Sermon on Luke 10, Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Transcription

1 Sermon on Luke 10, Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, The parable of the Good Samaritan is very well known. Even people who never go to church at all, all know about the Good Samaritan. Although he never really existed he only plays a role in a parable the Samaritan still has become an example of love and compassion. So much so that nowadays we even have Good Sammy s where people can buy cheap clothes (among other things), and being called a Good Samaritan is a compliment of your gentle and generous character. But is this what this parable is all about? Well, basically, yes it is. It is about being a neighbour to those around you who are in need. There is some more depth to the story than many would realise, but it is true that basically the Lord Jesus teaches us with this parable that we should be compassionate and merciful Christians. That message is quite obvious and not hard to understand. However, what is remarkable is that in our every day reality in our personal lives as well as in the functioning of the church this obvious obligation does not seem to have such a high priority. Forgive me for generalizing. I know that in our churches some do extend help to people in need, but still We are quick to help the brs and srs in the communion of saints. And we get all worked up when there is something to do in and for the church, and for our Free Reformed schools. Which is a good thing of course. And everyone has their opinion and their own wish list when it comes to things to do with church and school. But when it comes to extending help and compassion to the people in the community, outside the church, it becomes rather quiet. Why is that? I can think of several reasons. But in the end, what it boils down to is essentially the way we perceive the world outside the church. We will say more about that later, but here we can already indicate that to many of us the world is mostly a dangerous place. Many do not like to venture outside the safety of the church. It s not that this is entirely untrue, but there is another side as well. We will go into that later on. There is also a reason outside of ourselves and outside the church that could possibly make us slow to show compassion to our community. Other than in the time of the Lord Jesus our government to a large extent takes care of the needy in our society. We have our Medicare, welfare payments, and all kinds of charitable organisations which receive large subsidies from the government, funded in the end by the money that we all pay in taxes. So the help that the church can extend is not as necessary as it used to be in times gone by. And some will say that we do not need to contribute financially to the needs of 1

2 the greater community because we are already paying taxes, monies which are used for that purpose. In the light of this we ask: should we still extend help to people outside the church? Or is the obligation left obsolete by the circumstances of our time and society? The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us that there is still this obligation. The circumstances change over time, and so may the ways in which we show compassion. But the essence remains the same the essence of doing good to our neighbour because this obligation is not based on changing circumstances, but on the very being and work of our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And that makes showing compassion to others, inand outside the church, an essential element of the Christ-emulating lifestyle of God s children. This we will see in the sermon this morning. There is one more underlying element in the parable of the Good Samaritan which we should consider the element of practicing what you preach. The lawyer who approached the Lord knew the law of God very well, if not by heart. But he did not act on it. He wanted to get away with doing as little as possible. In response the Lord Jesus taught him and the rest of the audience that he requires complete compassion, a heartfelt love for the neighbour. Let us consider all of the above and see how we can answer the obligation to do good to our neighbour, with the following theme and points: Our obligation to have compassion on our neighbour 1. This compassion is based on Jesus work 2. This compassion knows no boundaries 3. This compassion needs to be acted on 1. This compassion is based on Jesus work In your Bibles the paragraph that is the text for the sermon probably has the heading: The parable of the Good Samaritan. This should rather be, put more accurately: The parable of the Compassionate Samaritan. We say this because that is what it says about the Samaritan in vs 33: the Samaritan had compassion on the man who had fallen victim to robbers and was left for dead. And in vs 37 the lawyer says it in a slightly different manner: the Samaritan showed him mercy. It is worthwhile mentioning this difference in wording because the words compassion and mercy are typically words that are used for the Lord God himself! In other words, the Samaritan was demonstrating the attributes of God when he helped this poor man lying on the side of the road. This is what I mean when I said that there is more depth to this story than most people would think. It is not simply a humanistic illustration of someone who helps others. We are instructed not simply to follow the example of a fellow human being, and not a real live one at that but to follow the example of our Lord and God Jesus Christ himself! The Lord Jesus never ceased to have compassion on his neighbour. The 2

3 very reason for his coming into the world was that God had compassion on his people. He sent the Lord Jesus in this world to save those who would believe in him. And when the Lord Jesus walked the face of the earth, he had compassion not only on the people of Israel, but also on others. He ate with sinners and tax collectors, with prostitutes and Samaritans, with all kinds of people, outcasts of the Jewish people. He even associated with plain foreigners, like the Canaanite woman in Mt 15. The Lord was and is compassionate by nature. Following the example of the compassionate Samaritan is therefore walking in the footsteps of our Lord and Saviour himself! This possibly explains the challenge of the lawyer in vs 25. It says there that the lawyer, someone who was an expert in the Jewish law, wanted to put Jesus to the test. However, his question does not sound like much of a test at all: What shall I do to inherit the eternal life? What would he expect Jesus to say? What would he want Jesus to say so that he could accuse him of something? Vs 29 says that the lawyer wanted to justify his question after the Lord Jesus answered him that he should obey the law. From that we conclude that he did not expect Jesus to tell him to simply love God and his neighbour. Vs 16 solves that little puzzle for us. It says there that those who reject Jesus disciples reject Jesus himself. And the consequence of that rejection is, in the words of vs 15, not exaltation to heaven, but being brought down to Hades. That was the answer that the lawyer was expecting. He wanted Jesus to say just that, that people should accept him. Accepting Jesus would get people into heaven. For the lawyer that would be reason to accuse Jesus. For what would that leave of the law of Moses!? Such an answer would imply that obedience to the law was not required to be saved! However, to his amazement, the Lord Jesus answered him that he should do exactly that: do the law, that is: love God with your whole heart, and your neighbour as yourself. He did not expect this answer and that is why in what follows he sought to justify his question. Little did he realise that the Lord Jesus did answer his question! The law of God is after all the law of love. It commands that we love God and love our neighbour. And loving God is the same as accepting his Son Jesus Christ and following in his footsteps. God wants us to love him and our neighbour. And why? Because he loved us first in his Son! How can a man love God but not accept his Son Jesus Christ, who was and is the ultimate proof of God s love for sinful people? When we have compassion on our neighbour we are demonstrating something of the nature of God. So the Lord Jesus is not teaching in vs 28 that we can be saved by doing the law. Doing the law is a result of loving God and accepting Jesus. Following the rules does not save a person. But following Jesus in love, out of faith, does. Here a paragraph from the form for the ordination of office bearers comes to mind. Look up page in our BoP. There is a paragraph about the work of the deacons. Read 3

4 out Concerning the deacons, up to love of our Saviour. It says: The ministry of mercy proceeds from the love of our Saviour. Although this is said in the context of the special office of deacons, the principle applies to every Christian. We have mercy on others because our Saviour has mercy on us. The love that we have for God must inevitably find expression in the love that we have for our neighbour. So we find that doing good to our neighbour is not just a good thing that just anyone can do. Basically, having compassion on others is doing what our Lord did and still does. Having compassion on those in need is an essential aspect of a Christian lifestyle. And there is no stronger incentive for loving our neighbour than the example set but our own Lord. The lawyer, however, did not accept our Lord. He did not understand the essence of the law, that obeying it was loving Jesus and doing what Jesus did. That is why he wanted to justify himself with another question. Which brings us to our second point. 2. This compassion knows no boundaries The lawyer asked an easy question and received the obvious answer. In order to safe face, he questioned Jesus further: So, okay, we must love our neighbour but who is our neighbour? And, indeed, this question made a lot more sense than the first one. Perhaps not so much to us, because we realise that everyone who crosses our path, is our neighbour. But not so for the Israelite in the time of Jesus. The lawyer knew his Old Testament. And it says there in Lev 19, 25 that the neighbour is one of the people of God. His question holds water, because in the time of the Lord Jesus the population of Jerusalem and the whole of Canaan was cosmopolitan. There were people of many nations and different religions. So, is Jesus saying that the people of God should even extend help to those who do not believe in the God of Israel, the uncircumcised? And this where the parable seems to get a bit confusing. In vs 29 the lawyer asks the question: Who is my neighbour? Then the Lord Jesus tells the parable of the compassionate Samaritan, and then asks the counter question: Who was the neighbour of that man left for dead on the road? So the Lord does not really answer the question of the lawyer. He rather turns the question around: Do not ask who is your neighbour, but make sure that you are a neighbour to those around you. An ignorant bystander would be tempted to think that the Lord was evading the question. But the Lord Jesus does not evade question because they are too hard to answer. Rather, by answering in this manner, he indicates that the question of the lawyer is a non-issue! The compassion of a member of the people of God knows no boundaries! Everyone around you who is in need is an object of Christian love. The question of the lawyer actually sounds a lot like the questions we can ask each other and discuss with each other. In the introduction I said that there are many reasons why some people in our church 4

5 hesitate to extend help to our neighbours outside the church. Questions come up like: Do we extend help to just anyone, or only those who ask for it? Do we help someone only when the government does not provide for him? Should we contribute money to charitable organisations that are not Christian? Should we not rather preach the gospel than help with money or otherwise, since man does not live from bread alone? Is helping others a task for office bearers (deacons) or other members of the church, or both? Does the Bible not say that we must look after the household of faith, and then to others (Gal 6,10)? Aren t there enough Free Reformed organisations that need our financial support first? Shouldn t we avoid any contact with the world outside the church, lest we get contaminated with the sinfulness of the world? And the list goes on. The point with all these questions is, brs and srs, that many of them hold an element of truth, and they should be addressed. But as a whole they only serve to cloud the obligation. They put up a smoke screen around an aspect of the Christian faith and a function of the church in this world that is too obvious to ignore or to miss. Discussions about questions such as these can immobilise the church and the members of the church. They create doubt and make us wonder if we are really doing the right thing, or, in the worst case, they give us an excuse not to do good to our neighbour outside the church. So, allow me to put this to you as a question for your self examination: Could it be that many of our questions in reality come from a fear for the world outside the church? Or could it be that we do not like to step out of our personal comfort zone, or the safe environment of the church, where we know how things go, the place where we grew up and fit in? These feelings are understandable, and, again, they hold an element of truth. The world is not a safe place, and the church is (or should be). However, do you not think that when the Lord Jesus teaches us to have compassion on our neighbour, he will also protect us through his Word and Spirit as we answer that obligation? We will say a bit more about that in our third point. Here I want to underline the obligation to show compassion to our neighbour by referring to Jesus words in the Sermon on the Mount in Luke 6, Read out this section. Note especially vs 36: Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Merciful, that is the same word used by the lawyer in answer to Jesus question: Who proved to be a neighbour to this victim? The lawyer answered: The one who showed him mercy is his neighbour. In Luke 6 the person whom we should love is not qualified by his nationality or by the question whether or not he is one of the people of God. He is qualified as an enemy and a sinner and as a person who mistreats you. Those people are among our neighbours. And we must have compassion on them, love them, be merciful to them, for God has mercy on us. And so we come to our third point. 3. This compassion needs to be acted on 5

6 We said in the beginning that there is an underlying element in this parable of the compassionate Samaritan. The element that we should practice what we preach. The lawyer wanted to justify himself. He wanted to know if he was supposed to help more than only the people of God. Basically, he wanted to know what he should at the least do. His question can be interpreted as: with how much help-giving can I get away with? The lawyer knew the law and he used it to support his own selfishness. He also conveniently left things out. In the same chapter of Lev 19, in vss it reads: When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. Indeed, the lawyer was trying to outsmart the greatest Teacher. But the Lord leaves no room to doubt: you must love your neighbour for God loved you first. But then, how do we do that? Well, for instance, as churches we have a Free Reformed Relief Fund to which we may contribute financially. As a local church we should keep our eyes open for needs in the community of Bunbury and Busselton. As individual members you can look around your own neighbourhood, your colleagues at work. What about that little old lady next door who never seems to get any visitors. What about that single mum across the street who could use some help babysitting her kids. What about doing some gardening for that old man who can hardly hold his walking cane, let alone push a lawn mower. These may sound like trivial examples. Nothing like picking up a half dead man from the road. But these are relevant examples, times when Christians can make a difference to a society with so many lonely and neglected people. The extreme example of the compassionate Samaritan only wants to encourage us to help our neighbour. The Samaritan was an enemy of the people of God. The Jews hated the Samaritans because they worshipped God in another place than Jerusalem. This people of the Samaritans were the descendants of a mix of Israelites left behind by the Assyrians after they led the Ten Tribes into exile, and foreign people relocated there. Associating with a Samaritan to the Jews was like eating pork! But this enemy of Israel went way beyond the call of duty. He risked his own life by stopping to help this man in very dangerous terrain. He gave of his money and goods. He even gave the inn keeper a blank cheque so that this poor man would lack nothing. The point of this exaggeration is this: if an enemy of the people of God went to such great extent to help someone of the people of God, then how can we not care for our neighbour? How can we who live out of the love of God, not extend that love to our neighbour? The lawyer did what we are in danger of doing ourselves: paralysing the church by discussions. To the point where it gets so frustrating to some, that they even leave the church! The lawyer, and the priest and the 6

7 Levite were like the office bearers of the church. These were the leaders of the people of God. But instead of leading by example, instead of guiding the people of God to act on the compassion of God, they discussed the issue, like the lawyer, and let the man lie on the side of the road. That is not practicing what you preach. Fortunately, in the course of church history there have been many times when the church helped the needy in the community. The early Christian church helped slaves and beggars. In the dark Middle Ages the church looked after the lepers and others in need. In the 19 th century the deacons of the church were responsibly for the establishment of many hospitals and orphanages. And so the Bible and our own church history remind us of our obligation to do good to our neighbours, as individual believers and as a body of the church. Conclusion And with this we must come to a conclusion. Like we said in the introduction, the conclusion is not difficult, the message is easy. In the words of the Lord Jesus: You go, and do likewise. Our Lord loved us so much that he gave his life for us. He took away our sins with the shedding of his blood. We live because of him. We have hope because of him. We must not fail to extend that love of God to our neighbours as well. The church must be a beacon of light in a dark world. The church must surely show the way unto everlasting life. But the church must also show the compassion of the Lord in the needs of this mortal life. And so, brs and srs, do look around you to see where you can do good. That is our obligation and our privilege, for Jesus loved us first. Amen. 7

8 Liturgy Sing: Ps 133,1.2 Sing: Ps 119, Scripture reading and text Luke 10,25-37 Sing: Ps 118,1.7.8 Sing: Ps 103,1-3 Sing: Ps 86,1.2 Questions for sermon discussion 1. Is it a good thing when someone calls you a Good Samaritan? Why? 2. Why should the parable really be called the parable of the Compassionate Samaritan? What is so special about the word Compassionate? 3. What is the most important reason for us to love our neighbour? 4. Should we only help people in the church or also those outside the church? 5. How can you help people around you? 8