Love Your Neighbor
Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
The law of Christ-Things the Lord has already spoken when He was walking and teaching with authority.
The starter’s gun fired and off the contestants raced. As they rushed toward the finish line one boy left the track and started running toward his friends standing in the infield. Ken blew his whistle, trying to get the boy to come back to the track, but all to no avail.
Then one of the other competitors noticed, a down syndrome girl with thick bottle glasses. She stopped just short of the finish line and called out to the boy, “Stop, come back, this is the way.” Hearing the voice of her friend the boy stopped and looked. “Come back, this is the way” she called. The boy stood there, confused. His friend, realising he was confused, left the track and ran over to him. She linked arms with him and together they ran back to the track and finished the race. They were the last to cross the line, but were greeted by hugs from their fellow competitors and a standing ovation from the crowd.
The downs syndrome girl with the bottle glasses taught everyone present that day an important life lesson, that it’s important to take time out form our own goals in life to help others find their way. Reflecting on the episode afterwards Ken was reminded of some verses from Romans 15:
Rom 15:1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Luk 10:25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 10:26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
Luk 10:27 And he answering said, 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 neighbour as thyself.
Luk 10:28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Luk 10:29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Luk 10:30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
Luk 10:31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
Luk 10:34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Luk 10:35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
• Jesus says by chance there came able people to assist. Take note, yes see, but be able to do something as well.
You may be the person that has passed someone in life by someone close to you someone in your area of influence but aren’t taking advantage of being the help that they need!
The priest- He may have had other duties as a priest to attend to
His focus was on the other priorities, but man why did you see him and then pass by the other side. You went out of your way to not get close
Why do we see the hurts and plains and mishaps of others and we “pass by the other side” We literally take on a judgemental spirit and get as far away from them as possible
You see this certain man was not given a name but we do know he went from Jerusalem to Jericho which means it is safe to say it was one of their own. The likelihood of him being a Jew was highly possible. He was a “church member”
Then someone else who had the opportunity to help and they first looked on him (saw him) and then went to the other side. WHAT!
I think that must have been he had some thoughts that took place. Seeing the condition that man was in would take too much time and patience.
They way they look and what happened to them is probably their fault anyway. They brought it upon themselves
I don’t want to be seen dealing with this. Let me just pass by it. Let me overlook it and not deal with what has happened or happening honestly. Dealing with it honestly may take to much effort on my part so lets just assume its their fault.
Then the “wrong person” handled the issue the right way
• Saw him and had compassion on him.
o I see your messed up condition. I see you are in a bad place and instead of casting judgement on you through my ACTIONS OF AVOIDANCE, something is moving within me to help
o He had a deeper sense that something had to be done to get the hurting out of the condition that they are in. He couldn’t leave him in that condition.
o We need to see/recognize and then have compassion upon those that are ashamed, wounded, and alone. That’s why they are manifesting and doing what they are doing. They CAN”T get out of it by themselves
o They need someone to have the EYES, They need someone to have the COMPASSION. They need someone who is FOLLOWING THE LAW OF CHRIST, that’s true religion
• Jas 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
• He went to him-He had to take a closer look at what was really going on with him
o Sometimes you need to go to them and get closer to them and truly see what’s going on in their life
o From a distance they may have seemed to done things to themselves or make bad decisions that caused them to be where they are….and many times that is true…they may be reaping what they have sown….but that doesn’t negate the fact that you should get a closer look
o Some problems we are having in our relationships is that we are failing to take a closer look
We make assumptions and deceive ourselves in thinking we know
Are we following the law of Christ as we entertain February as the month of love.
The word is used so loosely and most of us probably believe we love but I think it is vital you take another look!
I Cor. 13
Bear ye one another’s burden’s. In some languages the literal translation for the word friend is he who bears my burdens
Looking at love and relationships is a command from the Lord Jesus Christ. He said love God and love yourself, and love your neighbor
The young man asked a question, Who is my neighbor
A question from someone who wants to do the bare minimum, putting himself in a category that this doesn’t apply to my life. You don’t know my life so this commandment doesn’t apply to me
Mindset of isolation, mindset of what we do or don’t do doesn’t affect anyone else
What a smart alec, trying to wiggle out of his responsibilities to others (too many are like this, too many have your own thing going on,) Im telling it like it is!
If these two commandments were the 2 greatest commandments then these are 2 things we should be finding ways to do them not make excuses concerning our inability to do them. Scripture says 1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Not he that dodges the will of God
So Jesus says ok here ya go heres what I want to show you
A certain man, he had no name because it leaves it open to relate to anyone, this is what happens to people
1. Fell among thieves (Hiding their true identity, usually liars)
They strip you, which means they bring shame into your life, they take from you, they take away your covering
2. They have been wounded (Abused, hurt, ganged upon, mistreated)
Can I break down wounded and abuse a bit more
Mean spirited threats, withholding information that affects your household, belittling and made to fell like your nothing, not following through on your word and commitments, constantly giving empty promises just to procrastinate,
3. They departed from him leaving him “half dead”-That’s interesting way of phrasing it
a. That’s must have been the feeling. Im still alive but I feel dead. Im left alone, I feel isolated, I feel used, I feel wasted, I feel overlooked, I feel Im not being heard, I feel I may not be able to continue like this, I’m almost dead
What did the Samaritan do is what we must do
Bound up his wounds (not poured salt in them)
Poured oil and poured wine
Oil represents the anointing and the destroying of yokes, the Holy Ghost that brings rest, and wine represents the cleansing power of the blood just like we see in the last supper when Jesus said take this cup which represents the remission of sins
Set him on his beast- He carried the burden
Took him to a place of safety of an Inn
Hurt people need a place of safety and security that while they are recovering and being healed they are safe from further hurt
He took care of him and then on the next day he took upon him the expenses of the continuous care of the man. There may be some expenses you have to incure because they are hurting, those that you are helping may get sick and make a mess but it is up to you to continue to cover them and pay that expense. In other words this may not be an overnight thing, an over night process. This is very key to the story that the Samaritan said keep on taking care of him. He could have said well I have done something, I got him off the street. I know he’s not completely well yet but I don’t need to take anymore responsibility.
This is the problem with a lot of Christians, we want everything to happen immediately and aren’t patient enough to allow the process of healing and recovery to take place.
There are wounded people that need on last assurance. The Samaritan said I will come back. Hurting people need to know that we aren’t going to leave them.
Who is all this a picture of ….JESUS CHRIST!
