Love Is The Key
Luke 10: 25 - 37
Intro: Mamie was an elderly woman, plagued with arthritis and a number of other ailments. People were surprised to see her going regularly to the post office to buy stamps. One Christmas the lines were particularly long, but there was Mamie patiently waiting her turn. Someone pointed out to her that there were stamp machines in the lobby. She could save time and energy by using them. "That’s true," Mamie responded. "But a machine won’t ask me about my arthritis." (From a sermon by Dennis Davidson, Service To Fellow Christians, 11/5/2009)
I I have heard quite a few sermons on this passage that hold up the behavior of the Samaritan as an example for us to follow.
A VS. 30 – Jesus said: A man was going down fro Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.”
B I am laying on the floor because I want us to identify with the man in the ditch. At the time of Jesus, this was a dangerous road. It was referred to as “the way of blood.”
C An 18 mile trip which drops 1730 feet where there are many caves for robbers to hide. No one in their right mind would travel that road alone.
II VSS. 31 – 35 We assume from the conversation Jesus had with the lawyer that the injured man was a Jew. But, what if he was a Jew but a Samaritan?
A VS 31 – A priest. No respectable Jewish priest would ever help or even touch a Samaritan because they were “unclean” – Who would you never “touch”?
B VS 32 – A Levite. Heaven forbid that a Levite should have compassion on a Samaritan. They hated the Samaritans so much they would get as far away from them as possible! – Who do you avoid?
C VS 33 – 35 Do you take care of your own?
III (Get up off the floor) I want you to imagine that you are that person in the ditch.
A Ask yourself these questions: Who would you EXPECT to help you? / Who would you WANT to help you? / Who would be the last person in the world that you expect of want to help you?
B I suggest to you that we all have ditches in which we might wallow. Places where we feel alone and long for help.
C. The person closest to you may be struggling with their own DITCH.
Concl: What about the people in our community who are stuck in their ditch. People like the homeless who have no place but the ditch in which they find themselves. Who are the “others in the ditch” that pass by on a daily basis because they are not like us. Love is the key to compassion. We may have pity for those stuck in the ditches of their lives. But, I tell you pity weeps and runs away; Compassion comes to help and stay.
