Choosing To Give Series

TEXT: Luke 10:25-37

TITLE: CHOOSING TO GIVE!

SERIES: The Giving church!

TOPIC: Stewardship

OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, June 29, 2008

PROP.: The Good Samaritan gave his time, talents, money to a stranger because he first gave his heart!

INTRODUCTION: This month, our focus has been drawn towards the topic of becoming the…what? I want to hear you say it. What are we working at becoming? The giving church! That’s right! I want to remind you that this Sunday and next, there is a table out in the fellowship hall marked as the ‘giving table’. You can bring your clothes, canned goods, and money to help people in our surrounding communities. Won’t you choose to give? In fact, that is the title of this morning’s message: CHOOSING TO GIVE!

Our text today comes to us from Luke‘s gospel; the tenth chapter starting in verse 25.

The story I am about to read is a familiar one. But I pray that it’s familiarity will not cause us to write off the story but instead that we will pick up on the how revolutionary this message is.

As we read our text, I will pause from time to time to comment and highlight certain important background information that is important to fully understand the historical context of the scripture this morning…

Luke 10...are you there? Good. Let’s read.

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" -- This is the question of the month! This sounds very familiar doesn’t it? This is the EXACT question asked of Jesus by the rich young ruler that we studied last week!

26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" Again, this expert in the law is a Pharisee…an expert at following the Law to the EXACT letter! No room for failure! He knew the law…he had it memorized. He carried around scripture in little boxes around his wrists to constantly remind him.

27He 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’[c]; and, ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]"

28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

This expert in the law knew many things, but did he not know who he was talking to? He was talking to the master mind and heart reader! Jesus knew exactly the meaning behind this question.

Perhaps there was a family issue where this expert in the law was not showing love or kindness to someone he was related to? Whatever the situation, this expert in the law was having relationship issues with someone or some race…

And so Jesus answers this man’s question of by telling him a story.

30In 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. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

I. He gave his heart!

Did you notice something? It fits perfectly with what you’ve all ready been told this month. Giving ALWAYS starts with your heart!

A. The real difference between the Samaritan and the other two

--You see, the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan had a lot in common concerning this man who was beaten and left for dead.

All three traveled down the same road

All three saw the man

But the Samaritan was the only one who had compassion!

Jesus’ story is once again revolutionary. You remember how much hatred there is between Jews and Samaritans. The Jews hated the Samaritans because the Jews saw themselves as pure descendants of Abraham, while the Samaritans were a mixed race produced when Jews from the Northern Kingdom intermarried with other peoples after Israel’s exile.

When the Samaritan looked at this Jewish man who had been beaten, he didn’t see race, or color or a social status. He saw a human in need.

B. The difference between Christians and the rest of the world

Giving your heart to those in need is what separates Christians from the rest of the world!

The Bible tells us how the world will know we are a follower of Christ…

By the size of our Bible?