Sermon (10-Jul): "What Must I Do?" Luke 10:25-37

Scripture:

Luke 10:25-37

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?”

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’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”

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

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

30 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.

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.

33 But 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[e] 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.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Big Idea:

Be faithful to God’s Will/His Word which in turn is the essence of being a Good Samaritan.

Introduction:

- Loving God is loving people.

- First off, there is a lot of activity that is in this chapter of Luke 10

- This is a time and place in Jesus's ministry where we see that He gives power and instruction to 72 individuals to go out in His Father's name

- He instructs them to promote peace in the home in which they visit and dwell

- And when they enter a house that is rejecting them to shake the dust off of their feet

- He mentions the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah

- And how it will be better for them than the judgment that will fall on the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida

- But then also he mentioned something in verse 16 where he says, "Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me."

- And I mentioned that because I believe that in this point he is saying something not just to his generation but he's also speaking to our generation

- Never think that God's word is not meant for you…

- Even today, God has sent His Word to impact and change us and our lives; indeed His Word is living

- In this chapter, 72 individuals who were sent by Jesus's command return with joy as they see that demons were subject to the name and authority of Jesus Christ

- And, what does Jesus do?

- No doubt, I believe that Jesus was thrilled with their report but I think he wanted toto communicate something deeper

- He wants them to realize that it is not about the submission of the demons to Jesus’ authority

- No, the fact that their names are now in the Book of Life was more important and noteworthy

- His followers the disciples were privy to a number of things that Jesus taught

- Their ears were blessed to hear; their eyes were blessed to see what they saw

- And, according to the book and chapter it sets us up for the perfect parable, "The Parable of the Good Samaritan"

- The Parable of the Good Samaritan has been told time and time again

- Helping someone who is at a time of need has helped to institute in many states Good Samaritan laws…

- Laws and protections for people who have a desire to help someone that is in dire straits

- Even the secular world those who do not believe in the power and authority of Jesus Christ have an idea of what it means to be a Good Samaritan

- You can hear stories across the news of people jumping into rivers and pools to save people who are drowning

- You can hear stories of people helping to turn cars over to lift individuals out of a situation where they could possibly have extreme injury

- Others have rushed into burning buildings to help save individuals from what seem to be a certain death... All in the name of being a good Samaritan

- Quite simply, Christianity Today puts it this way,

“When we have the opportunity and resources to help those in need, everyone becomes our neighbor”

Message:

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?” 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’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

- Throughout the years, this is another set of verses that I have banked in my heart

- Think…centuries after centuries, generations after generations after Moses receives the ten commandments

- After Israel receives the 600 plus laws and requirements needed to be in God’s good graces

- We see Jesus summing it up in the most concise way possible…Love God. Love People.

- And as concise as they may be for some; isn’t it difficult at times?

- Mostly, it’s not the loving God part; it’s more the loving people…

- Whether it’s your spouse, significant other, child, parent, best friend

- It can be a quirk or peculiarity or just personality

- But when people get involved; it can be difficult

- Even when it comes to loving yourself…it can be difficult

- And, if we are called to love others as ourselves

- Well then, could that possibly be where the problem lies…in loving ourselves appropriately and then loving our neighbors?

- Notice who it is that that approaches Jesus with the question, a Pharisee—an expert of the Law—approaching the Law incarnate

- The Sadducees couldn’t trip Jesus up nor could the Pharisees and now their most astute member of the Law…a lawyer

- He approaches Jesus to question Him but it’s interesting two of the Gospels says that His intent was to test Him

- In other words, He wanted Jesus to prove to him the heart of God from the Old Testament

- And just where God’s heart is today for His people

- One good thing with this is that God’s heart is still the same for His people…LOVE

- This lawyer asks a question(s) which varies according to each Gospel—Luke, Matthew and Mark—

- That gets down to what many of us want to know,

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?,” and “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

- These are questions that maybe you have asked at some point in your journey

- I know for myself; it took years to grasp and understand this

- I thought to myself, “Of all the things that I am seeking, attempting to do, and wondering about…

- God boils it down to just two things”

- And when you look at the Law, those two things summarize what God wanted from the start

- Yeah, there were the sacrifices, offerings, and feasts

- But to God, love should be at the center of everything we do as it is at the center of His heart and what He does

- Yet, in our mind, it may seem His actions show otherwise

- It would seem that He is more after our obedience then our love

- However, I go back to God’s all-knowing omniscient nature

- And see that it’s when we step outside of His command where we begin to suffer the most

- Life in general is hard enough and then when you throw in being disobedient to what He says…

- It begins to complicate life all the more

- And I get it, this is not a message to beat anyone down to obey, obey

- It is to point to the truth that when we see what God’s heart is and ask Him to attune our to His

- We benefit individually and collectively as a church and throughout society

- The church becomes the example to the world that God isn’t about condemning but welcoming people into His heart and love

- And how does the church become that example and show we are Christ’s disciples…through the love we have for one another (John 10:35),

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (NLT)

- This lawyer had it wrong from the very beginning in asking, “What must I do?”

- As if the idea is what we can ever do for our salvation

- But, hopefully, we all know…that it is nothing that we can ever do to earn our salvation

- It’s about our accepting and believing in Jesus

- So, he’s asking, unknowingly, the Author of life and salvation…

- How does one receive eternal life?

- You notice how Jesus gives it right back to him (v.26),

“What is written in the Law? How do you read it?

- He’s asking the lawyer for His interpretation of what is written

- As He was testing Jesus, Jesus is testing His heart

- To the lawyer’s credit, He goes back to Scripture

- And He sums it up perfectly

- Loving God means loving Him with all of us; our whole human nature

- Loving God emotionally (heart), spiritually and intentionally (soul), physically (strength) and psychologically (mind)—meaning “all that one is”

- It means giving Him us which can be…intriguing on many levels

- This is a God that knows us inside and out

- That’s something I seem to get on a surface “thinking” level

- But I found that it is a much deeper love

- My heart delves and desires that satisfying, deeper love of Him

- In some way, the lawyer was getting this and could sum it up

- So much so that Jesus gives him credit in another gospel (SLIDE 6) (Mark 12:34),

“When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

- Jesus explains to him what it’s all about in the kingdom sense

- He shows the lawyer who is his neighbor and what love for your neighbor looks like

- You may have heard the saying,

“You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family”

- Even further, you can’t necessarily choose your neighbors

- We choose our neighborhoods based on a number of different things

- But you move in and your neighbors may stay the same for years or move months after you get set up and established

- So when this lawyer asks (v.29),

“And who is my neighbor?”

- He gets clarification for himself but also for us

- I love the way Jesus breaks down who a neighbor is and what it means to be one

- Jesus gives us this illustration of a traveler something common in His time

- This traveler is prepared for his journey to take some time; some who have made that trek (15 miles) have made it on foot in about 8 hours

- I believe this traveler was prepared in his mindset for the journey but he may not have been prepared for what was to come…being attacked

- He’s attacked, beaten and stripped of his clothing…so much so that he’s left half dead

- It’s at this point where I wonder how he must’ve been feeling

- The surprise and the intensity of the attack has left him feeling bewildered

- Have you ever had one of those bewildering moments maybe after an “attack” or just in general?

- It’s definitely not comfortable in the least

- Everything in you asks the question, “What just happened?” and “Where am I?”

- Without rhyme or reason, you can’t explain it

- I imagine that’s how this traveler must’ve felt

- Who would help and from where would help come from?

- And though this story is a parable;

- There are times when we wonder from who and where will it come from?

- Then, the story continues…

- We read of a priest and a Levite; the supposedly more holy individuals

- Surely they would step in and lend a hand

- Surely they would be the ones to be identified as neighbors

- But as I said earlier,

“When we have the opportunity and resources to help those in need, everyone becomes our neighbor.”

- Shawna Reding, “Good Samaritan helping hundreds of drivers stranded in Austin winter storm,” KVUE (2-17-21); Catherine Garcia, “Austin Man Rescues Dozens of Drivers Left Stranded by Winter Storm,” The Week (2-18-21)

- The priest is the first up…he comes down the road and sees the man

- What was on the priest’s mind?

- Whatever is was; we see that it lead him around the situation instead of to the situation

- To the priest, this wounded man was simply a problem to be avoided

- Whether it was possibly being unclean in dealing directly with blood or what

- He crossed the street

- The Levite wasn’t any different; they both saw the man and reacted in the same way…

- The wounded man was a problem to be avoided

- We, being the church, should hope to be better than their example

- They were qualified and had a title; yet, they didn’t act in line with their calling

- As the church, we’re called to represent the Light to a dark world

- Now, when we contrast their (Priest and Levite) reactions with that of the Samaritan…

- Which the passage never says He was good but we see it through His actions

- And, what were some of his actions and what can we do to ensure we are being that good neighbor…

- In other words, what makes for a good neighbor?

There’s more but there’s three things I want to bring out:

-- See and Seize the Opportunity

-- Show Mercy and Disregard Self in the Process

-- Trust God with the Results

1) See and Seize the Opportunity

33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion

- Whereas the others passed him by, the Samaritan saw the dignity in the wounded man

- Until we see the dignity of humankind—that they are worthy of honor and respect—we can’t act in God’s love to that individual

- Each individual has value before God Who is their Maker

- We can take advantage of the opportunities that lie before us

- We can show God’s love to others

- Every situation may not be ours personally to address but I believe we can seize more opportunities than we currently do

2) Show Mercy and Disregard Self in the Process

34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.

- This links in with the previous verse in that he had compassion on the man

- In showing mercy, he treats and bandages his wounds and takes the responsibility upon himself that he is taken care of

- We see that He disregards himself so that the wounded be made whole again

- He is willing to pay the necessary cost that the wounded man needed to see him through the beating, the stripping—

- So that the wounded comes out on the other side or the once outsider becomes a close insider

- There will be people who make choices that we disagree with and who do not look the way we do

- Jesus shows us that mercy should be driven by love if we are to be that good Samaritan

- Jesus tells us (v.37), “You go, and do likewise.”

Closing:

- In closing, we need to trust God with the results

3) Trust God with the Results

- You and I may never see the end result of our actions in helping other but that’s not our calling

- Our mission is to act in line with God’s Word

- Then, we are to trust God to bring about the results

- Our faithfulness to God’s will/His Word is our focus

- That’s the essence of being a good neighbor/Good Samaritan

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!