Sermon Tone Analysis
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Two very familiar stories that we might not see as connected… matter of fact I never saw them as connected as clearly as I did this week.
In fact I had planned to preach just from this first story and the other story next week.
Don’t get me wrong, each story has a powerful lesson we need to learn, but together their message is But then I realized that they belonged together like peas and carrots as Forrest Gump would say.
They have a common message
Do good for those who can’t or won’t do good for you.
But together, their messages become something much richer that I hope to draw out today.
Familiar Stories:
Luke 10:25-37
Luke 10:25–37 (NLT)
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Some translations describe this man as a Lawyer.
A man who studied the Mosaic law, to help people live faithful to the 613 laws in it.
He wants to test Jesus… and prove himself.
26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say?
How do you read it?”
27 The man answered, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’
And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
”
28 “Right!”
Jesus told him.
“Do this and you will live!”
Remember now this man studied the mosaic law… he knew the answer to his question… don’t you think?
Me too.
I don’t think he was wanting to learn anything as much as he wanted to show how little he needed to learn.
You have probably had to deal with someone like this at work or maybe at church.
They ask you a question that isn’t really a question, it’s just a way for them to show how smart they are.
So he went on… thinking he had set Jesus up perfectly.
29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
You may not know what (Leviticus 19:34) says, but you can bet this lawyer knew it.
It was one of their laws.
“You shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt”.
Nevertheless, he asks, seeming to put limits on the extent of his compassion… and Jesus’s as well.
As if he is saying, Jesus, you are going out toward Samaria.... why should we be worried about THOSE people?
Those people aren’t really our neighbors… right?
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits.
They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along.
But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.
When the lawyer heard a Priest was coming by, he probably relaxed… that’s the hero coming… Israel!
But no, he’s not the hero of the story.
32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
If it’s not the Priest, then surely a Levite, one who had given his life to service.... but no.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.
34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them.
Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.
35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man.
If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
Probably a bit of shock that this would be the hero of the story.
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
This lawyer knew all the right answers… But it was the actions of faithful men, first the priest then the Levite, that proved to be wrong.
Right Words - Wrong Actions:
The Lawyer knew what was right, but what he didn’t know was how wrong his thinking was.
Showing the hero in the story to be the Samaritan.
Samaritans were basically half breed Jews.
They were from the northern kingdom of Israel, they had been overtaken and intermarried with other nations overtaken by the Assyrians.
They were unclean and they worshipped a different God.
Yet Jesus chose the Samaritan to be the one to be the neighbor, the one unworthy of respect was the only one who loved his neighbor.
It was humbling to the Lawyer...
And it’s challenging to us as disciples today.
The Good Samaritan challenges us to do two things.
First:
Show mercy to those in need
We know this is what we should do.
It’s so important that we even named a law after this man… the good Samaritan law, to protect people who are willing to show mercy.
What is mercy?
You might think of it as love… as Matthew recorded the words of Jesus:
“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’
For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners”
What does it look like to be merciful to those in need?
It means, being patienct with people
It means HELP ANYONE HURTING AROUND YOU
BE KIND TO THOSE WHO OFFEND ME
DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO HURT ME
BUILD BRIDGES OF LOVE TO THE OVERLOOKED
But this story is clear that the common denominator here isn’t the person who you needing help… it’s regardless of the person, or the situation.
Often we read this parable and we put ourselves into it.
How we are to be like the good Samaritan.
I’m not saying that ‘s wrong.
Do good when YOU have the opportunity
Paul wrote in Galatians 6
Again in Eph 5:15-16
How many times has a crisis occured when you were expecting it?
Rarely right… that’s because that is what makes it a crisis.
SO in order to show mercy to every one at Every opportunity it will require our lives to be:
Be Interrupt-able
I remember years ago I was taking a group of kids to play challenger baseball on a Sunday afternoon.
We were cruising along and saw a lady on the side of the road broken down.
I thought this would be a good chance to show the kids how we can extend our showing mercy from the kids at baseball to a daily experience of someone in need.
She actually needed gas.
And had already phoned a relative who was near by as I remember.
So instead of leaving, we stayed with her, just to make sure she got the help she needed.
It only cost us some time.
And you know what I still remember that.
You know why?
Because I do it so rarely.
This parable reminds me to be more interrupt-able with my day… That’s it’s not an inconvenience to show compassion.
I remember that day how the kids talked about how nice it was to stop… how the girls said I hope if i ever break down there’s a bunch of people who stop so I don’t have to worry which one to trust...
Be interrupt-able - that’s a good take away.
Then we see Jesus and his disciples do some interrupting
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