The Good Samaritan

[0:00] Luke 10 verse 30. He was called a certain Samaritan. And we know him as the Good Samaritan.

[0:13] And the context here is the Lord Jesus being questioned by a religious one who was asking, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

[0:25] This lawyer, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And of course the Lord says, what is written in the law? How readest thou? Verse 26.

[0:36] Verse 27. And the answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. And with all thy strength and with all thy mind. And thy neighbor as thyself.

[0:48] And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. But he willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

[0:59] Verse 30. And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

[1:14] And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at that place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

[1:30] But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and sent him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

[1:52] And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence. Now that's equivalent to two days' wages. He took out two days' wages, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

[2:13] Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him, then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise.

[2:31] What a story. It's amazing, isn't it? It's easy not to care. It's the easy thing to do. And the context here is, Love your neighbor. And the question of the lawyer, Who is my neighbor?

[2:45] Here is a man, a stranger, a stranger, and the Samaritan took care of him. He put himself out. He went out of his way.

[2:59] And what a picture. It's really a picture of Christ's love, and Christ's care too, isn't it? Of how Christ stepped down and humbled himself. He inconvenienced himself.

[3:09] He allowed himself to be crucified, so that we could be cared for and looked after. And think of how God invests in people.

[3:22] He invests in people. He pours his life into people. He cares for the vulnerable. God cares for us more than we can imagine. We can't conceive of the care, the loving kindness of our God.

[3:34] It's something we can't conceive of. Think of, just consider the unlikely people that Christ chose. That the Lord Jesus picked out and singled out these men and women that would follow him.

[3:48] That he went to and he touched their lives. The unlikely people that the Lord Jesus chose to invest his life in. The ones that he chose to further his kingdom.

[4:01] They were not the famous and the learned. By and large, they were mostly ordinary people. Ordinary, everyday people. Simple men.

[4:13] Nobodies. A ragtag bunch. His followers were taken from the rank and file, from the poor and the unpopular. Unlearned fishermen.

[4:26] Ignorant men. They referred to themselves. They described themselves as unlearned and ignorant men. Fishermen. Tax gatherers.

[4:37] Yet humble, teachable people. The proud, highly educated. The highly intelligent of the day. Didn't seem so inclined to follow the carpenter.

[4:48] And he had to constantly fight the church of his day. If you could picture it as such. The establishment of the day. God is interested in people.

[5:00] And he invests in people. And thank God he's invested in us. Amen. Amen. The riches of his glory. In Christ Jesus. He's invested in us. And he's given us an inheritance.

[5:12] Incorruptible. Reserved. Prepared. Waiting. Back to our story. It was a wild country. A wild, inhospitable place. It was a very steep track.

[5:25] Down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Dangerous country. There were thieves. It was a place where bandits used to hide in the cracks of the rock.

[5:37] In the ravines of the rock. And this traveller came. Down this rugged path. This traveller fell among thieves.

[5:48] The thieves came out from behind the hiding places. And attacked this man. It was a highway robbery. He was left naked.

[5:58] Wounded. Half dead on the road. What a sight. Gruesome. He was lying there. Helpless. In critical condition.

[6:10] In the process of dying. Described as half dead. And our Lord tells of the passers-by. The priest. The priest.

[6:21] And the Levite. And what did they do? Each saw the poor wounded man. But despite their religious office. And their profession. They gave him no help.

[6:33] These were men who would have recited. Recited. Love thy neighbour. As thyself. That would have been a common text.

[6:43] That they would have heard. And referred to. And preached about. But they were too selfish. Too unfeeling.

[6:54] To do anything about it. They took no time to help. They both passed by. On the other side. They didn't even want to go near. The man.

[7:06] And friends. People today. This world is selfish. And we can be selfish. I can be selfish. I can be uncaring. And unkind. And unthoughtful. We all can.

[7:17] It's a world of selfish ways. Selfishness. And people. Few people care. They stop to care. Few people stop. To consider. Another. Thank God.

[7:30] That Christ's love. Is so kind. It's so unfailing. It's so loving. It's so lavish. It's lavished upon us. In verse 33. The Samaritan enters.

[7:41] You can see. Really Christ in this man. In this one. He comes. As a man. To this. Man of another country. Of another culture. Of another creed.

[7:53] This man. That. It was said. That the Samaritans. Had no dealings. With the Jews. Then the Samaritan. His heart. Goes out.

[8:03] To the wounded man. It says. He saw. The other two saw. But the difference. With the Samaritan. Was that he saw. And he had compassion. He had compassion.

[8:14] His heart. Was touched. And he dressed. The victim's wounds. He let the man. Ride on his feast. While he walked. In this dangerous territory. He was putting himself.

[8:24] At risk. Perhaps those bandits. Were still. Nearby. He paid money. To the innkeeper. His own money. For extended care. He even promised.

[8:35] To come. And bring more. Funds. If needed. His care was lavish. I read one commentator. And it said. That it could have been. A month's worth. Of accommodation.

[8:46] That he paid for. It was lavish. That was. That was over the top. This man was over the top. You know. It was lavish. The care that he lavished.

[8:57] On this man. This stranger. This man. From another land. From another culture. This one that. The Jews had no dealings with. The Samaritan cared.

[9:07] For the Jew. And everything was touched. In this man. Everything. Was touched. His eyes were touched. His heart. His feet.

[9:17] His hands. His thoughts. His time. His beast. His speech. His money. Everything was touched. He gave the innkeeper. Two days wages.

[9:29] He told him to pay for. He would pay for any further charges. He was greatly inconvenienced. By this whole episode. But he gave so generously. Of his time.

[9:40] Of his life. Without complaint. And our Lord says to us. Go down. And do likewise. Nobody cares how much you know. Till they know.

[9:50] How much you care. It's a common saying. But. You know. I was thinking. I was feeling so much challenged. Bringing this sermon. Because I thought. Oh no. What's God going to bring my way.

[10:02] On the way to church this morning. And not that I deliberately intended it this way. But. You know. And. We did see someone broken down. Someone was helping them. So. We didn't have to stop and help that person.

[10:13] In fact. We knew who he was too. Someone in his car had broken down. And someone was there helping him. Start the car we presume. But. Prior to that. I was at someone's house. And.

[10:24] The. Door was setting their alarm off. It was just making this buzzing noise. This buzzing noise. And I thought. Oh this shouldn't be too hard to. To fix. You know.

[10:34] Although. The kids are still getting ready to get on the bus. So. I. I tried to fiddle around with it. And put a few numbers in. To see if it might have been 1234 or 4321.

[10:44] To turn the alarm off. Or whatever it was. And that didn't work. So. We asked the fellow for the. The box. You know. The control box with the alarm. And. And. I thought. Okay. I might be able to play around.

[10:55] Or maybe there's some instructions there. With the. With the code number written down. And. So. I opened the control box. And. And then I suddenly set the. The siren off. So.

[11:06] It made things a lot worse. So. And then I thought. I'll go to the electricity box. And turn the power off. And that worked. At first. And then. So I pulled the battery out. And different things. I couldn't find the instructions.

[11:17] But. I know. I've seen this. Alarm box before. So. I know you can look it up on the internet. And get the manual. And then you can get the. The code. And you can reset it. So I'll figure out how to do that later.

[11:27] But. You know. But. Then I. I took the paddock on. The alarm went off. But. You know. Thankfully the signs stopped going. Now. So as far as I know. Or at least until I left the driveway.

[11:39] But. You know. Sometimes you try to help people. And you think. Oh no. I've made myself late. You know. Maybe these priests and Levites thought. Well they're going to be late for church. And so. You know.

[11:49] They didn't bother to help. And you know. Sometimes there's good reason. Maybe. And I'm like. Why. You know. It's better not to even try to help. But. Friends. The Lord wants you to do something. Do something.

[11:59] Do whatever you can. To help other people. Because. It's good to show that you care. You might still mess up. But you can at least try. To show that you care. And Galatians 5 verse 6.

[12:10] It talks about. Faith worketh by love. Faith worketh by love. Faith and love are intermixed. They're mingled. There's. There's a working of faith by love.

[12:21] Of love by faith. And. Now there's a. There's another verse. That comes to mind. That faith was mixed with. Works. Wasn't it? You know. Faith works.

[12:32] And. And. It's not that our works save us. But our faith wants to work. Our faith wants to serve. And faith is always active in love. Find a place.

[12:43] That you can love. That you can care. That you can reach out. Now some people. They just get under your skin. I don't know if you know anyone like that. I'm sure there's no one here like that. But. You know.

[12:53] But. There's people that you think. Boy. If I just. You know. If I show that I care. They're just going to keep pestering me. And. And. Yeah. And. And some people.

[13:04] They're toxic people. There's toxic people in our world. You know. There's toxic waste. And some people. They're. They're toxic. They're toxic waste coming out of their mouth.

[13:15] There's toxic negative critical talk. It seems that. They're just mouthful of toxic talk. And. It's sometimes hard to help people like that. But God can give you the grace.

[13:27] To put yourself out. Amen. I need your grace. Pray for me. And you know. As the pastor. They all come to me. No. Not really. But. We want people.

[13:37] We want to bless people. Amen. We want to bless the toxic people. In our. In our. Circle of influence. We want to bless them. And overcome that toxicity. With the love of Christ.

[13:48] Yeah. That Christ can overcome. The negativity. The critical spirit. The negative. Bitter. Twisted spirit. That some people have. That Christ. Would be formed in them.

[13:59] Yes. That is my prayer. That Christ will be formed in them. In you. That Christ will be formed in me. That Christ will be in us. Through us. In us. Out of us. That we'll be always caring.

[14:10] Always active in love. Always reaching out. And. Benjamin Franklin once said. I will speak ill. Of no man. Not even in the matter of truth. But rather excuse the faults I hear.

[14:22] And upon proper occasions. Speak all the good. I know. Of everybody. That's a good philosophy. Isn't it? To speak all the good. I know of everybody. Instead of finding fault.

[14:33] Instead of finding criticism. And being negative. It's like Paul said. To speak evil. Of no man. That's sometimes hard to do. Isn't it? You can always find someone.

[14:44] Who's done you wrong. And you can think. Well. You know. I'm going to bag them. To somebody else. I'm going to. I'm going to. Give someone an airful. About that one. And whinge about them.

[14:55] But. Look at the grace. Of the Samaritan. The kindness. To his neighbour. Someone. He didn't even. He didn't even know. A stranger. And.

[15:06] Have you got a heart like that? A heart full of kindness. A heart full of sensitivity. Philippians 2. Talks about. Paul said. That we should look for the needs. Of other people.

[15:17] Look out for the interests. Of other people. Look out for their welfare. And their needs. Rather than our own. And the Lord Jesus.

[15:28] He set the pattern. In Philippians 2. Verses 3 to 7. And we know. He humbled himself. If he came obedient unto death. He took upon him. The form of a. Servant. Will we show that.

[15:40] Kindness and love. I know it was. Talked earlier. In the prayer time. Of how we can be. A loving church. A brotherly. Kindness church. A Philadelphia. A Christian church. How can we be more like that.

[15:52] In our day by day lives. A Samaritan took the time. He took the trouble. He put himself out. To give help. He spared no pains. Or expense. In befriending. In helping.

[16:03] In showing kindness. How much more should you. As God's children. To love. Not in word. Only. But in deed. And in truth. His love.

[16:16] Was so practical. Wasn't it? Self-sacrifice. Self-denial. In money. In time. In trouble. Have we that brotherly love?

[16:27] I pray that we can be more loving. Each one. And I need to. I need to be a whole lot more loving. There's a poem that says.

[16:38] I was hungry. And you formed a humanities club to discuss my hunger. I was in prison. And you went to your chapel to pray for my release. I was naked.

[16:49] And you debated the morality of my appearance. I was sick. And you felt. And you knelt. And thanked God for your help. I was homeless. And you delivered a sermon on the shelter of God's love.

[17:02] I was lonely. And you left me alone to attend church. You seemed so close to God. But I'm still very hungry. Lonely. And cold. People need the love of Christ.

[17:15] You can be his love extended. Everyone deserves to be noticed. When the Lord Jesus came on the scene. He noticed people. He walked slowly through the crowd. And Jesus noticed the rich man.

[17:27] And the poor woman. And he met both of their needs. Everyone has a need. Listen with your heart. May we be a church. Where others are more important than ourselves. And we know the Lord Jesus.

[17:39] Talked of going the extra mile. Of going the extra mile. You know. We might go. Oh that's sort of. As far as would be reasonable. To be. Doing such and such.

[17:51] But go the extra mile. Go that extra distance. Go that extra amount. That's what the Lord Jesus. That's where we get the saying from. Of going the extra mile. The Lord Jesus actually said that.

[18:02] And anybody can do what is expected. But when you do the things that are least expected. It's when you make an impression. Think of people like through history. For example.

[18:13] People like Florence Nightingale. She was born into a wealthy family. In England in the 1820s. She could have lived a life of pleasure. And elegance. And ease.

[18:24] Her love for her saviour. However. Compelled her. To resist the comforts. The expectations. That. On her. Having a comfortable life. And she went as a nurse.

[18:35] To care. For men. In the. Crimean War. In Turkey. And she said. If my name. And my having done. What I could for God and mankind. Have given you pleasure.

[18:47] That is a real pleasure to me. Life is sweet. After all. She didn't care about her inconvenience. She cared about those. That she was blessing. And serving. And encouraging.

[18:58] She chose not to get married. She spoke of her divine Lord. She offered her body. As a living sacrifice. To help those suffering. From the cruel effects of war. And.

[19:09] It was just an article. In the 1854 Times. Described the terrible conditions. At the front. In the Crimean War. And it broke her heart. There was no bandages.

[19:19] There was no nurses. There was no. Preparations for surgical. Interventions. Not the modern. Conveniences of healthcare. Of our world. And.

[19:30] Men were suffering in agony. Only to expire of their wounds. And from lack of medical care. And the writer of the Times. Of this article said. Are there no women. In all of England.

[19:41] Who could minister. To the suffering wounded. And that is how. The lady with the lamb. Who walked the corridors. Of a hospital in Turkey. Nursing the sick. And dying.

[19:52] Where men kissed her shadow. As it crossed the floor. Began her ministry. To the Lord. Are there no women. Who care. Are there no men. Who care. Where are the men.

[20:02] The women who care. In our world. Where are the Samaritans. Of Australia. Where are those who will be. Those who can be in touch. With the needs of others. To invest in people.

[20:12] To think. Of that one. Of whom. It is said. Of his great kindness. To us. We see. For example. In Ephesians 2 verse 7. That. That in the ages to come.

[20:23] He might show. The exceeding riches. Of his grace. And his kindness. Towards us. Through Christ Jesus. That's Ephesians 2 verse 7. 2 Peter 1 verse 7. It says.

[20:34] And to godliness. Add brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness. Charity. Maybe you've got godliness. But what about going the next step. Add to your godliness.

[20:46] Brotherly kindness. Add to your brotherly kindness. Charity. And Titus 3 verse 4. We think. Of our saviour himself. As the. We've seen the example.

[20:57] Of our great God. As saviour. Jesus Christ. Titus 3 verse 4. It says. But after that. The kindness and love. Of God. Our saviour. Toward man appeared.

[21:08] It's talking about. People living in lust. And disobedient. Hateful. But after that. The kindness and love. Of God. Our saviour. Toward man appeared.

[21:19] We don't deserve his kindness. We don't deserve the loving kindness. Of our saviour. His loving care. Can our motto. Being as Wesley's was.

[21:30] Do all the good you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can.

[21:41] As long as ever you can. Hmm. Someone said. People are unreasonable. Illogical. And self-centred. Love them anyway. If you do good.

[21:53] Someone accused you. Of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you succeed. You win false friends. And true enemies. Succeed anyway.

[22:05] The good you do today. May be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest anyway. What takes years to build.

[22:17] May be destroyed overnight. Build well anyway. Kindness is a language the deaf can hear. And the dumb can understand. How about you?

[22:29] How is your level of kindness? How is your level of care? If someone were to pay you ten cents. For every kind word you spoke about people.

[22:40] And then take back five cents. For every unkind word you spoke about people. Would you be poor or rich? Think of the kindness. Do you speak kind words or unkind?

[22:52] Will you be like the Samaritan? Think of what that pictures. It pictures the love of Christ. It pictures Christ coming. To that man wounded. Beaten.

[23:03] A sight for the eyes. A repulsive sight. That's what we look like to God. In our sin. In our shame.

[23:14] In our crippled estate. In the misery of sin. And he comes as the Samaritan. He comes as the one who cares.

[23:26] He comes as the one in grace. Giving to the undeserved. To the stranger. To the one that he owes nothing to. And he gives us so much.

[23:37] He gives us his grace. He gives us his kindness. He gives us eternal heaven. He gives us eternal life. Friends. Let's do good anyway. Let's do likewise.

[23:48] Today. Let us pray. Heavenly Father. We praise your wonderful name. That you are the great giver. To our soul. You saw our ruined estate. You saw our wounded state.

[24:02] Our neglect. Our sin. Our shame. And Lord. You came. From heaven's glory. To give. Of your heart. Of your love. Of your free grace.

[24:14] Of your loving kindness to us. Help us Lord. To see. How we can be more like you. That we can walk in your steps. That we can overcome. All the reasons why not.

[24:25] To help people. All the reasons why not. To care. Help us Lord. Not to be selfish. But to be like you. Evermore we pray. In Jesus name. Amen.

[24:37] Amen.