Living for THE Day Instead of Living for TO-day…
Eyes That See!
Luke 10:25-30
[Opening Drama] (Scene: Sunday AM assembly; silent prayer)
Bob: Wow, what a great message! Lord, I want to do great things for your kingdom!
God: You do?
Bob: You bet! I want to teach millions! I want to speak at Promise Keepers! I want the entire world to know your saving power! I dream of the day ...
God: That's great, Bob. In fact, I can use you today after church.
Bob: Super! How about some radio and TV work, or .. or .. or an engagement to speak to Congress?
God: Well, that's not exactly what I had in mind. See that fellow sitting next to you?
Bob: Yes.
God: He needs a ride home.
Bob: (quietly): What?
God: He needs a ride home. And while you're at it, one of the older ladies sitting near you is worried about getting a refrigerator moved. Why don't you drop by this afternoon and ...
Bob: (pleading): But, God, what about the world?
God: (smiling): Think about it.[i]
Over the period of the last two weeks, we saw a dramatic presentation of what it means to be faithful stewards of the time, talents and treasures that Jesus has placed in our lives. We saw in, I trust, a powerful way, how important it is to live each day with a keen awareness that one day I will stand before Jesus and give an accounting of the way I utilized those resources that He entrusted to me. The point was to cause us to want to DO something – to live for Jesus, to make a difference for His kingdom with our lives on a daily basis.
We summarized that whole thought in the phrase “Living for THE Day in stead of living for TO-day.” How will what I do today look from the perspective of the Judgment Seat of Christ? How will the words I speak, the spending habits I have formed, the attitudes that I harbor, and the decisions I make appear through the lens of eternity?
The Bible makes it clear that one day we will review our lives in just such a setting. Romans 14:12 says “Each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” II Corinthians 5:10 says, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his reward for what he has done in the body, both good and bad…” Over the course of the next 5 weeks, we’re going to talk about what that looks like…
This coming Wednesday, my family and I will be leaving to drive to Washington DC. In that city in April of 1998, Military Police Maj. Odie Butler was northbound on I395 about 10 minutes before 6 a.m. when he came upon an accident near Alexandria, VA. Amid the debris of a single-truck accident, there was a person lying on the highway, having been thrown from the vehicle. Butler said he didn’t take time to think. He stopped his car and got out to help the victim. "At first, I couldn’t tell if [the victim] was male or female, there was so much blood ... [then] I saw she had on female tennis shoes. At the same time, traffic was rolling through," Butler said. Not having a cell phone, he was hoping someone would call 911. There wasn’t much else he could do for the victim. "She was on her back with her left leg tucked under and her right leg near the guardrail," Butler said. "She was spitting up blood and I knew she needed medical assistance. There was nothing I could do except stand there. She had a big laceration on her right hand, her whole face was covered in blood and she was having trouble breathing. Meanwhile motorists were passing by the accident, trying to weave through the debris and get on out of there," Butler said. Some made angry gestures. One driver told him to "get the ‘stuff’ off to the side of the road.” “Some folks don’t want to get involved,” Butler said, “[or] they’re in a hurry."
After about five minutes, another motorist, an Air Force civilian employee, Larry Meade, stopped and used his cell phone to call for assistance. About 10 minutes later, the woman was flown by helicopter to a hospital. Meade said that he expected the carnage of the crash, he had some training in trauma, but the anger of the other motorists shocked him. "People put appointments and memos above someone’s life." According to Butler, what he did on the interstate was "the Christian thing to do."
In our world, in Christian and non-Christian circles alike, Butler was hailed as a “Good Samaritan.” Today we are going to look at the passage of Scripture where Jesus first told that story – it’s found in Luke chapter 10, verses 25-37.
Along with the story of the Prodigal Son, this is probably the most familiar of Jesus’ stories. There’s a reason for that popularity – the story is so simple, yet the meaning so profound. Follow along as I read it to you:
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: "'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.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
A familiar story. One researcher found in a survey that 49% of the people interviewed said they would be able to tell the story of the Good Samaritan if asked to do so. But whether or not they could accurately retell the story, the concept of the "Good Samaritan" is familiar enough to everyone. We name hospitals, churches, and institutions in his honor. Most people know a ‘Good Samaritan’ when they see one...Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, or that anonymous person that simply stops to change a flat tire for you or helps a blind person cross the street. We have all met one or have heard of one even if we can’t relate the full details of Jesus’ story.
The background for the story is important. A lawyer confronted Jesus. At that time, a lawyer was a person who was a student of the Jewish Law – part of the religious and legal establishment. The Lawyer poses a question to Jesus as a "test" - "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" The question is one that many ask today – and it is appropriate for us in light of the last couple of Sundays we’ve spent together – “What can I do today that will impact eternity?” Now the lawyer asks it with a deceitful motive, but the answer is important to us nonetheless. Because Jesus knows the man’s motive, He answers the question with one of His own: "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"
The answer comes back, "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." Good answer. And Jesus agrees. But the lawyer is not satisfied with that, so he asks another question, "And who is my neighbor?" In other words, "OK, Jesus, I understand I am supposed to CARE, but what are the limits of my caring? When can I quit?"
And THEN Jesus tells His famous story.
The Roles are surprising
The first person to which we are introduced is the poor traveler. He had taken the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, which was notoriously dangerous. It descended nearly 3,300 feet in 17 miles, running through narrow passes at points. The terrain offered easy hiding for the bandits who terrorized travelers. This unfortunate man had been stripped, beaten, and left for dead. Jesus’ audience that day knew how easily it could happen and I would suspect that we could easily identify by glancing quickly through the newspapers or watching the news out of Milwaukee.
By chance a priest came along. If anyone could be expected to stop and help it would be a priest. But the priest does not come over to help; instead he is passed by on the other side. No reason is given. Perhaps it was fear - those who beat the man in the ditch might be lying in wait to beat him as well. Maybe it was because he had just been to Jerusalem and was ceremonially clean and didn’t want to defile himself with blood and dirt. Perhaps he had an important meeting in Jericho - we don’t know. But it is worth noting that if a priest found a body on their journey they had was required by the Law to bury it!]
Next there came a Levite...an "assistant" priest. I heard one person describe the Levite as a “Worship Leader.” As the text has it, "he came to the place and saw him, [and] passed by on the other side."
Enter character number three - a Samaritan. Nowhere in the Bible will we find the words "Good" and "Samaritan" next to each other. For those folks who first heard this story, the phrase "Good Samaritan" would have been an oxymoron - the only GOOD Samaritan would have been a DEAD Samaritan. The Samaritans were seen as a half-breed, heretical race of people who were worse than Gentiles, because they had corrupted the purity of the Jewish faith and sold out to the world.
The Samaritan sees the man, but instead of distancing himself, as the priest and the Levite had done, he comes closer. As the text has it, "when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them (wine was for cleansing, oil for healing). Then he put him on his own animal, bought 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.’” That was a lot of money! A normal day’s stay at an inn was 1/12th of a day’s wage, so the Samaritan paid for 24 days in advance for the wounded man – and offered to pay more when he next came through!
Jesus is amazing. This story, as we read it this morning, is 167 words long. It is all of nine sentences, and yet the lessons are many, and profound. Jesus defines “Who is my neighbor? – Anyone and everyone in need. He answers, “What is the limit of my responsibility?” – There is no limit - you see a need, you respond to it?” To a man who was a student of the Law, he says, “GO AND DO…” Study is not enough – faith must be followed by action. Those are all powerful lessons to be learned from the story of the Good Samaritan.
But for our purposes today, I want us to make a slightly different application, and it goes back to the original question the lawyer asked. When he asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He was not asking a question of salvation – he, and all Jews already assumed they were heaven bound. This question was one that was often discussed in open forums by the religious leaders and was really concerned with receiving rewards when the righteous were judged. He was asking, in effect, “What can I do today that will impact my eternal reward?”
That’s why I think the roles that Jesus cast in His story are even more important than they might have been otherwise, and the lessons we can learn are so critical to us as a church. I want us to notice two key phrases in this story – the first is in verse 31: “Now by chance…” and in verse 33, where Jesus introduces the Samaritan, and says, “As he journeyed…”
The first lesson I want us to take with us is that opportunities happen - we must be observant. The appearance of the beaten and wounded man along the road was an unexpected occurrence in the lives of all three of these people. There was no planning. No committee meetings were held to arrange for serving the needy people of the community. This was not a “Planned Act of Christian Kindness.” It all happened “by chance,” and “as they were journeying” through their normal, daily lives. It is quite possible that the Priest and Levite were on ministry business – going from Jerusalem to Jericho to serve in some official function, or to do some formal ministry work. Most likely the Samaritan was on his normal business route – I take it from his statement to the Innkeeper that he would settle up the tab on his next visit to mean that he traveled that way regularly. In each case, these three men were going about their normal day when a chance to make an eternal impact presented itself.
How many times do we, in our day, come across similar opportunities? A broken down car, along the highway. A mom struggling with four bags of groceries and a pair of crying children? A solitary person sitting in a waiting room?
The opportunities are all around us – and when we are people who have an eternal perspective, and want to live To-day for THE Day, we will notice those opportunities, and not allow them to slip away.
The second lesson I want us to take from this passage is that eternity interrupts – we must be compassionate. It is especially intriguing to me that the two bad examples in this story were ministers. One was a priest, the other a ministry leader. I’m sure they were busy, ministry-minded fellas – probably on their way to do some important ministry related work in Jericho. We don’t know what went through their minds when they saw the beaten and wounded man – we only know of their actions – they passed by. The Priest “saw,” the Levite “came and looked,” but the Samaritan “took pity on him.”
This is the real lesson for each of us today. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you have been given a responsibility to be a minister in some way. You have been given Spiritual Gifts, time, financial resources, abilities and opportunities as a trust from God, and you are expected to be a careful steward of that trust – to minister to the body of Christ as only you can.
But things get in the way – some bad, like wasted time in front of the TV or computer – but sometimes good things can get in the way of our ministry. Eternity has a way of interrupting our precious ministry schedules. Each of us has to be careful because we can get so caught up in ministry that we stop seeing the wounded and half-dead along our way. We get so worried about our busy schedules that we miss the Divine Appointments along the way. Imagine a doctor who would say, “I’d love my job if it just wasn’t for all these sick people!” Or a teacher, “I’d love my job if it wasn’t for all those students!” Or a pastor, “I’d love what I do if it wasn’t for all those needy people!” That is precisely what happened to the Priest and Levite in this story, and it can happen so easily to a church.
But a church, or an individual that is living for THE Day instead of living for TO-day sees the wounded and hurting people along the roadway of life, is moved with compassion toward them, and responds with the love of Christ. We are to be moved into action by compassion toward the wounded and broken. The priest and Levite allowed their ministries to blind them to the ministry opportunities and divine appointments around them. The Samaritan allowed his ministry to interrupt his schedule, and he responded in compassion. He had eyes that saw the opportunities, and a heart that recognized the Divine Appointments in his day.
I close with the last words of Jesus in this passage: “Go and do likewise.”
Prayer: