Convenience is King: People Become Problems

Welcome/Shout Out

Hey everyone! Welcome to Prairie Lakes!

Hey: quick shout out:

If you were at the 10:30 service last week, you saw the look of horror on my face as I walked up onto the stage and realized that my Bible and notes were not on the podium.

And you also saw one of our killer volunteers, Paisley Messerer, come to my rescue as she ran backstage to find them and bring them out. So… THANK YOU Paisley!

Now, here’s what happened that created the problem in the first place (and, spoiler alert: it was my fault! Nobody is surprised…):

After I’m done with the message at the 9am, two things happen: I walk off the stage, behind the curtain, backstage. And a Worship and Production volunteer grabs my podium and takes that backstage as well.

And what I do is just put my Bible and my iPad on that podium so that it’s ready to go for the 10:30 service.

Which is what I thought I did.

But what I failed to realize was this:

There’s now a second podium—almost identical to the one we use on Sunday mornings—backstage as well. It used to be in our studio back when we recorded our messages, but now it lives at our Cedar Falls campus. Backstage, turns out.

And it’s probably been there for months. I don’t know. Because obviously I don’t pay as close attention as I should.

And so I put my stuff on that podium—which was in a completely different spot than where the Sunday podium usually is.

And Paisley saved all of us from an even more awkward start! So… grateful!

Out of Office

Hey—one more thing before we dive into the topic this weekend.

Beginning next Sunday, I’m going to be headed into my annual “out of office” time. Which means: I won’t be “on” for the next (4) weeks.

And if you’ve been around Prairie Lakes for any amount of time, you’ll remember that this is a very normal and planned thing.

I’m not burned out; there’s not some underlying crisis (that I’m aware of, at least). Nothing like that.

Just a normal rhythm that Pastor John, when he was our Senior Pastor for all of those years, modeled this for us every summer. And so I’m continuing that same rhythm.

“Must be nice,” you’re probably thinking. And… you’re right! It is.

But there’s some real intentionality behind it. So I’d like to take a moment and either explain or remind you of why we do this —and also share how I’ll be using this time specifically so that you can be praying. Because I really do need that from you.

So: why (4) consecutive weeks out of office every year?

Well, (3) reasons:

1) Vacation. 2) Spiritual rest. And 3) Study. And what we’ve found when we allow whoever is sitting in my seat to have (4) consecutive weeks where you vacation, spiritually rest, and study… it just makes for a much healthier leader.

Now, I’m not trying to say that my job is any more stressful than anyone else’s. But there’s just some unique weight to it. And to carry the responsibilities of it in the way that we feel God wants me to—connected to him; in step; not leading out of empty… we’ve just found that this rhythm really works and really helps along those lines.

Which is part of the reason we’ve developed a teaching team (and a bunch of teams, really)—so that I can do things like this without the church skipping a beat.

So here’s what I’ll be doing specifically during my Out of Office time:

First couple of weeks will be vacation with my wife and kids. And we’ll be headed to Europe, actually: London, Paris, and Munich. I’ve never been overseas like that, nor have my kids… so we’re all pretty excited. Feel very fortunate.

The week after we get back I’ll spend mostly around home in Waterloo, mostly focused on rest and some spiritual renewal. Do a little recovery from the jet lag. Probably some day retreats to some different places. But just focused on rest and time with God.

Then the final week, I’ve rented an AirBnB up in Wisconsin that I’m going to use as a writing retreat. Our big series this fall will be walking through Galatians—and I’m writing a book that we’ll be using for some of that content. I’ve got a good chunk of it written already, but want to use that time to finish it in time for editing and publishing.

So: vacation, rest, and study. Europe. Home. And Wisconsin.

And I’d so appreciate you praying over that. Because: here’s what we know (without trying to be weird or over-spiritualize):

Whenever any of us tries to draw nearer to God, we have an Enemy—who is real—and who really doesn’t want to see that to happen or for that to go well. He wants to interrupt it. Compete with it. Kinda be a thorn it in.

So: prayers for travel to go smoothly. Prayers for safety. Prayers for health. And prayers for God to speak and for me to be listening.

Okay?

Series Intro

Okay. Last week we kicked off a series that we’re calling “Convenience is King.” And here’s what we said:

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Even though convenience is king, it’s not a good one.

Convenience is no longer just an option. It’s an opiate.

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It’s woven into the fabric of our culture and our everyday lives. And we’ve become addicted to it and dependent on it.

Convenience says: “Whatever I want. Whenever I want it. However I want it.” That’s the expectation. That’s the norm now.

And when convenience sits on the throne of our hearts, here’s what happens:

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When convenience is our king, we make what God sees as excuses into what we see as priorities.

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We kinda expect God to rubber stamp everything we deem important as… important—rather than allow him to determine that for us, and then for us to get on his page.

And so we dove into that last week by talking about how convenience makes…

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Convenience Is King

Week 1: When Adventures Become Threats

Week 2: When People Become Problems

Week 3: When Opportunities Become Obligations

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Exegesis: Luke 10:25-37

So, let’s dive into our topic this weekend by first going to Scripture. We’re going to read a story that might be familiar to you; I know we talk a lot about it around here at Prairie Lakes. (In fact, I think I talked about it just a few weeks ago, actually.)

Turn with me to Luke 10:25-37.

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Luke 10:25-37

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(Explain where to find Luke.) In Luke 10, Jesus tells his parable of “The Good Samaritan.” You’ve probably heard it a time or two—or heard of it, at least. It’s one of those stories in Scripture that has kinda found a life of its own outside of Scripture. The phrase “good Samaritan” has a dictionary entry now.

Most of us know what a “good Samaritan” is—an uncommonly kind person who does nice things for strangers in need.

And while that’s an accurate description of one of the characters in Jesus’ parable, it actually kinda oversimplifies the parable a bit.

If that’s really the lesson Jesus has for us—

“Be kind(er)—”

Then we don’t really need his help at all. Because anyone can do that.

I don’t think the lesson that Jesus has for us in this parable is just “be kind.” I think there’s something deeper that he’s wanting us to really consider.

This is why Jesus teaches in parables, where the lesson is underneath the surface of the story: in order for us to see that something has gone wrong not just on the surface of our lives, but deep in our hearts. And if we dig into the story with him, we’ll discover not only that—but also how he can help.

So let’s dive in. Luke 10. Starting in verse 25:

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Luke 10:25–29 “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He 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’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?””

Luke 10:30–33 “In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 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 10:34–37 “He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii 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.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.””

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So:

Jesus is less interested in the endless debate of who qualifies as a neighbor and more interested in clarifying how a neighbor operates.

Jesus talks less about who is worthy of our kindness and more about how we’re obligated to be kind.

And notice that Jesus tells us absolutely nothing about the guy who was half dead on the side of the road. No idea about his age, his faith, his status… was he drinking? Was he lost? Why was he in that position in the first place? Nothing. He’s just “some guy.”

Saying nothing about who our neighbor is or isn’t; nothing about who is or is not worthy of our kindness…

Jesus completely reframes this lawyer’s question in order to get to the heart of the issue:

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It’s not about who deserves our help.

It’s about how we see and respond to people who can’t help themselves.

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Do we see the “guy on the side of the road” as unwise, made a bad decision, maybe not his fault but he put himself in that position…

Or do we go, “None of that matters. He just needs help.”

Their (And Our) Everyday Life

Now, there’s a few things that you need to know about the setting of Jesus’ story here—because it’s so different from the world that we live on (on the surface, at least):

Jesus said that this poor soul was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

This was a real road—and probably would’ve looked something like this:

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Show “Road - Jerusalem to Jericho” Image

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Jerusalem sits about 3,000 or so feet higher in elevation than Jericho. Jericho is closer to the Dead Sea; Jerusalem is around 17 or 18 miles west and a little north.

So, like a lot of places in the Middle East, along this road there were some pretty steep elevation changes with rugged hills and boulders and caves on both sides—

Perfect for criminal activity of all kinds… making you especially vulnerable if you were traveling alone or too far into the night.

In fact, the Jewish historian, Josephus, who the Roman Empire commissioned to capture the story of this region for their archives—

Josephus tells us what this road from Jerusalem to Jericho came to be called in his day:

“The Way of Blood.”

So here’s what this means:

This story Jesus tells is not an entirely fictional one. If you traveled this route with any regularity (and a bunch of people did), it’s very likely at one time or another you came across the corpse of some unlucky or unwise traveler from the night before.

Which is just so foreign to us, right? Dead bodies on the side of the road? That’s the stuff of true crime podcasts; not everyday life. I mean, if you and I saw that today on our way into church, we’d pull over. Or we’d call 911.

But this wasn’t a true crime podcast-level story to Jesus’ listeners. This wasn’t Dateline. This was everyday life.

Everyday, Jewish people would be walking that road from Jerusalem down to Jericho, or from Jericho “up” to Jerusalem (like the priest and the Levite in the story).

Every. Day.

Here’s what I want to you to grab onto:

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We can so easily live a life that protects our every day from someone else’ worst day.

All too often we settle for the moral of the story rather than partnering with God to rewrite the story.

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I might know | that my neighbor’s marriage is “half dead on the side of the road” because I can hear the arguments spill out of the open window or backyard patio.

I might know | that my kid’s (or their friend’s) mental or emotional state is “half dead on the side of the road” as they lock themselves up in their room every night on their device.

I might know | that there’s parts of my community that look “half dead on the side of the road” with homes that have fallen into disrepair and businesses that have long since fled to where the money moved to.

I might know | that elderly people are living alone and disconnected from loved ones who have mostly abandoned them. I might know that the foster care system or mental health systems are completely overwhelmed. I might read about all the terrible things that are going on across this nation and this world that feels like it can’t but help plunge itself headlong into being half dead on the side of the road.

I might know all of those things—

But my tendency—

Whether I feel overwhelmed by all of it, or above it all—

My tendency | is to keep my head down as I hop in my car, drive past my neighbor’s house, and head to church.

My tendency | is to keep my nose in my own business and scroll on.

My tendency, maybe | is to even to say a quick prayer of gratefulness that my marriage isn’t on the rocks, or that my house is nice and refrigerator is full, or that my part of the country and world isn’t in crisis.

To boil it down to a handful of “life lessons” so that I won’t find myself in their position.

To surround myself and insulate myself from all of it and all of them.

And Jesus is saying:

We are missing the point!

The Point

Here’s the point:

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If we’re not going out of our way to help people on our way,

Then we’re not walking in Jesus’ way.

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That priest and that Levite were on their way up to Jerusalem.

They were on their way to church. To be with God and to serve God.

And Jesus is saying:

God wants more from you than your presence on Sundays.

He wants you to be a true friend and neighbor to whoever, wherever, and whenever.

So think about this with me—think about this:

Is there anyone in your life right now—

Likely on the fringes of your life, because you’ve put some distance between you and them; you’ve given them a wider berth because you know that they need something from you—

That you need to go from priest to Samaritan with?

That you need to stop reducing into just some cautionary tale and start partnering with God in rewriting their story?

Is there someone in need of the spiritual riches you have? Someone who life, relationships, or spirit is “half dead on the side of the road”—whether it’s because of something they did or because of something someone else did to them—

But someone who, if you started going a little out of your way…

If you allowed yourself to be a little inconvenienced…

That God might use you to rewrite their story?

Can you imagine the the story that man told his kids or his grandkids about that stranger, that Samaritan, who literally saved his life?

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Are we aware of just how powerful and capable our God is—

Of using even our smallest acts of inconvenient but intentional obedience to rewrite someone else’s story?

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Only one way to find out.