Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" nbsp;He answered, "You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself."  And He said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."  But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.'  Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"  He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:25-37) (NRSV)

We come this morning to a wonderful passage of Scripture that is often overlooked because it is so familiar.  Like that oil painting in the hall of your home, you no longer take time to notice its delicate brush strokes and intricate detail because, well, it's always been there.  It's so familiar that we fail to admire it any more.

And so with our passage of Scripture today - traditionally called the parable of the good Samaritan - we switch off when we hear it read to us again, saying, "heard it, read it, studied it, seen it on a flannelgraph." It's old and familiar.

But this morning let's not pass over it quickly.  Let's understand that we are dealing with the living word of God so that whenever we approach it and hear it and read it we need to realize that there is always something that God wants to say to us.  Either it's something God wants to reaffirm, or something new that He wants to teach us.  To be sure it's an old truth, but new to us.

So let's approach this old, familiar story of the Good Samaritan with eyes and ears, and especially hearts wide open, praying, "Lord, what is it that you want us / me to learn here?"

As we approach this text we discover that a discussion is taking place between a lawyer and our Saviour and we are privileged to overhear their discussion.  Indeed we lean in to hear every word, for they are discussing what it means to live a life that is pleasing to God.  That is essentially the question the expert in the law asked Jesus, 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?  What must I do to live life in the light and love and favour of God?"

Good question, we think.  What does it mean to live a life that is pleasing to God.  He is the creator of all.  He is the lover of my soul after all, and we would be able to say that is our Saviour - and I do want to please Him, so how can we do that, Jesus?

And Jesus puts the question back on him and says, "What does Scripture say?"

The vlawyer has a very good answer - "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 we would say, "Amen."  A wonderful answer - depend on God totally for all you need and love Him entirely.  And he adds, "Love your neighbour as yourself."

And Jesus says, 'You have answered correctly, do this and you will live." "Yes," says Jesus, "you have understood what it means to live in God's favour, it is a life that is completely given over to Him, so that He is our Lord, our sovereign."

But it is always a life that expresses that love in loving your neighbour as yourself.

It has been said that most religions are meant to be straight lines, connecting two points - God and humanity.  If humanity can be right with God, if he can please and pacify Him, all will be well.  But Christianity has three points - God and humanity and our neighbour - with two lines that make a right angle.  Each one of us is at the point of the angel, looking up to God and out to our neighbour.  I always thought that the Salvation Army slogan had it right – "Heart to God, hand to Man." What God sends down the perpendicular line we must pass on along the horizontal.  If one hand goes up to God, the other must go out to our brother or sister -- to our neighbour.

Jesus said, "By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you love one another."  But the lawyer wants some clarification and asks, "Who is my neighbour?"  And it is here that Jesus tells us that familiar parable that clearly outlines with it means to live a life that is pleasing to God.

Listen, this is the point of the story.  The person that pleases God is the person who practices mercy.  What is mercy?  Mercy is undeserved aid.  So the person who pleases God is the person who gives undeserved aid - who practices mercy.

As we read this parable we discover we are called to show mercy in two areas of life.

I

First we should show mercy to those who need us.  It is so obvious that mercy should be practiced where there are people in need.  Love your neighbour as yourself.

My neighbour is the person I see who is in need.  It has nothing to do with geography or proximity - it has everything to do with need.

It may well be my spouse.  It may well be my child.  It may well be somebody I see on the television screen or someone I read about in the newspaper.

And if you have anything of the love of Christ in your heart you'll go out to them, and with your love and with your time and with your money, and with your prayer, you will be moved in compassion because they need us.

We are challenged in this parable with the truth that is scored into Scripture:

Psalm 82 - "be fair to the needy and the helpless."

Proverbs 21 - "if you refuse to listen to the cry of the poor, your own cry for help will not be heard."

Mathew 5 - "when somebody asks you for something give it to them."

And this is what is so sad about the priest and the Levite who see the man in need but who pass on by.  They don't stop and they don't help, and what makes it worse is that they knew better! Theirs was the chosen race, theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.  Theirs are the patriarchs.

If the reality of God, if the will of God , if the desire of God was plain to anyone it was plain to the priests and the Levites.  Yet they pass by the one who is in need.

Wow.  That is sad.  But it is a sadness that convicts us.  For here I am a healthy man, with a fine family, a nice home, a good church, living in a safe and caring community, all the advantages of life.  Right down to the fact that I know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and do not even need to worry about my future.  I know it is secure in the one whom I have believed and this parable addresses me.  It addresses you.

Do I see the one in need and respond in mercy - unmerited aid - or do I seek my own security, my own continued comfort and pass by choosing not to help?  What must I do to inherit eternal life?  How do I live a life that is pleasing to God?  Love God - love your neighbour who is in need.

It makes sense, for if we do not show mercy, then the life of Christ cannot be within us.  Being rooted and established in Christ we are to bear fruit and if we do not bear fruit we have every right to ask ourselves, "Does Christ really dwell within me?  In the words of John in his first letter:

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him.  How can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." (I John 3:17) (NIV)

Let each person examine their heart.

Make no mistake about it - it is not only physical need we must aid - to be sure physical need in our world is desperate, however even more desperate and even more demanding there is the spiritual need of our neighbor.  Those people who need to know the life that is in Christ.

Our world may be rich in many things but be poor in Spirit.  It is here also that we should hear that cry of need that we should want to respond.

And they are in deep need of a good Samaritan like you to come and show them mercy, to give they help to find the one who is gives true meaning and purpose and vibrancy to life.

Compassion is at the heart of true mission.  And when we hear Jesus calling us to show mercy, it is that we might respond to those who need us physically and who need us spiritually that we might be men and woman warmed to respond to those in need.

II

Secondly, Jesus calls us to show mercy not only to those who are in need, but to those who hurt us.  To those who hurt us.

We aren't told the identity of the man on the Jericho road.  We aren't told if he was a Samaritan or a Hebrew.  But it isn't wrong to assume that he was a Hebrew.  Indeed it makes the story all the more poignant, for you see the Jews hated the Samaritans and a Jew would not expect a Samaritan to help in any way.  And the Samaritan would have every right to pass by the Jew.  For the Jews mocked the Samaritans and ridiculed the Samaritans they hated and hurt the Samaritans.

The world in which we live would advise the Samaritan not to stop and help that poor man by the road, for our merciless world finds revenge so delicious and mercy so tame.

If the Samaritan had a companion traveling with him on that road, he might point at the man lying by the side of the road and say, "It serves him right.  He is just getting a little back for what he and his people have put your people through.  All the mocking, all the insults, all the hatred, now look at him there bloodied and soiled almost dead well let him die.  He deserves it."

But the Samaritan when he came where the man was and saw him, he stopped and, says the text, he took pity on him - he was filled with mercy.

We know those feelings of wanting revenge for we have been bruised and hurt too.  We share in a world where individuals, our spouse, a child, good friend, a fellow church member, a fellow employee, a boss, has hurt us terribly by something they have said, or something they have done, and sometimes our heart longs for revenge, for pay back to get even.  Oh, how we inwardly shout with glee when the one who has wronged us in shown to be wrong?  When the one who has insulted us is insulted, the one who has betrayed our trust is betrayed.

But it's not the way of the Master - it's not the way of a life that seeks to please God.

"You have heard it said, "love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I tell you - love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your father in heaven."  Show mercy to those who hurt you.  Show mercy to those who need you.

Now make no mistake this kind of caring, this kind of mission work will cost us.  There's no way to get around it.  To put it in the images of our day, the Samaritan used his St. John's First Aid training to handle the initial medical emergency.  Then he pulled out his Visa card to cover the costs of a couple of nights at the local Holiday Inn.  It cost the Samaritan.

And it will cost us.  For to help another in need causes us to stop our busy schedule and offer a hand.  It requires that we are compassionate, it will mean getting our hands dirty for the needy, it will mean signing blank cheques and leaving them with the innkeeper until we return.

Whether it is helping a drifter have a meal, or a family who has lost everything to sickness, or helping feed the hungry in the third world it costs.  And often the cost involves what is most valuable to us - time and money.  Jesus portrays the Samaritan giving both.

But you should also know that when we show mercy we are confirming the reality of Jesus Christ.  There is no greater evidence of the life of Christ in any believer than being like the Good Samaritan.

But we also need to see that caring brings life.  Jesus said it best.  After the lawyer recited the commandment to love God and love your neighbour as yourself Jesus challenged him, "Do this and you will live."  The obvious antitheses of this is if you do not do this, you will die.

And the closing question may be for us, Why?  Why?  Why should I show mercy to my neighbour?  It is not enough for your pastor to say this what we ought to do.  Why?

Well if you need another answer beside Jesus' own - "do this and you live" - there is this.  We need to respond in mercy to those who need us, to those who hurt us, because that is what God has done for us.

God has made humanity His neighbour.  Seeing a world of sinners robbed of their true nature, stripped of divine ideals, wounded by sins, unable to rise above the pull of sin and selfishness.  God came down in the Incarnation to where the sinner was and acted just as the Samaritan did in the parable.

Christ, through the death and resurrection, covers our nakedness, binds up our wounds and heals them with His own blood shed on the cross.

Not only this, but He puts us in a place of safety, provides for our needs and has promised to return to take us to Himself.

And so, Jesus says, "You go and do likewise."

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - April 2002

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