What Kind of Neighbor Are You? Luke 10:29-35 04/13/08

What Kind of Neighbor are You? Luke 10:29-35 SBC 04/13/08

INTRODUCTION: Can you name some FAMOUS NEIGHBORS? Mr. Rogers Neighborhood … sweater, sneakers … “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood … won’t you be my neighbor?” Dennis the Menace … “Helloooo Mr. Wilson!” Ricky & Lucy Ricardo … Fred & Ethel Mertz.. Tim “the Tool Man” Taylor … Wilson- the one you never see but just his forehead above the picket fence. I sincerely hope your neighbors are as good as the neighbors I just mentioned. We hear jokes neighbors. We live in a time when we don’t even know our neighbors anymore. The story this morning is about NEIGHBORS … AND … it has all the elements of a MOVIE. It has: violence … crime … racial discrimination … hatred … neglect … unconcern … love … mercy. Who says the Bible isn’t relevant to the modern world? And it begins with Jesus’ response to a question- who is my neighbor?
I’m preaching a passage that in all honesty I don’t think I’ve ever preached on before. I’m not sure why. I think it might have to do with the fact that it is so familiar we might be tempted to think we know it and don’t need to hear it. The fact is, while this parable is indeed familiar, it is also one of the least understood, and therefore most misapplied passages of Scripture that we know. When we think of who our neighbor is, we automatically assume its somebody that we know. The story does not focus on who our neighbor is in the first place- it focuses on this question, “To whom can I be a neighbor?”
The term neighbor is an interesting, if not obscure one in the Greek language. We think of neighbors as people who live in houses across the street or next door neighbor. But the term that Jesus uses is much more general than that, and it doesn’t even involve a house. The word playsios- simply means near, close by, something or someone in proximity. It carries with it no other distinction of age, sex, creed, color, ethnic, or economics. In fact its about as plain vanilla of a word as you can get. It applies to everybody- anybody that you see on a given day- people who are like you, and people who are not. Just plain folks and the upper-crust. By the way upper crust is defined as a bunch of crumbs stuck together by their own dough! But we just think it means doing something nice for somebody- is what defines what a Christian is. I’ve known lots of godless people in my lifetime who have done more nice things in comparison to what Christians do- if you want to put a profile on being nice.
In this parable that Jesus taught He brings out three philosophies of life that were prevalent in His day and are just as prevalent in our own. What’s yours is mine, what mine is mine, and what’s mine is yours.
I. What’s Your’s is Mine- (v.30) Its not too difficult to identify who these culprits are in Jesus’ story. They are the robbers who find the traveling man on his way to Jericho and beat him, take all of his cash, strip him of his clothes, and then beat him till he’s nearly dead. Traveling was extremely dangerous alone in those days. Most people, sensible people never attempted it alone, but traveled with caravans escorted by Roman soldiers or private security armies. We don’t know why the man was alone- possibly he decided to risk the journey and didn’t want to pay the fee for the armed escort, we’re not certain. But more’s the point. Many people are just like this Jew who risked the journey- they think they can “go it alone.” They feel very self-sufficient and don’t feel they need God. They don’t need the church-they can get by very much by themselves. After all, they’ve succeeded very well so far, so why do they need religion, ignoring the plea of the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Just as the presumptuous are easy pickings for highwaymen and robbers, they are easy pickings for Satan.
The point of their beating of course is hurt him so badly that he will not pursue them, or if he dies he would not be able to identify them should the robbers be apprehended. The way most robbers defeated their victims was through deception by instilling false confidence or trust in the robber. A second way was through ambush, but this was very dangerous for the robber because even though he had the element of surprise, it was difficult to estimate the strength of his victim. By earning their victims trust they could learn if they had any friends, how much money they carried, where they were from and would anybody come looking for him if they did away with him. Sometimes they would disguise themselves as a hurt victim along the road. Sometimes they would look like a traveler in need- please help me my ox cart got a flat and I’ve got to get to town. And as they approached him, they said, “What’s your’s is Mine, is ours.” I’m going to get what you’ve got and not going to stop till I get it.” They’ve always got their hand out. They don’t care how long it took you to earn that cash or the sacrifices you made to get to where you are- with one fail swoop they will bleed you dry in their quest to take what rightfully belongs to you. That’s the feeling I get every time I drive up to the gas pump, but that’s not the culprit I’m thinking of. I’m thinking of Satan. Jesus says in John 8:44 He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.. In Isaiah, he was called Lucifer, son of the morning, and he led a rebellion saying, “I will be like the most high.” Isaiah 14:14 He dared to think he could take anything from God, but he knows he can take anything you’ve got if he can only make it good enough, sound good enough, look attractive enough, appear sophisticated enough or flatter you enough. You’ll fall for it. IF you’ve got money- if he can get his hands on it, he will. If Satan can steal your character, he will. Young people, If you have your virginity, he’s out to take it from you. He’s out to take away your innocence and your self-esteem. Parents- Satan is out to take away your sanity. Old folks, Satan is out to steal your mind if he can, and leave you addled and confused. He is the enemy of our souls. Thousands upon thousands are being lost to Satan’s philosophy every day. Everything of value is being stolen away from them, leaving them in pain and suffering- every day!
II. Then there are those who think, what’s mine is mine. (31-32)Now in a way, based upon what I just told you, you really can’t blame the priest and the Levite for looking the other way when they see the injured, robbery victim. After all, whose to say he might just be disguising himself, waiting to attack them. What Jesus doesn’t tell us, is that these guys, these so-called religious workers, are out by themselves also. They have no covering or protection, and they know it. That is why they are so fearful? And why? Because they have no faith. And so when they see the badly injured man, they don’t want to get involved for fear that 1) they might just come into contact with a dead person, and if they did that they would become ceremonially unclean. 2) they were fearful that, as I said before, this might be a trap. Robbers count on religious folks to have a heart for someone as badly injured as this man, and as soon as their back is turned, they could swoop down on them. We have nothing to fear friends if we are doing God’s work. We shouldn’t be foolhardy, but neither should we be faithless.
3) But the main reason why they didn’t do anything? It was just too inconvenient.
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard lame excuses from so-called church folk, even ministers, when presented with a concern to help someone they say, “well, we don’t want to get involved with them- they’re not the right kind of people. We like to skirt around our responsibilities the way the Levite and the priest did. We make lame excuses- well I don’t want to embarrass them, etc. The Levite and Priest represent the Christians today. We wonder why it is that our faith is not meeting the needs of the world like it once did, its because Christianity has become a big disappointment to many. I realize some of it is unfair, but much of it is. They will evangelize and help others just as long as it is convenient. Just as long as they don’t get their hands dirty. But they forget about what Christ taught us in Matthew 16:24-25 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Christ calls us to ask ourselves every day, is our faith in Him real, or is it simply a “fair-weather” faith. Friends I will tell you something- I don’t think I have ever found it convenient to do the Lord’s work- especially to help people who are in need. Matthew 25:29 "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. It never just falls into your lap. And so the priest and the Levite mosey on back to Jericho, feeling bad about leaving the wounded man there, but not badly enough to do something about it because their desire to keep what they’ve got is greater than their desire to say what’s mine is yours.
III. And that is the desire and attitude of the hero of our story, the Samaritan. (33-35) He comes along just in time, before the man has expired. As he blazing hot sun showers down upon him, he picks up the man (mind you, he’s bloody, he’s dirty, he probably stinks by this time) messing up the Samaritan’s clothes. The Samaritan is an unlikely prospect to come alongside to help this Jewish man on his way to Jericho. If it had been the Samaritan that had been hurt, and the Jewish man who had found him, do you think he would have stopped to help? Probably not. Jews and Samaritans despised one another with a racial hatred that equals what we have in our own country between different races of people. Judea and Samaria were adjoining provinces, but that didn’t mean they were neighbors to one another. The Samaritan brushed aside all these reasons why not to stop. Instead God’s compassion in his heart was stronger than his desire to keep what he had. He took him to an inn- probably out of his way, bandaging his wounds, taking money out of his own pocket- two denarii, which is two-days wages to pay for the lodging and the medical care the Jewish man needed. Then he offered to come back to the innkeeper and settle his bill when he got better. Such outpouring of compassion. He had no trouble with the attitude “What’s mine is yours!”
That’s the attitude of love bound up in the heart of Christ when He went to the Cross. He not only says what’s mine is yours, He says “I have redeemed you and have called you by name- you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1 He is our ultimate neighbor, and He comes along side of us not just to have pity on us, but to claim us as His own. Whom can we be a neighbor? Anyone who is near us who has a need. We may need to go out of our way, and it might be inconvenient, but we are never more like Christ when we do it. We have a tremendous opportunity to be that neighbor this coming Saturday for Operation Inasmuch. We have a sign up list on the board for those of you whom the Spirit of God has affected to help those who are in need. They need your compassion. They need to see Jesus in You. In the mean time, what kind of neighbor are you? What’s yours is mine, what’s mine is mine, or what’s mine is yours? You be the judge of that as we have our hymn of invitation.