Sermon: The Demands of Real Love
Scripture - Luke 10:25-37 “One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
Introduction: In Luke Chapter 10, Jesus gives an expert of the Law, a profound lesson on the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. This was not a new concept, but one the Lawyer needed to hear again. As Our Father, God calls us to love God and to love God’s children. Acts 17:26 states that God made us all, “And (God) hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” We are brothers because we are children of a common parent. To be a true child of God, is to be a true brother to God's children. If children of God are created in the likeness of God, we can do nothing better than demonstrate His likeness, learn the character, the nature of our Creator and then allow that understanding to shape our conduct. Our lesson today, gives insight into real Love as revealed by Jesus. I am always amazed to see those in Scripture and in life, who are willing to question Jesus and his word without any intention of learning and submitting to his word. This expert of the Law knew the message of Deuteronomy 6:6-8 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sit in thine house, and when thou walk by the way, and when thou lie down, and when thou rise up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” And also Leviticus 19:17-18 “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.”
From a child, the lawyer was taught that loving God and loving people was the heart of God’s message. The lawyer in the lesson who wished to make trial of the skill of Jesus in solving the intricate and puzzling question as to how to obtain salvation. Jesus’ answer was simple, Love God and Love People and you will live!
Look at the people involved in Jesus’ story. The lawyer treats the wounded man as a topic for discussion. The Suffering man is just another statistic. Thieves, powerful and numerous treated the man as an object to be exploited. The priest treated the man as a problem to be avoided. The Levite treated the man as an object of curiosity. Only the Samaritan treated him as a brother, a person to be loved and cherished. From the story, we learn three principles about brotherhood and loving our neighbor. First, the lack of love is often easy to justify, even though it is never right. Secondly, our neighbor is anyone of any race or creed or social background who is in need. And Finally, love means crossing the street, acting to meet the need. Wherever you live, there are needy people close by. There is no good reason to ignore our brother and refuse to help.
Jesus ignores the deep-seated hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. He overlooked the prejudice Jewish attitude against interracial marriage and their elite mindset as the pure descendants of Abraham. Jesus was probably teaching somewhere near Bethany, near the road that passes from Jerusalem to Jericho. The lawyer stood up to attract attention to himself, maybe to allow his appearance to give emphasis to his question and its answer. Remember, Jesus was teaching on love. His emphasis was that His followers were to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind and then to love their neighbor as themselves.
The scripture clearly points out the lawyer’s motives: he sought to justify himself. I have found that when people complain or criticize a clear principle of Scripture, their motives are the same. When we seek to justify ourselves, we limit what we can receive. Self-justification can blind our vision, hinder our perception and warp our understanding. In 1John 4:20, there is a clear teaching that seems to trouble many. “If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” If this Scripture were understood, the problem of racism could be solved. It is probably difficult for the world to believe the Church’s message or really God’s message of love because of how we lived. We tend to struggle with verses like this because we seek to justify ourselves.
What a shocking response when Jesus said to the lawyer, “Thou has answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” The lawyer had asked his question simply as a test. You see God’s Law to the lawyer was simply a matter for speculation and theory, so when Jesus used the word "do", it was very startling. It showed the difference between the lawyer’s view of love and Jesus’ views of love. The lawyer viewed love as an idea, Jesus viewed love as an action. The lawyer had hoped by his question to expose Jesus as one who set aside the law, but Jesus had exposed the lawyer as one who merely theorized about the law, and himself as one who advocated the doing of God’s Law. Sometimes I wonder if we are only hearers rather than doers of the law. But the lawyer, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? The lawyer felt he could justify his conduct if permitted to define the word "neighbor." He asked this question, hoping to find a loophole of security and maintain his public standing and maybe quiet his conscience. He was expecting the Lord to tell him that his fellow Jews only were, but the Lord tells him that he ought to be a neighbor to any man and every man in need. As our nation seeks to be great again, we need to ask, “Who are our neighbors?” The lawyer definition of neighbor only included fellow Jews. Yet followers of Jesus must see it differently.
The setting for Jesus’ parable was the winding road that led from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road was eighteen-miles-long, with isolated spots and rocky hiding places that had a reputation for ambushes. The road was a common hiding place for bandits. So many robberies and murders were committed there that it was known as the bloody way. Jericho was situated in the valley going down from Jerusalem. About twelve thousand priests and Levites dwelt there, who all attended the service of the temple and used that same road to commute. This road was the most public road in all Judea, as it was the grand thoroughfare between these two cities. Please do not make this man of the parable a careless or unconcern man. He is an ordinary man, just like any one in the room. His simple must run the race before him. His journey took him that way. He could not choose his race, or the place where trouble came upon him. No one would choose sickness, poverty, or homelessness. Yet all of the above maybe your neighbor.
The story of the good Samaritan and his compassion is instructive and challenges each of us to consider how we treat our neighbors. Love thy neighbor! Loving our neighbor is not difficult for most of us if we get to define “neighbor.” We often define “neighbor” as those we like and who like us back. People like us; those we are comfortable around. Further, loving our neighbor is not difficult for most of us if we get to define “love.” Love is more than a Facebook post, offering a passing word of encouragement, attending a one-hour event to support a cause, feeling sympathy toward someone. That is shallow “love.” Believers are called to what might be termed “inconvenient love.” That is, love that pushes us out of our comfort zone. Love that asks more of us than the slightest of sacrifices. Here is what real love looked like to Jesus.
1. Real Love Requires Crossing Boundaries. We naturally like people like us. In this lesson, it is the hated outsider Samaritan who crosses a boundary. In doing that, Jesus teaches us that our man-made divisions are not a good enough excuse for the lawyer or us. Who might be across the boundary in our life? The addict or homeless, the person from the hated race, or the wrong side of the family, the annoying neighbor who need s Jesus, the dirty poor person who needs a helping hand or maybe the person who works a lowly job at your workplace? The High Cost of Real Love Means Crossing Boundaries. When was the last time the love of God caused you to cross boundaries? There is an old Elvis Presley song, “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” that says, “If I could be you, if you could be me For just one hour, If we could find a way To get inside each other's mind, If you could see you through my eyes, Instead of your ego I believe you'd be, you'd be Surprised to see That you've been blind!” Walk a mile in my shoes, Just walk a mile in my shoes, And before you abuse, criticize and accuse, Just walk a mile in my shoes.” The song reminds us that before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. In effect, it is a reminder to practice empathy. Jesus calls believers beyond empathy, beyond personal boundaries to godly love.
2. Real Love requires Emotional Investment. The parable tells us that the Samaritan “took pity” on him and was moved emotionally. It is easy to suffer from “compassion fatigue.” Compassion fatigue is a new term for me. Psychologists say because there are many calls for help that the public becomes weary of helping. There are too many needs from hurricanes, mud slides, fires, floods, pandemics, hunger, it is just too much! We see so many needs around us that we get numb to it. We start to ignore people. It is also easier to just click on a Facebook page or a Go.fundme page or to throw a couple dollars in a hat than it is to get emotionally invested in someone. The High Cost of Real Love Means Emotional Investment. The Samaritan went to him, picked him up, cleaned his wounds, applied oil and bandages, and gave him a little wine. Not because he was a nurse, and professional trained, he just cared. The Samaritan was emotionally invested. Nothing happens, love is lifeless until we get emotionally involved.
3. Real Love Requires Financial Commitment. Luke 10:34-35. What the Samaritan does for this man is substantial financially, especially the final promise. It is easy for us to be willing to give a little, especially if it’s an amount that requires no sacrifice on our part. It is another issue, though, to help someone when it costs us something extra or more! In this parable, Jesus stretches our understanding of real love. The good Samaritan sat the man on his own beast and carried him to an inn. When he pays for his care and then his extended care, we see love in action. The good Samaritan’s financial commitment recognizes the possibility of a future payment obligation, but his love has no limit. I realize that most of us would first like to review the budget, see what remains, or see what others are doing, but real love causes us to give. Real love causes us to cross boundaries, get emotionally and financially involved.
4. Real Love Requires Time Investment. Luke 10:34-35. The Samaritan’s mission of mercy takes time. He bandages him up, loads him up, finds a safe place to leave him, and promises to return to check in. Our time is valuable these days. Most of us are busy. Many of us would be quicker to give up our money than to give up our time. But time commitments are necessary sometimes. Helping the homeless, the addicted, the poor and the sick takes time.
Let us take an example: we have a co-worker who is struggling in her marriage and needs a sincere friend to listen to her and give guidance. What if it is not one fifteen-minute conversation but twenty lunch hours over the next year? Lunch hours that we would rather spend relaxing and decompressing than hearing the same stories again? The demonstration of Godly love is important because it may lead some wayward person to the path to life.
We have been concentrating on the good Samaritan of the story, but let’s go back for a moment to the discussion that occasioned the story. Jesus is asked about eternal life, and the discussion leads to the two greatest commandments. Jesus praises the Lawyer’s answer and says that following those commands will lead to life. Too often we focus our religion on “me and God” and presume that my relationships with those around me are separate. But this parable is a reminder to us just how important those horizontal relationships are. We must ask ourselves as followers of Christ, “Am I willing to touch them?” One of the most lasting images from all of Jesus’ parables is the image of the two religious leaders passing by on the other side of the road from this half-dead man. Equally arresting is the picture of the Samaritan being willing to bandage his wounds.
When I ask if you are willing to touch them, I do not necessarily mean physically, although there are certainly situations where we need to do that. It could also mean being willing to go to them and listening to their struggles. It could be coming beside them to walk through their struggle. It could be helping them with the things they need done and in so doing lightening their load. As you think of those around you and who you are going to count as your neighbor, are you willing to help them in their struggle? And perhaps the starting point is simply a willingness to touch their lives. The high cost of real love means a willingness to cross the road and demonstrate God’s love. What the world needs now is love! Dionne Warrick says,
“What the world needs now is love sweet love, It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, no, not just for some but for everyone. Lord, we don’t need another mountain, There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb, There are oceans and rivers enough to cross; Enough to last until the end of time.
What the world needs now is love sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of, what the world needs now is love sweet love, no, not just for some but for everyone.
Lord, we don’t need another meadow, there are corn fields and wheat fields enough to grow, there are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine, oh listen Lord, if you want to know.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. what the world needs now is love, sweet love, no, not just for some, oh but just for every, every, everyone."
Dionne Warrick sang those lyrics as if love was in short supply. The truth is that the Love of God has been poured in the heart of the children of God. Romans 5:5-8, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
What the world needs now is real love as revealed by Jesus, that cross boundaries, get emotionally and financially involved, who will invest the necessary time to pick someone up, pour in the oil and wine and love them into health. Love must be more than a theory or concept, it must be an action believers do! Do this and you will live! Amen.
