WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? (Part 1)

Matthew 9:36–38 ESV

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

WE WANT TO SEE WHAT JESUS SEES.

INTRODUCTION

2 Sundays. 2 Questions.

Today: Who Is My Neighbor?

Next Week: Who Are Our Neighbors?

We come to church week after week.

We sing songs that lift our hearts and minds to the high things of God.

The elements of our service are designed to encourage us / call us to

Colossians 3:2 ESV

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

REALIZING THAT...

Colossians 3:3–4 ESV

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

If we’re not careful, we can allow all this to become THEORY

…just “sanctified idealism” - and not really DO anything about it.

We are tempted to make “CHURCH” simply “CONTENT TO CONSUME” instead of a “FAMILY TO ENGAGE WITH”.

WE KNOW, that there is absolutely no way for a believer to have a right relationship with God and NOT to abide in His Word.

WE HEAR, “GET IN THE WORD”…which can seem an insurmountable task.

BUT WE HAVE BIBLE PLANS, AND BIBLE STUDIES TO HELP US STAY TETHERED.

WE HEAR, “LET’S SERVE JESUS IN OUR COMMUNITY - LET’S LIVE “SENT” AND BE “ON MISSION””.

…but what do we do with that exactly?

who’s community?

University City?

Concord?

N Charlotte?

S Charlotte

Denver

Uptown

Locust

Stanfield

TRANSITION

So this lawyer walks up to Jesus...

(it’s not a setup for a punchline),

Says, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus counters with a question, “What’s in the Word?”

Lawyer quotes the Shmah to him

Luke 10:27 ESV

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.”

Jesus says, “Trust the Word - you quoted it correctly! This is the way of life”

Let’s look at verse 29 before we see the Good Samaritan Parable unfold:

Luke 10:29 ESV

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

What’s his motivation?

“desiring to justify himself”

What’s his MO to make himself feel better...

he talks (instead of listening, trusting, obeying)

“Yeah, but...”

Desiring to justify himself?

Our churches of full of men and women and boys and girls who want to justify themselves.

How?

Good works?

Religion?

Activism?

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:10–12 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Let’s finish out the text this morning and see Jesus’s answer, then we will see how quickly the APPLICATION connects to our OBSERVATION of God’s Word this morning.

Luke 10:30–37 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. 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.’ 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 ALL - or Most of us are aware of this fantastic teaching illustration of our precious LORD - The Good Samaritan.

LOOK AT THE PARABLE

5 people in this account.

The man headed to Jericho that became our injured victim - clearly in need, incapable of helping himself.

The robbers - the criminals that assaulted and mugged him.

The Priest.

The Levite.

The Samaritan.

THE PRIEST noticed him, then deliberately walked on the other side of the road.

The LEVITE “came to the place”looks at him, moves away from him.

THE SAMARITAN “came to where he was” saw him and cared for him.

This story points us to 3 classes of people as it relates to this poor soul who was going down to Jericho from Jerusalem:

(One preacher called them):

THE BEATER-UPPERS

life’s full of them isn’t it?

THE PASSER-UPPERS

This group probably breaks the Lord’s heart the most - and is at the heart of his instruction to our dear lawyer friend at the beginning of our text.

2 types represented by Christ here...

Religion CAN be a part of this group - it was here. Religion without Christ is mean-spirited and deceptive.

The Law. The Levite represented the Law. The law makes observations and offers consequences but cannot function with compassion and love.

The BEATER-UPPERS

The PASSER-UPPERS

The PICKER-UPPERS

The Samaritan, this group of people that were largely hated by the Jewish people - marginalized by them…Jesus surgically uses them as the example of the one who did the right thing.

rendered immediate aid

gave up what he had for the injured man when he set him on his own donkey.

brought him (stayed with him) to a place where he could be cared for

cared for him at his own expense

entrusted him to another and provided for his continuing care

We know the story. Jesus tells the story, then asks the question:

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.”

Notice the disdain - even in the lawyer’s carefully worded response - he wouldn’t dare say the word, “Samaritan”…he captured it well, though - it was the action that spoke louder than ethnicity.

NOTE: No ethnicity has any moral high ground, by the way. It’s our response to our creator and our actions, our obedience to His Word, that convey virtue.

SEE THE GOSPEL

Of all the life lessons we can learn from the Good Samaritan, let me give you the Gospel thread...

The poor man is—well, you and me; and the Good Samaritan is none other than the Lord Jesus.

Religion and The Law, symbolised by the priest and the Levite, cannot help;

What an amazing truth of the Gospel of Grace here, that the Lord Jesus Christ should find ‘His neighbor’ in a fallen world?

Who would ever have thought that God would have chosen US to be His ‘neighbor?’

That He should come where we are - on the side of life’s road almost completely destroyed by sin.

that He should bend over us with a heart glowing with love, and pour into our wounds the sweet healing balm of His own anointing oil, or breathe into our lifeless being the supernatural breath of His own eternal life.

Of all the lessons of the Good Samaritan…none are less than this:

Romans 5:6–8 ESV

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

BACK TO THE BEGINNING...

What started all this?

Lawyer - “what shall I DO to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus - Love God, Love Others (in that order, mind you - I covered that a couple years ago)

Many people skip the first part and do the second well

But that will not help you get into Heaven

The only way to the Father is through the Son…Love God first! Put others above yourself

The Lawyer responds...

Luke 10:29 ESV

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

Why the pushback?

The rabbis of that day taught that Jews were to “love thy neighbour—in the Law,” three words that meant all the difference in the world.

That’s why Jesus answered the way he did. He was calling everyone to the TRUTH.

By this parable, Jesus taught that every needy one whom we can help, is my neighbor.

It has nothing to do with race, church, creed, and social status;

It is not a simply a matter of geography

This parable forbids all limitations to mercy.

AND YET…IT’S SO BROAD, it can be overwhelming.

What we know as the Shmah in the OT, we refer to as THE GREAT COMMANDMENT in the NT.

Many of us have become numb to The Great Commandment

We see it as LOVING, HELPING, SERVING EVERYONE! I mean according to Jesus’s description - it’s anyone that’s hurting.

When we try to love everyone...we often end up loving no one. If we are not intentional we end up having (global) metaphorical love for our (global) metaphorical neighbors and the end result is that we actually do very little.

We know (through research and experience) that we can only do A FEW things really well.

It seems like we need to make sure that one of them is the thing that Jesus said matters most.

OUR ROLE AS AMBASSADORS

2 Corinthians 5:16–21 ESV

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

IF WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST...

THEN OUR HOMES ARE LIKE EMBASSIES OF THE KINGDOM.

Our sending nation and King strategically picked the location for our dwelling place...

(Paul on Mars Hill)

Acts 17:26–27 ESV

26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

We don't live where we live by accident. And it’s not because we like the floor plan, or the school system, or because it’s all we can afford. If this text is true, then we live where we live BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN SENT BY GOD!

AMBASSADOR’S JOB DESCRIPTION: “Make friends in a foreign land on behalf of the sending nation.”

The GREAT COMMANDMENT IS VAST - BUT IT DOES NOT SKIP OUR LITERAL NEIGHBORS.

In raising the value of neighboring, we don’t want to miss our actual neighbors.

our literal neighbors are still our neighbors.

“The light that shines the farthest will shine the brightest at home.” - Dr. Oswald Smith

Great things happen when we begin building relationships with those who live closest to us and then work out from there.

LET’S TAKE OUT THAT SHEET NOW...WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

THINK ABOUT those who live in the 8 houses that are closest to you and list out the names of the people in each of those 8 households.

WHO LISTED THEM ALL?

WHO GOT 5 OR MORE?

WHAT’S THE POINT? “Pastor, are you trying to make us feel bad?” NO...

I’m trying to show you the incredible opportunity you have RIGHT WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN PLANTED BY THE LORD!

The command, “love your neighbor...”

Reality: It’s hard to love someone if you don’t know their name.

LET’S COMMIT TOGETHER TO FILL IN THESE SPACES OVER THE NEXT MONTH!

We’ll be posting ideas on ways you can engage your neighbors to build relationships through our website & social media.

I’M GOING TO BE DOING THIS TOO.

If we are Ambassadors…then our homes are embassies for the Kingdom.

It wasn’t your realtor, or your great OR missed opportunity that determined where you would live; it was God Himself (according to Acts 17)

INVITATION

Let’s not be like the lawyer, trying to get a pass on creating a loophole.

Let’s be like JESUS - the Good Samaritan..

came to where the neighbor was

engaged with compassion

began to meet his needs (with what he had)

OVER THE NEXT 30 DAYS, let’s find out this answer together - WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

PRAYER:

Maybe today, you’ll ask God for divine appointments with your neighbors over the next month. So you can begin to build relationships with them…MAKING FRIENDS ON BEHALF OF OUR SENDING SAVIOR - the KING OF GLORY!