INTRODUCTION, At approximately 3:20 on the morning of March 13, 1964, twenty-eight-year-old Kitty Genovese was returning to her home in a nice middle-class area of Queens, NY. She parked her car in a nearby parking lot, turned-off the lights and started the walk to her second floor apartment some 35 yards away. She got as far as a streetlight when a man grabbed her. She screamed. Lights went on in the 10-floor apartment building nearby.
She yelled, "Oh, my God, he stabbed me! Please help me!"
Windows opened in the apartment building and a man’s voice shouted, "Let that girl alone." The attacker looked up, shrugged and walked-off down the street.
Miss Genovese struggled to get to her feet. Lights went back off in the apartments. The attacker came back and stabbed her again. She again cried out, "I’m dying! I’m dying!" And again the lights came on and windows opened in many of the nearby apartments. The assailant again left and got into his car and drove away.
Miss Genovese staggered to her feet as a city bus drove by. It was now 3:35 a.m. The attacker returned once again. He found her in a doorway at the foot of the stairs and he stabbed her a third time -- this time the attack was fatal. It was 3:50 when the police received the first call. They responded quickly and within two minutes were at the scene. Miss Genovese was already dead.
[THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 27, 1964, p. 38.]
Kitty Genovese … was a name that would become symbolic in the public mind for a dark side of the national character. It would stand for Americans who were too indifferent or too frightened or too alienated or too self-absorbed to “get involved’’ in helping a fellow human being in trouble. Detectives investigating the murder discovered that no fewer than 38 of her neighbors had witnessed at least one of her killer’s three attacks but had neither come to her aid nor called the police.
The one call made to the police came after Genovese was already dead
That incident may be the defining moment of urban apathy in the latter half of the twentieth century. When it happened, many thought the incident shocking, bizarre – but not typical of the way people respond. The question was asked, “What was wrong with those people, anyway?”
The problem on that night was simply people lacked compassion to get involved. 38 people saw or heard the incident and yet none were moved to take action.
The problem of showing compassion is not a modern day problem. Jesus himself taught on the subject of compassion in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The parable of the Good Samaritan maybe the most popular parable Jesus taught. Even the unchurched know the principles behind the parable. While it may be the most popular parable, it is also the least likely to be practiced from day to day.
Today I want us to look at this parable and examine for ourselves a way we can renew a compassionate spirit in our lives.
READ TEXT LUKE 10:25-37
Let us first notice Jesus is approached with a
A PENETRATING QUESTION
A. "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
B. We are told that this man is a lawyer; but he is not the kind of lawyer who goes to court in a civil or criminal case. This “lawyer” is an expert in Old Testament Law he is a Old Testament scholar.
C. The question asked of Jesus by this lawyer is: “What do I have to do to have eternal life?” Basically, he is asking, “What must I do to be saved?” When he asked Jesus the question about eternal life, he was asking what Jesus saw as the essential requirements of the Law.
D. Jesus throws the question back in the lawyer’s lap in verse twenty-six: “He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?
E. In verse 27, the lawyer answers Jesus, "… You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and "your neighbor as yourself."’ (28) And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."
F. Now the Old Testament lawyer did what we all do so well he looked for a loophole in the law. In verse twenty-nine says, “But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Why did the lawyer ask this question? Luke says that he wanted to “justify himself,” that is he wanted to make himself seem right in his relationship with God.
G. The lawyer measured himself against both commands and he figured that he met the first one well enough, but his keeping of the second one depending on how you defined “neighbor.” He was asking, “Who and how much do I have to love?” We are often like the lawyer in that we try to reduce God’s commands to something we can live with. We would like to believe that loving my neighbor means loving people who love me, or at least loving people who are lovable. Loving my neighbor thereby comes to mean; doing nice things for people who will probably do nice things back to me. That is probably what he lawyer thought too.
H. The lawyer’s original question was “What do I have to do to get in?” But Jesus’ answer is to tell him what someone who is already in looks like. Like many of us, the Lawyer knew the right answers. But he was totally unprepared for Jesus’ story about what compassion looks like in real life.
A PROBING PARABLE
The journey from Jericho to Jerusalem was well known for its danger. It was very steep and treacherous because of the many places for robbers to hide. In fact it was so bad that the name of the road was “the way of blood.” So this is a very believable story to those who were listening.
A. There are 5 characters in the story
q A man traveling
q A Priest and a Levite – the upper crust of religious society
q A Samaritan – The out cast of society – every morning Jewish men would rise and thank God they were not born a woman or a Samaritan
q Robbers or Thieves
B. As the man is traveling he is overcome by the robbers and they take what belongs to the man and leave him to die on the road side
C. It is at that point the story gets interesting
q 3 travelers come by – Jesus tells us that each man SAW THE VICTIM
q Two reacted in one way – they walked on the other side of the road.
q Now at first glance one could have assumed the Priest and Levite did nothing wrong. They were headed to Jerusalem, possible to take their turn in the worship services. To touch this man would have made them unclean and unfit for temple service. Also this place was known the way of blood – the robbers could have still been in the area – it was not safe to stop and help this man. They could walk past the man justified that it was better to get on with their journey than tend to this man.
q Then Jesus adds fuel to the fire. Vss. 33-35, But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ’Look after him,’ he said, ’and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.”
q NOT A SAMARITAN – They were half breeds, They could not trace their ancestry back to one of the 12 tribes, They did not worship at the temple, In fact Jews did not travel through Samaria, they went around that troublesome area.
D. Notice the actions of the Samaritan
q He saw him – same as the priest and Levite. (BUT HERE IS THE DIFFERENCE)
q He went to him, bandaged his wounds, placed him on his donkey, took him to an inn, and paid for his care.
E. It at that point Jesus asked the question; vs. 36, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
AND THE RESPONSE, THE ONE WHO SHOWED MERCY. The one who wanted a loophole saw there was no way out.
BUT JESUS DOES NOT LET HIM OFF THE HOOK – JESUS GIVES HIM…
A POINTED COMMAND
Vs. 37, Go and do likewise. In this parable Jesus teaches this man and all who have ever read about the Good Samarian the importance of being involved in people’s lives.
A. Go and Do – two small words that will have a huge impact on this word. GO AND DO!
B. Examples of Go and Do
q A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents and a rose costs two dollars." The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose." He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother." She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave. The man returned to the flower shop, cancelled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s home. GO AND DO
q One day a student asked anthropologist Margaret Mead for the earliest sign of civilization in a given culture. He expected the answer to be a clay pot or perhaps a fishhook or grinding stone. Her answer was "a healed femur." Mead explained that no healed femurs are found where the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, reigns. A healed femur shows that someone cared. Someone had to do that injured person’s hunting and gathering until the leg healed. The evidence of compassion is the first sign of civilization.
ARE THERE SIGNS OF COMPASSION IN YOUR LIFE? If and anthropologist were to look at your life would they discover signs of compassion, would your checkbook or your date book reveal your compassion. If they asked people to testify on your behalf, would their be evidence of your compassion?
LET ME SUGGEST SEVERAL WAYS WE CAN BE COMPASSIONATE TODAY
1. Start with a Compassionate Attitude
q In our message 3 attitudes displayed
q Thieves – what is yours is mine – I will take it
q Priest & Levite – what is mine is mine – I will keep it
q Samaritan – what is mine is yours and I will share it.
A member of our church, Irene Jarrel gave me an illus entitled “SHOPPING AT HEAVEN’S GROCERY STORY THAT EXPRESSES ONE’S ATTITUDE
2. Learn how to love people.
q The only thing God is going to rescue from this planet is people; therefore let us love one another with reckless abandonment.
q Jesus said the greatest love is shown when a person lays down his life for his friends. John 15:13
q In his first letter the Apostle John gives us an example of laying down our life when he says, in 1 John 3:17-18, if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won’t help him-- how can God’s love be within him? Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.
q A little girl was sent on an errand by her mother. She took much too long in coming back. Mother, therefore, demanded an explanation when she finally did return. The little girl explained that on her way she had met a little friend who was crying because she had broken her doll. "Oh," said the. mother, "then you stopped to help her fix her doll?" "Oh, no," replied the little girl. "I stopped to help her cry." LOVE IS SPELLED T-I-M-E
q Jesus wants us to put people first because people matter to God. We put people first when we love them. Love is seen in what we value – what we give our attention do we value people when we.
People over policies
Relationships over rules
Inclusion rather than exclusion
Individuals rather than the institution.
3. Have humility to be a servant
q Did you notice the Samaritan did not have any special skills? He simply served the man.
q Being a servant does not require a special skill or talent, it simply requires us to be humble enough to stoop down and serve.
If you travel to Europe you find elaborate cathedrals, the architecture is amazing. But in many of the cathedrals you find the front doors have been covered over by stones and a small door is now the only entrance. THE REASON – during the crusades many Knights dressed in full armor would ride their horse right into the cathedral, for the priest to bless them, the small doors forced the knights to get off their horses to come in for their blessing. (GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE)
q In John 13:1 we read that Jesus showed the full extent of his love by doing what – Washing his disciples feet – serving them!
q Serving others is sometimes difficult. We are not accustomed to serving we would rather be served. Servanthood requires one to be humble, not to seek your rights and perks, In fact Paul describes humility as something we put on like a garment. Col. 3:12 reads – So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in a wardrobe God picked out for you: Compassion, Kindness, Humility, quiet strength and discipline. (The message)
q One great way to practice serving is to help people who cannot return the favor or even say thank you. Scripture identifies them as the Poor, Orphan, Widow and Stranger. The first letter of each group forms the acrostic POWS. In effect these are the Prisoners Of War – held captive by life’s tragedies. Giving to them creates an atmosphere of humility.
q Too often we serve to hear the words thank you or well done or we hope to receive a favor later down the road. But James tells us true religion is true service to the poor, orphan, widowed and the stranger – to the people who can never pay you back. Such service strips us of pride and teaches us to be thankful for our lot in life.
4. Be involved in the lives of people.
Don’t merely be spectators in life, live it to the fullest invest in people.
5. The Greatest way we can show compassion is tell people about Jesus Christ.
q The most compassionate thing in the world is to rescue people from the fires of hell. To help them experience the grace of God which is for all people. It is compassionate for us as Christians to have a zeal for lost people. Friends the world cries for you do you cry for the world?
q Who is your neighbor?
It is anyone you know who is outside of Christ.
Paperboy
Letter Carrier
Meter Reader
One who mows your lawn
The friend who asks for a recipe
This week I challenge you to be a good Samaritan to them, for their greatest need may be a hurt that needs soothed or a situation that needs a remedy or it may be they need Jesus
Matt 9:36-38, When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." YOU ARE AN ANSWER TO THAT PRAYER
INVITATION JUST AS JESUS HAD COMPASSION ON THAT CROWD HE HAS COMPASSION ON YOU AS WELL.
