Westland Free Methodist Church

Parables in Life:  “Do Good Guys Really Finish Last?”

The Parable of Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37                        7/29/07

 

Who is my neighbor?  We have been asking this question for some time.  It was the question the expert in the law was asking.  He was testing Jesus, so there was a hidden agenda.  Most encounters with God begin with our hidden agenda.  So it is here, and we can identify with Jesus as we often have the same kind of people in our lives. 

 

There are really two conversations here.  One begins in verse 25, and the other in verse 29.  Jesus answers the law expert regarding the great commandments by telling him to “do this and you will live.”

 

But that is not enough for the man, and so a new agenda comes up.  Have you ever noticed that Jesus is good at not always answering questions that he has been asked.  If the person really wants the question answered he will ask the right question.  Sometimes when we answer people’s questions they really did not ask, we are only playing a game they love.  It gives them more undue, even unhelpful information.   So the Lawyer asks the 2^nd question “and who is my neighbor?”

 

This is the most repeated question we hear.  We ask it when we get up in the morning, and there’s just enough milk for one bowl of cereal and you’re the first one to get to the milk.  And you ask “who is my neighbor”?

 

You back out of the drive and begin to notice people with needs on your way through town.  And you ask, “who is my neighbor”?

 

You get a call from an acquaintance and you cringe inside, not knowing how to fit this particular need into your already beefed up schedule.  And you ask hesitantly, “who is my neighbor”?

 

Even as I work on this message at Panera bread, a yuppie kind of place, I couldn’t help but notice the man sitting in my pre-ordained sermon writing seat in front of the fake fireplace that no longer burns a fire.  It’s broken.  Maybe it’s the grocery cart that caught my stare as I entered a short time before.  And I asked, “who is my neighbor”?

 

You watch the news and see self-serving people everywhere cutting each other out of his or her life.  Folks, this is not a message on responding to every need around you, for we cannot be all things to all people, but it is a message about determining God’s pre-ordained neighbor in your life.

 

You see this parable is very much about pervasive favoritism, in both our culture as well as our church.  We have before us 2 ways of looking at life.  One, how much do I have to do to meet the expectations of God to get in.  It’s like when we say, “what is the path of least resistance to get from here to heaven.” 

 

Or two, how can I best fulfill the grace-filled call of God on my life today? 

 

Let’s look at this parable with that in mind.

 

The law expert who approached Jesus thought that the law was to be used to justify his salvation.  And so Jesus stays within this law expert’s world, and does not challenge him.  He affirmed the law that his God the Father wrote.  But then the law expert goes further.  Why?  Because he knew that Jesus regarded the law differently than him and because this man for a moment was seeking something more.  He just wasn’t sure what.   You see the law was not written to justify us, but to judge us.  In other words, the law causes us to understand that we are law breakers, sinners.  You can not be saved by obeying the law, only convicted by it.  The saving part comes when we place our faith in the one who takes away the sin of the world.  You see it always comes down to a relationship, not a scorecard.  It’s a matter of the heart, not the head.

 

Can I remind you also that God says that he keeps no record of wrongs when we repent.  But he does not cast our right actions to the wind.  He reserves that event for our sin, but not our righteousness.  No, it is our right actions that are recorded in heaven  and we will receive a crown of righteousness in heaven. So the truth that the God’s law  is only to judge us, and not to justify our deserving goodness to God is only a matter of blessing, not a curse.  It is an encouragement and not a distraction.

 

Jesus illustrates this by the Samaritan parable.  The Jericho Road was a treacherous one and hard to police.  Jericho was 15 miles from Jerusalem and was frequented often by priests and Levites.  Jericho was a larger city, so the commerce was common on this route.  So the setting represented danger, not only for the traveler. But also for those who pause, get distracted from their journey, or simply fall into the wrong hands. 

 

1.   The first to come upon the beaten man in this parable was the priest.  

The pastor.  It is said that there were 12,000 priests and Levites in Jericho at the time.   The priest raises great hopes to this damaged man.  Yet when he sees the need and “passes on the other side,”  his hopes are dashed. 

               

            Remember that the higher you rise in leadership in your life, you family, and especially your church, the greater the potential for harm. 

 

Who you are to others is a hope.  What you do determines whether you dash those hopes, or meet them.  For whatever reason the priest passes by, and it is to his shame.  

Are you like this pastor, who for whatever reason, is too busy to help this man’s hurts?  Could it be that you have life so organized, or you are so packed with so-called heavenly things that you are no earthly good.  I know some Christians who are so busy, they have forgotten what it means to even minister within their spiritual gifts.  I am speaking of those among us who have the ability to influence others around us.  You may have the public gifts, or God-given talents that enable you to lead others in knowledge, or business, or even relational leadership. 

 

If you are not that type of person, don’t be discouraged, there is another.

 

2.  The parable reveals a Levite came by.

He too does not help the man.  The Levites were to set up, protect, and tear down the articles of the tabernacle.  They assisted the Priests in the rituals of worship.  Whereas they were not direct descendants of Aaron, as the Priests were, they assisted the priests.   They did not go to war, but were set apart to prepare the people for worship.  Being the helper, if you will, as he was, it makes sense that a Levite would assist the beaten and robbed man, but in fact he did not.  Why?  Could it be that the Levites and the Priests were caught up in the law knowing that they must present themselves pure, for it was this purity of their own regard that would ultimately honor almighty God.  But was it really purity, or was that just a facade that allowed the Levite also to choose who he might minister to.  Do we use our status in life to protect from helping those we might otherwise have responsibility to help? 

 

Infact, this trail from Jerusalem was the path that led to Jericho, a haven part way home for those who traveled this dangerous path.  Well to do people traveled it for mostly one reason.  It was the path around the region of Samaria.  Whether he was on his way to the temple, and therefore needing to keep himself pure, or on his way home, he infact chose to not help his neighbor.  Since this was a parable and not a true story, the fact that the man robbed was on his way from Jerusalem, makes more of a point.  Probably the others were also coming from Jerusalem.  

Do we too find ourselves playing favorites where we help those that fit into our idea of people who deserve our help.  Or do we remove ourselves from the poor and disenfranchised that we might not become stained or associated with anything not of God?  Is this what Jesus meant when he said “come out and be separate.”  At least in this parable, it doesn’t seem that way.  Are you like the Levite, who loved to help, but got caught up in helping the already helped, the ones who already got so much attention, that it has gotten so friendly and comfortable that there is no other reality outside the temple gates.  How long has it been for you to “help” outside the temple gates?

 

3.  So, along comes the Samaritan.

The Samaritans, when they came out of the captivity of Babylon, were shuned by the Jewish people, for they still represented the northern kingdom of Israel, with Judah to the south.  This chasm still occurred when Jesus came.  Here then was the lowest of lows.  A Samaritan was one who held largely to the Jewish beliefs, and yet was not regarded as pure, and so was shuned.  In traveling, the priests would even take the long way home around the region of Samaria.    Yet here was a Samaritan traveling the road around Samaria.  What is he doing here? 

 

Jesus was constantly rebuking His disciples for their hostility to the Samaritans (Luke 9:55-56), when he healed a Samaritan leper (Luke 17:16), actually honored a Samaritan for his neighborliness (Luke 10:30-37), praised a Samaritan for his gratitude (Luke 17:11-18), asked a drink of a Samaritan woman (John 4:7), and preached to the Samaritans (John 4:40-42). And then in Acts 1:8, Jesus challenged His disciples to witness in Samaria.

 

After Jesus’ ascension Philip, a deacon, opened a mission in Samaria (Acts 8:5).

 

Jesus loved the Samaritans.  Why?  Because they are of God’s creation, and he wills that none should perish.  Jesus died on the cross especially for the Pharisees and the Sadducees of his day, who opposed him, who literally paved the way of the cross for Jesus.  But you will not find our Lord, favoring any man over another, for it was this very kind of neighbor that he died for.  So, why do you and I give our “neighbors” such a hard time? 

 

What is our Samaria?  Norwayne, where many go because the cost of living has been driven so high?  Detroit, where when Farmer Jack goes out of business, and Kroger who bought more than a few stores, refuses to buy stores in the city limits because there is too much crime and no profit margin?  Sounds pretty close to a Samaria to me.

 

The parable of the Samaritan tells us 6 ways we can approach our neighbor:

1.      He comes up to him.  Loving your neighbor begins with just going to the place you have been thinking about the last few minutes.  It means you will have to go beyond the temple gates.  Just go for a walk and ask God to speak to you.

 

2.      He binds his wounds.  Maybe he ripped up his head garment to bandage his wounds.   This would mean, find a need and fill it.  Are you fearful of your challenge.  Let me ask you this.  What did you tell your son or daughter to do when they feared jumping into the water the first few times.  “Come on,  jump, I’ll catch you.”  It means you will have to face your fears. 

 

3.      He anoints the cuts with oil and wine.  Wine disinfected the wound, while oil soothed the wound.  He may have deprived himself of refreshment that he would have used along the way.  It means you will have to give up something of comfort.    What are you willing to give up?

 

4.      He loads the man on his mule.  This probably meant that he walked the rest of the way.  It means it will cost you some of your possessions.

 

5.      He takes him to an inn.  Here he can be protected until he recovers.  It means it will cost you time. 

 

6.      He provides care and comfort to this man.  He does not dump and run.  It says he stayed the night.  2 days wages, and more promised if needed.  It means you get to live out Jesus words that were meant for you and me, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

 

Question:  Is God determining the pre-ordained neighbor in your life?

 

 

One Sunday, ffter preaching 5 years as a retired pastor my dad preached his last sermon as pastor in his church.  He had been part-time pastor of a small church in Mesa, Arizona.  At 72 was asked to step down, as a full-time pastor was called.  After 5 years of a love filled experience, he stepped down, but not because he wanted to.  The next Sunday following, the Superintendent could not be there, so he asked dad to install the next pastor, which meant to officially introduce him for the conference.  My dad told me every part of him wanted to say no, but then realized that he had to do it.  Do you know why?  Because by doing so, he would care more about God’s kingdom than himself.  He had the opportunity by his actions to say to the people that it’s not about a man, or even a church, but about obeying the Lord our God and doing what ever it takes to lead the next soul to Christ, and to grow that soul in the Lord’s favor.

 

Conclusion:  Do Good guys really finish Last?

 

The Tour De France race is an interesting one.  Lance Armstrong finished the last leg of a 3 week long race, winning not only a 5^th race in a row, placing him in the company of only 3 others who have done such a feat, but now winning his 7^th race in a row, which no one had done before.  This race is characteristic of the Christian life.  Although, Lance Armstrong would only win a couple of stages over 3 weeks of riding, he won the over all race, 7 times in a row. 

 

It was in the Lance’s 5^th consecutive win of the Tour de France, that Jan Ulrich a fierce competitor who consistently came up 2^nd each year was just behind Lance, a fan caught Lance’s handle bar causing Lance to fall.  Ulrich in the spirit of competition, stopped and waited for Lance to get back on his bike, and then proceeded to race a fair race.

 

Friends, you may not win every race, and it may appear you won’t win any of them, but when you endure God will use you for the unprecedented race of your life.  In Jesus parable, the Samaritan knew this.  It was easy for him to lose time in this stage of the race, because he knew there were other stages, and a greater race to win.  That of bringing glory to God.  When he asked the question, “who is my neighbor?” and saw the beaten man, it was obvious.  Let’s pray.