Be the Good Samaritan

Last night, I gave a sermon at BASIC, our large group gathering for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Coe College. These first four weeks, we've been focusing on our chapter's vision: transforming, missional, reconciling, and hospitable. This being the fourth week, it was a hospitable evening. We arranged the furniture of the student union to feel more welcoming. Some of us bought or brought food (because who doesn't feel at home when they're eating?). We had blankets and pillows. We worshiped. It was a beautiful night, with God's presence abounding.

After food, singing, a testimony, and a skit, it was time for the message. I chose the passage of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37. The expert in the law was asking Jesus what he had to do to get into Heaven. Jesus asked what the Law said. 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. But this expert wanted more. "Who is my neighbor?" he asked. Basically, what's the least I have to do to get into Heaven? Isn't that the question most of us are asking? How much of my own path can I follow, and how little of God's, so that I'll still get into Heaven? And then Jesus dives into what he does second best (after dying for our sins): he tells a parable.

Take the time to read it (it's linked, like a lot of things later on). Even if you know it by heart. Don't be fooled into thinking God can't reveal a little more of Himself in the places you'd least expect. You've read it? Good. Now what keeps us from helping people? Inconvenience? Busyness? Laziness? Selfishness? Fear? Lack of knowledge/ability? Let me tell you something: I'm frequently guilty of all of these things. I depend on the forgiveness God has extended through the blood of His Son.

Look at the priest and Levite. They didn't want to get dirty. It was inconvenient. Maybe they were hurrying to get to the 4:30 showing of Charlton Heston's The Ten Commandments. Maybe they were thinking, "Awwww, man! If I help that dying dude, I'd become ritually unclean and have to spend time going through the purification process to be able to rejoin society." Clearly, the right thing to do would have been to help this desperate man, but these two "good" men passed him by. Fortunately, the Samaritan (who might I remind you, probably wasn't a huge fan of Jews. A bit of cultural friction there) thought this man's life was worth missing that movie.

Do you believe God has a plan for your day? Is it possible that the second you wake up in the morning, God's knows exactly what He would have you do? And if you're getting up late, maybe you've already missed a couple hours of His plan. *wink* Could he put you in a position to save a half dead man? Maybe you have the ability to feed someone who goes to bed hungry every night. See that pregnant woman toting a toddler? Hold the door for her. It could be as simple as saying, "Hi. How are ya?" to that person you didn't even know needed that today. We don't know what opportunities He'll give us each day, but we have to be willing to act. We are His hands and feet. Each and every person, no matter how insignificant we deem them, means the world to our Father. Helping others is helping God. He says so in Matthew 25:34-30.

Another question is how much do we have to help? The Samaritan offered his time, then his material goods, and finally his essentially uncapped financial resources. He was willing to do anything it took to care for that man. God certainly spared no expense for us, offering His Son to die the death we rightly deserve.

Remember the Golden Rule? You probably learned it in elementary school. Do to other people what you want them to do to you. Guess where you can find that. Yep. The Bible. Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31. So how do you want to be treated? Or a better question: How do you want your loved ones to be treated? Your mother or father? Brother or sister? Son or daughter? How would you feel to find that as they lay dying, someone passed by on the other side of the road because it was inconvenient? Every person you come across is someone's loved one. Someone's parent, sibling, or child. And even when there's no one on this Earth who loves them, their Father loves them immeasurably.

In His Book, God made it fairly clear that we are to be hospitable and love others. Peter and Paul (in Romans) tell us we are to love. You know what the great thing about love is? It never runs out. The expert figured out that the Samaritan was the neighbor to the dying man, the one who exhibited love. As Jesus said, "Go and do likewise."