Real Neighbours Just Do It Series

“Real neighbours just do it – Luke 10:25-37”

Gladstone Baptist Church – 19/3/06 am

S1 - People don’t seem to be interested in helping other people out today

I don’t know about you boys and girls, but I think people are becoming more and more selfish. People don’t seem to be willing to help other people any more.

I want to tell you a bit about this lady. Her name is Delmae Barton - but everyone calls her Aunty Delmae. She is famous - she is an opera singer and has sung with the best orchestras in Australia and overseas. Actually she has combined aboriginal music with opera – can you imagine a didgeridoo featuring at an opera. Well Aunty Delmae and her son, have done this.

Well last Monday, Aunty Delmae was catching a bus to Griffith University in Brisbane where she helps out regularly, but as she got off the bus at on the way to the university, she started to feel sick and dizzy. She sat down on one of the seats at the bus stop and then collapsed. She actually had a stroke which meant that she was paralysed. She couldn’t get up and she couldn’t talk and she was so sick, she ended up vomiting. Do you know that she lay there sick and paralysed in her vomit for nearly 5 hours, while hundreds of people just walked by her. No one called an ambulance. No one asked whether she was okay.

It was 5 hours before some Japanese students came past and called an ambulance which took her to hospital. 5 hours lying at a bus stop unable to move and just watching others walk by.

Why do you think that no one helped Aunty Delmae?

It is so sad, when people don’t help other people in need. But we would never be like that. We would always help people wouldn’t we? – because we are Christians!!!

S2 - I think that even Christians who go to church don’t seem to be interested in helping other people out.

Boys & Girls, how often have you seen someone crying in the playground at school and not gone up to see what is wrong with them. Mum’s and Dad’s don’t often do this either. Mums & Dads, how often do you see someone broken down on the side of the road and you drive right past them without seeing if they need any help.

Boys and Girls, how often have you seen someone from your class being picked on and you don’t stick up for them. Mum’s and Dad’s find it hard to stand up against bully’s also.

Boys and Girls, how often have you seen that your Mum is really tired after a big day. Mum’s have a hard job and often get tired. But how often do you turn off the TV or the XBox and go up to Mum and ask her if you can help her get tea, or help her do the washing up. Dad’s I could ask you the same question – You are tired also, I know, but how often do you help your wife out.

I wonder how many people who walked past Aunty Delmae go to church. I wonder what you would have done if you had been at Griffith University that day and seen Aunty Delmae. You see, just because we come to church, often doesn’t mean that we are any better off than anyone else. We don’t help other people either very often either – we are selfish also.

S3 – Once there was a man who wanted to know how he could show he was good enough to get into heaven.

Once there was a man who came up to Jesus and he was a very smart man. He wanted to know what he had to do to show everyone that he was going to be accepted by God and to live with God forever.

We all know that you can’t make it into heaven by doing good things don’t we … I don’t know if I’ve ever shown you this heart. When God looks at us, he sees everything we do and he writes down everything we do – the good things and the bad things. Every one of us has good things and bad things written down on this heart – and God sees them all.

But we have a problem, because heaven is a perfect place, but our hearts aren’t perfect. If God let us into heaven with a heart like this – we’d spoil heaven, because it would not be perfect any longer. So somehow we have to get rid of all the bad things.

Let me ask you a question boys and girls, if we do lots and lots of good things, is that going to get rid of the bad things? No of course not – the bad things are still there aren’t they and my heart is not perfect. What if I do a hundred good things and only 1 bad thing – is it perfect? What if I do a 1000 good things and only 1 bad thing – is it perfect? What if I do a million good things and only 1 bad thing – is it perfect?