First Church of God in Harvey
Sunday Morning – July 3rd, 2011
Let us pray….
Welcome….
Tomorrow if our lives are spared, we will be celebrating our Independence Day. Although many of us are saying that we are free, the only ones who are truly free are those who have been set free by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in St. John 8 verse 36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” Have you been set free? or are you still bound under the burden of sin? If you are still bound, today, this day, the day which the Lord hath made, the day in which we are rejoicing, and being glad in it, it is a good day to be truly set free, and you will be able to say, He set me free, He set me free..
The 125th North American Convention came to a close on last Wednesday night. It was a Holy Spirit filled convention, and the theme was, Transforming Culture by Being the Body of Christ. For some people, camp meeting is a time of just meeting friends, and socializing. For others it is a time of hearing the word of God, and allowing the word of God to apply to their lives. Throughout the camp meeting, the word love was being expressed, Love for God; Love for self; Love for world; Love for family; and Love for church. There were two services each day, along with many conferences. The morning service was held at......................................, and the evening service at ..............................
On Tuesday night of the camp meeting we participated in Holy Communion, and on Wednesday night we had the lighting of the candles, and we were reminded to let our light shine. One of the speaker spoke from Matthew 22 verse 37. She focused on how we are to mirror God’s love. She said “we are to love God with everything we are and then love our neighbors as we love ourselves.” She asked the question, “Does what we do, say, and how we act, provide any type of reflection of God’s love for the world?”
Today, I would like to continue with the thought, Love for world. Our text will be taken from St. Luke 10 verses 25 through 37..........
Our topic for today is, Who is my neighbor? 1. Is it the priest who passed by on the other side? 2. Is it the Levite who looked, and passed by on the other side? or 3. Is it the Samaritan who showed compassion?
Most of us have been told that our neighbor is the person who lives next door, and some might extend this, to the persons who live across the street. For us, we have been given a very limited view to who is our neighbor. Today we will be able to see how Jesus expanded on a very simple question asked by a lawyer to reveal to him who really was his neighbor.
In our text it says a certain lawyer stood, and tempted him saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Teacher, what does a man need to do to live forever in heaven? Being a lawyer, he should have been aware of the verse in Deuteronomy 6 verse 16, ye shall not tempt the Lord your God. Was this lawyer sincere in the question he asked? Did he really wanted to know as to what he had to do in order to have eternal life? This lawyer asked one question, and instead of answering, Jesus asked him two questions. What is written in the law? How readest thou?
Guess what? This lawyer was smart, he had the answer. What is the answer to the question? “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself” Jesus said to him, you have answered correctly, you have given the right answer, this do, and thou shalt live.
One would think that would be the end of the question and answer period, but this lawyer was not satisfied, he had a follow up question. By the way Lord, who is my neighbor? Jesus the all wise God, did not give a simple answer, but told him a parable that would receive his attention.
The question who is my neighbor, it is said has caused endless disputes among the Jews. This question our Lord answered “in the parable of the good Samaritan,” “ showed that our neighbor does not mean merely one of the church or faith to which we belong. It has no reference to race, color, or class distinction.” It is said that, “our neighbor is every soul who is wounded and bruised by the adversary. Our neighbor is every one who is the property of God.
Jesus in this parable or story, tells of a certain man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves. It is said that in journeying from Jerusalem to Jericho, the traveler had to pass through a portion of the wilderness of Judea. The road led down a wild, rocky ravine, which was infested with robbers, and was often the scene of violence. Just like it is in Chicago, New York, Jamaica, Florida, you name the place, and there is violence. As this man traveled down this road, this road infested by robbers, waiting for him were the thieves and robbers. They stripped him of his raiment; whatever he had of value. If this happened in Chicago, this man would have been robbed of his money, his wallet with credit cards, his watch if he had one, and possible his shoes. If this man had seen the face of any of the robbers, they would put a bullet in him, so that they would not be identified. Well things have not changed, this wan was beaten and was left to die. Lying on that Jericho road was a man robbed, beaten and left to die As he laid there dying, as he laid there hopeless, as he laid there not knowing if he would see his family again, from his swollen eyes, and pained up body, he glimpsed a priest coming down the road. Is there hope for this dying man? Would the priest help him in this is time of need? The priest no doubt was busy; he could not get too involved with a dying man, he had to maintain his purity, and so he passed by on the other side. Who is my neighbor? Is it the priest who passed by on the other side? As the priest passed by on the other side, there lies on the street of Jericho, a man who is robbed, beaten, and dying.
As we come into the house of God each Sunday, as we come here to worship God, is there someone that we have passed by on the other side? Is there someone we could have helped, but we were too busy doing the work of the Lord, and so we passed by on the other side. As we pass by on the other side, is there someone still crying out for help, that we could have helped, but did not help. It is so easy to help those we know, and pass by on the other side forgetting about those whom we do not know.
Mary Hawkins in her message Monday night at the camp meeting said, “We are to mirror God’s love for us so that those around us begin to understand God’s great love for them. Our neighbors will not be moved by our show of big words, our theological stance, titles or degrees. Simply put, they will know we love God with our character, our being, and our conscience because we follow Jesus Christ who teaches us to agape.”
On that same road was a Levite. This Levite stopped and looked at the dying man. This Levite saw the need. He was curious to know what had happened, and so he stopped and looked at this man who was beaten and dying. He saw the man crying out for help. He must have been convicted; he might have wished that he had not come that way. He somehow must have told himself that this was not really his concern, and so he too passed by on the other side. As the Levite passed by on the other side, there still lay on the street of Jericho, a man wounded and bleeding, a man whom it seems no one cared about, a man who is dying. Who is my neighbor? Is it the Levite who looked and passed by on the other side?
How many times as Christian have we seen a need, and say to our-selves, that is not our business, we will not get involved? How many times have the opportunity come our way to help others, but find ourselves too busy to help? Yes, we help at Thanksgiving time, because that is the right thing to do. Yes, we help at Christmas time, because that is what everybody else is doing, but on Independence Day, tomorrow, that is a day to celebrate with our friends and family, and not to help those who are in need, Is that really true? How many times have we said let somebody else do the dirty work, and so like the priest and the Levite we too have passed by on the other side.
I believe God is saying to us today, let’s get involved, Let’s reach out to others. Let’s show a dying world how much we care. So often as Christians we become so self centered, and think it is all about us. Last Wednesday night at the camp meeting in Anderson, I saw 33 young men and women who were going to Russia the following day to get in involved with the people of God in Russia. They were saying, yes we care, and we will not just look and pass by on the other side,. They were saying that there is a need, and we will be involved. They were saying we will be neighbors to those who are in Russia.
Who is my neighbor? Is it the priest who passed by on the other side? Who is my neighbor? Is it the Levite who looked, and pass by on the other side? Well that is not the end of the story. Traveling on that same street was a Samaritan. In order to fully understand this parable, we need to know who were the Samaritans. It is said that “ Samaritans lived in a kingdom in northern Israel called Samaria. They were a group of Jews who broke from orthodox Jewry (or the Jewish people ) during the 6th Century BC and constructed a temple on the mountain Gerizim. They married non-Jews and were considered “half Jews” or of a mixed race”. Like most break away groups throughout history, they were intensely disliked by the group of people they had left.”
The Samaritans were half Jews, just the same way as some of us might have a half brother or a half sister, which means not having the same mother and father, and sometimes that half brother or half sister is not considered as a true member of the family. I have two brother and two sisters, and I also have a brother who is considered a half brother, same father, but a different mother ……
During the First century, the Samaritans were hated by the average Jew. Quite often Jesus and his disciples went through Samaria and interacted with the Samaritans, and while going through Samaria he met a woman at the well, and through this meeting many Samaritans became believers.
When Jesus spoke of a certain Samaritan, the one whom we call “The Good Samaritan,” he was giving an example of a group of people that was hated by those in the audience. As Christians we don’t like to talk about hate, and we say we don’t hate anyone, but we might have a strong dislike for certain people. When we hear the name Muslim, Jehovah’s Witness; ex-wife; mother in law; the bike rider with a leather jacket and a tattoo, how do we react to these names?
If Jesus was in Chicago, and telling the parable today, what do you think he would say? Here are two versions of the parable as Jesus might tell them today, and how it was told by Graham Pockett.
The Parable of the Good Muslim:
“A Jew was going from Jerusalem to the Gaza Strip when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes,. Beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A rabbi happened to be going down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Muslim came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He gave the man first aid, dressing his wounds and stopping the bleeding. As soon as he was able to travel he took him to a nearby hospital. Look after him, he told, and when I return I will pay for any extra you may have.”
The Parable of the Good Biker:
“A businessman was going from Manhattan island to Newark, when he was mugged. He was robbed, beaten severely and left in the gutter, half dead. A Baptist preacher happened to be going down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed on the other side. So too a Muslim passed by on the other side of the road, ignoring him. But a huge tattooed biker saw the man and took pity on him. He made him comfortable and called an ambulance. He then followed it to the hospital. Look after him he told the hospital staff and when I return I will pay for any extra expense you may have.”
Let’s make this more current and call it the parable of the Jehovah”s Witness, and this is the Thompson’s Version.
One of the ministers from the First Church of God in Harvey was traveling in his car to attend the Sunday morning service at The First Church of God in Harvey. On his way he was hijacked at gunpoint, he was robbed, beaten, thrown out of his car and left on the street to die. One of the members was on their way to church, and saw a dying man lying by the side walk, the member slowed down, looked, and continue on their way to church, it was pass 11:00 am, and that member was already late. Driving down the same street was another member of a close by church, this member stopped , looked and said that person looks like minister so and so from the nearby church, but he was too busy to find out. On the same street was a Jehovah’s Witness who had parked his car on the side walk, and was passing out flyers in the neighborhood. As he passed out flyers, he saw a man lying on the side walk , beaten, bleeding and dying. He had no time to check to find out who he was, He had no time to find out what church he attend, but he saw a man in need that needed help. He put aside his flyers, ran over to his car, drove it to where this dying man was, and there he started to bind up the wounds of this dying church of God minister. Someone helped him to put this minister in his car, and he drove to a nearby hospital, where he took the man to the emergency room. He told the person in charge, I don’t know this man, but please take care of him, and here is my name and address, if he has no insurance, if he can’t afford to pay, just send me the bill.
The story of the Good Samaritan is a story of Acts of Kindness. It is a story of how we should behave towards our neighbors,. Whoever our neighbor might be. It is a story of giving hope to someone because you came by. So, on that Jericho road, the priest had passed by a dying man in need. On that Jericho road, the Levite had stopped and looked, but also passed by a dying man in need. Coming down that Jericho road, was this man’s enemy. This Samaritan saw a need, he did not see a Jew. This Samaritan saw a man bleeding and dying, he did not see his enemy. This Samaritan saw a man in need of help, and he was there to help. This Samaritan reached out with compassion. He did what the priest and Levite did not do. He went beyond the call of duty and helped. Look what this Samaritan did, he bound up this man’s wounds. Some of us would be very cautious of being sued for malpractice. The Samaritan poured oil and wine on the wounds. He put this dying man on his own beast and brought him to an inn. As this Samaritan departed the following day, he gave the inn keeper a down payment, with the instruction take care of him, and if it cost any more just put it on my bill, and when I come again I will repay you.
This lawyer heard the parable, and was now convinced as to who was his neighbor. Was it the priest who had passed by on the other side? Was it the the Levite who had looked and passed by on the other side? Or Was it the Samaritan who had shown compassion? Jesus asked the question, “Which now of these three thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? The lawyer was convinced and said, “He that shewed mercy on him.” To this Jesus replied, “Go, and do likewise.
Who is my neighbor? Yes, it is that person who lives next door. Yes,. it is that person who lives across the street. Our neighbor is also, those on our street, those in our neighborhood; those in our city; those in our ward, those in our state, those in our country. In fact, the whole world is our neighbor. Our neighbors are the people we like and don’t like. Our neighbors are the people from those poor countries. Our neighbors are those from different ethnic origins, that sometimes we don’t even like to talk about.
Who is my neighbor? Whoever that neighbor might be, we are called to love them. In this parable, the priest had failed; the Levite had failed, but “the Samaritan had fulfilled the command. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” As we leave here today, let’s remember the answer to the question, Who is my neighbor ? and let’s show love to all around us.
This Samaritan in this parable is like our Lord He risked his own life and treated his enemy like his own brother. You and I were bruised and dying. Like this man who fell among thieves, we were hopeless. In our dying condition, in our hopeless condition, Jesus came by, he did not pass by on the other side. Jesus he left his glory, came to earth, lived among men, took upon himself your sins and my sins, went to calvary’s croos and their he died for you and for me. Our Lord was buried, but he rose again, and went to be with his father, and one day he will come again.
As we wait for the coming of the Lord, let’s be busy about our Lord’s business. Let’s show our love to each other. Let’s humbly ourselves, and reach out to those in need. God is counting on you. God is counting on me. Let’s reach out and show mercy.
Let us stand
Call to discipleship
Closing song/prayer
