Serving My Neighbor in Need - Luke 10:25-37 

 

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God, our merciful Father, and our Lord Jesus, who served us by dying for our sins.

 

We’re going to talk about Serving Our Neighbor in Need, based on the parable of the Good Samaritan.

 

This may well be, along with the parable of the Prodigal Son, the most loved of all Jesus’ parables. 

 

Both parables show God’s mercy and compassion for humanity: the Prodigal Son, showing God’s mercy in providing for our spiritual needs, His mercy to forgive us and welcome us back in His fellowship; and the Good Samaritan showing God’s mercy for our bodily needs, as the Samaritan rescued and cared for the injured man who had been left for dead.

 

And in both parables, the implication, or in this parable, the direct command Jesus gives is: Go and do likewise.

 

So in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the question we’re left to answer is: how can I be more forgiving toward my neighbor, as God is toward me.

 

And in the parable of the Good Samaritan: how can I better serve my neighbor in need, as God serves and takes cares me.  

 

We answer these questions, not just with our thoughts and words, but with our actions as well.

 

Words are important; they teach us what we need to know, and articulate what we believe. 

 

But if we don’t obey and practice what we learn in Scripture, then our words have limited value.

 

So having heard God’s Word, taught and proclaimed to us, now our task is to be,  a sort of “living sermon”.

 

That’s what we see happening, and failing to happen, in our parable. We see the commands of God’s Word put into practice… and neglected. 

 

A priest, the highest and most pious in Jewish society, came upon a stranger, lying on the road, beaten and bloodied, half-dead, Luke says. He steered clear of the dying man, and passed on by.

 

Maybe he was in a hurry; maybe he didn’t want to get his hands and clothes bloody and dirty; maybe he thought the man was beneath him, and getting down on the ground and caring for him was beneath his dignity.

 

Maybe he thought that the man was a sinner and was getting what he deserved so why interfere; or maybe there was no one there to see him do a good and caring work, no one to praise him and tell others about it, so he figured there was no personal benefit to him in doing it, so he didn’t bother.

 

Maybe he was afraid that the robbers, those thugs, might still be in the vicinity, and if he stopped and helped the man, he would make himself vulnerable to them, so he quickly moved on by, before they could rob and hurt him too.

 

Maybe he didn’t want to have to deal with the bother and the inconvenience; or maybe his heart was so hard, that he didn’t even think about it: he just passed on by, barely noticing the poor, injured man.

 

Some time later, a Levite, a worker in the temple, also highly regarded in the religious caste and hierarchy, saw the man badly injured and dying, and he also moved to the side of the road; and like the priest, for whatever reason, passed on by.

 

Then along came a merchant, of the lowest order, not in the eyes of God, but in the eyes of most Jewish people and leaders, a Samaritan. 

 

When he saw the man, he was filled with compassion, and so he couldn’t just pass on by, as the others had: he stopped to help.

 

Making himself vulnerable, he stooped down and did what he could to assist and comfort the poor, injured man. He treated his wounds as best he could, then put him on his donkey.

And as the injured man rode, the Good Samaritan walked beside him, all the way to Jericho. 

 

The Samaritan man took a risk; he faced the danger and endured the inconvenience, because a man, probably a Jewish man who may well have been prejudiced toward Samaritans, as most were; possibly a man who wouldn’t have stopped to help if it had been a Samaritan lying there on the road; none of that deterred the good- hearted Samaritan from helping a person who badly needed someone’s help. 

 

And to cap it off, when they got to Jericho, the Samaritan paid in advance for the wounded man’s room and board while he recovered, and he promised to return and pay any additional costs that might needed to make the man well again.

 

The Good Samaritan truly understood what it means to love your neighbor as yourself; he believed that, and he put it into practice.

 

As God told His chosen people in Deuteronomy 19:18, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

 

In other words, serve your neighbor in need. 

 

And who is my neighbor? Your fellow human being, regardless of any ways that he or she might be different from you. 

 

In this parable Jesus teaches us that no one is beneath us; that since God created all in His image, and loves all, so we, too, should love and serve anyone who needs our help.

 

In our Gospel, a lawyer, that is, an expert in Jewish religious law, maybe sincere, but maybe malicious, maybe trying to trap Jesus, asked Him what he needed to do to inherit eternal life.

 

Jesus turned it back on him; “What is written in the Law?”. You’re an expert in Biblical law; what does Scripture say?

 

The expert answered, You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind… and your neighbor as yourself.

 

Jesus said, “That’s right; do that and you’ll live.”

 

The problem is, the scribe didn’t always do that; he fell short, and he knew it.

 

And we know it about ourselves; in our sin and selfishness, we sometimes fall short of loving and serving our neighbor as we should.

 

The expert saw that his sin and hypocrisy had been exposed, and that he was being schooled by a carpenter. Rather than learning from Jesus, in his pride, the lawyer tried to save face. 

 

Using his training in rhetoric and argument, he turned it back on Jesus: “And just who is my neighbor, that I’m supposed to love and help?

 

Rather than giving a short answer, Jesus shared a much more impacting and persuasive story, this incredible, irrefutable, inspiring parable. 

 

And then Jesus asked the man, “Which of the three, the priest, the Levite and the Samaritan, proved to be a neighbor to the wounded man?”

 

Rather than answering, “the Samaritan”, perhaps showing his prejudice, not wanting to recognize that a Samaritan could be a godly person, he said, “The one that showed mercy, I suppose.”.

 

Jesus said, “Go do the same.” Serve your neighbor in need, whoever or wherever he or she may be.

 

 

Jesus went way beyond just saying these words -- He perfectly and completely, put them into practice.

 

He served His neighbor in need during his ministry with healings and miracles, by sharing with the poor and feeding people.

 

But most of all, Jesus served His neighbor, His fellow human being, by dying for the sins of all, and rising that we might live and serve our neighbor in need.

 

As Jesus was sincere to serve and save us, so let us be sincere in finding ways to help and serve our neighbor in need, even if we have to go out of our way, and make sacrifices to do so.

 

Sometimes that means providing our personal care and assistance to others in need; and sometimes it means supporting reputable charities and organizations that can reach and help people in ways that, we as individuals, can’t.  

 

May God bless us with hearts that are filled with the love of Christ, and the mercy of God, that we might search for, and find ways to serve and help our neighbor in need, no matter the trouble or inconvenience, serving and helping others because our dear God loves, helps, serves, saves, and cares for us.

 

And as we love and serve our neighbor, the peace of God, which passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who generously serves us in all our needs. Amen.