Sermon - Luke Chapter 10

Title: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

So let's make the most of this beautiful day Since we're together, we might as well say Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?

[Open in prayer]

As I mentioned last week, a whole chapter with lot’s of pericope’s is difficult to cover so we are going to do a quick overview or Luke 10 and then dive in specifically on the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Definition: A pericope as a self-contained unit of text—a distinct passage that conveys a complete thought or narrative, often used for analysis, teaching, or liturgical reading.

These units can range from a single parable (like the Parable of the Good Samaritan) to a miracle story (like the Feeding of the 5,000) or a cluster of sayings. Scholars use pericopes to study the structure, themes, and editorial choices within the Gospels. For example, the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) often rearrange pericopes to suit theological or narrative goals.

Pericopes are crucial in form criticism, where scholars examine the form and function of these units before they were written down—tracing how they may have circulated orally in early Christian communities.

They’re also what those bolded headings in many printed Bibles refer to—like “Jesus Walks on Water” or “The Parable of the Lost Sheep.” These help readers navigate Scripture thematically and structurally.

[Show the Luke 10 in 5 minutes video]

[Have the group read through Luke 10]

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

This parable is only told in the Gospel of Luke though the encounter with the Lawyer (or some similar encounter) is recounted in both Matthew and Mark.

New International Version (2011) Chapter 10

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

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

In true rabbinic form, Jesus answers the question with a question, thus turning the test back on the tester.

New International Version (2011) Chapter 10

27 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.’”

Such an easy thing/ You simply have to love God to the fullest with ALL dimensions of your being. Oh, and you also have to love your neighbor as yourself. Let’s see a show of hands from those of you who are doing this… It’s not a trick question.

Jesus responds...

New International Version (2011) Chapter 10

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

So Jesus responds with agreement that if you embody the law, then you will live. Now we see something interesting in the text...

New International Version (2011) Chapter 10

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

What’s interesting here is the editorial nature of the statement indicating that the man wanted to justify himself. How does Luke know this? It seems unlikely that the lawyer offered this information and it was just omitted from the dialog. I mean , we have quite a “don’t judge me” mentality, even in our Christian culture. This sounds an awful lot like a judgement statement doesn’t it?

But the real point here is that in true lawyery fashion, he’s looking for a loophole from the all encompassing requirement. So Jesus begins a parable to convey how things work in God’s kingdom.

We just read the passage and I’m not going to go through it verse by verse since we are all fairly familiar with it but I’d like to offer an anecdote and some summary thoughts...

I remember when I first learned about this parable. When I was a kid, I used to see these Good Sam’s Club stickers on campers and RV’s and when I asked what it was my grandmother explained that it was a club based on this parable which she then summarized for me. It was an organization founded in 1966 and which sought to embody the principles of the parable by inviting its members (which included my grandparents) to live them out with other fellow camper and RV enthusiasts.

As noble as the idea was, it actually still somewhat violates the very principle Jesus was getting at get in the first place. Namely that we shouldn’t just be good to other fellow Sam’s club members or camping enthusiasts.

In some states we have various Good Samaritan laws. Some actually require you to render assistance and have penalties for your failure to do so while others offer liability protection people doing their best to render assistance.

[Living in the Kingdom Among Neighbors]

When the lawyer asks, “Who is my neighbor?”, he seeks to define the boundaries of his responsibility. But Jesus, as he so often does, reframes the question entirely—not with a proposition, but a parable.

Jesus is not interested in answering questions rooted in self-justification. He is offering entrance into a life where love flows naturally from a transformed heart. One’s neighbor is not defined by geography or tribe or belief system but by the outflow of a life immersed in divine love.

[Spiritual Formation Hidden in Plain Sight]

The Good Samaritan’s actions weren’t the result of moral obligation, but of the kind of person he had become. “The Samaritan doesn't love because he must—he loves because, in the Kingdom life, compassion is as natural as breathing. It is what a truly transformed life looks like when no one is watching.

[The Heart of the Law Revealed]

Rather than contrasting law and grace, Jesus affirms the Law’s true intention:

To love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself is not a requirement imposed from outside; it is a picture of the flourishing life—the life that naturally emerges when we live with God at the center.

[The Invitation to Transformation]

The parable’s conclusion—“Go and do likewise”—is not a command to try harder but an invitation to live differently:

Jesus is describing the kind of life available in the Kingdom of the Heavens, here and now. It's not about asking, ‘Who qualifies as my neighbor?’ but about becoming the kind of person for whom everyone naturally is.

[Group exercise - Break the group into ___ smaller groups and have them write a short parable that responds to the scribe’s “who is my neighbor” question.

[Close in prayer]