"Are You The Real Deal?"
Luke 10:25-37 July 11, 2010
At the crux of our story today a question arises that gets to the very heart of what we are called
to do and be as followers of Jesus Christ. As he is trying to ascertain what Jesus demands of his
followers, a young man stumbles upon this question. Jesus tells him to honor God he must love
God with all his heart and do likewise with his neighbor.
Down through the centuries men and women of faith have tried hard to do the first part.
Whether it was internalizing and memorizing Bible verses or attempting to live within the confines
of the law, honoring God, loving God, serving God was the goal of faithful people like you and me.
That’s why we are in church today. We’ve set aside an hour or two and come here to say thank
you to God for his blessings. We’ve come to worship him and tell him how good he is and how
much we love him. We sing the songs of faith. We hear the words of truth. We are inspired by the
preaching and the fellowship we share with our friends in Christ.
The truth is that if this was all there was to honoring God’s will, we could do it without breaking
a sweat. I know we complain about getting up early and traveling. We complain about the heat, the
long sermons, the archaic music but we do it because we love God and we want to be here.
I think that is what the young man was trying to get out of Jesus in our passage today. He
wanted an affirmation that what he was doing was good enough. He had gone the first mile, he had
done what he felt was required and he wanted Jesus to sign off on it.
There is an old saying that goes like this: “Going to church no more makes you a Christian that
does being in a garage make you a car.” In other words going to worship as your only act of
obedience will not define your life as belonging to the Lord.
Following Jesus is not a once a week commitment. It demands that you live with him 24/7.
Jesus invites you and me to walk with him every day.
William Diehl, a former executive at Bethlehem Steel, wrote a book called The Monday
Connection which talked about living the Sunday morning faith all week long. It talked about putting
into practice during the week, that which we proclaimed on Sunday morning.
You see there is a difference between knowing the scriptures and living them. When Jesus was
tempted in the wilderness the devil showed he was quite capable of quoting scripture. But he wasn’
t about to live it. Too many people hide behind the scriptures. They can quote them. They can tell
you what it means to be a Christian. But they don’t actually live the life. The truth is that all of us
are guilty at times. We know what it takes but we make excuses. In some ways we are no different
than this young man. We want the easy way out.
This young man knew full well what Jesus would say. He knew Jesus would demand more.
Jesus wasn’t going to be happy with one day a week faithfulness. But he thought it was worth a try.
So he asks; “What must I do? Love God and love my neighbor? I just want to get this right.
Who exactly is my neighbor?” Sounds like a lawyer speaking doesn’t it? Well that is what our text
says, an expert in the law stood up and asked him. Well that is because he was a lawyer.
Jesus defines his answer with a story. It is a story that we know very well. It’s called “the good
Samaritan.” Two things jump right at you in this story. First your neighbor is not always who you
think he is. Second, anyone can be a good neighbor.
To the first point I think that most of us would find it easy to help someone we know. If a
family member or a friend or a co-worker or even a next door neighbor was in trouble, we would
reach out with a helping hand. We know these people. They are a part of our network.
But Jesus challenges that notion by making the victim a stranger. He is a man with no name and
no connections. To make his point, Jesus notes that two men of faith pass him by. One even
crosses to the other side of the street to avoid the victim. There is no doubt that the men can be
justified. According to the law, they did what was right and proper.
But then Jesus tells of a man who stopped and helped the stranger. He tells of a man who was
moved by compassion and able to put aside his fears, his excuses and simply helped him. This man
became the hero of the story.
Jesus said this is what we are called to do. The truth is that this is what Jesus did in his ministry.
Time after time we read that he saw the people in their need and he had compassion on them. His
heart went out for them and he healed them, he spoke to them, he touched them. They weren’t all
good church people. Many of them were outcasts. They had no qualifications that drew his
attention. They didn’t come from the right bloodline or the right synagogue. There was nothing that
they could give back. They were simply people in need.
Jesus said these are my neighbors. IT puts in perspective the verse from John 3:16 when the
Apostle says, “For God so loved the world…” Someone once said a stranger is only a member of
God’s family that we haven’t met yet. We are to love the people we meet and to minister to them as
we are called.
The second point is this: Anyone can please God by loving their neighbor. The hero of our story
is a Samaritan. In Jesus’ day they were the outcasts. It would be like telling the story today in
modern Israel and saying that it was a Palistinian who stopped and cared for the wounded man. It
would be like saying in New York City, site of the 9/11 terrorist attack, that a Muslim was the hero.
What Jesus was saying is that anyone who does the will of God is his brother. It doesn’t matter
what your past is. It doesn’t matter where you came from or what you were doing before. When
you put your faith in him, you become a new creation. You are now a son or daughter of God.
All throughout the gospels we see this time and again.
The tax collectors…
The prostitutes…
The roman soldiers…
The
Jesus invites all of us to follow him. To go and live the gospel 24/7 and to let our lives show that
we have walked with the Lord.
Luke 10:25-37 July 11, 2010
At the crux of our story today a question arises that gets to the very heart of what we are called
to do and be as followers of Jesus Christ. As he is trying to ascertain what Jesus demands of his
followers, a young man stumbles upon this question. Jesus tells him to honor God he must love
God with all his heart and do likewise with his neighbor.
Down through the centuries men and women of faith have tried hard to do the first part.
Whether it was internalizing and memorizing Bible verses or attempting to live within the confines
of the law, honoring God, loving God, serving God was the goal of faithful people like you and me.
That’s why we are in church today. We’ve set aside an hour or two and come here to say thank
you to God for his blessings. We’ve come to worship him and tell him how good he is and how
much we love him. We sing the songs of faith. We hear the words of truth. We are inspired by the
preaching and the fellowship we share with our friends in Christ.
The truth is that if this was all there was to honoring God’s will, we could do it without breaking
a sweat. I know we complain about getting up early and traveling. We complain about the heat, the
long sermons, the archaic music but we do it because we love God and we want to be here.
I think that is what the young man was trying to get out of Jesus in our passage today. He
wanted an affirmation that what he was doing was good enough. He had gone the first mile, he had
done what he felt was required and he wanted Jesus to sign off on it.
There is an old saying that goes like this: “Going to church no more makes you a Christian that
does being in a garage make you a car.” In other words going to worship as your only act of
obedience will not define your life as belonging to the Lord.
Following Jesus is not a once a week commitment. It demands that you live with him 24/7.
Jesus invites you and me to walk with him every day.
William Diehl, a former executive at Bethlehem Steel, wrote a book called The Monday
Connection which talked about living the Sunday morning faith all week long. It talked about putting
into practice during the week, that which we proclaimed on Sunday morning.
You see there is a difference between knowing the scriptures and living them. When Jesus was
tempted in the wilderness the devil showed he was quite capable of quoting scripture. But he wasn’
t about to live it. Too many people hide behind the scriptures. They can quote them. They can tell
you what it means to be a Christian. But they don’t actually live the life. The truth is that all of us
are guilty at times. We know what it takes but we make excuses. In some ways we are no different
than this young man. We want the easy way out.
This young man knew full well what Jesus would say. He knew Jesus would demand more.
Jesus wasn’t going to be happy with one day a week faithfulness. But he thought it was worth a try.
So he asks; “What must I do? Love God and love my neighbor? I just want to get this right.
Who exactly is my neighbor?” Sounds like a lawyer speaking doesn’t it? Well that is what our text
says, an expert in the law stood up and asked him. Well that is because he was a lawyer.
Jesus defines his answer with a story. It is a story that we know very well. It’s called “the good
Samaritan.” Two things jump right at you in this story. First your neighbor is not always who you
think he is. Second, anyone can be a good neighbor.
To the first point I think that most of us would find it easy to help someone we know. If a
family member or a friend or a co-worker or even a next door neighbor was in trouble, we would
reach out with a helping hand. We know these people. They are a part of our network.
But Jesus challenges that notion by making the victim a stranger. He is a man with no name and
no connections. To make his point, Jesus notes that two men of faith pass him by. One even
crosses to the other side of the street to avoid the victim. There is no doubt that the men can be
justified. According to the law, they did what was right and proper.
But then Jesus tells of a man who stopped and helped the stranger. He tells of a man who was
moved by compassion and able to put aside his fears, his excuses and simply helped him. This man
became the hero of the story.
Jesus said this is what we are called to do. The truth is that this is what Jesus did in his ministry.
Time after time we read that he saw the people in their need and he had compassion on them. His
heart went out for them and he healed them, he spoke to them, he touched them. They weren’t all
good church people. Many of them were outcasts. They had no qualifications that drew his
attention. They didn’t come from the right bloodline or the right synagogue. There was nothing that
they could give back. They were simply people in need.
Jesus said these are my neighbors. IT puts in perspective the verse from John 3:16 when the
Apostle says, “For God so loved the world…” Someone once said a stranger is only a member of
God’s family that we haven’t met yet. We are to love the people we meet and to minister to them as
we are called.
The second point is this: Anyone can please God by loving their neighbor. The hero of our story
is a Samaritan. In Jesus’ day they were the outcasts. It would be like telling the story today in
modern Israel and saying that it was a Palistinian who stopped and cared for the wounded man. It
would be like saying in New York City, site of the 9/11 terrorist attack, that a Muslim was the hero.
What Jesus was saying is that anyone who does the will of God is his brother. It doesn’t matter
what your past is. It doesn’t matter where you came from or what you were doing before. When
you put your faith in him, you become a new creation. You are now a son or daughter of God.
All throughout the gospels we see this time and again.
The tax collectors…
The prostitutes…
The roman soldiers…
The
Jesus invites all of us to follow him. To go and live the gospel 24/7 and to let our lives show that
we have walked with the Lord.
Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
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