And Pastor, thank you for this opportunity.
I want to translate what the pastor said.
He was very kind.
He said, I hit it out of the park in the first service.
had high hopes for the second service.
What he was really saying was,
at your age, if we can get a bun out of you
that will advance some runners, we'll be happy.
It is Father's Day.
What a great day to be in the Lord's house,
to worship together, to spend time in His Word.
And I'm preaching from this Bible
that has been glued and taped
and resuscitated more times than the pastor.
And this Bible was given to me
on June 17, 1979, by my lovely wife.
And so it's a great honor to preach from it today.
Will you turn with me in your Bibles
to Luke 10, 25 through 37?
Luke 10, 25 through 37.
This is from a pastor's point of view.
I have studied Scripture time and time and time again.
Same Scripture.
Preached on it.
Taught on it.
Heard it preached on.
Heard it taught on.
Time and again.
And then one day,
I'll pick up that passage of Scripture
and I'll read it again.
And God reveals a hidden nugget
or a gem that I had never seen before.
And my reaction is always invariably the same.
How did I miss that for so many years?
Well, this is a very familiar passage of Scripture.
You all know it.
Hopefully, God's going to reveal a nugget or two
or perhaps even a gem
that we've never seen before this morning.
Luke 10, 25 through 37.
It's the story of the Good Samaritan.
On one occasion,
an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.
Teacher, he asked,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?
What is written in the law?
He replied,
how do you read it?
He answered,
love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your strength,
and with all your mind.
And love your neighbor as yourself.
You have answered correctly,
Jesus replied,
do this and you will live.
Now we come to verse 29.
I want to tell you,
that verse carries more weight
than a lot of books I've ever read.
I want you to listen to what he's actually saying.
But he wanted to justify himself,
so he asked Jesus,
who is my neighbor?
What he's saying is this.
I don't have a problem with loving God.
God is holy.
God is righteous.
God is on his throne.
God is a God of grace,
a God of love,
a God of wrath,
a God of judgment.
I have no problem with God.
I love God and everything about him.
I love myself.
A lot of people go through life
and never reach that.
They always have ambiviant feelings
about themselves.
But he's able to love himself
as God directed.
But he said,
there's an area in my life
where there may be a problem.
And that is my neighbor.
Who is my neighbor?
He has stepped in the confessional booth of Jesus.
And he is saying,
there's a lot of things I do know,
but this one thing I'm not sure of,
I don't feel like I'm living up
to what God expects in this one area.
So he's confessing.
Can I tell you something?
Listen,
this lawyer is further down the road
than a lot of people in today's society
because he's been honest enough
to recognize there's something not right in my life.
I think it has to do with my neighbor.
I feel this way about some people,
but I don't feel that way about everybody.
Is that wrong
or can I justify myself in that?
And in reply, Jesus said,
a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho
when he fell into the hands of robbers.
They stripped him of his clothes,
beat him and went away,
leaving him half dead.
A priest happened to be going down the same road.
And when he saw the man,
he passed by on the other side.
So to a Levite,
when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled,
came where the man was.
And when he saw him,
he took pity on him.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds,
pouring on oil and wine.
Then he put the man on his own donkey,
took him to an inn,
and took care of him.
The next day,
he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper.
Look after him, he said,
And when I return,
I will promise you,
I will reimburse you
for the extra expenses you may have.
Then Jesus asked the lawyer,
Which of these three do you think
was a neighbor to the man
who fell into the hands of robbers?
And the expert in the law replied,
The one who had mercy on him.
It was the correct answer.
It was not the right answer.
Sadly, correct,
but not the right answer.
Jesus told him,
Go and do likewise.
Years ago,
divinity schools
and seminaries
all across the nation
started giving some professors
this title,
Professor of Practical Theology.
Always made me wonder,
where did the professors
of impractical theology teach?
And even more so,
it made me wonder,
when you go and sign up
for your fall classes
and you saw, of course,
an impractical theology,
who wanted to sign up for that?
If theology can't be practical,
what use is it?
Well, in this dialogue,
in this conversation
with this lawyer,
Jesus demonstrates
that he is indeed
the master professor
of practical theology.
The man asked,
What must I do
to inherit eternal life?
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and all your strength
and all your mind
and love your neighbors
as yourself.
And then,
who is my neighbor?
Actually,
that was a very practical question.
The Jews weren't sure
who their neighbors were.
Say you lived in the Holy City.
Lots of Jews.
Lots of people like you.
But there were Greeks.
Even spoke their language.
Romans, they rule over you.
Syrians,
all types of other people.
And every single day,
you brush shoulders
with these people.
You bought from them.
You sold to them.
You traded with them.
You did business with them.
Every single day,
they were a part
of the community
in which you live.
Now, they were different
from you,
but every single day,
they were a part of you.
Are they my neighbor
even though they're different?
And some Jews
were not even sure
about other Jews.
I mean,
here's one
in the Holy City
of Jerusalem.
He's very,
very much intent
on keeping
the ceremonial law.
If he does something
that needs to be cleansed,
he takes care of it.
But out here
in the country,
50 miles away,
there's this old farmer
or somebody else.
He can't do that.
He can't run 50 miles
to Jerusalem all the time.
So he can't keep
the ceremonial law.
They're not living
up to God's standard.
Are they my neighbor?
And just like today,
Israel's surrounded
by enemies.
Do we call them
neighbors as well?
So the man said,
who's my neighbor?
And true to form,
Jesus doesn't answer
the question directly.
Instead,
he tells a story.
Now,
why doesn't he answer it?
Because Jesus knows us.
You can speak truth
into your child's life.
That mean they're
going to adopt it?
I can speak truth
into your life
this morning.
You may not remember
the four o'clock
this afternoon.
But if you discover
the truth for yourself,
if you figure it out
for yourself,
that tends to stick
with you,
doesn't it?
That's the truth
that makes a difference.
That is a part
of life.
Now,
this parable
is a part of our lexicon.
It's part of our language.
If a person
goes about doing
good deeds,
a really nice person,
we refer to them
as a good Samaritan.
There are counseling centers
across the nation,
Samaritan centers.
We belong
to a,
one of the RV groups
who are members,
the Good Sam Club.
It's a guy
with a big grin
and a little yellow
halo around his head.
He's called
the Good Sam,
the Good Samaritan.
It's part of our language.
But to understand
this parable
and really understand it,
we have to take
a little geography lesson here.
Jerusalem and Jericho
are 17 miles apart.
Jerusalem is a very,
very safe place.
It's the holy city.
You're safe
when you're there.
Jericho
is a very,
very safe place.
It's a desert oasis.
But between the two,
there are 17 miles.
17 miles.
There's ravines
and wadis
and treeless mountains.
It's a tough,
treacherous
because there's
a lot of bandits.
It's a dangerous
road to travel.
Safe on both ends,
but it's dangerous
in the middle.
And it is one
tough hike.
Jerusalem is up here
almost at 3,000 feet.
Jericho is down here,
840 feet
below sea level.
It is the lowest city
on the planet,
this planet.
We were at the ocean
a couple weeks ago.
if you go out
far enough
to get in water
that's 840 feet deep,
you got to dive down
to the bottom
of the sea
to get to Jericho.
Friend,
I don't care
who you are,
that's a tough hike
when you ascend
or descend
almost 4,000 feet.
So that's the story.
And this is the way
Jesus deals with it.
A man goes down
from Jerusalem
to Jericho.
I don't know
whether the man
is rich or poor.
I don't know
whether he's religious
or not.
I don't know
whether he's prominent
or just an average Joe
like the rest of us.
Jesus is just a man.
He's sort of every man.
And then he tells
the story.
Now what does he want us
to take away
from this story?
I think Jesus
is going to demonstrate us
to us
three philosophies
in life.
Three philosophies
in life.
The first philosophy
was the one
that the robbers had.
That philosophy
was
what is yours?
It's mine.
They beat the man.
They strip the man.
And they walk away
leaving him half dead.
We will take from you
what
we
want.
Now nobody here
is going to do that.
You're not going to
beat somebody up
in the parking lot
out here
and take everything
they have
and walk off.
You're not even
going to do that
on a dark night
here in Pickens.
But somebody
might say something
about somebody
else
that would steal
their reputation
diminish them
in the eyes
of other people.
Somebody might
do a business deal
where they take
advantage of
somebody else.
Amy Grant
began her career
in gospel music.
She had a friend
a young woman
that had been abused
and quite honestly
the young woman
just never got over it.
It's amazing
the number of people
who have been abused
for a long time
struggle with
the rest of their lives.
Just a fact of life.
And so Amy Grant
her heart went out
to this person
so she wrote
a song
for this young lady
and the name
of the song
was Ask Me.
So she went over
to the young lady
and she said
I want to sing
this for you.
And she started
singing
and the woman
started listening
and she broke down
sobbing uncontrollably.
Amy said
what's wrong?
What's wrong?
At last
somebody understands me.
You understand
the pain
I've been living
with all my life.
Amy Grant said
man what an effect
it had on her.
I need to include
this in my concerts.
And so the next concert
she included the song
Ask Me
and a strange thing
happened.
Down here
in the audience
somebody stood up
and remained standing.
Back there
somebody stood up.
Back there
back there
down here
all over the audience
people began standing
and they remained standing
the whole time.
They were saying
this is my story.
I have been
through that.
I understand
the pain.
That may have been
physical abuse
it could have been
spousal abuse
it could have been
sexual abuse
it could have been
an employer
employee abuse
abuse
but it was
somebody saying
I'm going to
take from you
what I want.
And friend
we do it
in a thousand
different ways.
That's the first
philosophy.
The second
philosophy
was the
philosophy
of the priest
and Levite
the religious people.
What is mine
is mine.
They both
passed by
on the other
side
for two
reasons.
The first
is religious
people
if they came
within six feet
of a corpse
they had to go
back uphill
to Jerusalem
and get cleansed.
If they're near
Jericho
that's 17 miles
and 4,000 feet
of climbing.
That's no small
thing.
it's a whole
lot easier
to pass by
on the other
side.
And the
second reason
they passed
by was a little
bit of hypocrisy
because if there
had been a lot
of other people
standing around
to see what
they did
they may not
have passed
by.
They may have
acted in a
religious manner
but the only
thing out there
were some
sheep and
goats and
they won't
go and tell
anybody and
as long as
nobody's going
to tell on
them they're
going to take
the easy route
and just go
by.
Do you
realize
we've
institutionalized
this type of
thinking in our
society?
It's part of
our institutions.
Would you
believe that a
15 year old
boy completely
innocent in
Chicago was
walking down
the street one
night.
Two gangs got
into it and a
stray bullet hit
him.
He knew he was
hurt bad.
He started
walking immediately
to the nearest
hospital.
He got within
35 feet of the
emergency room
door and he
collapsed right
there in the
parking lot.
He lay there
for 25 minutes
he bled out
and died.
Oh if they'd
only known in
the hospital that
he was there.
They did know.
They saw him when
he walked up.
What did they do?
They called an
ambulance from
somewhere else to
come get him but
he didn't get there
in time.
Well why didn't
they just go out
pick him up and
bring him in?
Because the
hospital had a
policy.
You can't treat
anybody outside the
doors of this
hospital because we
might get sued.
There's a liability
problem here and
we're going to take
care of ourselves
and our people.
That's most
important.
What is mine is
mine.
Have you ever
bought something
that had a
warranty?
And so part of it
broke and you
called the
manufacturer.
This happened.
I'm sorry that's
not covered under
warranty.
Can I translate
that to you?
We've had such a
problem with that
part we're not
going to fix it
because it's going
to cost too much
what's mine is mine
and everybody here
has had that
experience right?
Everybody.
We've
institutionalized it.
We do it in a
thousand thousand
different ways.
And then there's
that third idea.
philosophy.
It's the
philosophy
exemplified by the
Samaritan.
His philosophy
was what is
mine is
yours.
And here's the
kicker to the
story.
The good guy,
the hero of the
whole story is the
Samaritan.
The one person
in that whole
region of the
world that
everybody hated.
The Jews hated
the Samaritans
because they had
left the Jewish
faith and the
ethnic group and
married a Gentile.
The Gentiles hated
the Samaritans
because they were
associated with the
Jews.
Those two groups
did not get along.
How much were the
Samaritans hated?
If you were a Jew
in the marketplace
and a Samaritan
walked by you,
now he didn't
touch you,
but his shadow
fell on you.
His shadow.
You were supposed
to go to the
temple and get
cleansed.
They were not
welcome at the
Jewish
temple.
Samaritans
had to go build
their own
temple at
Mount
Zeratham.
They resented
the Jews so
much, the
Samaritans
did, that
just a few
years before,
some Samaritans
snuck into
Jerusalem at
night to the
holy temple and
scattered some
human bones
throughout the
temple and
defiled it.
Oh, you
know how that
set things
off.
And here's
the kicker.
Jesus says,
this man,
the Samaritan,
is the hero
of the story.
The hero.
Why?
Because he
comes to the
place where the
man was and he
takes pity on
him and he
does what is
right.
He takes a
bottle of wine
and pours it
into his cuts
and wounds
to disinfect.
He takes
oil and pours
it over the
skin to keep
the skin soft
and supple.
He probably
cuts strips of
bandages from
his own clothing
and binds up
these wounds.
And then he
puts the man
on his donkey
and takes him
to an inn.
He stays with
him that night
and the next
day he leaves
two silver
coins, not
copper coins,
two silver
coins.
He says,
this will take
care of his
expenses.
If it doesn't,
I'm going to
be back this
way.
I will reimburse
you for whatever
it takes.
And then
Jesus asked,
who are you
in the story?
Who are you?
Your pastor
will not tell
you this.
I'm retired
and I don't
care.
Did you know
that when we
pastors in the
pulpit, we
can read your
minds?
I glanced
over there a
while ago at
Jeff.
When I asked
that question,
I know what
Jeff's thinking.
Jeff, I'm
going to tell
him what you
were thinking.
Jeff was
thinking,
hmm, well,
that's hard
to say.
If the truth
be known,
I'm probably
a composite
of all three.
There have
been times
that I've
taken advantage
of people.
Jeff, I'm
not putting
you down.
Everybody in
this room
has done
that,
including
myself.
Everybody in
this room
has done
that.
And there
are times
when I
passed by
on the
other side
when I
could have
helped.
And there
are times I've
been the
Good Samaritan.
So I'm
a composite
of all three
and I
say,
Jeff, you
can't be a
composite of
all three.
You've got to
be one person
in the story.
And Jeff
is thinking,
well, if the
truth be known,
it's that middle
person then because
I've taken
advantage and I've
been a Good
Samaritan,
but more often
than not,
I have probably
passed up more
opportunities to
help than any
other thing.
And I would
turn to Jeff
and I'd say,
Jeff, that's
not who you
are in the
story.
You're wrong.
You're the
same person I
am and the
same person you
are.
Every single
one of us in
this room is
the man who
was robbed and
left in the
road to die,
everything taken
away from him.
Every one of us
has been there
lying in the
middle of the
road, dead in
our sins,
hoping and
praying,
that a good
Samaritan would
come by.
And for many
of you, he
did.
His name was
Jesus.
What did he
do?
He saw you.
He took pity
on you.
He took wine
and poured
into your
wounds.
But it
wasn't wine
from a bottle.
It was wine
from a cup.
A cup that
he held up
one night
and said,
this cup is
the New
Testament,
the new
covenant in
my blood
which is
poured out
for you.
And it
not only
disinfected,
it forgave
your sin
eternally.
me.
And then he
poured on the
oil of the
Holy Spirit.
Not only to
make the skin
soft and
supple, but
make their
heart soft
and supple so
that when God
spoke to you,
you could feel
what God was
saying, where
God was
leading, and
what God
was directing.
And then he
took you on his
own donkey and
he took you to
a place and he
took care of you
and he left
those silver
coins.
And it was his
way of saying,
I'm not only
taking care of
you now, but if
you need anything
in the future, I'm
there for you.
Christ was a
good Samaritan.
But not
everybody has
that experience.
Because some of
you have not
called in his
name yet.
A while ago, I
said the lawyer,
when he said the
man who had
mercy on him, that
was the correct
answer, but not
the right answer.
The reason it
wasn't the right
answer, that
lawyer could not
bring himself to
say those
despicable words
that had come
from Jesus'
mouth.
He could not
say the two
words, the
Samaritan.
He understood
what Jesus
wanted.
His head was
there, but his
heart wasn't.
He could not
say the words.
We're in a
different position
because the word
we need to
speak is the
most beautiful
name in any
language in the
world.
It's the name
of Jesus.
If you haven't
had that experience
this morning, you
can have it.
All you have to
do, realize that
you're lying there
dead in your
sins, but there
is one that can
pull that wine on
there and forgive
that sin for all
eternity.
There is one that
can take that sin
and pull all on it,
all into your life
and make you
sensitive to the
leadership of the
Holy Spirit and
he'll take care of
you now and
forever.
Forever.
And all we have
to do is
genuinely with all
our heart, now
listen to me, I'm
going to say,
believe and trust
Jesus Christ.
And why do I say
that?
Because sometimes
our belief don't
go very far, but
our trust does.
Trust is a part of
belief.
All you have to do
is put your trust in
him and call on his
name this morning.
And everything that
was given to that
man who was robbed
will be given to you
today.
because he wants
to do that.
Now this is
Father's Day.
Fathers,
my conviction for
many years has
been that you are
the unsung hero
in the family.
You go out every
single day, you
work hard as you
can because you
are expected to
be the provider in
so many ways to
put a roof over
their heads and
food on the table
and clothes on
their back and
all the other
things they need.
And you never get
the acclaim and
the applause of
mother.
Never.
Now you say,
well, why did
your family treat
you so bad?
I don't base it on
that, friend.
I base it on the
numbers.
Years ago, before
we had cell
phones, where we
make long-distance
calls free, you had
to pay to make
long-distance calls.
You didn't make
many because it
was expensive.
There were three
ways to do it.
You could call from
your home phone and
they would charge it
to your account.
You could make it
from a pay phone and
they'd say that's
$2.75 for the first
three minutes.
Ching, ching, ching,
ching, ching.
And after about three
minutes they'd say
that'd be $1.75 for
the next two minutes.
Ching, ching, ching,
ching.
Or the third way, you
could call collect.
This is Paul Wetz
calling for his dad.
Will you accept the
charges?
Every single year.
Not many long-distance
calls made because it
was expensive.
But every single year
they set records for
the number of long-distance
calls made.
What holiday do you
think it was made on?
Mother's Day.
Exactly.
Dads never did get there.
But hold it.
Father's Day set a record
too.
Did you know that?
This is a fact.
The most collect long-distance
calls every year was made
on Father's Day.
Men, you are the unsung
heroes in your family.
Dad, I want to tell you
how much I love and
appreciate you when you
accept the charges.
But guys, you're used
to giving.
And you're used to not
getting much acclaim.
I understand that.
That's just a fact of
being a dad.
But today, you know,
they're going to honor
and they're going to give
you a few nice things.
But you know what?
You're used to giving.
You've done it your whole
life without any
recognition hardly.
Give them something else
today.
A man who's not afraid
to say,
I was the robber
laying in the road
dead in my sins.
And Jesus entered my life.
And he gave me the Holy
Spirit.
And sometimes we're
going to do this and
sometimes we're going to
not do that simply because
I feel that's where God
is leading and I want to
be sensitive to his
leadership.
And I don't know whether
how things are going in
your life today, but this
I do know.
He has paid the innkeeper
and he's made a promise
that if anything else is
needed, he'll take care of
that too.
I don't know what the
future holds for me,
but I know who holds the
future and I know I can
trust the one who holds
the future.
Gentlemen, when you show
that to your family,
when you live that out
before them, you have
given them the best
Father's Day gift you can
ever give.
So this morning, whether it
be a profession of faith,
becoming a part of this
church, a step forward in
your faith, I'm going to go
one step further.
I remember the time my
pastor stood in the pulpit
and he said, every young
man here, every woman here
needs to start praying and
asking this one question.
What does God want you to
do vocationally the rest of
your life?
Does he want you to be a
teacher, a lawyer, a doctor,
a nurse, whatever?
Ask him what he wants you to
do?
I took up that challenge
and I was shocked at what
God called me to do.
But friend, don't ever make
a decision in life, ever,
without asking God his
direction.
That's part of that oil
thing, his leadership.
Pastor, would you come?
Thank God for the word that
Paul's given us today.
If you've never accepted the
Lord Jesus Christ as your
personal Lord and Savior, I
want you to know he accepts
you as you are today.
You just come and say,
Pastor, I'd love to surrender
my life to the Lord Jesus.
Maybe you've done that
privately, but you've never
done it publicly.
You've never acknowledged
that.
Jesus, by his commission
and by his example, tells
us to follow that with
baptism.
If you've never been
baptized as a believer, I
encourage you to be
obedient.
Follow the Lord.
We'll guide you through
that.
We're not doing it this
morning, but we'll guide
you in that.
Maybe God's leading you to
be a part of First Baptist
Church.
You know this is the place
where God would have you
to serve.
As soon as we stand and
begin to sing, I encourage
you to come.
We'd love to guide you in
what that means and
introduce you to the
congregation.
And maybe it's
something else.
Maybe you realize you've
passed by folks that
needed you to stop.
Or maybe you've not
acknowledged the one that
went to the cross for you,
gave his life for you.
I don't know what God's
telling you, but I'm
thankful that Paul shared
what God laid on his
heart.
And I encourage you to be
obedient this morning.
Lord Jesus, we love you.
We thank you for your
word.
Thank you, Lord, for the
challenge of it, the
personalization of it by
the Holy Spirit of God.
And I pray this morning,
dear Father, that you'll
help each one of us to be
obedient to follow exactly
as you lead right now in
these very moments.
In Jesus' precious name,
amen.
Bens,