NEIGHBORLY ADVICE
LUKE 10:25-37
INTRODUCTION
Sam Ross, a writer and traveler, was taking a trip through England. Weary and thirsty, he came upon a small unpainted house standing on a hill. Near one side of the road was a signpost that pointed to a path and also a sign that read: “Come in and have a cool drink.” As he followed, he came to a spring of ice-cold water with a gourd dipper hanging nearby. There was another sign that read; “Help yourself.” On the bench nearby was also a basket of summer apples. His curiosity got the best of him, and he sought out the couple that owned the house. He questioned them about the water and fruit. He found out that they were childless and made a scant living on their farm. Yet because they had such an abundance of fruit and water, they felt rich and wanted to share it with those who might pass by. The old gentlemen replied; “We're too poor to give money to charity, but we thought maybe in this way we could add out mite and do something for folks who pass our way.”
Though the parable of the Good Samaritan does not give symbols like many of Jesus' other parables, it does provide an example that we should follow. It is a parable that leaves an impact on the conscience. It is so simple that a child can understand it but so profound that we must strive with all of our might to live up to the principles that it advocates. In essence, it tells what Christianity is all about. It informs us of the fact that Christianity is a way of living.
The story begins with a lawyer who stands to test Jesus about how he might have eternal life. Now the lawyer was supposed to know all the answers. It was his business to interpret the law of God and to guide people to relate it to their lives. Jesus responded with a question as he did on many other occasions. The lawyer responded by giving his interpretation of how one might have eternal life. He said that a person was to love God with all their heart, soul and mind and then their neighbor as themselves. Jesus commended him for answering correctly. Then the lawyer asks Jesus a second question that was designed to justify his conscience. He asked who his neighbor was. Perhaps he thought that rejecting Gentiles just because they were that was wrong. In response to this second question, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan and in doing so gives us some principles for life.
I. BE COMPASSIONATE
Jesus begins the parable by telling of a certain man, probably a Jew, who made his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. Jericho was where the priests lived when they were not ministering in Jerusalem. It was located by the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth and also a place filled with salt. Thieves and robbers haunted the road between here and Jerusalem. Though the road was only 17 miles, it was very unsafe. The priest and Levites were probably not bothered because of their profession, but everyone else was in danger. This particular man may have been a merchant, but nevertheless the thieves attacked him as he made his way to Jericho. They stripped him of his clothing, beat him and left him for dead.
The first person to come by after the robbery was a priest. He was a servant of the Law and supposedly consecrated to God. No doubt, he had finished his course at the Temple and was returning to Jericho. During this time, the priests were divided into 24 courses and served twice a year for one week intervals at the Temple. Now perhaps he was in a hurry, but he knew what God's word taught about being neighborly. We read that he passed on by.
The second person to happen by was a Levite. He belonged to an inferior branch of the Pharisees. He was a servant in the Temple and a minister of religious worship. His job was to interpret the Law of God. Though these two men were supposedly godly individuals, if we study the time we find that for the most part their religion was formal, heartless and compassionless. He too passed by.
The third man to come by was a Samaritan. He belonged to a mixed race of people. As a result, the Jewish people hated them. When the northern kingdom of Israel fell in 722/721 B.C. to Assyria, they carried off many of the captives. This was characteristic of the Assyrian people when they captured an area. They brought others in to replace those carried off. They in turn intermarried with the Jews who had been left behind, and out of this mixture came the Samaritan race. They were considered rascals and renegades by the Jews. When the Babylonian captivity ended, and Cyrus the Persian allowed the Jews to return to their land, they began to rebuild the Temple under the leadership of Zerubbable. The Jews refused to even let the Samaritans help them in the building process. This resulted in them eventually building a temple on Mount Gerizim. This made the hatred between them and the Jews even worse. By the time of Jesus, the hatred had grown to such great heights that a devout Jew who wanted to go to Galilee, north of Samaria, would cross the Jordan to the east side and go that way to bypass the region of Samaria. It was this person from this hated race that helped the man in need. If the man robbed was a Jew, this makes the example of compassion even more influential. We too can imagine the hatred stirred up in the hearts of those who heard this parable when Jesus said a Samaritan helped.
We too need to learn the art of showing compassion. Technology has taken us so far that many times when dealing in certain areas of business, we no longer have to deal with an individual, we deal with a computer. But technological advances cannot take the place of human compassion. Compassion is still what people are in need of most. The question is not who deserves our compassion but who needs it. When we have a difficult time showing compassion, we need to stop and remember the compassion God shows us. We certainly did not deserve his help, yet he sent his Son to die for our sins. If God was willing to go this far, how can we justify not going all out for others in showing compassion.
The story is told of one begging during the Great Depression. We might remember the line; “Brother, can you spare a dime?” He was unable to find work and had no one to turn to. One day, he walked up to a well-dressed gentleman and asked for enough money to get something to eat. The man kept putting him off, making one excuse after another. Finally the beggar just stretched out his hand to shake the hand of the gentlemen. You see what he needed more than money was compassion.
One wrote; “I went out to find a friend, But could not find one there, I went out to be a friend, and friends were everywhere.”
II. BE CAREFUL OF YOUR CONDUCT
Compassion is of little use if it does not lead to proper conduct. It did in the case of the Good Samaritan. The priest and Levite, seeing the half dead man, passed by. The Samaritan went over and took care of his needs. He bandaged his wounds and poured oil and wine into them. Then he put him on his own animal and took him to an inn. There he took care of him. As he was about to depart the next day, he gave money to the innkeeper to take care of the man. He instructed the innkeeper that if the bill was more than he had given him that he would pay the rest when he returned that way.
We see several rules exemplified in this story. The first is the iron rule. The robbers and thieves obeyed this rule. This rule states that might makes right. They lived by this rule. Then there was the silver rule. The priest and Levite show this rule. It said not to do to others as you would have them do to you. They were too concerned about themselves to be concerned about someone else. Perhaps they were in too big of a hurry or were scared of being defiled by touching this man who they may have supposed to be dead. The Samaritan exemplifies the golden rule. It says do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It says “what is mine is thine. We'll share it.” This was the rule the Samaritan lived by.
We too must live by the Golden Rule given to us by God. It says to us that we should have a sharing spirit. We must be willing to share and give to others. Instead of hoarding our time, talents and money, let us share them with others as we work in God's kingdom work.
As a little girl, Mrs. Booth, later to become the life of the Salvation Army, was running down the road. As she played with her hoop and a stick, she noticed a prisoner being dragged away by a constable to the lockup. There was mob nearby who was yelling at the unfortunate culprit. The loneliness of the prisoner appealed to her, and she sprang to his side and marched down the street with him. She did not know whether he was guilty or not. It did not matter to her. What she wanted him to know was that he had at least one friend by his side.
The rule of that great preacher John Wesley's life was; “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”
III. ENLARGE THE CIRCLE OF YOUR FRIENDS
The priest and the Levite represent those who are not willing to help just anyone. Even though the man may have been a Jew, they were not willing to help. These things obviously did not concern the Samaritan. Even though he may have known the man to be a Jew, he helped him anyway. He is symbolic of those who do not limit the people they are willing to help. He was concerned because the man was hurt and needed help. The Samaritan, rather than the priest and Levite, was the real neighbor in the story.
We too need to enlarge the circle of our friends. We must learn to help the needy regardless of who they are or why they are in the position they are in. We are too good at judging people before we really know their circumstances. Jesus was never really concerned with why a person had gotten into the predicament they were in, he was just concerned with helping them. We learn from the priest and Levite that we can be near to people without being neighborly to them. The Samaritan shows us how to be a neighbor.
We must avoid the example of the Jews who for the most part loved only those like them. In fact, if a wall collapsed on the Sabbath, they would move enough of the wall to see whether the individuals were Jews or Gentiles. If a Jew was beneath the collapsed wall, they would help him. If it was a Gentile, they would leave him there lest they break the Sabbath by working.
Let us learn to be neighborly to all people by loving them, praying for them, and doing neighborly deeds for them. One has said; “Be in your spirit neighborly, and then every man will be your neighbor.”
The wounded people are our neighbors no matter where they may be found or who they are. Sometimes they are wounded physically, sometime spiritually, sometime mentally, but whatever the case, we must be a neighbor to them. The final word of Jesus to the lawyer was to go and do like the Samaritan. We must move beyond talk to action.
CONCLUSION
Let us then be compassionate, careful of our conduct and enlarge the circle of our friends.
IS ANYBODY HAPPIER
Is anybody happier
Because you passed his way?
Does anyone remember
That you spoke to him today?
This day is almost over,
And its toiling time is through;
Is there anyone to utter now
A friendly word for you?
Can you say tonight in passing
With the days that slipped so fast,
That you helped a single person,
Of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing
Over what you did or said?
Does one whose hopes were fading
Now with courage look ahead?
Did you waste the day, or lose it?
Was it well or poorly spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness
Or a scar of discontent?
