“Who Is My Neighbor?
Or
Am I a Neighbor?”
Luke 10:25-37
Introduction
One of the scribes came and heard them (Jesus and the Sadducees) arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, ’Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall LOVE THE Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ "The second is this, ’You shall LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31
Matthews account adds another statement of Jesus regarding these two commandments.
"On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:40
The whole Bible may be summarized in two basic focuses in life.
1.Love God supremely!
2.Love your neighbor as much as yourself!
This is the core of what it means to be Christian. These are the characteristics of truly regenerated people having been given eternal life. Everyone is interested in eternal life.
Everyone ponders the question of life after death at some time or another. In fact it is healthy to take some time to meditate on both death and life after death.
Solomon made a perceptive observation in Eccles. 7:2, 4.
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting,
Because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart.
The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.
How differently would we life today if we were aware of the time of our death and the truth of our life after death? Death ends all chances of impacting our life after death. The Bible clearly indicates that life on earth not only affects where we will spend eternity but how we will spend it. What would you do differently today if you knew you would die tomorrow? Not to be morbid, but regular, even daily contemplation of the reality of death and eternity is a healthy.
•How might we use our time differently?
•How might we invest our resources differently?
•How differently might we cultivate our relationship with God?
•How differently would we relate to the people around us?
•How differently would the temporal things of this world appear in light of eternity?
•How different would our attitudes toward sin and temptation be?
•How different would our desire to share the Good News of eternal life with others be?
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Col. 3:1-4
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 2 Peter 3:11-14
A change in behavior on the basis of a healthy understanding of death here and life hereafter must take into account the clear teaching of Jesus regarding what is really important in life.
1.Love God supremely!
2.Love your neighbor as much as yourself!
The rest of the summer we will take a break from our study in Corinthians and spent some time in the parables of Jesus. Jesus used parables to illustrate truth. They were everyday illustrations intended to apply Biblical principles to real life.
I.The perspective
There was a lawyer in Jesus day who wanted to see how Jesus would answer this vital question of the ages.
And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" And he answered, "You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." Luke 10:25-28
The lawyer then asked another question hoping to avoid the implications of his own answer.
But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:29
This slick lawyer intended to test Jesus but Jesus ended up testing him. Jesus caused him to face his selfish core. He realized deep down in his heart that he continually failed the test of loving others. Most of us fail that test to one degree or another. Most of us love ourselves and our close family and sometimes just ourselves. We have a difficult time loving our neighbor. Dictionary defines a neighbor as one living or located near another. We experience far less difficulty loving strangers at a distance than neighbors close up. The love God prescribes we give beyond refraining from doing evil but doing good. We have a ton of excuses why we can’t love someone. The law sometimes focuses on the things we are not to do to a neighbor. Since we are selfish by nature, we need specific examples of what it means to show love. The law says don’t steal from your neighbor. Don’t take your neighbor’s wife. Don’t covet your neighbors stuff. Don’t lie about or to your neighbor.
These along with many other specific examples of love. Romans twelve listed examples of unhypocritical love. 1 Corinthians 13 provides line after line of specifics of what real love does and doesn’t do. When the lawyer tried to circumvent his guilt for violating the law he so eloquently summarized by redefining terms, Jesus raised the bar of relationship to our neighbors by telling a little story -- the story of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.”And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ’Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ Luke 10:30-35
What was Jesus’ point for telling this story? What did he intend to point out? Jesus responded to the lawyer’s question regarding how to identify his neighbor. The lawyer wanted to find out who he was forced to love and who he could avoid. I only have to love my neighbor not those who are not my neighbor so define neighbor. Like a legalist, the lawyer wanted to know where lines were so he could go that far and no further. Grace is not about lines and laws but heart. If you tell a child to clean his room before he can play he wants to know the minimum that has to do in order to gain the reward. A child with a heart for his parents learns the parent’s expectation of a clean room and seeks to please the parent first. Many times that heart of love does not even need the promise of reward or threat of punishment. It is a matter of heart. Grace is a matter of a selfless giving out of a heart that loves others. Law is a matter of selfish gain out of a heart that loves self.
The legalist will focus on giving 10% and feel ecstatic. The person who operates by grace will focus on continually giving more and more and can never give enough. This parable really does not answer the lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells this parable to answer the more pertinent question, what does it mean to be a loving neighbor.
What are the essential ingredients in genuine love for people? To Jesus, everyone is our neighbor so the greater issue is how we show them love.
II.The People
A.The Victim
First we encounter a man who was unexpectedly mugged while traveling out of town.
To fall among muggers would be to unexpectedly encounter these unsavory characters. Jesus didn’t particularly focus on the man in need in the story but those who became aware of his need. We are told that the man was in desperate need not due to any fault of his own. We don’t know much else about him. The simple point was that this person was in desperate need. He was probably a fellow Jew, a countryman.
B.The Jewish Priest
The second person of note is a Jewish priest, one charged to intercede for man to God. This is someone who should have had a heart for people. Perhaps a pastor in our contemporary culture. Jesus indicated he actually observed the desperate situation of the man but intentionally avoided involvement. It was his awareness that actually precipitate his deliberate avoidance as he intentionally moved to the other side of the street. Perhaps to avoid any eye contact or recognition by the victim.
C.The Levite
The third person mentioned in the story was a Levite. Levites were chosen by God to represent Him and serve in the temple. They were charged with tending God’s stuff. Perhaps this might be an elder in contemporary culture. Like the priest, the Levite saw the situation but intentionally avoided involvement. These were both “church” people, religious men claiming to love and serve God. The common theme between the two individuals, who of all people should have had compassion on such a desperate need, was intentional evasion of an obvious need. John questioned such behavior among those who claim to be sons of God.
But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 1 John 3:17
D.The Samaritan
The fourth character introduced in the parable was a Samaritan. Samaritans were “half-breeds”. These were Jews from the Israel who had been taken by the Assyrians and intermarried with the Assyrians. Neither Jew nor Assyrian. The general Jewish population despised the Samaritans. Statements in writing have been found like, “I thank God that I am not a Samaritan or a woman.” Jews would take great pains to walk around Samaria just to avoid contact with one. In contemporary culture this might be a mixed race individual not accepted by either race. This Samaritan was traveling through the area and became aware, like the others, of the desperate situation of the wounded and dying Jew. He, of all people, would have been justified to pass by on the other side. After all hadn’t Jews continually mistreated his people? Why should he help someone who hated him and his kind anyway? After years of discrimination and prejudices he would have been justified to ignore his plight. Both the priest and the Levite were ethically obligated to serve their fellow man but avoid him. This Samaritan, who really had no obligation does not pass by but ACTS to address the need. Jesus calls on this slick lawyer to make a determination as to which one of these proved to be a neighbor. He did not ask him who were neighbors but who demonstrated love for a neighbor. He purposely used these characters in the story to demonstrate that loving our neighbor has nothing to do with race or status or anything but responding to one in need.
"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?" And he (the lawyer) said, "The one who showed mercy toward him."
Now the climax of the encounter! Hearing without doing is worse than not hearing at all.
Jesus calls for action on the part of the lawyer.
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same." Luke 10:36-37
Be neighborly. Take care of those in need as you would take care of yourself. Yet Jesus illustrated what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. To avoid anyone in need demonstrates a failure to love your neighbor as yourself. The one who ACTS is the one who proves to be a true neighbor and fulfills the law of love. Both the priest and the Levite apathetically avoided helping the neighbor in need. Only the Samaritan ACTS with love. The opposite of love is not always hate. The opposite of love may also be indifference. There are many reasons for our indifference to the needs of others. Too focused on self
•Too inundated with the enormity of the needs of people in our world
•A sense of personal helplessness
•Personal weakness
Perhaps the greatest hindrance to being a true neighbor is self-centeredness. Our thinking is self-focused not ministry-focused or others-focused. We become too wrapped up in our own little world and meeting our own needs. This is the culture in which we live. Me first and if I have anything left over I might invest it in others. I invest my resources of time and money in what serves ME first. So what key elements characterized a true neighbor in the story of the Good Samaritan? What is it that demonstrated obedience to the loyal law of love and thus fulfills the whole law?
III.The Point
A true neighbor is known by their A.C.T.S. of love.
A.Concerned Awareness
The Priest and the Levite both saw the situation. They were aware of the need but it was not a concerned awareness. Many times we actually try to develop social tunnel vision so that we don’t see. We figure that if we don’t see it we won’t have to be responsible to do anything and get involved. Many remember the story of the girl who was beaten to death in New York while hundreds of people looked on but did nothing. We need to see with God’s eyes. We need to look around us. Opportunities for ministry are everywhere.
B.Deep Compassion
Awareness must however move beyond simply being aware of the needs around us. The love of God with which He has flooded our hearts must extend beyond our own life and flow to others. We must not be afraid of feeling compassion. This is a character thing.
This comes only from time spent with the God of love. This comes when we begin to see things as he sees them. For when we see with the eyes of Jesus we cannot help but feel what Jesus felt. Many times in Scripture we are told that Jesus was moved with compassion. It means to be moved in the inward parts. There is something that stirs deep inside us. The Priest and Levite saw the situation and moved away from the need. The Samaritan saw the situation and was moved with compassion causing him to move toward the one in need. We must make a choice once we become aware of the needs around us.
We can either avoid or approach. A feeling of compassion is not enough. A genuine feeling of compassion must express itself in action. Jesus’ compassion moved Him to healing action of some kind. The Samaritan, moved with compassion, ministered a healing touch to the wounded man.
C.Healing Touch
and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. Luke 10:34
1. Approach the hurting
2. Tend their wounds
Heal the brokenhearted. We live in a broken world with broken people. We must deal with deep hurts and wounds cause by horrendous abuse. It is never easy to pour oil and medicine on open wounds. It is extremely unpleasant. God calls us to be channels of his love and healing.
3. Bring them to an environment that facilitates continual healing
He didn’t just bandage him up and leave him. He put him on his own beast, brought him to an inn and personally cared for him.
D.Personal Sacrifice
"On the next day he took out two denarii (day’s wage) and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ’Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ Luke 10:35
It costs to be involved in ministering to others. It is a personal sacrifice of time and energy and often money. A true neighbor is one characterized by ACTS of love to those in need.
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10
Literally this passage says, “Stop continually owing anything to anyone except to love. To owe is to be obligated or bound to someone. We are not to be continually obligated to anyone for anything except to love them. Love is a debt that never gets paid off.
“Oh I’ve loved enough.” “I have put in my time for loving them.” “I was kind last week.”
“I ministered yesterday.”
We need our thinking renewed regarding our neighbor. We need our thinking renewed in regard to our calling to minister to others. The essential nature of God is love and therefore if you practice love, you will automatically keep the law. The Biblical criterion for loving our neighbor is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Application
Obviously we cannot minister to every need we might see. We all have limited resources. Yet God calls us to be like the Samaritan who regardless of possible cultural hindrances and prejudices chose to ACT upon a person in need, a fellow human being. In this parable Jesus encourages us all to love our neighbor with ACTS.
Concerned awareness
Deep compassion
Healing touch
Personal Sacrifice
Remember, in as much as we offer a cup of water or touch the needy we minister to Jesus.
Since God is love, the nature of a true believer is to love.
We are to love God first and then, drawing on that relationship, engage in ACTS of love to our neighbor. God never releases us from this debt of love by one balloon payment. It is a lifetime debt.
Many still lay in the ditch because those who profess to represent God have intentionally passed by. It is not that they have not been aware of the need. They have seen and purposely avoided involvement by passing by on the other side. An indifferent neighbor avoids. A loving neighbor ACTS. Not only is he aware but feels deeply which motivates him to not only extend a healing touch but to offer continual personal sacrifice and care.
We may not be able to continue personally or have the insight to complete the healing process but we can get them to a place that can facilitate continual healing. The biggest struggle with a message like this is the decision to minister to others instead of maintaining selfish pursuits.
Will I become involved in the needs of others?
Will I keep making regular payments on my debt of love?
Only when I come to realize God’s infinite love for me and through me will I be filled with all the fullness of God who is love. Who is my neighbor? Anyone in need that God brings to my attention. That may be my physical neighbor. That may be someone at church or work. That may be someone I bump into at the store on the street. That may be someone a world away. But a better question yet, “What kind of neighbor am I?” One who avoids or one who ACTS.
This kind of love breaks down the walls and barriers to the gospel. This is the music to the good news of Jesus Christ. We won’t win them until we truly love them. For God so loved the world that he acted. He saw the need He felt deep compassion. He extended his healing touch. He personally sacrificed his only son to meet our need and left us in the hands of a healing Holy Spirit until we become completely well.
