The Invitation You Didn’t Expect
From Cradle to Cross • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Story: Heather in Galveston while on Sabbatical
One night… Knock on the door… “Can I borrow your phone?” “Sure!” and gave my phone over
Grace - “Why did you do that?” // “I don’t know”
Next night… Knock on the door… “Can I borrow your phone?” “Sure!” and gave my phone over
Grace - “Why did you do that?” // “I don’t know”
Next night… Knock on the door… “Can I borrow your phone?” “Sure!” and gave my phone over
Grace - “Why did you do that?” // “I don’t know”
That night… After my phone had been gone for TWO HOURS, we went and banged on the door to get it back (and when I say “we went” — I mean my wife went while I hid around the corner)
Since then, I’ve wondered about Heather…
What was going on in her life?
Did she keep INTERRUPTING my time because she needed help?
Was God INVITING me in to express His kind of LOVE and I was avoiding the invitation?
Over the past couple of months since then, I’ve been considering the passage that I’m preaching out of today…and I want to encourage you to engage with what God is saying, knowing that He calls you into INTERRUPTIONS and those INTERRUPTIONS are INVITATIONS.
PRAY
P. 709
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?”
We have to notice that when the “expert in the law” asked Jesus what he had to do to get into heaven, Jesus did something interesting… HE POINTED HIM RIGHT BACK TO THE LAW
Why would Jesus do that? Didn’t He come to fulfill the Law and give us Grace???
The man was an “expert” at the law — Jesus was speaking HIS language
Illustration: Medical / Legal language
I have some friends who are Medical Doctors and when they start speaking in medical jargon, I just gloss over. If they want me to understand, they have to stop and explain it with small words that I understand
It’s the same with friends who are Lawyers or Engineers or….. _____________
I do the same thing…
I don’t know everything but I spend some time reading theological books — and those tend to use big words that we NEVER use in “real life.” If I want to effectively communicate the Word of God, I explain it in WORDS that are accessible and WAYS that are repeatable.
Jesus sent the man back to the Law — NOT because the Law saves us…we know we’re saved by the Grace Jesus extends to us
The Law shows us that we NEED TO BE saved
There can be no real conversion without conviction — and the Law is what God uses to convict us of our sin
27 He — the expert in the law — 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.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
True to his profession, the lawyer quoted Scripture.
Interesting note:
Matthew 22:37–40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””
Mark 12:29–31 “The most important [command],” answered Jesus, “is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.””
From both the Jewish leaders’ perspective AND rom Jesus’ exact teaching, the pinnacle of God’s Law is to love Him and to love people.
There was no dispute over God’s call to love — the dispute was over WHO you loved and HOW you loved them.
I’m not talking about romantic love — The lawyer in Luke 10 and Jesus in both Matthew 22 and Mark 12 use the same exact word for love
It’s a form of the word AGAPE — a principled, deliberate, and selfless love
It is love as a choice — and it demands action
It is love NOT based on the attractiveness or worthiness of a person — it’s based upon the character of the one who is choosing to love
The defining mark of a follower of Jesus is love.
Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate a Robust Faith Axiom 1: God Is Love, So It’s All About Love
—Without love, knowledge and power use and hurt people.
—Without love, knowledge and power are weaponized to divide and conquer.
—Without love, knowledge and power are unhinged from the cross of Christ.
—It’s time to reclaim love as the necessary, nonnegotiable foundation of our Christian faith.
But living within our surrounding culture, we discover some major issues with love…
We’ve relegated LOVE to the realm of merely SENTIMENTAL or ROMANTIC.
We’ve taken the truth that GOD IS LOVE — that’s a biblical truth — and twisted it so that “any expression of ‘love’ is God”
That’s just not true — there are holy ways to love people — and these ways lead to spiritual health
And there are UNHOLY ways to express what we profess to be “love” — these are more accurately labeled LUST or INFATUATION…and they’re born from a place of PRIDE and SELFISHNESS
We’ve largely defined love by HOW IT MAKES ME FEEL — rather than how it seeks the good of the one I choose to love
Here in Luke 10, Jesus is going to reorient the Lawyer’s view of love — and because we are listening in on their conversation, He’s going to reorient the way you and I approach love as well…
Going back to the text, the Lawyer is going to ask the question that opens the door for Jesus to redefine and challenge his view of love…
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
The Lawyer gave the right answer — but he refused to apply it personally. It felt a lot “safer” when it was an abstract concept applied to others.
So he tried the age-old arguing tactic — “Define your terms! What do you mean by ‘neighbor’? Who is my ‘neighbor’ anyway??”
He was giving Jesus the chance to fumble His own position — maybe Jesus would say something that the Lawyer could prove was wrong?
His question implied another question… “Who is NOT my neighbor???”
Jewish purity laws dictated boundaries between “clean” and “unclean” people — would Jesus follow the Law here??
Ultimately, the Lawyer is hiding behind the Law to justify his UN-NEIGHBORLY attitude
30 In reply Jesus TOLD A STORY: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho — no significance to “down” … Jerusalem was 2,500 ft above sea level, so you went “down” from it regardless which direction you walked — , when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
The scene is set… An unnamed, unknown man has been beaten and left for dead on the side of the road.
Now, Jesus will begin to build the tension between people — and their choices…
And here is the central question…
If this is how the man is treated by robbers, how will he be treated by God’s people?
Or, you could ask…
How will God’s people respond in an unloving world?
31 A PRIEST happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a LEVITE, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
An answer to our question is quickly provided by both a PRIEST and a LEVITE…
PRIESTS were descendants of Aaron (the brother of Moses) and were involved in the sacrificial worship system of the Temple
LEVITES were descendants of Levi (a member of the tribe of Levi) — they assisted the PRIESTS in duties but could not perform the sacrificial acts
Both the PRIEST and the LEVITE arrive at the scene and when they experience the INTERRUPTION of the wounded man…they both make the same choice…
They dramatically pass by ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD — as far from the injured man as they could get
We could spend longer than we have time for, debating WHY the men might have acted this way…but at the end of the day, there is no actual justification for their choice. The reality is simply that they did NOTHING for a man who desperately needed SOMETHING.
But since we’re here…let me share my thought with you…
These men reached their status — NOT because of training but because of the families they were born into
They filled their respective roles simply because they had the good luck to be born into their respective families
And because of their TITLES, they were viewed as shining examples of faith and worship
Their problem was…
They were accustomed to being evaluated on the basis of their ancestry, rather than on the basis of their choices
As Jesus continues the story, the audience would have expected a natural progression…
Priest
Levite
Jewish worshipper
BUT Jesus has a twist…
33 But a SAMARITAN,
Samaritans…
Outsider — specifically, a HATED outsider
According to the Jews (who made up Jesus’ audience) — Social and religious outcast
Not portrayed as “holy” at all — he’s filling the role of a traveling merchant
Again…it would take far too long to break down the hatred Jews felt toward Samaritans (and Samaritans toward Jews) — but recognize in this moment that Jesus is introducing a character into His story that seemingly had no place being there.
The audience’s eyes would’ve gotten large with surprise
Some jaws would have dropped in shock
Hands would have raised with indignation
“Surely not a SAMARITAN?????”
a SAMARITAN, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 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. 35 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.’
There you go…
2 Jewish religious leaders — 1 hated Samaritan outsider
2 men who were judged POSITIVELY by their background — 1 man who was judged NEGATIVELY by his background
2 men who KNEW what to do…and dramatically dodged — 1 man who UNEXPECTEDLY dove in to help
2 men who avoided an INTERRUPTION to their day — 1 man who recognized an INVITATION to love
And Jesus wraps up His story by turning a question back to the Lawyer…
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
Jesus didn’t ask…
Who is your neighbor?
What is the boundary for neighbors?
How do you find neighbors?
Instead, Jesus adjusted the question and He returned it to the Lawyer…
WHO ACTED LIKE A NEIGHBOR???
Who chose to live with love in the middle of a broken world?
Who carried the mark of God’s Kingdom with them?
This has NOTHING to do with geography, citizenship, race, gender, sexuality, economics, politics, _______
God’s people are marked by love for their neighbor.
So… Lawyer… Which person in the story acted like one of God’s people?
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
You know when you’re caught in a trap in an argument and you don’t want to admit something????
That’s where the Lawyer found himself…
He can’t bring himself to say — “Well, the Samaritan acted like the kind of neighbor God wanted.”
So, he just said — “The ONE who had mercy on him.”
…but we all know which one he’s talking about
And Jesus finishes the conversation with a short, to-the-point challenge…
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
So… What do we do with all this???
1 - Remember who God is.
1 John 4 tells us that “GOD IS LOVE.”
Because God is love, every part of the Christian life is shaped by love.
Not the confused kind of love in our culture that is based upon…
Desire. Attraction. Affirmation. Romance. Selfishness.
God’s love seeks the good of His created people…even when it costs you something.
If God is love, then every follower of God should become increasingly marked by love.
Remember who God is. GOD IS LOVE.
2 - Let God work in you.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t merely improve our behavior. He TRANSFORMS our hearts.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
Fruit isn’t magically manufactured… It’s produced. And it takes time.
FRUIT IS ALWAYS SHOWN ON THE OUTSIDE OF OUR LIFE — BECAUSE WE ARE SURRENDERED ON THE INSIDE OF OUR LIFE.
You can’t fake Kingdom love. You surrender until the Holy Spirit produces it.
Let God work in you. SURRENDER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.
3 - Choose participation over intention.
In Jesus’ story, the PRIEST and LEVITE and SAMARITAN are all fictional character invented by Jesus to teach a principle of His Kingdom.
But if we were to consider them as actual people, I could argue that the PRIEST and LEVITE had every good INTENTION of loving like God loves.
The problem was… Their INTENTIONS NEVER TRANSLATED TO PARTICIPATION. And we only grow spiritually when we participate.
Illustration: PARTICIPATION vs INTENTION
Intentions are great but intentions don’t mean anything on their own.
For instance… Every January 1, I have the INTENTION to start exercising regularly… But every January 2, I refuse to PARTICIPATE.
PARTICIPATION trumps INTENTION every time.
As you submit your body to PARTICIPATE in the rhythms of Jesus’ teaching, you grow in your capacity to receive and live in God’s love — allowing you to FINALLY love God with your heart, soul, mind, and body — and love your neighbor as yourself.
INVITATION:
Before you can PARTICIPATE in God’s love, you have to RECEIVE God’s love.
Baptism
CHALLENGE:
This week, you will have interruptions you didn’t plan.
Ask — “Is this God’s invitation to love someone?”
And then… GO AND DO LIKEWISE.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What’s one frustration this past week that frustrated you? Looking back, do you think it might have been an opportunity to experience and show God’s love?
When you’re busy or stressed, how does your willingness to love others tend to change?
The lawyer wanted to know, “Who is my neighbor?” Why do you think we’re often more interested in defining the limits of love than we are in actually living it?
What kinds of people are easiest for you to overlook, avoid, or quietly “pass by on the other side?”
We know that “God is love.” How should God’s character shape the way you think about loving difficult people?
What’s the difference between trying harder to love people vs. surrendering more fully to the work of the Holy Spirit?
The priest and Levite may have had good intentions, but they didn’t participate. Where are you tempted to settle for good intentions instead of obedient action?
What is one specific Next Step you can take this week to continue growing toward spiritual maturity?
