea: Love your neighbors

Stand to read

Luke 10:25–28 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Leader: This is God’s Word.

Everyone: Thanks be to God.

Explanation

Context

The Lawyer

This lawyer was well versed in the first five books of the Bible

The Law

Dude had Genesis-Deut. memorized.

He’s a smart man who argued well.

He’s painfully and annoyingly smart.

He asks a very serious question.

There’s nothing more important than this question.

“Eternal life” what what people think of when they think of heaven.

“How do I get to heaven?”

He came looking to trap Jesus.

His intentions were not pure.

Everyone around him had been clamoring that Jesus was the Messiah

He’s going to try to trap Jesus in false doctrine.

Great question with venom behind it.

“What can I do to put God in my debt?”

He assumes that you can earn eternal life.

Jesus flips the script

He appeals to what the man knows.

“Well, what’s the Law say, Mr. Lawyer?”

This legal expert quotes Lev. 19:18/Deut. 6:5.

He summarizes the whole law—Love God/love people.

The surprise is that Jesus agrees with him!

No theological controversy today.

Jesus: “Amen. Do that”

Love God with every fiber of your being

Never having a moment of doubt

Never sin

Don’t do dumb things.

Love people perfectly.

That’s how you inherit eternal life—Be perfect.

The lawyer picks up on the problem.

We can’t do this.

We spend our whole lives “trying to get to heaven”

Trying to meet the standard.

Trying to be good enough.

If living perfectly is the way we live forever with God, then we’re all going to die guilty because of our sin.

This guy’s problem is that there is a difference between answering the question theologically and living it practically.

He has the right answer, but cannot do this with his life.

So he asks the face saving question

Luke 10:29 ESV

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

He wanted to lower the requirements.

This is what we do when we’ve broken God’s law.

We look for a way out, a loophole, a reason for God to cut us some slack.

He’s completely missing the point.

One time I was preaching Ephesians 4:29 “29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

I don’t preach toward particular people, though there are some people that I hope hear particular messages.

There was a lady that was a stereotypical church lady.

She was all dolled-up every time you saw her.

She had the scoop on everything that was going on with everyone

She was backhandedly nice.

“Your Facebook makes your seem really funny!”

“I always feel more intelligent after hearing you preach.”

“Thank you… I think?”

No one really enjoyed talking to her because though she sounded really sweet, she made you feel like you’d been pushed into a swimming pool with your clothes on.

Cold, wet, and heavy.

After I preached on how to build up other believers using your words, she came up to me and said, “That was fantastic, I just hope some of the people here heard it…”

…… THAT WAS FOR YOU.

We can be master’s of missing the point.

This guy sought to justify himself, with the question.

Since he missed the point, Jesus answers with a story.

Luke 10:30–32 ESV

30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

The road to Jericho was the equivalent of a dark alley

Thieves camped out on the sides of the road

Danger all around

The people you expect to step in and help, walk away.

The same culture/religion/race

It was their job to serve people and offer sacrifices in the Temple

Their public offices were designated toward tender compassion.

They should’ve been his friends,

Yet they saw the blood trickling, heard his groans, and perhaps even made eye contact.

And they did nothing.

Interacting with that man would’ve made them religiously unclean, so they refrained from giving him any type of care or compassion.

People are watching how believers care for other people.

The majority of our church is made up of people who have been hurt by religious people posing to be Christians, just like the priest and the Levite.

People have walked away from Jesus because of bad church people.

People have walked away from Jesus because professing Christians have asked the question: “And who is my neighbor?” OR “Who am I required to love?”

These are asking the wrong questions.

Love doesn’t ask “Who am I required to love?”

Love asks “To whom can I be a loving neighbor?”

If we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, then we must participate in active love.

Why? Because this is the love that Christ showed us.

Each of us have fought against God’s love in our sin

Yet, if you’re a Christian, you remember that Jesus was in relentless pursuit of you.

He would not let you go.

If we’re going to follow Jesus:

We love our neighbors because Jesus loved us first.

We initiate relationships with our neighbors because Jesus initiated a relationship with us.

The apostle John writes

1 John 4:16–20 ESV

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

We believe that Jesus is the Son of God

God’s love abides in us.

God is love—It’s His very essence.

If our God is love, and perfect love casts out fear, then we can love people without fear of being hurt.

If you do not love, you are not a Christian.

John said, “If you do not love your neighbor, you are not a follower of Jesus Christ.”

I don’t care how many Bible studies you’ve been to, community groups you’ve been a part of, or mission trips you’ve gone on.

If you do not love your neighbor, then you do not love Jesus.

We cannot bring qualifications to how we love people.

We can’t wait for people to become lovable.

We make the first move.

We love first and we love hard.

We love when it’s inconvenient and hurts to love.

We love when it’s not reciprocated and people don’t want to be loved.

Here’s where Jesus’s story pivots.

This is where Jesus catches everyone’s attention.

Luke 10:33–35 ESV

33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

Jews hated Samaritans in a deadly way.

Jews thought Samaritans were unclean dogs.

Jews hoped that fire would fall from heaven on the Samaritans.

Samaritans were a villain of the Jew’s narrative.

This Samaritan crosses cultural, racial, and social barriers to have compassion on this man (vv. 34-35)

Despite the danger or image, he shows radical generosity and hospitality.

Takes him to a hotel, pays for his stay, hires someone to care for him until he returns.

This dude’s kindness toward a stranger is extravagant.

And the fact that he’s a Samaritan is scandalous.

Gospel presentation

The biggest misunderstanding of this passage is that you’re not the Samaritan

In yourself, you don’t have the capacity to love unconditionally.

So who does that make you?

We were the one dead in your sins lying in the ditch

You were helpless and hopeless

In fear, anxiety, guilt, and shame.

Jesus had every reason to walk by us in His righteousness

Jesus is the one that moved toward your in love

Jesus had every reason to walk by us in His righteousness

But Jesus leaned in

Jesus nursed our wounds

Our sin, shame, anxieties

Our concerns, our wrongs, our fears.

Jesus came to heal all of it!

Jesus poured out the oil/wine

He poured out His blood so that we could be forgiven of our sins

It’s because of Jesus we don’t have to go to hell anymore

Jesus brought us to the inn

Jesus died and rose again to bring us into the family of God through faith!

Jesus paid every expense of ours!

There’s nothing more for us to do to be made right with God

Believe and repent of our sins.

If you’re not a Christian, you can be healed by the forgiving blood of Jesus!

You don’t have to carry the weight of sin and shame anymore!

You can be changed and forgiven of all your sins fully, freely, and forever.

Put your faith in Jesus and follow Him.

Following Jesus is a crucial part of this parable.

We put Jesus first in our lives.

Look how Jesus lands this parable.

Luke 10:36–37 ESV

36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

We are to “go and do” what Jesus does.

The gospel moves us toward people.

Those who do not know Him.

Those who don’t think they need Him.

Those who don’t truly know what it’s like to be loved.

This Samaritan was moved to compassion and mercy.

Jesus says to “Go and do likewise”

Mercy is something we don’t deserve.

The guy in Jesus’s parable had absolutely no reason to care for the dying man, aside from unconditional love.

This is the type of love that we as believers are shown by God.

Church, we are to:

We show unconditional mercy and compassion.

Our mission statement: We put Jesus first in our lives for our neighbors.

Where do we begin?

Imitating Jesus.

There are people you interact with on a regular basis that don’t know what it’s like to be loved unconditionally.

A type of love that knows no barriers and has no restrictions and limits.

They may have never experienced the saving love of God or the redeemed loved of the church.

But God has sovereignly placed you in their lives and given you influence with them in a way that He hasn’t anyone else.

And we exist to put Jesus first in our lives for those people.

Chris Stevenson

He became a Christian and was baptized a few weeks ago.

Why do we put Jesus first? Because we have been shown unconditional love and our neighbors need the gospel.

Take the Next Step

Write someone name you’re going to intentionally unconditional love

Who are you moving toward?

Who are you going to be building a relationship with?

Lean in (decide how you’re going to maneuver the relationship toward Jesus/invite them to church)