A Good Samaritan Heart

1. Lesson Intro
1. Can you name some famous neighbors
1.   Tim “Tool Man” Taylor – Wilson
2. Ricky and Lucy Ricardo – Fred and Ethel Mertz
3. Daren & Samantha Stevens – Abner ad Gladys Kravitz
4.    jerry Seinfeld – kosmo Kramer
2. Scripture calls us to be good neighbors, but what does that mean..
2. Encounter
1. (Lk 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?”" #. (Lk 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’ (Deut 6:4,5)

                                                              i.      Part of the shema, repeated twice daily by pious Jews from ancient times even to today.

1. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Lev 19:18)

1. Who is my neighbor?
1. Certain people are my neighbors and others are not. #. Certain people deserve my love and others do not.
2. Story
1. Journey from Jerusalem to Jericho

                                                              i.      20 miles of mountainous, rocky trails descending 3000 feet from the hills of Jerusalem to the Dead Sea

                                                            ii.      Isolated, barren and unprotected territory where bands of robbers roamed and terrorized travelers.

1. heart of compassion

                                                              i.      (Lk 10:33) "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him."

                                                            ii.      Word origin - To suffer with

                                                          iii.      Frederick Buechner "Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too."-

1. A heart of friendship                                                               i.      (Lk 10:34) "He went to him. . .”

                                                            ii.      (Lk 10:31) "A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side."

                                                          iii.      Some years ago two Princeton University psychologists, John Darley and Daniel Batson, decided to conduct a study inspired by the biblical story of the Good Samaritan.  The only thing that really mattered was whether the student was in a rush. Of the group that was in a rush, 10 percent stopped to help. Of the group that had time to spare, 63 percent stopped. (The Tipping Point)

1. A heart of healing                                                               i.      (Lk 10:34) "He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.

                                                            ii.      (Mt 9:12) "12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

1. A heart of sacrifice                                                               i.      ((Lk 10:34-35) "He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins 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.’"

Pastor David Jeremiah tells a story about Bob Pierce.

Pierce had advanced leukemia. But he went to visit a friend in Indonesia before he died. As they were walking through a small village, they came upon a young girl lying on a bamboo mat next to a river. She was dying of cancer. And she only had a short time to live.

Bob was upset. He said, "Why isn’t she in a clinic? Why

isn’t someone taking care of her?" But his friend explained that she was from the jungle. And she wished to spend her last days next to the river, where it was cool and familiar.

As Bob gazed at her, he felt such compassion that he got

down on his knees in the mud, took her hand, and began

stroking it. Although she didn’t understand him, he prayed for her.

Afterward she looked up and said something. "What did she

say?" Bob asked his friend.

His friend replied, "She said, ’If I could only sleep again, if I could only sleep again.’"

Bob began to weep. Then he reached into his pocket and

took out his own sleeping pills, the ones his doctor had given him because the pain from his leukemia was too great for him to sleep at night.

He handed the bottle to his friend. "You make sure this

young lady gets a good night’s sleep," he said, "as long as these pills last."

Bob was ten days away from where he could get his prescription refilled. That meant ten painful and restless nights

1. Conclusion
1. ((Lk 10:36-37) "36“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”                                                               i.      The law professor asked him about the qualification others must meet to be his neighbor

                                                            ii.      Jesus’ reply was to focus on the qualifications he must meet to be a neighbor.

1. Qualities

                                                              i.      Heart of compassion

                                                            ii.      Heart of friendship

                                                          iii.      Heart of healing

                                                          iv.      Heart of sacrifice

1. These are the very same qualities Jesus lived among us. #. Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

                                                              i.      This is our calling

1.      To passionately love God

2.      With great compassion, love all humanity.

a.       From our friends and family who are often easy to love

b.      To strangers and enemies who require a true sacrificial love.

                                                            ii.      (Jn 13:35) "35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”"