Good morning and Happy Father's Day to all of you dads watching today. I sincerely hope that you get all of the rest, relaxation, and barbecue that your heart desires. In all seriousness, I know that Father's Day can come as somewhat of a mixed bag for many of us. I personally have always enjoyed being in church specifically on Father's Day because we are coming together and we are honoring and celebrating our heavenly Father. And in case you haven't given it much thought lately, or maybe you've never even heard it before, Your heavenly Father is absolutely in love with you. You are the Apple of his eye. He is a total family man, and this is what this is all about. Whether or not your dad was absent, our heavenly Father is present. Whether he was distant, our heavenly Father is near and he is filled with love for us.
Scripture (1 John 3:3) says,
3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! We are his family. And just like any family has strong character traits, so does God’s; and the strongest character trait that we should have as part of his family is an extension of him, is love. Love is what unites us. But our heavenly Father is in love with diversity. It's the most diverse and united family that exists, the family of God. We don't have to look very far to see that God loves for everything to be diverse. One look at creation and with that we look all the way back in the Old Testament to Joseph, who was a type of Christ and his father gave him a coat of many colors to wear. And that was symbolic of the tribes. We also see that the rainbow, which was a symbol of God's faithfulness, was one entity - many colors.
And of course this goes on and on and all the way in Revelation. Where it paints a picture of what I like to think of as the great family reunion. Where all of God's people will live together, forever in perfect love and unity, yet not losing any of our diversity. Revelation describes that picture of the great family reunion with every tribe, every nation, and every tongue. So this tells us that even in heaven, we don't lose our diversity. And that should tell you a reflection of God's heart for just how unique he made us, but his heart for us to be one.
In fact, Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
It says you are a chosen race. Well, some versions of the Bible say a chosen people, but lots of other versions of the Bible say a chosen race, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, God's special possession that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness and into His glorious light.
Really think about this, in Christ, we're one race. How can that be? How can we be so diverse yet, one race? It's because we are born again through the bloodline of Jesus Christ and yet maintain our uniqueness and diversity.
Psalm 133:1 says,
1 How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
Or it also says harmony, not unison, but harmony - many notes in one chord. Not uniformity, but unity called by love to love. God's glory, his essence, and his nature is best displayed on this earth when we live in the unity of love, but maintain our diverse and unique nature with which he's created us.
Today, we're going to be looking at a story that is so familiar. In fact, most non-Christians are familiar with this story because it resonates with the human heart. This is a story that's easy enough for a three-year-old to understand. In fact, it's one of the first stories I can remember really loving when I was a small child in Sunday school. But it's not only easy enough for a three-year-old to understand, it's also baffling enough and hard enough to accept that even a lawyer had a hard time with this. In fact, I think it's interesting that in the past I have viewed this story that we're going to be looking at as kind of a sweet story with a nice presence, kind of a humanitarian story of sorts. But as I've taken a closer look at it, I assure you it is much deeper than that and in fact, it's probably the most socially and racially charged story in the New Testament.
There will be times this morning, as we're going through this story, that we may feel uncomfortable. But I tell you what if that's you, you are not alone because the Jewish church-going moral and good standing church people that were listening to this story were also very uncomfortable. In fact, this story probably created a lot of discomfort from the audience. However, if we're willing, we will see the beauty and the depth and the love of the salvation story and a story of restoration for mankind.
This story takes place in the gospel of Luke, which often tells about salvation from the theme of inclusion. So we're going to read directly the story of the parable of the good Samaritan. And as we do, I ask you to try to keep your hearts soft and your minds open not assuming that you've grasped the full measure of this story, just yet.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
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; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
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 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.”
He couldn't even say Samaritan.
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
You know, I'm reading the story through a little bit of a different lens because our cultural climate is different right now. And so when I see words like the “other side”, I take notice of the fact that as Jesus is telling this story, we're expecting the religious people, the people who keep all the rules and look very churchy on the outside. We're expecting them to come to their own Jewish friend’s side. I noticed that it's pretty easy in general, to justify judging someone and not lending a hand to someone that's on the other side. Perhaps this is why it describes God as near to the brokenhearted. He doesn't stay distant and we're not supposed to either. I can't help, but notice the order here, the two that remained on the other side and consider this someone else's problem, and we're able to justify not going over there.
I'm not that much different. It's pretty easy for me to justify why I take a hands-off approach to people that I don't even really know. But we see this Samaritan and I can't help, but notice the order. It says that the Samaritan came to where the man was and that's really the difference-maker. Isn't it? Because once he comes up close and personal, he no longer sees Jews versus Samaritan, but he sees a human suffering from the same condition of human frailty as he could have. And then we see him taking pity and bandaging his wounds. By the way, when we say the word pity, it can kind of feel like it's more of a notion like, “Oh, I feel sorry for you” kind of thing. But the truest expression of that word, it's a feeling or emotion that's causative. So this man comes to the beaten man’s side and he is moved by his feeling of pity to act. Leave it to Jesus, to respond to this question that was prompted by the question “Who is my neighbor?” Leave it to him to then go into a story that would really resonate with all of us on the deepest level of the human heart.
It's really, really important for us to understand because Jews and Samaritans, those don't really hold a very socially or racially charged feeling for us, but it's really, really important to understand, and I'm not going to get into it all the way, but just a brief little history here. Samaritans were not just outcasts to Jews. Samaritans were downright enemies. The history of that dividing wall went way, way, way back. Because way back in like 722 BC, the Jews were captured by the Assyrians. Of course, once they were living together, there ended up becoming racial marriages. From that place, a new race was birthed and that was the Samaritans.
Now it worked okay as far as we know for a couple of hundred years, but then when the Jews were freed, they wanted to go back to their land, build their temple and have their form of worship. And of course the Samaritans tried to go with them and lend a hand and be a part of it. But this is where the Jews said, “no, you're not one of us.” And this is where we see the divide starts. So this goes way, way, way, way back. And there's lots and lots of scripture that indicates the hostility that remained between the Jews and the Samaritans. Even that story where Jesus encounters, the Samaritan woman at a well, you know, it was crazy enough that Jesus would talk to a woman, but what she expresses that she was baffled by had more to do with the fact that he was a Jew and she was a Samaritan. And she even says Jews and Samaritans don't talk to each other. So these were people groups that literally did not associate.
So you can imagine when this religious expert in the law asks, “Who is my neighbor?”, he's trying to pick and choose who he gets to love. He actually answered correctly with regard to receiving eternal life, love God with all your heart and soul in mind, he knew the law, and love your neighbor as yourself. Loving God, I got that. That part's easy, right? But loving people, that one's a little bit harder. And so he's trying to pick and choose who he gets to love, which prompts then this story.
I'm trying to imagine all of the things that these religious leaders could have justified in their mind, why it would be okay to not go and help someone that they saw that was clearly in danger. It's not really that far of a stretch. In fact, I imagine that Jesus probably left the reasons out on purpose. My guess is if he started telling the reasons why the Levite and why the Priest didn't go, then we could easily go, “Oh, well, I would never give that reason.” And so then we don't see ourselves in that position. I think he left the reason out so that we would see ourselves as susceptible to being one of these religious people, because likely the reasons for their justification of staying on the other side, were probably even churchy reasons actually. Or maybe they were planners, I'm a planner type I can relate.
They're probably leaving church. Having gone from Jerusalem to Jericho, that's a pretty strong inclination they were doing their priestly duties. And now he's probably got dinner plans or maybe a small group or an obligation to his family. And so that seems like a good and righteous reason, right? In fact, the scripture itself says that they're not supposed to defile themselves and become unclean by touching a dead body. And well, this man was half dead at maybe as far as they could tell, maybe he's already dead. Or maybe they're trying to be wise. You know, God did give us a brain and expects us to use it, right? “I'm not going over there where that man got pitted and beat up. That could happen to me. That's not very wise. And I wouldn't want to put myself in danger because then who would take care of my family?”
I mean, the list goes on and on for all of the reasons that we could justify and I can relate to a lot of those reasons, but then all of a sudden the hero of the story steps on the scene and of all things, it's a Samaritan. Talk about a plot twist. And the Samaritan has enough compassion that it's causative. It causes him to move near to the person and to do something. He came to the man's dying side. He risks his own safety. He risks his reputation with his own fellow Samaritans. Imagine what his fellow people would think if he gave the hand up to their enemy and he spent his own money and his own time all so that he could restore this man. It's mind boggling on so many levels, but if it's the fellow Jews and the religious people had enough reason to justify not going to help him imagine how many more reasons the Samaritan would have.
I'm just really imagining all the things that could have gone on in the Samaritan's mind. Well, what did he know to get in that position? Everybody knows not to go walking in that corner. That's just a danger zone waiting to happen. “Well, I'll leave it to his own people to help them. It's their responsibility. You know, he wouldn't even want help from a Samaritan anyway, I'm assuming. My fellow Samaritans would turn on me and then I'm not loyal to my own people and their cause.” Or I could see this one. “What if I lend this guy a hand and he didn't learn his lesson and he walks right back into the same trap or what if he takes advantage of me and then expects a handout from me more and more.” Can you just imagine all of those ideas of justification he could have had, but instead, he draws near.
He comes to the man's side and I tell you something changes in the human heart when we're willing to come near. Because when we come near, we can't help, but see another person suffering in the same condition that we would have been if that same thing happened to us. And this Samaritan goes to ridiculous lengths to restore him. Why? I mean, it's not guaranteed that there's going to be any racial reconciliation here. Probably won't even put a dent in the problem. In fact, he's not even guaranteed a thank you. What if this guy gets better and says, “I don't want your help, get your nasty hands off of me.” He's not guaranteed anything from this guy in return, but what is he guaranteed?
See, this is the game changer. This is where we have to analyze as Christians, who is our audience? Who are we living to please? And whose approval do I really want? See, once I gave my life to Christ, he is the one I seek to please. And I assure you that anything you've done in secret that God is pleased with, He sees and He will reward you. And if we know that we have the good pleasure of our Father, wow. Now that's motivating. And we don't even really necessarily need a certain response from that person or that people group.
Jesus says (Matthew 25:40) whatever you've done for the least of these brothers you've done unto me. And when we see people through God's eyes, we cannot help, but draw near. Everybody knows when they hear this story, that the grossness of the story, the sin is the sin of omission. All of us feel bristly at the idea that anyone could walk by and see someone suffering in plain sight and not help. It's the sin of omission. It's the good you knew you ought to do, but you didn't. And why would we bother, why bother with someone else's problem? And maybe they even got themselves into it and maybe they won't even learn their lessons. So why bother? Because He bothered.
Jesus wasn't in a mess with his father and Holy spirit in heaven. He wasn't up there in turmoil and a mess and just needed to identify with ours. No, he saw us in our frailty, in our human frailty, and he chose to live among us and suffer with us. He was described as a man of sorrows, familiar with grief and with suffering. We choose to love for one reason, because He first loved us. He came to our side when we were dead. Do you see it? Because I tell you what, once you see it, you can't unsee it. You are the one half dead on the side of the road. I'm the one half dead laying there on the side of the road, completely helpless to restore myself. Scripture says we were dead in our transgressions when Christ died for us.
I'm the man on the side of the road, half beaten and left for dead scripture says the thief, meaning the devil, comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but Jesus has come to give life. And wasn't that the original question, anyway? What must I do to inherit eternal life? See this man was thinking he could do enough to inherit eternal life. And that's the first big misunderstanding. We can't do enough to inherit eternal life, but Jesus did. He died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin so that we could be restored back to our Father.
And if we can see ourselves as the dying man, it says in Psalm 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
And then here's Jesus in the New Testament, the God-man speaking, and he uses that same verbiage, He binds up his wounds. And he says, one day he's going to return to the innkeeper and repay back above and beyond what was owed. Trust me when Jesus returns for his people, he says he will restore, not just us, but everything, heaven and earth to all who would receive Jesus. It is the gift of eternal life. And that was the initial question of the lawyer.
So wait a second. Maybe I'm confusing some of you, you're probably thinking, “So wait, are you saying the stories about salvation? Are you saying the stories about Jesus? Because I thought the story was about being a good neighbor and how we're supposed to treat people. So, which is it?” It's both. As previously stated by the lawyer, “Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” See, we cannot separate the two. It's impossible because we are the very fabric, the heartbeat of God.
It's no different than someone that I'm out of relationship with wanting to come to me and suddenly strike up a relationship. But then they tell me that they don't really want to be around my kids or my husband. I can just imagine how well that would go. Can you? Because here's the thing, you don't have to like everything about my kids or my husband, but you don't get to be in a relationship with me without them. We're a package deal. I am permanently bonded for them. They are my heartbeat. But I didn't come up with that. That was birthed inside of me from God, the creator and His children are His heart beat. And if we think that we can adequately love God, first of all, on our own, without receiving his love, then we're mistaken. And if we think that we're loving him, yet he has put a hurting or an oppressed person or people group in our way and we choose to remain distant; we are not loving him with all of our heart, our mind, our soul and our strength. It is a package deal.
I quoted a verse from 1 Peter in the beginning of the sermon. I'm going to say it again because he says, and I think this is so interesting. Peter at one point in time was chastised. He was rebuked for having racist thoughts. He was still operating, he loved the Lord, but he was still operating with some racist thoughts. And now he's the one coming back and writing in 1 Peter is we are one race with one ministry. Meaning one calling, one nation. Meaning we're governed by the same law, the law of God. And we're all God's beloved, no favorites here. And we all share the same eternal destiny out of the darkness and into the light.
As I've read this story a lot, this last week, I've been asking myself some questions and I would like to put those questions out there for you to possibly consider in your own quiet time throughout the week. As you read the story, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you where you fall in this story. Just say, “Lord, who am I in this story?” Because here's the thing, when we feel a conviction, Satan will tempt us to feel shame and separate from God. But the work of the Holy Spirit's conviction is to shape us to become more and more like God, and to draw us even closer. So don't be afraid to ask God with a fresh pair of eyes in today's light, “Where do I stand in this story?” Jesus did not tell these people this story to say, “Gotcha, you're no good. And you'll never inherit the kingdom of God.” He told them this story because he's not giving up on them and he's not giving up on us. God the Father has a vested interest in his family to shape them and to mold them to look more and more like him. Unity in diversity. Loving God through loving people.
So here are the questions that could possibly guide you as you become more introspective when you read this story throughout this week.
What is my next step?
Is it that I am distant?
Is it that I haven't come near?
Is it that I haven't heard the cries of any of the oppressed?
Is it that I haven't had any personal contact or nearness to anyone who might be marginalized or vulnerable or oppressed in your world?
If you don't know anybody, trust me, people are hurting all over the place. So that really would be the first step. “I need to put myself in closer proximity to those who are hurting and hear them and identify with them on a heart to heart human level.”
And then the next thing is, identify what you're feeling. Identify what you're feeling when you hear these things and allow God to help you process those feelings.
Why am I feeling this way?
Do I feel defensive?
Do I feel justified?
Why work this out with him?
Do I feel pity?
Do I feel sorrowful?
Do I feel sad?
And allowing those feelings to cause you to go to the next step. Also, the last question is:
What am I doing?
What is it costing me to love my neighbor?
Because we see in the story of the good Samaritan. This wasn't just a feeling. He didn't just come near and just say, “I'm praying for you.” Right? “Be well and fed, I see you. I care. And I'll definitely be praying for you. Hopefully this all works out.” You know? It cost him something. And so ask yourself, Lord,
What do I have?
Do I have time?
Do I have resources?
Do I have money?
Do I have education?
Do I have a place of power?
Am I able to employ people?
Am I able to help with someone's children?
What have you given me?
Because what you have given me, I want to hold out like this to love your children and display your glory.
And finally, I just want to leave us with this. If you are looking for the motivation to do any of these things, if you're looking for the motivation to draw near, if you're looking for the motivation to engage your heart or to engage your resources, don't try to motivate yourself with acts of goodwill. This is not a striving or a discipline issue. What I would recommend is to regularly revisit where you were before Christ came and bandaged your wounds and offered you restoration and reconciliation because he is our rescue story and he has not given up on us yet.