Thanks be to
Jesus for this new day, for us to live, to love, and to glorify His Name. Praise
the Lord for all His promises for the journeys that we take. He is the Bread for
the journey. He is our Eternal Home. He is with us and for us and He goes before
us every way, all the way, leading us to the Eternal City. Praise the Lord for
the way He gives us blessings and challenges. There are times He allows trials ,
tragedies, tribulations, and tears to come our way. Praise the Lord for the way
He grants us victories and triumphs along the way.
The Lord
blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday Evening gathering. The dinner was prepared
with much love, served with much joy, and received with much gratitude. The
study was provoking and challenging. We are doing the study "40 Days of Love" by
Rick Warren. One of the references on love in action was the parable of the Good
Samaritan as it is recorded in Luke 10.
We live in
world full of beauty and splendor. We live in world where we see the sign posts
along the way, pointing out our Lord's grandeur and majesty. We also recognize
that we also live in a suffering world. There are people everywhere who are
wounded and hurting. Many are abandoned and desolate. Jesus used a master stroke
when he selected a Samaritan as the hero of His story.
The Samaritan
was walking the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, a location notorious for
violence, and known as "the way of blood". It is, in many ways, so like the
world we live in, and we cannot isolate ourselves from contact with its
casualties. Even though the priest and the Levite ignored their
responsibilities, the Samaritan did not ignore his. Jesus made the point that
his "legs of mercy" took him to "where the wounded man was" (33). The Good
Samaritan immediately saw the need. He didn’t need any prodding, visions, or
voices. As Jesus put it, "when he saw the wounded man" (33), he recognized the
need. Our task is to look to God for guidance, to see genuine need, and to have
spiritual discernment, so that when we find ourselves alongside someone in need
we can minister Christ to that person. Jesus said that the Samaritan "took pity
on him" (33). The Authorized Version uses the word "compassion", which is even
more descriptive. There was such a compelling power in the Samaritan’s heart
that he couldn’t stand still and do nothing. He had to do something.
A heart full of
compassion is always moved to action. It might result in moving into situations
which, humanly speaking, could be avoided. The love of Christ, however, breaks
down barriers. The Good Samaritan broke through the racial barrier, putting the
priest and the Levite to shame. A heart of love always results in some positive
action.
Jesus detailed in a series of six
verbs just how active this man’s compassion was, as the Samaritan went to the
wounded man, bandaged his wounds, poured oil and wine on his wounds, put him on
his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him there. In every one
of his acts he demonstrated compassion as he responded in a practical, timely,
and unselfish way. When he put him on his own donkey it meant that he, the
Samaritan, walked. It is important to recognize that he took the time to take
care of him. We may not be able to help out everywhere, or help everyone, but we
can help somewhere and try to do a meaningful work of service.
Caring is costly. It took time to stop by the beaten-up man to give him first aid. The priest and Levite were both busy men, but they were too busy if they couldn’t spare the time to help a fellow traveler in need. Orderly lives are good and proper, but sometimes they have to give way to a priority call if the Spirit of God urges in this way.
Caring can cost money. The Samaritan gave freely of his own resources: "he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him" (34), promising the innkeeper that he would pay the bill. Caring requires commitment, as the ancient prayer says, "to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wound; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing we do your will". We can be sure that our Lord won’t ask of us more than we can give, for he knows all our circumstances.
After seeing this portrait of the Good Samaritan, I wonder if any of us can think of a person who fully fits the picture. The only one who matches it completely must be the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It’s rather striking that the previous chapter in the Gospel records that "Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (9:51). It was a journey which ended on the Cross. Here is the ultimate model of love. He cared when caring was expensive. Our guilt was enormous, but on the Cross he took on himself all our liabilities and, on the Cross, paid for us in full.
We cannot hope to keep the great commandments, "To love God ... and our neighbor", but having trusted in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, our calling as Christians is to hear the words of Jesus to the lawyer who heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan, "Go and do likewise" (37). In 1 John 3:16-18, in surely one of the most convicting passages in the Bible we read, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (17) But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (18) My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”
James in his practical principles for living the Christian life says in (James 1:15-17), “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, (16) and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? (17) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” Compassion demonstrates whether we have a relationship with Jesus Christ,"
It’s not always popular, convenient, or cheap to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, but it is the right way. His is the way of joy. "Go and do likewise."
Caring is costly. It took time to stop by the beaten-up man to give him first aid. The priest and Levite were both busy men, but they were too busy if they couldn’t spare the time to help a fellow traveler in need. Orderly lives are good and proper, but sometimes they have to give way to a priority call if the Spirit of God urges in this way.
Caring can cost money. The Samaritan gave freely of his own resources: "he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him" (34), promising the innkeeper that he would pay the bill. Caring requires commitment, as the ancient prayer says, "to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wound; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing we do your will". We can be sure that our Lord won’t ask of us more than we can give, for he knows all our circumstances.
After seeing this portrait of the Good Samaritan, I wonder if any of us can think of a person who fully fits the picture. The only one who matches it completely must be the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It’s rather striking that the previous chapter in the Gospel records that "Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (9:51). It was a journey which ended on the Cross. Here is the ultimate model of love. He cared when caring was expensive. Our guilt was enormous, but on the Cross he took on himself all our liabilities and, on the Cross, paid for us in full.
We cannot hope to keep the great commandments, "To love God ... and our neighbor", but having trusted in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, our calling as Christians is to hear the words of Jesus to the lawyer who heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan, "Go and do likewise" (37). In 1 John 3:16-18, in surely one of the most convicting passages in the Bible we read, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (17) But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (18) My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”
James in his practical principles for living the Christian life says in (James 1:15-17), “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, (16) and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? (17) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” Compassion demonstrates whether we have a relationship with Jesus Christ,"
It’s not always popular, convenient, or cheap to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, but it is the right way. His is the way of joy. "Go and do likewise."
In
Christ,
Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment