The Good Samaritan

^{I preached a sermon on Sunday about The Good Samaritan.  This parable comes from} 

^{Luke 10:25-37...}

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

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.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

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

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. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 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, brought 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.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

This has always been one of my favorite stories in the Bible, because there are many lessons to be learned in these passages.  Of course, the main message we are taught is that we should have compassion for all humankind.  This means that we can’t reserve this empathy for just a select few – and we sure can’t base it on who we like or don’t like.  Why?  Because by dying on the cross, Jesus had compassion for all of us and this parable instructs us to have that same compassion for others.  

Basically, as I said, the main message of the sermon was that we must have compassion for all - our "neighbors." But before we get to the definition of neighbor we need to determine what it means to “Love our neighbors as ourselves.” 

We are literally hard wired to take care of our own well-being.  What are some of the things that we do for ourselves every day?  (We make sure we have enough food, health care, shelter, clothes, etc.)  How does that translate into loving our neighbors?  Well, we don’t need to have a heartfelt emotion toward another human being in order to meet those same needs for their well-being. As I said, sometimes we may not even like our neighbors.  Actually, we don’t even need to know the people to whom we show empathy.

Donations of time, talent and money are was of helping the showing compassion to people all around us… people that feel defeated or just need a hand. So, who is our neighbor?  

C G Montefiore said, “Who needs me is my neighbor.  Whom at the given time and place I can help with my active love, he is my neighbor and I am his.”  

Ray Scott used the following definition of neighbor in a sermon he gave in 2004 - “Anyone whose need you see, whose need you are in a position to meet” is your neighbor.

When we are asked to love others, we are not required to love them emotionally, but in very definite, practical and realistic ways… Just like we love ourselves.  The Samaritan did that in our parable today. 

But not only have we been given an example of compassion in this story – we were given a very real example of the gift of compassion – of neighborly love and grace – in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Jesus died on the cross for each of us .  He loved us more than he loved himself - for he made the ultimate sacrifice of his life, on the cross, for our salvation. 

At the end of our parable, Jesus asks the lawyer, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The lawyer answers – “The one who had mercy on him.”AND Jesus told him (just like he tells us today), “Go and do likewise.”