Like A Good Neighbor

Image that you are walking down the street, minding your own business. Maybe you have your ear buds in and it’s a beautiful day outside. You’re walking down the street and as you come up to the top of a small hill your eyes immediately fall a man who has been hurt badly. He is naked, beaten up, and he isn’t moving at all and you think he might even be dead from the looks of him.

What do you do?

Do you help him? Do you keep on walking? Do you think someone else will help him, I don’t need too?

What do you do for this guy?

Sermon Statement: Whatever you decide to do will determine whether you are a good neighbor or not.

Scripture Statement: God wants you to be a good neighbor and Jesus shows us exactly how to do that.

Transition: Jesus was teaching one day and an expert in Jewish law asked him a question to try and trip Jesus up. He said, ‘Jesus, how do I get eternal life?’ Jesus throws the question back at him, ‘What’s the law say? How do you interpret it?’

He answered the question by saying that we should love God with everything we have and our neighbor as ourselves.

Jesus was pleased with this guy. He answered the question right, it seemed like he understood the assignment! But not really, because he asks Jesus a second question, “who is my neighbor?”

Again, Jesus doesn’t fall for his trick because he knows this guy is testing him and trying to justify himself for not really loving others like he knows he should. So, Jesus tells him a story:

READ Luke 10:30-37

Luke 10:30–37 NIV

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. 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.”

That’s powerful stuff! Jesus doesn’t answer this guys question of who his neighor is. Instead, Jesus shows him how to be a good neighbor to everyone he comes into contact with.

That is true for us even today. As Jesus shows us, the guy who actually helped this man is the kind of person we should be like because what we do reveals the true condition of our hearts. Jesus is showing us to actually allow our love for God to completely change every part of our lives and flood every area of our lives. Instead of just loving God on Sunday or during youth group or while your friends or parents are around, we can actively show our love for God by loving those around us. That is how you can be a good neighbor!

Transition: You may not realize it, but you can be a good neighbor because:

Point #1: You are divinely positioned to be a good neighbor. (vv. 33)

Explanation:

It’s interesting that Jesus highlights the different actions that these three travelers make. All of them are traveling down the very same 17 mile road that stretchs from Jerusalem down to Jericho. This road was windy, rocky, and dangerous because it gave robbers plenty of places to hide and attack travelers from. All of these guys are traveling alone, all of them see the man in need, but only one helps him.

Jesus says the first two guys (the religious ones) saw the man and “passed by on the other side.” What this means is that these guys actively changed their route in order to steer clear of this man in need. The intentionally went out of their way to not be close to him.

Not the Samaritan. Not the guy who the Jewish people hated and actively went out of their way to avoid. Rather, the Good Samaritan shows us how we are divinely positioned to be a good neighbor and make an impact in the hearts, minds, and lives of those around us. Here’s how he did it: when he saw the man in need, he changed his travel plans and route too, but instead of intentionally and actively avoiding the man, he intentionally engaged with the man and took care of him and went out of his way to love him. Why?

Jesus says the Samaritan “took pity on him.”

The Samaritan ‘felt compassion’ but not like, ‘Oh, I feel really bad for him.’ No, he was like I feel sick to my stomach over how hurt this guy is and I MUST do something about it. This compassion motivated action.

Have you ever felt that? If so, then you know how this Good Samaritan felt that day he met this man in need.

Whenever you see someone in need, you are actually seeing an opportunity to love God and love others.

In order to be a good neighbor, be like the Good Samaritan and allow your love for God to motivate you to love others.

Transition: You can be a good neighbor because you are divinely positioned to be one and :

Point #2: You are divinely equipped to be a good neighbor. (vv. 34-35)

Explanation:

Jesus tells us that this Good Samaritan used what he had to take care of the man in need. He sacrificially gave of himself to help this man in need. Jesus said that,

READ Luke 10:34-35

Luke 10:34–35 NIV

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.’

This guy tore up his clothes to bangage the guys wounds.

He poured out his own oil and wine to disenfect his wounds.

He put the man on his own donkey and walked along side of him.

He booked him a room in the closest inn he could find and paid for however long the man in need needed it for.

According to one scholar, he says that “This amount of money (the 2 denarii) would have paid for roughly two months in the inn, which might indicate the severity of the beaten man’s condition.” (John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Lk 10:35.)

This Good Samaritan was divinely equipped with resources that could help this hurting man. So are you!

The things that you have: your clothes, your food, your shoes, whatever you have access too is available to be used for those in need.

Do you realize that if you have $1 dollar, then you have more than the majority of people in the world! Image how much you can help others, when you intentionally use the resources God has equipped you and your family with when you use it to help those in need.

Transition: You can be a good neighbor because you are divinely positioned and equipped to be one and:

Point #3: You are divinely enabled to be a good neighbor. (vv. 37)

Explanation:

This Good Samaritan was not just positioned or equipped to be a good nieghbor. But also enabled to be a good neighbor beacuse of this love for God. This guy took pity or had compassion on this man because God had changed his heart and to be like his.

God sees the needs of others: READ Isaiah 41:17

Isaiah 41:17 NIV

“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

God has a heart for those in need: READ Psalm 140:12

Psalm 140:12 NIV

I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

God identifies with those in need: READ Matthew 25:35-40

Matthew 25:35–40 NIV

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

When we serve those in need, we are actually living like Jesus.

How do you do this? You allow the Holy Spirit to enable you to meet the needs of those around you.

READ Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 NIV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Conclusion: So, we’ve seen that you can be a good neighbor because you are divinely positioned, equipped, and enabled to sacrificially love those around you by meeting their needs and pointing them to Jesus.

When you live like this, you are actually living like Jesus because in John 3:16, we see Jesus sacrificing himself for all of us because we are in need of him!

READ John 3:16

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Application: How can you be a good neighbor to those around you?

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