The Samaritan Affair.

The Samaritan Affair.

MT 22:37 Jesus replied: " `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

On Wednesday evening we formally announced our church vision

Our vision is to be a caring Church family who will do whatever it takes to help people to become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ.

In many ways the Christian church has - particuarily in recent years as the church has concentrated on the work of the Holy Spirit as his activity affects ourselves in areas of inner healing and deliverance and also in our expressions of love to God in worship - perhaps lost sight a little of the importance of loving our neighbours as ourselves.

In a penetrating chapter of his work, "Awareness", famed Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello says that most good deeds people do are motivated by self-interest. They do things for others because of what they get out of it. Our acts of charity, writes De Mello are almost always self-interest disguised as self-sacrifice.

What then should epitimise the normal christian Life for us?

How do we love one another as we love ourselves?

LK 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

LK 10:26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

LK 10:27 He answered: " `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ "

LK 10:28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

LK 10:29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

LK 10:30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 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. 35 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.’

LK 10:36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

LK 10:37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

If we want to "how to" manual in this passage Jesus gives it in his normal succinct manner.

"Go and do likewise."

In Jesus’ words "Go and do likewise." There is incredible wisdom.

Let’s spend some time thinking about why it is so profound.

Firstly at the start of this passage we read:-

LK 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

You see the expert in the law - the Pharisee if you like - was steeped in religious knowledge and worship - he was good at doing the learn about God and pray to God thing - but that had led him to not want to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn nor to follow Jesus’ feet and imitate, rather he preferred to test him to kinda crack test Jesus and try and find a leak. But the teacher got it the wrong way around because Jesus crack tests him - and then tells a story that exposes where his leak is - that leak is serious because what Jesus exposes is a lack of love - a lack of compassion a lack of practical charity and that lack it seems, is serious, given the teachers question:-

"What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

It seems to me then, that a lack of Christian neighbourly love is a very serious matter.

It is serious for us because without it our salvation becomes dubious.