WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.040 Okay, so we're going back today to the second of our studies on parables and Luke, Luke's 00:00:08.040 --> 00:00:09.040 Gospel. 00:00:09.040 --> 00:00:13.240 So we're going through not all of them, but we will be going consecutively. 00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:18.320 So we're moving through the chapters in Luke, and today we're looking at a very famous parable 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:22.199 of the Good Samaritan. 00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:25.320 And what we're looking for, what I've been praying for there, I guess, at the beginning 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:31.240 of the sermon is for, we're always looking at, when we look at the Bible, we're always 00:00:31.240 --> 00:00:36.120 looking for Jesus Christ to do something as He speaks to us. 00:00:36.120 --> 00:00:44.719 We're looking to be led and taught and motivated and conscious struck by the presence of God 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:45.719 through His Word. 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:53.920 We want Him to change our hearts, and we want Him to help us to see the world the way He 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:54.920 sees it. 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:59.719 And really what we're wanting, we're wanting to get God's perspective on our hearts and 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:02.320 on the world in which we live. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:10.439 And we saw last week that blindness, spiritual blindness, lies at the core of the parables. 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:15.200 We saw that really, if we are spiritually blind, the parables are just pretty stories 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:18.640 to us, moral tales. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:25.040 But God wants us to recognize, to reach out, to search through them, to dig into them, 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:30.239 and recognize that there's a deeper spiritual message that comes out of each of the parables 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:34.719 for us, seeing things from His point of view. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:42.040 I guess in a sense the Bible and the parables are encouraging us to see that it's not all 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:45.040 about me. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:54.280 The world isn't all about me, it doesn't revolve around me, that Christ Jesus is King and Sovereign. 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:58.719 So when we look at this very famous parable, the parable of the Good Samaritan that's used 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:04.600 by Christians and non-Christians alike in many different contexts, the surface reading 00:02:04.600 --> 00:02:10.120 of that parable would be very much, you know, this is how to treat your neighbour well, 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.920 you know, a kind of moralistic message. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:18.359 This is how to act well in the world, this is how to treat other people, to look out 00:02:18.359 --> 00:02:23.439 for people who respond when you see need in the world in which we live. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:29.000 And that's not wrong, it's not less than that. 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:36.959 But there is something deeper than simply a message of good neighbourliness, which we 00:02:36.959 --> 00:02:40.759 don't really need the Bible for. 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:48.799 Jesus takes as far deeper than simply neighbourliness as he wants to reveal to us the secrets of 00:02:48.799 --> 00:02:53.280 the Kingdom that he is unveiling in the Gospel. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.959 So I'm going to ask one or two questions of this parable, you know it very well. 00:02:57.959 --> 00:03:04.959 I will not be teaching you anything new, but I believe God wants us to think about his 00:03:04.959 --> 00:03:06.479 living word again. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:11.439 Now, it was interesting, wasn't it, that it was Neil's turn to read today, Neil's a lawyer 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.679 and the passage was about a lawyer. 00:03:13.679 --> 00:03:16.919 There wasn't anything deliberate there. 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:20.879 And I've got to watch what I say because I've got a congregation full of lawyers. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:24.199 And it wasn't really the kind of lawyer that Neil is or that any of the other guys hear 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:25.199 it. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:30.319 It would have been someone who is an expert in the law of God, not necessarily the law 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:31.319 of the land. 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:35.799 So just so I don't get accused of picking on anyone, I'm going to call him something 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:36.800 different. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.800 I'm going to call him the reverent expert, okay? 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:41.680 So I'll bring it back onto myself a little bit. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:46.640 He's a reverent expert in things biblical, the Old Testament law particularly. 00:03:46.640 --> 00:03:51.360 So what's the reverent expert saying in this parable? 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:56.160 What's he saying? 00:03:56.160 --> 00:04:01.040 Not in the parable, sorry, in the passage that Jesus responds to with the parable. 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:04.320 What is the reverent expert saying to Jesus? 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:12.159 Well, really what he's saying is that I know more than you, Jesus. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:17.439 He's coming with a degree of arrogance towards Jesus, this teacher. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:22.560 It's not a great start really because we're told that He wants to put Jesus to the test. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:23.959 So His motives aren't that great. 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:30.240 So it's not a great start to the conversation between the two. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.600 Can I call Him a religious smart alec? 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:35.520 That's kind of what He is. 00:04:35.520 --> 00:04:37.520 He's a bit of a religious smart alec. 00:04:37.520 --> 00:04:41.800 He wants to put Jesus in His place because of His own knowledge. 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.120 He talks a great game. 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.520 He's like the pundits at the football and the television. 00:04:46.520 --> 00:04:48.560 He always talk a great game. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:51.720 Most of them are bang average players. 00:04:51.720 --> 00:05:00.160 But anyway, He talks a good game and He knows that His morality is comparative with others. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:04.920 And so He comes with a real confidence to Jesus, knowing more than Jesus. 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:06.480 What else is the reverent expert saying? 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:10.720 Well, he's saying that he really believes that he could inherit eternal life by his good 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:11.720 works. 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:16.360 That's the whole basis of what he's saying. 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:18.920 What is it that I need to do? 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:21.080 What is it I need to do? 00:05:21.080 --> 00:05:27.320 Not what I need to believe, but what do you want me to do so that I can have eternal life? 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:33.159 So he believes that he can inherit eternal life by the good things he does by being a 00:05:33.159 --> 00:05:44.560 good lawyer, a law person when it comes to the law, or being religious. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:52.199 Interestingly, he is focusing on the deep quest of humanity, which is eternal life. 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:57.800 But he thinks that eternal life can be gained by doing something. 00:05:57.800 --> 00:05:59.639 So he's got a real religion of works. 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.519 That's what his belief is. 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:12.800 Interestingly, he also, at least intellectually, he's saying that he knows what God demands. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:17.319 Verse 27, when Jesus asks the question and he says, you shall love the Lord your God 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:21.599 with all your heart, your soul, all your strength, all your mind, and your neighbor is yourself. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:22.600 Bang on. 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:25.640 He's bang on with the answer. 00:06:25.640 --> 00:06:32.760 It's an insightful, you would think, spiritual answer that he gives. 00:06:32.760 --> 00:06:41.879 But yet, in a sense, it seems that he's kind of trivializing the answer because when he 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:49.400 says that, and Jesus answers, you know, when you've done all this correctly, you will live, 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:52.239 he goes on and says, I wanted to justify himself. 00:06:52.239 --> 00:06:53.959 Who's my neighbor? 00:06:53.959 --> 00:07:00.039 So it's kind of like he trivializes that answer, which is an unbelievable answer. 00:07:00.039 --> 00:07:04.519 And he says, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, just love your God and love your neighbor perfectly. 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:08.839 You know, I've done the love God, but I don't even need to ask about that. 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:10.399 But what about my neighbor? 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:15.439 And he was wanting to justify himself that he was doing that as well. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:22.040 So there does seem to be that he knows what God's demands, but he's kind of trivializing 00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:27.879 it because he believes he's justified before God, doesn't he? 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:32.199 But he, desiring to justify himself, says, who's my neighbor? 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:39.439 He really wants Jesus to really justify the life he's living. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:43.000 He wanted Jesus to endorse the fact that he was a lawkeeper. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:47.279 He was a brain law, a boy in God and loving God and loving his neighbor. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:56.959 He wanted Jesus to vindicate his understanding and his lifestyle by confirming his definition 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:58.319 of what a neighbor was. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:05.040 And a neighbor to him would very much have been his family and those of the Jewish community 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:06.800 that he belonged to. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:07.920 Okay? 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.839 So are you with me so far? 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:13.839 Excellent, thanks. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:20.039 I'm glad someone said that because I am feeling that the heat in this building is sending 00:08:20.039 --> 00:08:22.039 you off into a super-rific dream. 00:08:22.039 --> 00:08:23.039 Okay? 00:08:23.039 --> 00:08:24.839 And I'm sorry about that. 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:28.359 The weather changes so much, so you've just got to nip yourself every so often. 00:08:28.359 --> 00:08:29.359 Okay? 00:08:29.359 --> 00:08:33.639 Or otherwise, I'm going to start saying things that are radically dangerous just to keep you 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:34.639 awake. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:35.639 Okay? 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:36.639 Right? 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:37.639 What was the Reverend expert saying? 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:38.839 We've looked at some of that. 00:08:38.839 --> 00:08:40.919 But what was Jesus saying? 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:42.600 So we come into the parable here. 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:43.600 What was Jesus... 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:49.040 How did Jesus respond to him? 00:08:49.040 --> 00:08:53.040 This is an unspoken... 00:08:53.040 --> 00:08:54.600 Can you paraphrase something that's unspoken? 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:55.600 I'm not sure. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:02.040 But I'm paraphrasing what I think is the summary of what Jesus was saying in the parable. 00:09:02.040 --> 00:09:07.879 My friend, he's saying, you are as blind as a bat. 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:11.360 That's basically what Jesus is saying in this parable of the Good Samaritan. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:15.879 To this religious lawyer who believes he's right before God. 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:19.600 He says, my friend, you are as blind as a bat. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:22.200 You don't see things spiritually. 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:30.159 Now, it's interesting, sometimes God puts things on our hearts, sometimes He does things, 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:32.680 He plans things that we don't. 00:09:32.680 --> 00:09:38.519 And today's sermons are both all about shock tactics. 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:42.480 God really shaking us, I think, by His word. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:46.199 If you think this morning's bad, just wait till we come to the night. 00:09:46.199 --> 00:09:50.799 The picture in Ezekiel, which I'll not go into, but you need to come. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:52.720 It's just amazing. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:56.720 And I wonder sometimes when that happens, when He brings two things together like that, 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:58.439 is God really trying to tell us something? 00:09:58.439 --> 00:10:01.319 Is He trying to tell me something? 00:10:01.319 --> 00:10:08.480 Anyway, how does Jesus go about saying to this man, Luke, you're as blind as a bat? 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.039 How does it unfold? 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:14.360 The first thing is that He answers, interestingly, this is just about a tactic, really. 00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:17.879 He answers this religious lawyer with a question. 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:20.399 Now, Jesus does that a lot in the gospels. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:22.360 And that's a really interesting thing. 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:26.000 It's a really good tactic. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:27.560 What must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:10:27.560 --> 00:10:29.680 Jesus says, what's written in the law? 00:10:29.680 --> 00:10:36.039 So He answers the man's question with a question, to open up reverent experts' thinking. 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:39.599 And that is also a good tactic for us in our lives. 00:10:39.599 --> 00:10:44.759 If our faith is challenged, it's often a good thing, not necessarily to give a pat answer 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:51.399 back, but to ask a question which might unpack the mind and the heart of the listener, of 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:56.319 the questioner, and unveil a little bit more about what they're thinking. 00:10:56.319 --> 00:10:58.719 Okay, that's just by the way. 00:10:58.719 --> 00:11:03.839 But also we notice that He endorses the only way to eternal life. 00:11:03.839 --> 00:11:04.839 He's right. 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:08.200 And He said to Him, You have answered correctly. 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:14.000 Loving the Lord, Your God, loving Your neighbor, do this and You will live. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.840 Do this, He says, and You will live. 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:21.399 And really that's the key in many ways to the parable, because He's saying, do this 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:23.759 and You will live. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:27.280 Nobody has ever done this. 00:11:27.280 --> 00:11:28.920 Nobody has ever done that perfectly. 00:11:28.920 --> 00:11:33.400 So see, do this and You will live is right. 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:38.559 And we look back and we say, Jesus is the only one who'd do this and You will live. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:41.919 He's the only one that's done it. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.159 And in a sense, He's already beginning to point to Himself. 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:51.840 He's not speaking, He's not rubber stamping a justification by works to say, and if you 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:53.679 just do certain things, you'll live. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:12:04.479 And you're right, but you're absolutely wrong, because nobody has ever done this. 00:12:04.479 --> 00:12:13.399 You've trivialized, Jesus saying, this amazing standard of God to be perfect in love. 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:19.639 And He then masterfully exposes the Reverend Expert's heart, if only He would see it. 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:22.000 We don't know, do we, if He saw it or not? 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:29.879 He exposes this lawyer's heart by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:36.120 Now I'm reading into this and I may be wrong in this, but when He starts the parable, He 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:40.679 says, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:45.240 Now I can imagine Jesus at that point with the expert in front of him, see, Eric's the 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:50.879 expert there, and he was saying, a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and pointed 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:53.120 to the lawyer. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:55.960 In other words, saying, you're the man. 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:59.080 You're the guy that's going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.799 Now I may be wrong there, but it's kind of every man in a sense. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:08.879 But nonetheless, the man was certainly Jewish. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:09.879 That seems to be the case. 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:11.200 He was one of their own people. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:14.480 He was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:15.480 It's a dangerous road. 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:22.000 There was hillsides on either side, it was easy to be robbed, and that's exactly what 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:23.000 happens. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:26.759 He's robbed and stripped and beaten up and left dead. 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:39.320 And then we've got God, a Jesus, slowly unraveling the lawyer's heart because he says, a priest 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:41.800 and a Levite pass that way. 00:13:41.800 --> 00:13:44.000 The priest and the Levite. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.279 That was his mates. 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:48.240 That was his friends. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:50.360 That was, who were they? 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:53.120 They were his neighbors. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:57.919 And they were the neighbor to the man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:01.879 And they failed to do what their law required them to do. 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:07.000 They failed their own law requirements to help their brother in need. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:08.000 His own kind. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.840 That was inconvenient. 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:11.840 It would make them late. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:15.759 They had a church service to go to. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:16.759 The guy was unclean. 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:18.519 He might have been dead by this point. 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:20.440 That would have broken the ceremonial law. 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:24.560 They were afraid that they might get caught by the robbers who were maybe hanging about. 00:14:24.560 --> 00:14:29.759 It was going to be costly in time and in effort and in energy. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:30.759 Nobody was looking. 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:33.680 They were on the road on their own. 00:14:33.680 --> 00:14:38.200 Nobody would see if we passed by on the other side. 00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:47.080 And maybe, just maybe, the reverent expert had made these excuses himself at some point 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:48.960 in not helping his neighbor. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:52.000 Was Jesus exposing past decisions he'd made? 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:53.000 Very possibly. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.520 Certainly exposing my heart. 00:14:56.520 --> 00:15:01.400 And then you come to the absolute explosion of a verse. 00:15:01.400 --> 00:15:05.040 But a Samaritan. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:08.439 He'll emphasise it rightly, but a Samaritan. 00:15:08.439 --> 00:15:10.399 That is an explosive. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:15.240 The phrase would have hit this religious lawyer like a freight train. 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:20.159 It would have sent short waves and gas to all the audience who were there, who were Jewish 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:21.159 people. 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:22.159 It was devastating. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:30.240 A devastating statement to introduce into this nice story, but a Samaritan. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:35.480 And you know why, don't you? Because Samaritans were universally despised by the Jews. 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:37.360 They were half breeds. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:38.860 They were enemies. 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:40.480 They were idolaters. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:41.759 They had no dealings with them. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:46.360 We have that in other accounts in the Bible, that the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:48.399 It wasn't right. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:50.159 But that was the reality. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:55.360 One commentator I was reading, this is a bit risky, said it was like an Irish Republican 00:15:55.360 --> 00:16:02.919 going to help an orange ulsterman, maybe a member of the National Front being helped by 00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:13.600 a Syrian refugee, a white supremacist by a black migrant worker. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:19.519 A mint, someone who lives in Jerusalem being helped by a Palestinian. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:25.679 That's the kind of shock tactics that Jesus was using in this story. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:28.079 Who would be your chosen enemy? 00:16:28.079 --> 00:16:32.720 And mine if we were to write into this particular story, our own story. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:37.639 Who would be the most shocking person to come to your aid and to come to mine? 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:41.519 Because that's what Jesus is wanting us to do. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:45.240 The Samaritan acted out of compassion. 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:46.519 That's what we're told. 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:51.000 The Samaritan as he journeyed, he came, he saw him, he had compassion on him. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:55.360 So he didn't see the limitations of the situation. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:57.840 He didn't see the race, the religion, the creed or the color. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:04.359 He saw the need that was in this person and he was moved to act. 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:10.920 The word of pity and mercy is that he was moved in his inner being and his, you know, 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:13.879 your move sometimes, your stomach moves. 00:17:13.879 --> 00:17:14.879 That's what he's moved to. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.120 He went to help and it was costly for him, wasn't it? 00:17:17.120 --> 00:17:19.400 It was costly to put him out of his way. 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:20.680 It cost him money. 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:22.800 He was going to have to come back. 00:17:22.800 --> 00:17:24.320 It was dangerous, risky. 00:17:24.320 --> 00:17:28.480 There was a huge amount of cost, but he had compassion on him. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:33.160 And then it's getting worse. 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:41.000 Jesus says and asks another question, which of them is the neighbor? 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:44.400 The man can't even say, how is this Samaritan? 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:50.320 He can't even say, he just says, the one who showed him mercy. 00:17:50.320 --> 00:17:52.560 And Jesus says, what does he say? 00:17:52.560 --> 00:17:53.560 Go and do likewise. 00:17:53.560 --> 00:17:57.640 And that's a remarkable inversion. 00:17:57.640 --> 00:17:59.120 It's amazing. 00:17:59.120 --> 00:18:05.120 He asked the question, who is my neighbor? 00:18:05.120 --> 00:18:10.120 And Jesus says, rather you should ask the question, how can I be a neighbor? 00:18:10.120 --> 00:18:12.960 Do you see the difference? 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:20.120 And the lawyer wanted to put a hedge around who he'd be nice to. 00:18:20.120 --> 00:18:22.799 Jesus was wanting to deal with his heart. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.600 Jesus deals with our hearts, not the hedges. 00:18:25.600 --> 00:18:26.600 That's the difference. 00:18:26.600 --> 00:18:28.319 Jesus says, go that far. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:31.279 We say, how far do I need to go? 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:38.600 And the neighbor hears whoever needs your help, even your worst enemy. 00:18:38.600 --> 00:18:42.400 But more than that, he's saying to this man, he's saying to this lawyer, you can only show 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:49.759 this kind of mercy when you understand how much mercy you've been shown by God. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:52.120 Go and do likewise. 00:18:52.120 --> 00:18:57.240 If you're the man, if Eric's a man in the story, and he's been helped by the Samaritan, 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:01.600 Jesus says, because you've been helped, you now go and help. 00:19:01.600 --> 00:19:06.600 And there's a spiritual lesson there, that reverent expert, he's saying, your heart needs 00:19:06.600 --> 00:19:08.160 to be changed. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:14.320 You need to come to me for mercy and salvation, because your heart is hard and far from me. 00:19:14.320 --> 00:19:19.720 And when you do, then you will understand who your neighbor is. 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:23.279 Then you'll understand what mercy is, if we've talked about mercy. 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:24.519 Okay? 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:25.720 We don't know how he responded. 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:30.519 He either probably responded with deep anger or with conviction. 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:31.519 We don't know. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:34.680 And maybe you're, and I am in the same place today. 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:36.920 How do we respond to the Word of God? 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:43.200 What I do ask is that you don't just not respond to the Word of God and walk out unchanged, 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:48.039 because we either are angry with God or we're convicted by God. 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:49.840 And that's a reality. 00:19:49.840 --> 00:19:54.360 So do we see Christ at work through this parable? 00:19:54.360 --> 00:19:55.360 What's he saying? 00:19:55.360 --> 00:20:01.200 He's saying that gospel, he's right, it is about eternal life. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.560 We find that a very easy concept to ignore. 00:20:03.560 --> 00:20:05.120 It's big issues. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:07.439 Our faith is about big issues. 00:20:07.439 --> 00:20:09.639 Our commitment is about big issues. 00:20:09.639 --> 00:20:15.799 He's also saying there's only one way to eternal life. 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:16.799 So he's right. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:17.799 There is only one. 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:19.679 You live perfectly. 00:20:19.679 --> 00:20:21.279 You get eternal life. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:23.599 But that exposes us, doesn't it? 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:24.599 Because none of us have done that. 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:28.319 There's only one person who's done that, Jesus Christ. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:31.319 Yet he died. 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:33.839 Because he's our Savior. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.159 Why? 00:20:36.159 --> 00:20:38.159 Because he has compassion. 00:20:38.159 --> 00:20:42.879 Am I saying, are you religious experts here, spiritually? 00:20:42.879 --> 00:20:47.799 Are you saying, are you interpreting that Jesus is the Good Samaritan? 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:51.159 Is that not a bit of a deep and unnecessary comparison? 00:20:51.159 --> 00:20:53.559 Well, I'm not necessarily. 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:57.559 But he's certainly getting good Samaritan attributes. 00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:06.519 Matthew 9 verse 36, when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:14.559 harassed and helpless like a sheep, a shepherd, Romans 5, 6 to 10. 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:18.720 For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:22.799 For one more scarcely died for our righteous person, though perhaps our good person is 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:25.000 scarcely in fact, but God showed his love for us. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.519 For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:30.759 Okay. 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:35.680 And then he goes on to say, while we were enemies, he died for us. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:37.680 The Ephesians 2, 4 and 5. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:39.440 See the same thing. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:41.480 God being rich and merciful because he was great love. 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:46.200 While we were dead in our trespass as in sins, by grace we're saved. 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:53.599 So Jesus is showing the characteristics of the Good Samaritan by reaching out to his 00:21:53.599 --> 00:22:03.399 enemies by reaching out to those who are spiritually red to reaching out to those who need his mercy. 00:22:03.399 --> 00:22:08.319 And there's only one way that we can understand this parable of the Good Samaritan. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:15.119 If we are to avoid it being a moralistic tale about how we treat one another. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:20.079 It's when we see what our own hearts are like before Jesus Christ through repentance and 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:21.839 faith. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:27.879 And when we recognize that he was the last person in the world that should come and save 00:22:27.879 --> 00:22:30.519 me and show compassion on me. 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:35.000 Just like the lawyer thought, the gentile, the Samaritan is the last person in the world 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.000 that should come to me. 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:43.159 We should say, God, you're the last person that should come and save me because not because 00:22:43.159 --> 00:22:50.639 of your background, your race, but because you're perfect and because you're God. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:54.680 And therefore God is saying a couple more things. 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:55.680 Love your neighbor, he says. 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:56.680 What does he say? 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:57.680 He says love you. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.360 And it's a really interesting part of the law. 00:22:59.360 --> 00:23:01.160 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:09.480 See, until you love yourself biblically, you'll never be able to love your neighbor. 00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:14.800 How do you love yourself biblically is by being honest with yourself, your truest self, 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:21.559 being honest with yourself and accepting an honest assessment of your lostness before 00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:28.599 God and the remedy that Jesus Christ provides and receiving that mercy and that forgiveness 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:29.599 and grace. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:34.960 That's the greatest act of self-love we can engage in is honestly coming to the living 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:39.000 God and recognizing that because he offers life. 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:45.000 And if we love ourselves, we want life and life comes from him. 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:50.680 And as we recognize that, then we can love our neighbor because we've come to receive 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:53.599 that love for ourselves. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:54.599 Can you see that? 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:58.279 Can you see that unusual reality? 00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:05.319 The true self-love finds itself on its knees at the cross of Calvary because it's a place 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:07.880 of rescue and redemption and hope and life. 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:13.360 And if you love yourself, that's where you want to go because we want to live forever. 00:24:13.360 --> 00:24:15.640 And then we can love our neighbor. 00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:20.040 So we love our neighbor because he first loved us. 00:24:20.040 --> 00:24:25.880 While we were still enemies, harassed and helpless, he loved us. 00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:28.640 And that's how we can love others. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:30.240 So I finish with a question. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:31.240 Who is my neighbor? 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:32.240 Who's your neighbor? 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:36.440 It's like the lawyer asked. 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:41.360 I think there's two, from this parable, there's at least two answers. 00:24:41.360 --> 00:24:43.680 One is whoever's in need. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:49.960 So as Christians, as we know and understand how needy we were and what Jesus has done 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:57.480 for us, then whoever in need becomes the subject of our love. 00:24:57.480 --> 00:25:05.200 And that is first going to happen in our home and in our church community. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:10.319 So we first reflect it by having an outward looking, sacrificial love for one another 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:16.400 in our family and in the church to people who are in need. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:22.920 We should be a good Samaritan congregation internally to one another, okay? 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:26.960 But also to the poor in society that we know and come across. 00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:29.480 Now, that's a whole other sermon, okay? 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:31.440 And maybe 10. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:38.519 But we need to be time and resource generous and there's a wrestling struggle in that of 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:40.960 how we can make a difference. 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:43.440 But the motivation to do that should never be guilt. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:45.519 Oh, I ought to do that. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:46.519 I must do that. 00:25:46.519 --> 00:25:52.519 I should be nice to people who are, the poor are needy and damn, it should be gratitude. 00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:53.920 Not guilt but gratitude. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:59.720 The good Samaritan is a nightmare parable if you're driven by guilt, nightmare. 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:04.839 It can only become a good parable if we're driven by gratitude for what the mercy we've 00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:07.880 received and therefore how we look at other people. 00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:09.880 So whoever's in need. 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:14.279 But can I say specifically, this is where the rubber hits the road for us. 00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:16.920 Who's our neighbor? 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:19.120 Who do we help? 00:26:19.120 --> 00:26:22.079 Especially our enemy. 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:23.759 Especially our enemy. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:25.120 That's the point of this story. 00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:29.319 It's so counter cultural and it's against our natural hearts. 00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:32.679 Matthew 5 verse 44. 00:26:32.679 --> 00:26:39.759 I say to you, Jesus says, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:44.720 So the outworking of the good Samaritan isn't primarily about nice neighborliness. 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:47.000 You can all be nice neighbors. 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:51.519 We all want to be nice neighbors. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:55.839 But it's loving our enemies and it's helping them in their time of need. 00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:58.960 I don't know who your enemies are. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:03.920 I need to work out who my own enemies are, whether it's perceived enemies or not. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:12.279 But maybe it's those that you think are worthless, undeserving, needy in your own context, whatever 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:13.840 that is. 00:27:13.840 --> 00:27:17.960 Maybe it's those who don't love you back. 00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:22.960 The people you avoid in the workplace because they're a pain in the neck. 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:27.799 The people who treat you badly and you want to treat them tit for tat. 00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:28.799 They've nailed you. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:31.559 You want to nail them back. 00:27:31.559 --> 00:27:36.680 Those that you want revenge against in a career context, in a laborally context, in a work 00:27:36.680 --> 00:27:41.119 context. 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:46.960 Those who you reject or those you simply ignore. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:54.759 Jesus says the standard of grace is much, much higher than just being nice to your neighbor. 00:27:54.759 --> 00:28:00.559 It's much higher until we see who we are in Christ. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:05.319 We will not ever fully understand this parable. 00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:07.839 That's why it's more than just a story. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:13.519 So I finish with a question, where on earth do we start? 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:16.680 Because I look at this and I feel so much short. 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:21.039 I feel I fall so far short. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:22.039 I have so much need. 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:24.879 There's so much poverty and injustice. 00:28:24.879 --> 00:28:28.279 I'm so selfish in the way I often think. 00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:31.279 What should I be doing? 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:35.440 What social action should I and the church be engaged in all these questions? 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:37.839 And they're all relevant and they're all important. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:43.440 But there's only one place I can say that you will find your bearings today. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:47.920 I don't think it's without reason that this chapter finishes the way it does. 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:52.880 It finishes not with a parable, but with a real life situation where Mary is sitting 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:57.200 at Jesus' feet listening to him and Martha is busy doing. 00:28:57.200 --> 00:28:59.160 She's busy acting. 00:28:59.160 --> 00:29:01.160 She's busy working. 00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:08.039 Now Jesus doesn't say these things are wrong, but he says to Mary and to Martha that Mary 00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:11.840 has got it right first. 00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:13.880 That Mary has got it right. 00:29:13.880 --> 00:29:17.720 Mary, Martha, Martha, you're anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:18.720 necessary. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:21.079 Mary has chosen a good portion. 00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:25.640 That is the first place we need to go, in other words, is at Jesus' feet communion 00:29:25.640 --> 00:29:27.140 with God. 00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:29.720 That's where we need to be. 00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:34.440 That's what must be the motivation for all our social action, for all our good Samaritan 00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:38.880 behavior, for our neighborliness to our friends and to our enemies. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:43.920 It must be because we understand who we are before Jesus at His feet. 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:47.680 And I'm saying when we get that right, the works will follow. 00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:48.680 That's what matters. 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:49.799 It's not the other way around. 00:29:49.799 --> 00:29:51.120 The works will follow. 00:29:51.120 --> 00:29:52.120 James makes that clear. 00:29:52.120 --> 00:29:56.640 He says faith without works is dead. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:58.640 So the works ought to follow our faith. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:05.279 It's no good saying we've got faith and being unmerciful, lacking in compassion and unneighborly 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:10.880 in Jesus' characteristic of that. 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:13.320 The works, it's not that they're unimportant. 00:30:13.320 --> 00:30:14.320 They are vital. 00:30:14.320 --> 00:30:15.320 They will follow. 00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:18.279 Their neighbor, God's way, is not an optional extra. 00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:23.679 And I think the parable for us, once we've got over, yeah, yeah, I know this parable, 00:30:23.679 --> 00:30:27.799 yeah, no problem, good Samaritan, yep, that's how I treat my neighbor, it's a huge challenge 00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:28.799 to us all. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:30.639 It's a foghorn for our heart. 00:30:30.639 --> 00:30:35.960 Foghorn, because it's challenging us as to whether we truly understand what grace is 00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:41.759 about and our motivation for doing good, which is sometimes often just to be seen to be doing 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:46.039 good, at least it is for me. 00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:51.559 So the gospel teaches us to be radically different from those around us. 00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:58.519 And St. Columba's should reflect that gospel generosity as a people, Jesus' compassion 00:30:58.519 --> 00:31:04.680 and mercy among its members, that we care for one another, that we matter to one another, 00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:10.160 that people in need are not just to be rubbished or ignored or left to the side of people that 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:11.160 we find difficult. 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:23.440 It's all about understanding our hearts so that we reflect the sacrificial deep commitment 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:34.120 of Jesus which we can never match, that deep commitment for us, whether that people. 00:31:34.120 --> 00:31:36.880 And that's the heart of the gospel for us as Christians. 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:39.960 And if you're not a Christian, that's also the heart of the gospel. 00:31:39.960 --> 00:31:47.920 And Jesus wants us to see, wants you to see how much need you are in of His mercy and 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:54.720 that doing can never please God and justify ourselves before Him. 00:31:54.720 --> 00:32:00.559 It is as we trust in His finished work who did it on our behalf. 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:01.559 Amen. 00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:02.559 Let's pray. 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:08.840 Father God, help us to understand a little bit more as your word is unpacked. 00:32:08.839 --> 00:32:13.679 Let unravel it a little bit more for us. 00:32:13.679 --> 00:32:19.799 Help us not just to look at these famous parables and think, well, yeah, we know there's all, 00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:27.559 there's a million lessons and truth and spiritual gold that we didn't even begin to unravel 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:29.319 in the word today. 00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:37.799 So bless us, we ask, and move us and motivate us and help us to understand exactly who you 00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:45.599 are and exactly how much you have shown compassion to us. 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:55.480 And if we ever feel harassed and helpless, may we recognize and run to the one who has 00:32:55.480 --> 00:33:02.680 mercy on us and who loves us and who died for us and who rose again so that we might 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:04.680 have eternal life. 00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:11.680 Amen.