VIEWS ON LIFE/ADAPTED FROM AN OUTLINE BY BRO. RON BLANKENSHIP
Introduction: There is one daunting question asked by men and woman, boys and girls alike. It is a question that has been asked throughout time and continues to be asked. What is my purpose in life. What is the meaning of all there is in the world. That can be a mind boggling question at times. I want you to know that it hasn’t changed over the years.
Listen to this story out of Luke
Luke 10:25-37
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
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.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
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.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
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.
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.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Now I want to look at this passage of scripture and say this, there are three different views and meanings in life, wrapped up in this parable that Jesus told this lawyer. You see, it is not any different today than it was when Jesus was alive. A lawyer trying to confuse and trick people into looking at something different than it really is. That’s what I’d like to do today, let’s see it how it really is.
I. What’s yours is mine so I’ll take it/ The first basic meaning of life was greed/ If I want I’ll just take it
A. Stealing was the way these made a living
1. These men got up each day of their lives ready to prey on someone that was vulnerable.
a. There was not one ounce of remorse in what they did or who they effected.
*It was there endeavor to get what ever they could by what ever means they had to.
b. There actions were never an issue beyond there own selves.
*It didn’t matter what had to be done for this man to earn what he had he just took it.
2. You don’t have to be violent to be a thief who violates and steals from other people.
a. What we don’t understand that stealing is more than just taking money.
*when we steal we rob people of many things.
*There are so many other things we have to look at
b. These men robbed this man of many things.
*His dignity
*His money
*His health (work, family, friends)
*His trust
c. You don’t have to beat someone up to be a thief.
*You can hurt someone without lifting a finger (inmate that stole all the retirement money, Enron)
3. In this country today there are many ways for you and I to steal and we don’t even think about it.
a. taxes
b. work (pencils, time, pens)
c. Kids (if your in school and your not good your stealing someone elses opportunity to learn.
d. Kids (Your stealing someone else’s opportunity to worship)
c. Abortion (stealing life) (this is murder too)
“Taking a possession that is not yours. Taking credit for what someone else has done. False accusations to harm someone’s reputation. Cutting someone down to build self up.”
*My friend Paul Fries told me “never preach on abortion without preaching on the love of Jesus”
f. Trust/ I bought a truck from a man who said he was a preacher and a man of God, he ripped me off and I never trusted preachers until I met my Pastor
B. The eighth Commandment says “Thou shalt not steal
1. What did God have to say about the subject
a. When we talk about what God says we must always and I do mean always see it as God sees it
*We are a generation of people that want to water down the word of God and expect God to understand.
*We are raising a generation of Christians in this country that believe that the Big 10 are for the other people
b. Where are we in light of what God says.
*We can be thieves today without really thinking about
*We can be destroying others without even thinking about it
2. What God really says is what God really means
a. Just because you don’t like part of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t pertain to you or to us as a church.
b. If you believe part you must take it all
c. If you believe it you have to believe all of it
*I know what the bible says but this is the way I see it
Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.
*We want the Bible to validate our lives not our lives to validate the Bible
3. I would rather to have a man say that he believes none of the Bible than to say he only believes part of it.
II. What’s mine is mine and I’ll keep it/ The second basic meaning of life was selfishness
A. The Priest and the Levite were worse than the robber
1. The Robbers never claimed to be better than any body.
a. They weren’t hypocrites
*It was all out in the open.
b. These religious people covered there selfishness with their thoughts of self righteousness
Luke 10:31-32 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
*The very people that were supposed to help were just not going to do it.
B. Satan love to watch us doing nothing, but He must gleam with pride when we become like these men and do nothing Good.
1. There is danger in the church today.
a. Complacency
Ronald Meredith, in his book Hurryin’ Big For Little Reasons, describes one quiet night in early spring: Suddenly out of the night came the sound of wild geese flying. I ran to the house and breathlessly announced the excitement I felt. What is to compare with wild geese across the moon? It might have ended there except for the sight of our tame mallards on the pond. They heard the wild call they had once known. The honking out of the night sent little arrows of prompting deep into their wild yesterdays. Their wings fluttered a feeble response. The urge to fly--to take their place in the sky for which God made them-- was sounding in their feathered breasts, but they never raised from the water. The matter had been settled long ago. The corn of the barnyard was too tempting! Now their desire to fly only made them uncomfortable.
Temptation is always enjoyed at the price of losing the capacity for flight.
b. Apathy
When Rosina Hernandez was in college, she once attended a rock concert at which one young man was brutally beaten by another. No one made an attempt to stop the beating. The next day she was struck dumb to learn that the youth had died as a result of the pounding. Yet neither she nor anyone else had raised a hand to help him. She could never forget the incident or her responsibility as an inactive bystander.
Some years later, Rosina saw another catastrophe. A car driving in the rain ahead of her suddenly skidded and plunged into Biscayne Bay. The car landed head down in the water with only the tail end showing. In a moment a woman appeared on the surface, shouting for help and saying her husband was stuck inside.
This time Rosina waited for no one. She plunged into the water, tried unsuccessfully to open the car door, then pounded on the back window as other bystanders stood on the causeway and watched. First she screamed at them, begging for help, then cursed them, telling them there was a man dying in the car.
First one man, then another, finally came to help. Together they broke the safety glass and dragged the man out. They were just in time -- a few minutes later it would have been all over.
The woman thanked Rosina for saving her husband, and Rosina was elated, riding an emotional high that lasted for weeks. She had promised herself that she would never again fail to do anything she could to save a human live. She had made good on her promise
III. What’s mine is God’s so I’ll share it/ The third basic meaning of life was compassion/ v. 33-37
What’s Mine Is Yours, So I’ll Share It (vv. 33-37)...the Basic Virtue Is Compassion.
The Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. If the situation were turned around the Jew would not have helped the Samaritan.
All of us need the Samaritan’s view of life, for we are "our brother’s keeper."
A. The Jews would not have anything to do with the Samaritans
1. This is why Jesus used the Samaritan and not the Jew
a. it wouldn’t be a good parable had it been the other way around
*Remember they didn’t know who their neighbor was.
b. This man that questioned Jesus would never help the wayward soul.
*His life was consumed by other things/ he was trying to negate the wrong things he was doing in his own life.
2. We are in a society that somehow has lost it’s purpose and it’s sense of who are neighbor really is.
a. Our neighbor is the one who needs us.
*They need what we have
B. We need a Samaritans view of life
1. No one is less than me.
a. God is not a respecter of persons.
*In whatever condition I find myself in
*In whatever condition I find someone else in
b. He sees no man, woman, boy or girl but only his creation
*if God saw people then it would be a sliding scale for salvation/ if you were young your chances are bad, as you grow and mature you have a better chance, as you get old and detieriate you loose your good standing
2. No-one is greater than me.
a. that is not self rightousness.
*We must have a proper view of ourselves
*Just because we think were high and mighty doesn’t mean we are
3. There are those who can benefit from me
a. We all have something to offer
*God has given you something to give to the person in need/ Don’t define need by your standards/ Needs are different for different people
b. We must be willing to take what God has given and use it.
*If your not stopping by the wayside and giving up what you have then you must re-evaluate.
c. Jesus said that to become the greatest you must become the least.
*He stopped to help people that needed help.
ZACCHAEUS
ZACCHE’US A chief tax-gatherer, or publican, residing at Jericho, who, being a short man, climbed into a sycamore tree in order that he might see Jesus as He passed through that town. When Jesus came to the tree, He paused, looked up, and called Zaccheus by name. He told him to hasten and come down, because He intended to be a guest at his house. With undisguised joy Zaccheus hastened down and welcomed the Master. The people murmured, saying that He had "gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." Zaccheus was especially odious as being a Jew and occupying an official rank among the tax-gatherers, which would indicate unusual activity in the service of the Roman oppressors. He seems to have been deeply moved by the consideration shown him by Jesus and, before all the people, made the vow that attested his penitence: "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much," greater restitution than the law required (Num 5:7). Jesus thereupon made the declaration "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is [in the true spiritual sense] a son of Abraham" (Luke 19:1-10)
d. You see the help shown is what changed this man’s life forever.
Conclusion:
Think about the person next to you, the person in front of you, behind you. Could you stop and help them if they were beaten, battered, bruised, robbed of all they had, no dignity, not one penny to their name. Maybe you could see that and respond, but think about this, what about the beating and the robbery that is taking place on the inside. Do you see it. Do you think that you could be a good Samaritan and really stop and care or would you be like the Priest and the Levite and just turn your head and walk by.
Jesus stops by the roadside today for each of us. He is our friend in the time of need. I dare say there is not one sitting here today that doesn’t need a helping hand in some way of some kind, some kind of issue in your life and in mine. I must say, I can’t help you with all of them but I can say this: There is help in this place today, there is one who can help you with all of it. There is a savior named Jesus that has called you by your name. He knows where you are and what the issue is in your life. He has allowed us, me and these people here to help you. The one thing that we can’t do is read your mind, oh, we know you suffer and struggle but we don’t know what it is. Jesus does and I know that if you’ll open up, run into His arms, like the battered and beaten, robbed and bruised man, you can begin to heal and wake up to a new day with new beginnings.
