ON THE HOMEFRONT
Luke 10: 25-37 (p735) Oct. 10, 2010
INTRODUCTION:
When I was growing up there was a Methodist minister that came into my home almost everyday and taught me real truths about loving my neighbor…Fred Rogers would come into his house, take off his jacket, slip on his cardigan sweater, change his dress shoes for sneakers and say, "Hello Neighbor"
"It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor
Would you be mine
Could you be mine
It’s a neighborly day in the beauty wood
It’s a neighborly day for a beauty
Would you be mine
Could you be mine
I have always wanted to have a neighbor
Just like you….
And then as a little boy, Mr. Rogers took me into his neighborhood. He introduced me to King Friday and land of make believe, Mr. McFeely the postman, speedy….and be always had a special guest…every part of the show was planned to teach you how to be a good neighbor, how to treat the people you came into contact with daily…Its only as an adult that I came to realize that Fred Rogers built his show on the foundation of the parable of the good Samaritan...and that when I walk out the door of my home I walk into the neighborhood…and into the lives of my neighbors.
Its exactly what Jesus did…He walked out of the front door of his home in heaven and walked into our neighborhood… the 2nd chapter of Philippians tells us how He came…"He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant"
And one of the most difficult challenges in the New Testament immediately precedes that truth. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5)
As I walk out my front door, into the world…if I have called Christ my Lord and Savior, my attitude should be the same as His…I can come sing about this attitude on Sunday mornings, I can pray about this attitude on Wed. nights, but I am called to live out this attitude in the neighborhood…and its not an easy one…"It’s the attitude of a servant…what can I do for you! How can I help you? How can I serve you?" that’s the attitude the Spirit of Christ is trying to create in my heart, and all the while my sinful nature…my selfish nature says…"No, serve me…Give me….Help me!"
It really is a battle for our hearts…it really is about the attitude that wins.
No wonder this parable is told by Jesus to a man who wants to justify his…
1.
I Eternal life will never be found in External living.
An expert in the law…the O.T. commands stood up to test Jesus…Testing God is never the greatest of ideas.
"Teacher what must I Do to inherit eternal life"
What must I do? It’s the way most of us think…If I'm good enough…do enough…live nice enough…I'm in!
But I love how Jesus makes us face the real truth…How putting the cart before the horse never works…
He asks the tester…"What's written in the law? How do you read it?"
And believe it or not he gives the right answer "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with your strength and with all your mind."
Love God emotionally, spiritually, physically…Love God with everything you are…Love Him completely and totally.
Here is the starting place for salvation…it has nothing to do with doing…it has everything to do with being in relationship with God…seeking him, talking to him, surrendering to Him…really falling in love with him.
Its what He created us for…its what God really desires. Its what changes everything especially our attitudes.
And then the expert adds "and love your neighbor as yourself"
I'm not sure if the tester added this because he was suppose to…or if he had this in mind for the testing of Jesus, but
Jesus responds "Do this and your will live"
Notice Jesus doesn't give a list of good things to do for salvation…He approves the starting place for salvation…Loving God. Do this….really love him, and that horse will pull the cart. That relationship will influence how your heart beats, mind thinks, hands work in your neighborhood.
When elderly Adele Gaboury turned up missing four years ago,
concerned neighbors in Worchester, Massachusetts, informed the police.
A brother told police she had gone into a nursing home. Satisfied with
that information, Gaboury's neighbors began watching her property.
Michael Crowley noticed her mail, delivered through a slot in the door, piling
high. When he opened the door, hundreds of pieces of mail drifted out.
2.
He notified police, and deliveries were stopped. Gaboury's next-door neighbor,
Eileen Dugan, started paying her grandson $10 twice a month to mow Gaboury's
lawn. Later Dugan's son noticed Gaboury's pipes had frozen, spilling water out
the door. The utility company was called to shut off the water. What no one
guessed was that while they'd been trying to help, Gaboury had been inside
her home. When police finally investigated the house as a health hazard, they
were shocked to find her body. The Washington Post (10/27/93) reported that
police believe Gaboury died of natural causes four years ago. The respectable,
external appearance of Gaboury's house had hidden the reality of what was on
the inside. Something similar can happen to people: we may appear outwardly
proper while spiritually dead. All sorts of religious activity may be happening
outside, while the real problem is missed: spiritual death on the inside.
SOURCE: Vialo Weis, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Leadership, Vo. 15, no. 3.) Contributed by Gerald Flurry
The expert wanted to justify his outward activity, but Jesus wanted to make sure he was spiritually alive.
During these 40 days …you can look for activities to serve, but I'm much more concerned about your relationship with God, than any activity. If your attitude is "do good" stuff so I can go to heaven it will end, or at lest lose its power in a month…if you are deeply in love with God it will effect how you live in the neighborhood for the rest of your life, because God will effect everything that shapes your attitude…His heart will beat in your chest, He will change your thinking, He will give you strength "to do all things in Christ Jesus" and our attitude becomes one of the serving others…we see through God's eyes.
II OUR NEIGHBOR LYING THE DITCH
Jesus is asked by the religious expert "Who is my Neighbor?"
And Jesus tells the story…It’s a story most of us have heard so often we take it for granted.
"There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way
he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went
off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same
road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite
religious man showed up: he also avoided the injured man.
"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and
bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn,
and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, "take good care of him. If it costs any more,
put it on my bill--I'll pay you on my way back."
"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the
man attacked by robbers?" 3.
"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, "Go and do the same."
It’s a pretty powerful story…a guy gets mugged and beaten in the middle of a trip…his half dead, naked bloody…and the muggers have left him by the side of the road in a ditch. Two religious men are on the same road…A priest, God's representative…and a Levite, a man from the priestly tribe of Israel…both see the man, and quickly move to the other side of the road and keep going…But a Samaritan comes down the road (Jews and Samaritans hate each other) We don't know if the guy in the ditch is a Jew, but since he's coming from Jerusalem…most would assume he is…and the religious expert whole telling the story definitely is.
When the Samaritan sees the broken man…avoidance isn't the reaction…pity is the reaction, and then he gets in the ditch, he gets dirty…he gets inconvenienced, and he even pays the Innkeeper out of his own pocket…with the promise to pay more if needed.
All three of these guys saw the same man…2 are expected to "good and religious"
One isn’t. but while no one is watching one shows pity and compassion…and two roll on by. And its not the one who by all expectations should.
Which of the three was a neighbor? The One who had mercy.
Mercy is reflection of our heart…Mercy reacts. Mercy runs toward the hurt, not away from the hurting. Religion doesn't make you merciful…your heritage doesn't make you merciful. Love makes you merciful. Love makes you a neighbor. It is the attitude of your heart that will make you pass by on the other- side, or get off your donkey and get in the ditch.
And not only does it get in the ditch it doesn’t just do the minimum. Mercy goes the 2nd mile.
[The law of Rome said that any soldier of the Empire could demand that any Jew in Jerusalem under Rome's authority carry his amour for a mile. Young Jewish men were usually grabbed off the street and placed into this service.]
Can't you see these young men grumbling and complaining about the unfairness, hating these Romans who would oppress abuse and use them? They marked the 1 mile point outside the city with piles of stones. As soon as that point the amour was dropped and they would run back home as fast as possible.
Here's my question…what would happen if you reached that mile marker and you kept going? I promise you those soldiers knew where the mile marker 1 was as well as these young Jewish men.
What would have occurred between a brand new Christian young man and his hated enemy...if that young man kept walking…He voluntarily bore that soldiers burden to mile marker 2 and beyond. 4.
I believe Mercy is found after mile marker 1. It's found not only in getting off your donkey and into the ditch, but in the bandaging of wounds…letting them ride while you walk…finding a place for healing and then even paying for that out of your pocket.
This world will not be won for Jesus because we are religious…they will know that we are Christians by the Love we share…and the most powerful truth of that love is after mile marker 1.
[So this week I would challenge you to look around you in your neighborhood…the people that live next to you, down the street from you, or across the road…and I want to ask you to voluntarily serve them…fix their mailbox, prepare a meal for the young couple with 2 small kids who both work…look for something real and tangible to do in your neighborhood that involves serving…pray for God to give you the opportunity and the eyes of His spirit to recognize it when it happens.]
"If you know these things…you'll be blessed if you do them."
Let's Pray
