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Nov 13, 2022

Who is My Neighbor?

Who is My Neighbor?

Passage: Luke 10:25-37

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Wisdom Of The Master

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: church, worship, faith, jesus, mercy, sunday, god, sermon, bible, gospel, hope, believe, religion, jesus christ, the bible, samaritan, christianity, eternal life, bible study, good samaritan, live music, who is my neighbor, bible stories, follow god, jesus walks, livestream, burnt hickory baptist church, jesus loves me, jesus is king, burnt hickory worship, half dead, stories of the bible

We look at one of the most well-known parables Jesus taught this week as we study wisdom from the master, the parable of the Good Samaritan. When we study Luke chapter 10, we see that an expert in the law, or a religious person, was trying to trip up Jesus and capture him in a battle of wits. What we see is the Maker of the Universe turning this simple question of “who is my neighbor” into a wonderful lesson for us as Christians. Many of the largest problems in our lives as believers are not gross iniquities, but gross interferences. We choose not to do anything for those in need. We see in this story that two religious people encounter the poor man on the road, but only the Samaritan stopped, saw him, and took action for him. We should see our world through the loving eyes of Jesus and take action for the vulnerable no matter what their circumstances are. What ways are you seeing or not seeing people around you through the loving eyes of Jesus? How can you take an action for someone vulnerable today? If you have questions or want to get connected and put your faith in action, then take the next step or reach out – burnthickory.com/next.

Before we jump in the message this morning, let me just say this to those of you who are regular here. If you missed last week, man it would be a gift and a blessing for you this afternoon to go online and check out the Burnt Hickory page. Whatever media you stream and listen to last week's message, you will be blessed. I say that because it wasn't me, A. And B, it was from a partner of ours named Oleg Vasilevsky, that came straight from Ukraine via Budapest, and he came last week to share his story about how God is using him in Ukraine and their ministry. And it'll bless your heart. I just want to tell you that and also just remind you about the incredible gift that we were able to scrape together to give him to sponsor those kids’ clubs.

We're in a series called Wisdom from the Master, and I've waited nine weeks to get to this message because I knew that today was vulnerable Children's Day, and I wanted to tie the series to the text that we're going to look at this morning. We've been walking through the book of Luke. We've seen Jesus show up on the scene and challenge us between the difference between a believer and a religious person, we've seen him prove that he's God. We've seen him challenge us to accept his mercy and grace and walk in those we've watched him say to the disciples and to us that we should take up our cross and follow him. We've had the challenge that we are to live out a life that is not living in greed. And then, last but not least, we saw his challenge for all of us just to live ready. I love this study of Luke, if this is for nobody else in this whole church. But for me, I've loved walking through the Book of Luke. This gentile writer speaking to this guy named Theophilus, to encourage him in his faith. It just seems like every time you open the book of Luke, if you do it with your heart in the right place, it seems like God just kind of presses into you to show you how you can take a step in the direction to honor God with your life. I love how Luke also he has a bent toward speaking about and speaking to people who are in trouble, who are delinquents, who are just arguing or who are in trouble because most of us can just relate to where that is in our life. I love how Luke will just focus on Jesus. And then he's recalling so many of the parables of Jesus. And I love parables because they're hard to mess up. Amen. You don't really have to worry about a whole lot of stuff in them. You can just read it and it's almost like God says, Here is the one line for you, and then you just get to walk that out in your faith. Well, this morning we're going to look at another one of these parables of Jesus. If you've got a copy of Scripture this morning, I want you to go with me to Luke chapter ten. Luke Chapter ten. We're going to start in verse 25 in just a minute, and we're going to look at one of the most loved passages in the whole New Testament that gives us a super clear picture of how we as believers are to respond to the hurting, how we're to respond to the hurting.

It is a day in the life of Christians to where we are known for what we oppose. But today, Jesus is going to show us how we can come behind those in need and how, as a true believer, we're to come behind those with a heartfelt compassion. Now, let me say this about parables before we move on. This came up in my pastor's teaching in Kenya a couple of weeks ago during a question-and-answer session, which, by the way, is never a great time for anybody that is presenting. One of the guys in that said, Matt, in parables, are we supposed to look for the secret meaning? To which the answer to that question is really simple and its no. Let me just challenge you with this. When you are reading a parable of scripture, your job is not to try to find some secret hidden down below meaning. Your job is to look for the simplest meaning, the clearest meaning, because Jesus used parables in situations to talk to people that did not know him. So, he had to be super clear. So let me remind you, don't get lost in the details. Don't get lost in all of this stuff. But when you read a parable, take the simplest, most true meaning and grab hold of it, because your first impression is most often the correct impression. So, Jesus in our parable today is just looking at me and looking at you going, Hey, live in a way, that when you see vulnerable because of what I've done for you as a vulnerable person, live in a way that you bless them. All right.

Let's jump into the back story of the parable, because the back story sets up the parable. Luke, Chapter ten, verse 25, Jesus is around the large crowd of people. This is where he's been in the last couple of things that we've looked at in Jesus' life, and he's teaching about the kingdom. He's teaching salvation, he's teaching kingdom living and looking. And then all of a sudden, like this happens so often in this series, somebody in the crowd steps up and says something to Jesus, and we get to see their interaction incredibly intimate. Let's look at it. Verse 25. This is where we're going to start. We're just going to walk through the text. I'm going to give you a little application on the end. Here it is, verse 25. It says this. On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he asked, What must I do to inherit eternal life? Now I want to look at this person that we're talking about, this expert or this lawyer or this. Some theologians would call him a Pharisee. I don't want to say lawyer too much because in the last service, a lawyer came up to me was like, Matt, really are do we have to go there. And I was like, Well, if it is, it is, you know. But anyway, that's who we're looking at, the person that we're looking at. It's not like a trial lawyer or any kind of lawyer. They're just an expert in the law. And this description shows us that this guy had some credentials. He had some credentials as a professional person in the Mosaic Law and in the Jewish tradition. That means he was formally trained. He knew them. He could defend them. He could stand on them. He could hear cases with Jews going against Jews to tell them what the Bible says. Now, this is important because I want you to know that the context of this whole conversation that we're about to look at right here is not a friendly conversation.

It's not a question-and-answer session with somebody's heart, that has been drawn to the compassion of Jesus. In fact, this is a trap. It's a trap. And this savvy lawyer that knew the law is coming against Jesus in a trap. In fact, if you look at this word, the word test right here that we just read in the scripture that this expert of the law stood up to test Jesus the Greek for that is Experirazo, and it literally means to set the trap or to induce incrimination. All right. And I want you to feel the weight of that, because this really just means this guy wants to put Jesus in a position that Jesus says something that the crowds would kind of roll in around him with just to kind of give it a little more weight. This word test right here, Expeirazo is the same word in Luke Chapter four that it uses when Satan comes to test Jesus, to destroy Jesus, to bring Jesus down. That's the word here. So don't look at this as a friendly conversation. But I also want you to see this. This is a good question, though.

All right. We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Wouldn't it be a good Southern phrase right there? We can't just dismiss it all, because the question that this expert asks is a good question. What do you mean by that? Well, the question is, what is it that gives us eternal life? You see, it's a good question. But catch this is asked with bad motives. It's a great question. In fact, there is no bigger question to ask. If you think about it, then what is it that gives eternal life? There's no bigger question on this planet, and this guy asks it in a mindset of he's coming down on Jesus. But I want to pause that for a minute, and I just want to kind of pierce into your heart for a minute and ask this Have you settled that question in your mind? Have you come to a point where, you know what it takes to have eternal life? Have you come to a point where you have realized that it's not about works and that save you? It's not about the family you're born in. It's not a fact that we're in America. The only way to inherit eternal life, Jesus says, is through a saving relationship with him. That's the gospel.

The gospel is that Jesus lived the life that I should have lived. Died the death I deserve to die. And he shared his blood for me. That's the question. What does it take to step into eternal life with Jesus? And the answer is Jesus. It's knowing Jesus is loving Jesus. It's allowing Jesus to forgive us of our sins. So, I just want to ask you this morning, have you answered this question? You see, the lawyer in the story had not answered the question. He's not asking the question with good motives. Let's dial back into the text for a minute and see this trap. You see, oftentimes when rabbis would walk. They would walk in a mindset if people would ask them conversational questions, ask them theological principles. And the rabbi would walk, and he would answer these questions as he walks. Well, this expert is coming up to Jesus, not in a way that he wants to discover God, but in a way that he wants to discredit Jesus. And Jesus comes back at him in a mindset of that Jesus knows it's a trap. You see the lawyer wanted Jesus to say something so the crowd would rise up around him. But here's the problem. When we try to discredit Jesus. He's God. He's God. It doesn't work. You can say whatever you want to about Jesus, and it doesn't matter because he's God. And he knows who he is, and he knows what he brings to the table. No matter what you feel about him. So, Jesus knows it's a trap and watch what he does in verse 26.

Watch what Jesus does. He says this to the. To the expert. I'm going to call him expert, not lawyer, just not to make a bunch of you mad. Here it is. Ready. He says what is written in the law. Jesus replied. Jesus says, How do you read it? So, Jesus answers a question with a question, right? He answers a question with a question. Why? Because Jesus knows it is not a heartfelt question. He knows it's malicious. In fact, anytime you read the Bible, if Jesus answers a question with a question, he only does it because he knows that the person asking the question is not asking it with the right heart. They're asking it with a malicious intent involved. If this guy would have come to Jesus like you and like me, like somebody that purely wanted to know him, the guy would have said, How or What do I do to have eternal life? Jesus would have answered the question and told him and explained to him the Gospel. But now Jesus knows it's a trap and watch what Jesus does. Jesus answers the question with the question, but Jesus is taking this expert in the law to the what? To the law. That's what he does. Jesus looks at him and says, Well, you're the pro. You're the guy that says, you know this, you're the educated one. I'm just I'm just a rabbi. That was a woodworker, right? Jesus looks at him and says, Well, what do you see? What do you see? Listen, this is a scary moment right here for this guy. He doesn't know it, but it is. He's talking to the maker of the universe. But here's the good part about it. The expert answers with a pretty decent answer. Out of Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 6. Look at the answer in verse 27. He, the expert, answered, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said, You have answered correctly, Do this and you will live.

Now, there's only one reason Jesus said, Do this and you will live. And that reason is the dude wasn't doing this right. I mean, it's not rocket science to figure out why Jesus asked this and answered this, but this guy's answer was a true answer. If you're an Old Testament person, you kind of hear that language of love, the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. That's out of Deuteronomy 6:4. It's the Shema, right? Every Jew was required to memorize this. He also answered out of Leviticus 19:18. He answered Love your neighbor as yourself. And the reality is, is the lawyer knew that if I live with a total commitment to God, with all of my faculties, my heart, soul, mind, strength, and if I live with a total love for others, then I will be saved. Which here's the thing, that's a true statement. So, you're like well, how's that a true saying that doesn't have anything to do with Jesus. It's a true statement because if there is anybody on this earth, that could completely live out that command without falter. Then you will be saved. You will be saved. You know why? Because it means you have never sinned. But it's obvious that none of us, including this lawyer, can live up to that standard. None of us can do that. We have not 100% live this and the lawyer knows this. Why?

Romans 3:23. Right? We've all seen and fallen short of the glory of God. We know this. Why? Because what Jesus is teaching, James 2:10 for whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. So, Jesus is taking this lawyer back to the law to which He's the professional and Jesus is just the guy that's walking. And Jesus is not teaching a works-based salvation here. That's not what He's doing. But Jesus is looking at this guy going, Listen, if you are really saved, if you're going to inherit the Kingdom of God, that means that your salvation has spawned off your works and now you are working for the kingdom. In fact, right, this principle down, because this is what the lawyer teaches us here. Excuse me. The expert teaches us here, right? Quoting the commands of God without living the commands of God does not honor God.

That's exactly what this lawyer was doing. He could quote them. He knew them. He could divide them. He could talk about them. He could preach a sermon about it. But he was not living. Jesus knows that's exactly where this lawyer was. And he gives him this question to make sure that it settles into the expert so that he's not living it. Now, Jesus has him backed into a corner because here's what this expert has to do. Either A, he has to accept the rebuke of Jesus in front of all these people and lose face. Or B, he now has to ask another question, Jane, to get out of the corner that he's backed himself into. You see, the expert now knows I haven't fully lived this. These people know I haven't fully lived this. So, what does he do? He does the same thing that many of us do. When Jesus gives us a command, he tries to find a loophole. He tries to find the justifying factor here. He tries to find the minimum he can do to get eternal life.

Which leads me to ask myself all week this question, God, what am I doing to justify myself before you? Am I trying to come up with things like what exactly do I have to do? Or how? What's the minimum? You see, this expert wants to justify himself because he thinks, he thinks he can love God abstractly. But here's the deal. But not love the people that is around him. That's what he thinks he can do. But look at the next question. He takes another shot at tripping up Jesus, which is never a good idea. Verse 29. But he wanted to justify himself.

So, he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? So, in other words, he's like, Yeah, I got this loving you down pat here. God, I got that. Which Jesus like, now you don't, but let's talk, right? And then he goes, Well, who's my neighbor? Now, remember, this is not an honest question. This is a controversial question, because here's what this expert says. He's saying. Jesus, give me the minimum I can do. Give me the minimum I can do to take care of the people around me. He's looking at it going I'm pretty sure I'm taking care of my parents, my siblings, my family, maybe even the other pros. But I'm pretty sure if that's what you're talking about, Jesus, I'm doing that. But he knows that that's not what Jesus is talking about when he says neighbor. Why? Because he had been following Jesus. He had seen what Jesus was doing, how Jesus was coming behind the hurting and the despaired and the sick. And He looks at Jesus. And instead of just humbly falling before Jesus, which is the better part of what He should have done, he tries to challenge Jesus in what he was doing. You see, here's how this how here's how this conversation should have gone. It should have gone. Hey, Jesus, what do I need to do to have eternal life? Jesus would have said, Well, you need to love me. You need to love others, and you need to accept who I am and follow after me. And then this expert should have fallen on his knees in front of Jesus saying, Hey, Jesus, listen, I know I haven't done that. I know I've fallen short, and I need your mercy and grace. Listen, Church, that's our first response.

But that's not what we do. We do with the lawyer did when he tried to justify himself, in fact, write this principle down to help you remember that. The only wise way to come face to face with our shortcomings, which is what this guy's doing, is to acknowledge our sin, cry for mercy, embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, and ask for help. Can I tell you that is the posture of the believer? God doesn't expect you to be perfect. He doesn't expect you to know everything, but he does expect you to do. Is this when you come across something you know you're falling short on, he doesn't want to hit you across the head with a bat to tell you you're wrong. He just wants you to come before him and go oh, I've blown it Jesus. Help me get there. Listen, the goal is not to look for the minimum requirement, which is what this guy's doing. The goal is not to justify yourself, which is what this guy is doing. Jesus just. Just says, fess up. You blew it. Let's walk together. Let's walk it out together. And at this point, Jesus turns from just the question from the lawyer, and he teaches the lawyer what it means to walk beside our neighbor. And he gives us some wisdom from the master. Now, before we get into the parable, because that's just the background. But don't worry, the parable is really quick. It explains itself. Before we get into the parable, let me let me just say this about what Jesus is about to tell in the story could have really happened. In fact, it happened all the time. The way that we're going to talk about it's called the way of the blood. If you ever go to Israel with us, you will actually ride down this road that this happened on.

Secondly, I want you to see in what we're about to read, I just want you to have this in your mind that Jesus is not rebuking the guys who come and beat up the other guy. He's rebuking the religious leaders who do nothing. And here's the thing. All through Luke, we see this. Why? Because Jesus is looking at his believers, just saying, I just need you to live. I just need you to act. I just need you to get rid of the simple neglect and walk out your part. All right. Let's jump into the parable. Don't worry. Explains itself quickly. Here it is, verse 30. In reply, Jesus said. A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and when he was attacked by robbers, they stripped him of his clothes. They beat him, they went away, leaving him half dead. Let me set the scene for you, just in case you don't know the geography. He is leaving Jerusalem, the city of God, and he is walking from 2700 feet above sea level down to 1300 feet below sea level.

Literally, you get in the bus, you don't hit the gas, you just ride 17 miles, and you get to Jericho. That's exactly what the guy is walking. He's walking from the city of God to one of the most pagan cities on the planet at the time, Jericho. Okay, he gets beaten, he gets stolen from he's thrown into the floor now. He is now laying in his blood. All right. Now the sins super abstract to us. But let me bring it metaphorically into our mind. We may not be walking from the city of God to the pagan city, but our culture is moving from the character of the God to the pagan culture we live in. And as a result of that, what is happening to so many people, so many people are now living in sin. So many people are being beaten down spiritually, emotionally and physically. And now some of it is their fault. Some of it is just because we live in a sinful world. And what Jesus is making the point here to say is they need help. They need our help physically, mentally, emotionally. And here's why they need help. They need help because they're broken, but they need help not through a judgmental help. They need help through us as believers coming behind them. And here's the deal. They need help regardless of what got them there. Okay. Do you hear me say that? Our job is not to look into somebody's soul and go, well, you shouldn't have done that. That's what got you there.

Our job is to meet their needs and to disciple them. That's our job. Okay, keep going and the process. Look at verse 31. A priest. All right? Remember, the guy was beaten. He's laying. A priest, man, this is going to be good, right? A priest showed up. It's going to be a good day for this guy. Nope. All right watch. A priest happens to be going down that same road. And when he saw the man, he passed on the other side. So, to Levite. Good news, a priest. No. Well, here comes the Levite. When he came to the place, he saw him, and he passed on the other side. Now, let's talk about why Jesus used the priest and the Levite. This is important. You see, the priest was literally the connection point. And we've talked about this before between sinful man and a holy God. The priest was the person that performed all the religious duties on behalf of the people. Most scholars agree that Jesus is describing a man who probably just left the Temple of God and he's walking home. He just served 30 days in the temple as God's representative. Are you feeling the weight of this? And now he presses right past this guy as the priest. Incredibly religious. The Levite, that he describes. A Levite would be the curator of the law. He was the professional law. He was the custodian of the law. He knew it backwards and forwards and he knew everything about it, and he could divide it accurately.

The point is that these two guys catch this. They looked set apart, right? They knew the language. They wore the right clothing. They knew the right thing. They served in various roles. But Jesus is pointing out, they just didn't do it for the hurting. They didn't do it; they didn't do it for the hurting. In fact, this leads me to a principle that hit me like a brick this week. Here it is. Write it down. Many of our largest problems in believers’ lives are not gross iniquities, but gross indifference. Gross indifferences.

Now, what does that mean? That means we would like to look at these guys and go, Well, they did nothing wrong, right? They did nothing physically did nothing wrong. But see, we have to stop short and say this. These men did nothing. Therefore, they are wrong. You see the difference there. Let me ask you, do you find yourself in that situation a lot? It's not that you're out committing grotesque sins, right? You killed anybody lately, right? It just means do you find yourself not being drawn to serve the Lord.

Do you find yourself not being drawn to serve and to love others? Maybe you're too busy. Maybe you just think it's somebody else's job. Maybe you just don't want to get your hands dirty. Or maybe you just use the Christian words. Well, it's just not my calling. Right? Do you find yourself? Jesus says that is dangerous thinking. As I told you, this is a really clear parable. It's dangerous. Look, don't miss these first two people, because, man, we relate to these people, right? They look religious. They were recognized as super religious. They were defined as professional believers. They had never been seen by anybody as evil people that everybody fooled by their appearance, by their religious activity, by their knowledge. But they didn't have Jesus fooled in. Listen, he's really the only one that matters. He's the one. You see, Jesus has truly saved believers, will have more than hollow, have more than knowledge. They have heart of compassion for the hurting. Keep going in the story, Luke 10:33. Because Jesus is about to show us what our response should be. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was.

And when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him. He bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. When he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an end, took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and he gave him to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said. And when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you have made. Now many of us read the story and thank goodness he didn't just leave us with the religious guys. Right? Thanks goodness he throws in the Samaritan guy that nobody liked to show us what the love of Christ is. You see, many of us will read the story. We're like, Man, that's a lot. And it is a lot. When you think about what he did. He stopped. He met the guy's need. Bandaged him up. There's no indication he was a medical professional. He put him on his donkey. He rode him to an inn. He broke out his own funds. He paid for the guy he even laid down his Visa card and said, I'll be back later. Take this as a deposit. I'm not going to skip out on this. I believe in this guy. Now, when we read this, our American mindset thinks, man, what if he missed an appointment, right? What if he was heading to grandma's house for dinner? What if he had plans, he didn't get to? What if he ran out of money> Mett, was that in his budget? I don't know. What about the safety of this thing? He didn't know that guy. What if it was a trap? Listen, believers, none of that matters. None of that matters. What matters is this guy's heart was so changed and so in love with Jesus that he knew Jesus delivered Him when he was broken, when he was despaired, when he was spiritually bloody. And now he is the hands and feet of Jesus. But do you know why we don't do this? There are really only two reasons. Number one is fear. It's fear. Think about it with me. When you come upon a need, our fear is men are not going to know what to say to that person. I don't know what to do. I don't know how I'm going to put that kid in my house. I don't know how I'm going to meet that guy's need over there. I don't know. I know I'm not qualified to do that. Can I just tell you that is where Satan wants us to live? He wants us to live in fear. Listen, Satan is not going to take you out and make you a murderer tomorrow. Maybe a few, but not most of you. Right? I've seen some of your posts. Right? You're close, but no, that's not where he's going.

That's not where he's going to take you. Right? But what he will do is he will set you into such a fearful mindset. That he will cripple you to reach into other people's lives. You see, like the religious guys in the story, we're not going to do anything outright to not have a persona of a good person. We'll just sit back in fear. You know, the second reason we don't do something. Is just pure old inconvenience. It's just inconvenient. Can I just. I'm just going to let the cat out of the bag here and say this. It is never convenient to meet the needs of another person. It's never going to come at the right time. It's never going to come with the right resources. It's never going to come at the right moment. You are always going to have to sacrifice somewhere else. Somebody else is always going to be mad at you because you're late, because you picked up this, because you did that. It's going to happen. I promise you. You're going to miss out on something. It's going to take too much time, too much energy. I'm already so busy. Meanwhile. Here's the thing. Church there's so many hurting people. So many hurting people that Jesus says, hey, when you see a need, meet a need. When you see a need, step into the need. This is the believer's life. In fact, write this principle down. True believers live compassionately by seeing needs and meeting needs. Listen, this is not rocket science, right? It's not. We see any. We meet a need. The moral of this whole story is that our neighbor is anybody that God puts in front of me with a need. And my role as a bona fide believer in Jesus Christ is to step up and to meet that need. It's to do something. And when we do that, you know what we're showing? We're showing that Christ is really king. That's what we're showing. Here's what I want to do. That's real abstract, right? Let me just show you what the Good Samaritan did and let me treat this as if the Good Samaritan is just standing right here beside me, going, Hey, let me teach you how this works.

It's going to get real practical for a second. And I want to give you some things out of verse 33. Let me read it to you again. But a Samaritan, he's going to give us the process. As he traveled, came to where the man was. And when he saw him. He took pity on him. Let me just get real practical. If the Good Samaritan was speaking to us right now, here's what he would say. Number one, ask God to put you in situations where there's need. Have you ever asked God that? I mean, honestly, have you ever in the morning broke out the word, prayed through the word, and then just said, God, listen, I don't know what today is going to look like, but God, would you put me in a situation today that I can be the hands and feet of Jesus? Look at verse 33. He just told us in it. But as the Samaritan, as he traveled. What did you do? He came to where he was. Believers, I'm a firm believer that we've got to go to where the hurting are. We got to go. Maybe that means one less Bible study. And one more doing. We got to go to where they are. Ask God to put you there. Number two. He would look at us and say this see the world through the loving eyes of Jesus. See the world through the loving eyes of Jesus. Not through the jaded American eyes that we've grown up having.

Now, what does that mean Matt? That means that I begin to see people and go, Man, they're hurting probably because they deserve to be hurt. Probably because they didn't make wise decisions, probably because they're financially just not a good person. Probably because they're just immoral. Probably because they did this. No, no, no. That's not the point of the story. The point of the story is when we see the eyes, see through Jesus' eyes. What is it? What does it say? It says, We came to where the man was, and he saw him. He saw him. Have you ever prayed for God to show you people through his eyes? You know what I'm so thankful for? I'm so thankful that the eyes of Jesus locked onto this soul right here. I'm so thankful that when I was beaten and despaired and broken and deserving death, that the eyes of Jesus locked on. To me, that's the point of the story. See the world through loving eyes. See our neighbors through loving eyes. And here's number three Super practical Take action. Just take action. Take, but Matt, I don't know what to do. Doesn't matter. I don't know what to say. Doesn't matter. Do you think this guy had a plan in his Rolodex of the day on his scroll of what to do when a guy was beaten and bloody and naked laying on the side of the road? No. He took action.

In fact, I want you to see this. What did it say? Came to where he was, saw him and took pity on him. That word pity there is the word compassion. It's the Greek word splagchnizomai. It means that it's from the gut. And it means this. When we see something, it grabs us so heavily that we have to do something. This is the same word that every single time it describes Jesus's response to someone in need. What did he do? He saw them. His heart was broken for them, and he did something. He saw the crowd of 5000. Right? They were hungry. He had compassion and he fed them. He saw the widow's son that was dead. He had compassion. And what did you do? He raised him. The prodigal son. The father saw the son a long way off. He had compassion and sprinted towards him and did something about it. Compassion is never complete until something is done. It is not just a heart feeling. It is an action. It's an action. That's what Jesus is saying. There are so many more examples of that. But this is genuine compassion and gracious compassion. But I want you to show I want to show you how this thing ends, because it shows of what we're supposed to do. Here it is in verse 36. Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?

He gives this guy another chance to answer a question. I don't know why, but he does. The expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him. You might want to circle these next four words Go and do likewise. Go and do likewise. Who's your neighbor? Anybody that you come across that has a need. Do you love your neighbor? Are you caring for your neighbor? Are you stepping up for the hurting that is in your life? Are you hearing a need, and meeting a need and seeing it through Jesus and going to the need? And then are you acting? Listen as his servant’s church we have a chance. We have a chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus to make an eternal impact in people's lives. But it requires something of us, requires us to go. Two prayers, and then we're going to have time of invitation. I just want you to jot in your notes to pray this week. Number one. God, give me a personal sense of responsibility to serve the vulnerable. A personal one. I'm not talking about God. Let other people in this world do what you need them to do. Not don't be praying that not yet. Give me a personal sense of responsibility. Here at Burnt Hickory, in our community, in the world. Number two. God, this is only after you've prayed number one, don't pray number two until you pray number one. God, push this church to sir to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and to rise up for the hurting To rise up for the hurting. Listen church, this is where we're going. I hope this is where you want to go because this is where this church is going. Why? Because Jesus clearly pushes us to meet the needs of the hurting.

Lord today, walk with us, Lord Jesus. God, I pray that if there's a person here that hasn't settled that first question today. That God before they even start to try to live for you, that they would meet you, they would simply embrace your gospel. Respond to your Holy Spirit, that's prompting them and God, they would step out from their seats to say today, in whatever venue they're in, walk up to the counselor that's in the front of their room and just say, Hey, listen, I need Jesus today to save me. Man, we'd love to walk with them. God, for the rest of us today pierce our hearts, Lord Jesus. It's in your name.

Amen.

Let's stand and sing together.

 

Follow Along with the Message

Who is My Neighbor?

November 13, 2022

Luke 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?”
Luke 10:26
What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
Luke 10:27-28
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.’” 
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

PRINCIPLE: Quoting the commands of God without the commands of God, does not honor God.

Luke 10:29
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 

PRINCIPLE: The only way to come face to face with our shortcomings, is to acknowledge our sin, cry for mercy, embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, and ask for help.

Luke 10:30
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead
Luke 10:31-32
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.

PRINCIPLE: Many of the largest problems in believers’ lives are not gross iniquities, but gross .

Matthew 25:40
’Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Luke 10:33-35
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, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii 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.’

PRINCIPLE: True believers compassionately by seeing needs and meeting needs.

PRACTICAL COMPASSION APPLICATION:

1. Ask God to you in situations where there are needs

2. See the world through the eyes of Jesus.

3. Take .

Luke 10:36-37

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” 

two PRAYERS FOR THE MORNING:

1. Give me a sense of responsibility to serve the vulnerable.

2. Push this to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and to rise up for the hurting.

Take the next step

Additional Notes

 

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