Compassion: Neighborly Advice
Pass someone on the street or accidentally cut someone off and what do you receive. A kind gesture realizing you made a mistake, no more often a rude gesture and a blaring horn. Have slow lines at Wal-Mart or they God forbid don’t have the item you have to have and have to have at that very second or you life will end. What do you get? A polite when will you have that product in, no! more often it is a yelling irate customer because you are too stupid to have what they needed when they needed. To many of us expect perfection out of the ones around us while never ever seeing our own imperfections. (Trust me that is why God gifted me with my wife, she is sooooo good at pointing out my imperfections, though often not on purpose)
Too many times we get mad because a waitress is slow or can’t remember our order or messes up our order, instead of asking if everything is ok is there anything I can pray about for you. Are you having any problems? I must admit some people are just horrible waitresses and customer service people.
Compassion for people is a lost art in our so called “post-modern” world.
Jesus began a conversation about compassion in answer to a question
The lawyer asked Jesus “what shall I do to inherit eternal life”, Jesus said what does the Law say. (Luke 10.25-28)
The Lawyer answered.
“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 love you neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus said do this and live.
The lawyer wishing to justify himself said who is my neighbor, which leads to our message tonight. (Ray is always telling us in Wednesday night Bible study to watch words does something catch you about what I just said.)
Our Scripture passage is Luke 10.30-37
Let me tell the story to you in modern day terms as well as I can.
A) Passed by the Preist.
1) The Preist’s Passion was misplaced.
a) His Passion should be for people
b) His life was too busy. ( He couldn’t even take time to stop and help someone in dire trouble.)
c) More than that he thought himself better, ( verse 31)
“He passed on the other side.”
--We should as ministers of Jesus Christ or Servants should be ready to cross the craziness of busy streets to get to people in need of help and love.—
----Neighborly advice===== treat others as you want to be treated, would you want to be left on the side of the road.
B) Left by the levite.
1) The worship leaders of the day.
2) If you notice the Levite looked but left.
3) He saw a person in a desperate condition and left without helping that person.
4) It was time for worship service he couldn’t be late and certainly couldn’t show up dirty.
5) Perhaps a worse insult than the preist. This man saw up close what was going on but still went on his way.
6) He drew close to the person in desperate need of a neighbor, someone to have compassion, instead of compassion he probably felt revulsion.
C) Saved by the Samaritan.
1) Most important difference between P, L, & S
a) The Samaritan didn’t Pass on Compassion.
2) Perhaps knowing what it meant to be outcast and alone.
3) Also having been rejected he tried to help someone in need.
What kind of man would do such a thing?
At Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC recently the Sergeant
Major
of the Army, Jack Tilley, was with a group of people visiting the wounded
soldiers.
He saw a Special Forces soldier who had lost his right hand and suffered
severe
wounds of his face and side of his body.
The SMA wanted to honor him and show him respect without offending, but
what can you say or do in such a situation that will encourage and uplift?
How do you shake the right hand of a soldier who has none? He decided to
act as though the hand was not missing and gripped the soldier’s wrist
while
speaking words of comfort and encouragement to him.
But there was another man in that group of visitors who had even brought
his wife with him to visit the wounded who knew exactly what to do. This
man reverently took the soldiers stump of a hand in both of his hands,
bowed
at the bedside and prayed for him. When he finished the prayer, he stood
up, bent over the soldier and kissed him on the head and told him that he
loved him. What a powerful expression of love for one of our wounded
heroes!
And what a beautiful Christ like example! What kind of a man would do such
a thing?
It was the wounded man’s Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush, President
of the United States. This story was told by the SMA at a Soldiers
Breakfast held at Red Arsenal, AL, and recorded by Chaplain James Henderson,
stationed there.
Conclusion: Who is our neighbor? Jesus showed that the very people that were despised by the Jews, the Samaritan’s were the ones that could show them what it truly meant to be a neighbor.
Jesus said in Luke 10: 37
“Go and do likewise”
He also said be doers of the word and not just hearers.
We need to hear what Jesus says sometimes the one you despise is the best neighbor.
Even more not who is my neighbor but whose neighbor are you.
Have you done likewise
What kind of a doer are you?
