When to Offer Help

Luke 10:30-37 - Celebrate Life: When to Offer Help Doug Partin - The Christian Church - Nov 1, 2020 At the end of last week's study, we recalled how Jesus and His disciples left Samaria, where many Samaritans had responded to the gospel, and headed up to Galilee, where many Jews started responding to the gospel. And as we move along in this story, we find that the truth about God as revealed by Jesus was spreading all throughout Galilee, and not just by word of mouth, as it had so long ago in Nineveh when Jonah shared God's word, but because Jesus had intentionally sent His disciples out to the people in Galilee to proclaim it. Jesus' directions to these disciples is not the sort of advice that we might give someone today who is eager to go and preach the gospel. And certainly not the way that any church planting organization that I'm aware of does things today. Jesus told His disciples that they were to take no money, and they were to greet no one along the way. The not taking any money is easily understood, they were to be completely dependent on God trusting Him to provide; but the not greeting anyone seems a bit odd. Until you realize that this was Jesus' way to trying to keep these disciples from getting side tracked along the way. He wanted them to reach their destination in the time frame that Jesus had in mind. There are a lot of things that can side track an evangelist from reaching their destination, For example, Jesus talked about the problem of "looking back" after putting your hand to the plough. On arrival in the city to which they were sent. And it does seem that there was some plan indicating which disciples were headed to which village, so they didn't all end up in the same place; however, we are not given those details. But we are told that the disciples were sent out in pairs, and that it wasn't just the 12, but about 70 of them, which means that they could cover about 45 destinations at one time. If you were to take a map of ancient Galilee, you would quickly realize that this would have covered the majority of the region. Upon arriving at their destination, these disciples were to stay with the first person who invited them to do so. The implication was that they were not to accept an invitation to stay, then, upon meeting another person who had better accommodations to go stay with them, and so on and so forth. Jesus didn't want the implication that they were seeking more than a place to stay as they preached. And any space should have been enough. As an aside, when I first started attending church, a song sung at the time envisioned that those entering heaven could count on a "mansion" waiting for them. We sang with fervor, "I've got a mansion, just over the hill top. In that bright land where we will never grow old." And that mansion was contrasted with living in a small cottage here below. This idea of getting a mansion in heaven came from a misunderstanding of the term used in the original language to indicate the "spaces" that were built into the Temple complex that were used by the priests who came to serve at it. There was a limited number of spaces, and so, there was a limited number of priests who were allowed to serve at one time, based on those spaces. If you didn't know, the priests rotated in and out of service at the Temple. There just wasn't enough room for them all at one time; and a rotation shared the opportunity to serve among many. Jesus once referred to those spaces when, in John 14:2, He said, "In my Father's house there are many rooms." It was the term now translated "rooms" that was translated "mansions" in the KJ Version. Jesus was indicating that there would be enough spaces in God's house for everyone. We could all come near, and a space is all we'll need, for we'll spend our time in heaven serving in His House. Anyways, these disciples Jesus sent out were not to be chasing after a better offer, but be grateful for what was provided. Thankful for it. And while Jesus told them not to take any provisions with them, he also instructed them to eat and drink whatever was shared with them, for the laborer is worth of his wages. When I first started out in ministry, an older preacher advised us to never say that you liked a certain kind of food, like fried chicken, because the word would spread, and that is the only meal you'd ever be served when invited over. I haven't found that to be true, but as far as food goes, I'm looking forward to that time when we can more freely gather together in larger groups where we can once again enjoy a fellowship dinner. Until then we'll have to invite one another over to each other's homes, and that is good too. If you are wondering what it was that these disciples were supposed to do upon arrival, wonder no more. Jesus told them to heal their sick, and to tell them that the kingdom of God has come near. That should have been a welcome message, because the Galileans were, generally speaking, under the impression that they were not only far from God, but there was no way for them to come near God. They were a sinful people and He a Holy God. Even when they travelled down to Jerusalem to be near His House, there were no spaces for them in it, only for the priests. And because of the Temple courts, walled spaces that only certain people were allowed to enter, they could only draw so near, and some of them not at all. But the good news was that God's own Son, the Messiah, had been sent to them where they were living, entering into their homes and their lives, because God loved them, cared about them, and wanted them to be a part of His family. He had come near them. But if no one would welcome a disciple when they arrived with this message, then they were go into the streets of the village and shake off the dust of that city from their sandals, and declare that the kingdom of God had come near them, but they had rejected it. And these disciples were also to tell them that the people who lived in Tyre and Sidon, who were even further down on the list of acceptable people than Samaritans, would have repented long ago if the same miracles had been performed in their cities. As this story unfolds, we finally get to our passage for today's study. These "missionaries" had just returned from working the harvest in the fields of Galilee. The harvest of souls had been good, and they were overflowing with joyful stories of how the power of the gospel was breaking Satan's hold over people. And how even demons were subject to Jesus' name. Which also gives us a little more insight into what they did in these cities and how they proclaimed that God had come near. As each story was told, Jesus affirmed that these disciples were blessed to have seen these people set free. Hearing these stories, a man stood up from among the gathered disciples and asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Isn't that the question we all ask? Don't we want to know how the gospel will help us? Since this man was a lawyer, Jesus asked him a "law" based question, He asked, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" The man responded by quoting what Moses told the Israelites they were supposed to do if they wanted to prosper in the land to which God was leading them. What he quoted has become known as "the Shema," which is the Hebrew word for "hear" and "obey." It is found in Deut. 6:4-5. Jesus affirmed his answer, saying that if he were to do what he said, then he would live. Of course, a question that should come to mind for us who get to hear this story is, "Can anyone fully obey the Shema without first being set free from Satan's hold?" But that is not what the lawyer asked, He asked, "And who is my neighbor?" It is in response to this question that Jesus told the parable that has become known as the "Good Samaritan." It is a well-known story, both inside and outside of the church. Let me remind you of how it goes: A man was headed from Jerusalem to Jericho and was ambushed, stripped, beaten, and left lying on the ground half-dead. A priest traveling that way, saw him, but passed by on the other side; then came a Levite who did the same. Then came a Samaritan who, when seeing the man, was moved by compassion to help. He is the one who treated the man's wounds, put him on his pack animal, took him to an inn, and paid for his care until he recovered. After sharing that story, Jesus asked the lawyer, "Of these three, who do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man ambushed by robbers?" The lawyer, once again, answered well. He said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said, "Go and do the same." We don't know whether this man did, or if he was even able to do the same, but I like to think that he gave it his best shot. He seemed sincere. Jesus' open-ended directive to love the Lord your God with all of your soul and with all of your strength and with all of your mind; and your neighbor as yourself can be applied to any and every situation. It makes us consider what we should do and how we should act. Of the three who saw the man on the side of the road, who expressed love? It's too bad that Jesus didn't give us a list of specific things to do, like you find in the Old Testament. You know, there is a comfort in having an authoritative list of things that either please or displease God. We can check items off as we do them. We can decide which are the most important things to do, and which are not. We can define how each item is to be "done." And to whom we are supposed to do them. And we can use that list to argue that we are good enough, and well, others are not. But you can't do that sort of thing with a general command to love. And those lists in the Old Testament, Paul argued, only show that we have sin, despite the ones we kept, and are in need of being forgiven, which only Christ can do. In honor of Halloween, which just happens to be the day when Martian Luther posted his 95 thesis that would be hung on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, I've been listening to a history about him. His main argument was that the church's authority for advocating any understanding of faith or practice must be supported by Scripture alone. Which meant that the Scriptures needed to be made available for every person in their own language. For it was through His Word handed down to us that God had made His will known, and it is through them that we are directed to encounter the living Lord and ultimately be filled by His Spirit that we might live as His people. But just as soon as the freedom was given to each person to read the Bible for themselves and decide how they were to best to follow it, all sorts of divisions arose. Which led Luther and others leading the emerging reformation to say that in essentials they were to be unified, in non-essentials they were to have liberty, but in all things, they were to express love. But like today, a lot of them back then could not even agree on what was essential. And they had few kind things to say about those who disagreed with them, because, well, they were right. Throughout the Scriptures we are reminded to show grace, forgiveness, mercy and love toward one another, and even toward our enemies, because that is how God first acted toward us, and having been transformed by His love, we are to live in a way that we are known by our love. I think that we can all agree, as Jesus taught, that love is essential. In a real sense, the disciples who had gathered around Jesus, in their going out to heal the sick and preach the good news that God had come near, had been in the role of the Good Samaritan. And those they met in the cities of Galilee, who were still under Satan's dominion, were like the man ambushed and left for dead along the side of the road. It was not that the religious leaders couldn't have done something to help them, it was that they were not inclined to do so. There was no compassion, no love expressed. They had more important things to do. But Jesus' disciples are to be people for whom expressing love is first and foremost. While this parable is most often employed as a means to enlist help for those with physical needs, Jesus' focus in speaking to this man was on his spiritual need. That is not to say that Jesus didn't care about physical needs. He wouldn't have given His disciples the power to heal and cast out demons if that were so. But Jesus had come to seek and save the lost. He came to offer eternal life. He did not come to provision people so they would be well fed on their way to hell. Although, He would still feed people because they were hungry or thirsty, despite their spiritual destination. If this man wanted to have eternal life, Jesus said, then he needed to live a life that was defined by love, and so we do we. And there is only one way for that to happen. Before we can identify with the Good Samaritan, we have to first recognize that we are like the man who was ambushed and in need of help. It is only after we have been set free from the hold of sin by the healing power of Jesus that we can embrace the full intent of the Shema. And then, we can take that same good news that has transformed us, and enter into the harvest by compassionately extending God's love to everyone we meet. So, I have to ask, "Who have you been loving on in Jesus' name?" Prayer: Lord, thank You for those who served as the Good Samaritan to us, extending Your love and grace. We ask that you use us as You used them, to share the power of Your love in Your name. Amen.