Go And Do Likewise

GO AND DO LIKEWISE

LUKE 10:25-37

I HAVE BEEN TAKING YOU ON A BITY OF A REVIEW OF SOME OF THE BASIC POINTS OF THEOLOGY. WE TOOK TIME TO LOOK AT THE LORDS SUPPER, AND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN. I POINTED OUT TO YOU THAT IN JOHN 3 JESUS MAKES IT PLAIN THAT BEING “BORN AGAIN” IS THE ESSENTIAL DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH.

TODAY I WANT TO TAKE THIS ONE STEP FURTHER BY EXAMINING THE FOUNDATION FOR THE HEART OF A CHRISTIAN. I WANT TO BEGIN BY SAYING THAT IT IS NOT EASY TO LIVE A CHRISTIAN LIFE. WE HAVE TO RISE TO THE CHALLENGES PRESENTED TO US IN A FAR DIFFERENT MANNER THAN THOSE WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIAN.

WHEN WE ACCEPTED CHRIST INTO OUR LIVES AS SAVIOR AND LORD, WE BASICALLY ALLOW POUR LIVES TO BE AN OPEN BOOK. YOU MAY NOT THINK THAT THIS IS FAIR, BUT IT WORKS FOR ANY AREA OF OUR LIFE.

IF WE LOOK AT SPORTS AS AN EXAMPLE AND YOU SAY YOU HAVE A FAVORITE TEAM, THEN YOU LEAVE YOURSELF OPEN FOR OTHERS TO DETERMINE HOW GENUINE YOU ARE BY WHAT YOU SAY AND WHAT YOU DO IN SUPPORT FOR YOUR TEAM.

POLITICS IS GOING TO BECOME VERY INTERESTING THIS FALL AS WE WILL BE HAVING A PROVINCIAL ELECTION. IF YOU PUBLICLY PROCLAIM YOUR SUPPORT OF ANY PARTY, THEN YOU ARE ALSO ALLOWING OTHER PEOPLE TO JUDGE THE SINCERITY OF YOUR SUPPORT BASED ON WHAT YOU SAY OR DO.

THE SAME IS TRUE FOR CHRISTIANITY. IF YOU PUBLICLY PROCLAIMED THAT JESUS IS YOUR SAVIOR, THEN YOU MUST ALSO PUBLICLY SUPPORT THAT DECISION BY MAKING HIM YOUR LORD. PEOPLE ARE WATCHING WHAT YOU SAY AND HOW YOU LIVE YOUR LIVES, NOT JUST ON SUNDAY BUT EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK.

BECAUSE OF OUR PUBLIC STAND FOR CHRIST, WE ACTUALLY ALLOW PEOPLE TO JUDGE THE SINCERITY OF OUR DECISION BY HOW WE LIVE. THIS IS WHY TO CLAIM JESUS AS SAVIOR IS NOT ENOUGH. HE ALSO MUST BE LORD OF OUR LIVES.

THIS BRINGS US TO THE LESSON OF THE DAY. IN THIS PASSAGE, A PHARISEE IS TRYING TO TRICK JESUS BY ASKING HIM ABOUT THE LAW. HE ASKS JESUS WHAT APPEARS TO BE A SIMPLE QUESTION, “WHAT MUST WE DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?” OR AS MATTHEW RECORDS “WHICH IS THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT OR LAW?”

THIS IN FACT IS A VERY COMPLICATED QUESTION, AND ONE THAT IF NOT HANDLED PROPERLY COULD HAVE LEFT JESUS IN A LOT OF HOT WATER. ETERNAL LIFE IS NOT BASED ON THE LAW BUT ON FAITH. NO ONE COULD KEEP THE LAW, AND IF YOU COULD, THEN SALVATION WOULD BE BY YOUR OWN WORKS AND NOT BY FAITH.

THE PHARISEES WERE EXPERTS AT THE LAW. THEY SPENT MOST OF THEIR TIME MAKING SURE PEOPLE KEPT THE LAW AND PUNISHING THOSE WHO DID NOT.

THE PROBLEM WITH THE LAW WAS THAT IT WAS SO COMPLICATED. IT HAD WELL OVER 600 PARTS TO IT, AND EVERYONE WAS GUILTY OF BREAKING IT AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER. NOW THIS LEADER WAS TAKING AIM AT JESUS AND TRYING TO CATCH HIM IN AN EMBARRASSING POSITION.

HOW COULD HE PICK ONE OVER THE OTHER? WAS THERE ONE THAT STOOD OUT MORE THAN THE OTHER? IT WAS AN IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION TO ANSWER.

LET ME ILLUSTRATE. SUPPOSE I WERE TO ASK YOU WHICH OF THE ROAD LAWS WERE MORE IMPORTANT THAT THE OTHERS. SO YOU DECIDE THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT IS TO STOP AT A RED LIGHT. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT RULE, BUT IS IT ANY MORE IMPORTANT THAN OBEYING A SPEED SIGN. THE POLICE IN OUR COUNTRY EXPECT US TO OBEY ALL OF THE LAWS, NOT TO PICK AND CHOOSE THE ONES WE THINK ARE MORE IMPORTANT. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE LOOK ON AN OFFICERS FACE WHEN HE OR SHE COMES UP TO YOUR CAR, AFTER PULLING YOU OVER FOR SPEEDING AND WHEN HE ASKS WHY YOU WERE SPEEDING, YOU REPLIED “I THINK THAT STOPPING AT RED LIGHTS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAT OBEYING THE SPEED SIGNS.”

JESUS OUTSMARTS THE PHARISEE BY TURNING THE QUESTION BACK TO HIM. “WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?” JESUS ASKED. CONSIDER THE REPLY OF THE PHARISEE:

LUKE 10:27: “27 HE 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’; AND, ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’"

THIS REPLY HAS TWO POINTS IN IT. THE FIRST IS TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND THE SECOND IS TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

THE FIRST THING TO NOTE HERE IS THE ORDER THAT THE SCRIPTURE PUTS THESE STATEMENTS IN. LOVE GOD FIRST AND THEN YOUR NEIGHBOR.

SOMETIMES, IT IS NOT EASY TO LOVE GOD. THERE IS A VARIETY OF REASONS FOR THIS. WE ARE NOT ALLKNOWING AND DON’T KNOW HIS FULL PLAN. IT COULD BE THAT WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE US DO, BUT FOR SOME REASON WE DO NOT WANT TO DO IT. WE WANT TO BE LIKE JONAH AND SAIL AWAY FROM NINEVAH.