Luke 10:25-37

Recurrent Thought

Being kindhearted and helpful to others, which is demanded of all Christ-devoted followers, is a significant way of witnessing Christ to Others.

One effective way of sharing the love of Christ to a person is by first ministering to their immediate need. It is a power of being a good neighbor that pulls many to the Love of God. This is when we first meet the need of the possible client of the Gospel before preaching about the goodness of God. The conviction is that as we offer a person goodness through works of charity this may lead them to open their hearts to the goodness of Christ.

Background

• We have a scenario when the Scribes asked Jesus a question on the basis of his teaching the Great Commandments. Who is my Neighbor? 
• To answer them, he gave a parable of What we now refer to as a “Good Samaritan.”  
• Remember the Samaritan was not expected to be nice

From this passage we explore another way of sharing the love of God by meeting the needs of the possible. This is called Need-oriented evangelism, which demands that we start sharing the Jesus to other people at their point of need. This story summarizes the function of our ministry to the world. This story teaches us with it means to be neighborly. 

There are some risks of sharing Christ this acts of mercy 

• The recipients remain dependent on the physical help without acknowledging Christ. The concept of rice is an example
• The Evangelists remain preoccupied with doing acts of mercy and ignore the actual preaching of the Gospel

Five Lessons from the Parable of the Samaritan

1. The Nature of a Person without Christ” 
   • This story describes the condition of all men apart from Christ. The man in this story represents the people of the world apart from Christ. 
   • They are on a journey downward. 
   • They are on a journey away from the city of God. 
   • They are on a dangerous road that will eventually lead to death. 
   • They are being stalked by an enemy who is seeking to steal, kill and destroy. 
2. Sin and Evil Forces Have an Impact on Human Beings (John 10:10)
   • One thing we know is that Sin has a corrosive capacity to any human beings. Additionally, evils forces are represented by thieves in this parables come to destroy lives. Notice that the thieves do three things: 
   • They strip the men of their clothing (Dignity)
   • The first thing that Adam lost when he sinned was his clothing. God has provided clothing for the believer. Satan’s desire is to take it from us and replace it with clothing of his own. 
   • They wound and abuse human beings
   • They abused him, injured him and inflicted him with many wounds with sticks and clubs. These thieves could have stopped with robbing the man, but they insisted on damaging the man’s person. Their intent was to kill him. 
   • Satan is an expert at bringing pain and death to our lives.
   • They abandon and leave human beings for dead.
   • Lamsa says, “They left him with little life remaining in him.” They left him in a helpless and hopeless condition, totally shut up to the mercy of God and the compassion of others. 
   • He had been so thoroughly injured that he could do nothing for himself and apart from grace was doomed to die a slow and agonizing death. 
   • Jesus clearly wants us to understand that people outside of Christ are victims of the devil, they are not our enemies. 
3. Many Good People Tend to Fail to Help the Hurting 
   • The fact is that the man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead was without hope unless someone came by to help him. And indeed, People came by, but unfortunately not everyone was willing to help. Many saw the condition of the man, but different things were in their hearts and for one reason or another they did not come to the man’s assistance.
   • Another Fact is that not everyone wants to get involved in other people’s messes. Not everyone wants to be neighborly. There may have been several reasons why they did not want to get involved. 
   • Some fail to respond out of fear of personal safety and a strong desire for self-preservation. “If I get involved, maybe the same thing will happen to me. Maybe I will be beaten and robbed. It is too risky to get involved.” 
   • Some fail to respond out of selfishness. “If I get involved I will have to change my schedule. It may cost me personal finances. It may cost me my valuable time.” It takes real commitment to get involved with the harvest. 
   • Some fail to respond out of prejudice. 
   • Jesus introduced the thought of prejudice when he made a Samaritan a part of the story. Some may fail to respond because they do not deem the injured man to be worthy of their attention. He is not of “their kind,” racially, economically or socially. Unfortunately without clothes it was difficult to know this man’s actual station in life. 
   • Some fail to respond out of a cold judgmental heart believing that the hurting probably get what they deserve. This argument says that if the man had been more careful, if he had not been traveling alone or if he had made wiser choices this never would have happened. He is simply experiencing the consequences of his own bad choices. 
   • Some fail to respond because they are too religious and only them have God’s perspective.
   • The Levite may have been thinking that if he helped the man that he would be late for his religious duties. The priest may have been concerned that if he tried to help this man and the man died he would have been ceremonially unclean for a week (Lev. 21:11; Num. 19:16). This would mean that he would not be able to carry on his normal schedule for that amount of time.
   • Some fail to respond because they feel that they have no answers. 
   • They see the condition of the man and they are sure that he is well beyond their own skill and ability to help the man. Whatever the case, there are always plenty of reasons not to respond. There are thousands of people who can justify themselves with millions of excuses why not to make the effort and why not to get involved. Notice that the lawyer in this case asked the question of Jesus because he wanted to “justify himself.” 
4. Why You as an Effective Witness must get Involved in Helping the Hurting
   • When some are making excuses or hurrying by, there be some who are different. There was someone who decided that no excuse was good enough not to get involved. 
   • We cannot be sure why Jesus chose to use a Samaritan man as an example of the one who responded except for the fact that he may have been the least likely in the lawyer’s mind) of the persons who passed by to naturally respond or to have the resources to respond. 
   • Often times it is not the well-trained, the seminary graduate or the people of fame and fortune who respond to the needs of mankind. Often it is just “common ordinary people” who have few resources and little training who actually do the work of ministering. 
   • Sometimes the people that we think should have an answer do not have an answer. Sometimes the people that we think should care do not care. Sometimes the people that can afford to spend resources to attend to these needs do not attend to these needs. 
   • You must get involved because as a Christ-devoted follower your heart is sensitive and caring 
   • The difference is the heart. Some people have education, training, financial resources and spiritual giftings, but they do not have a sensitive, caring and compassionate heart.
   • Perhaps the Samaritan was different because somehow he could identify with the beaten man. Maybe he had been there before. Maybe he had experienced this kind of trouble and was better able to identify with the need. Sometimes we are so far removed from our personal experience of salvation that we no longer empathize with the lost. 
   • The priest and the Levite may have been out of touch with the true human condition. It may have been easier for them to exhort the man, criticize the man or give him a tract on four ways to avoid pitfalls in the future. 
   • Unfortunately this is not what the man needed. What the man needed was simple and not complex. Sometimes we make ministering to people too complex. We feel that we must have training in psychology or professional counseling, when in reality these needy ones may just need a helping hand, a listening ear and a personal touch. 
   • You must be involved in helping others because you are available
   • The Samaritan was not a medical doctor. He was not a trained professional, but he was there. He was on the scene and something had to be done.  Often times the best trained people are not where the needs are. The people that are hurting the most are not always sitting in the doctor’s waiting rooms. More often than not they are in the gutters, along the sides of the road or in the back alleys where the trained professional never go. 
   • You must be involved because you are part of the armies of God now raising
   • But God has an army of ministers that He is raising up in these days from all walks of life who are familiar with the needs of mankind and who pass the needy every day. This army needs to be motivated by the compassion of Jesus and released to function in the power of the Spirit to reach those in the highways and byways. This army of ministers needs to follow the pattern of the Samaritan. 
5.  What Effective Witness of Hope Do when they Meet the Hurting 
   • Notice What the Samaritan did not do:
   • He did not try to over analyze the situation; he did not try to determine why the man was in that condition; and neither did he try to decide if he was the best man for the job. 
   • Notice what the Samaritan did:
   • He simply saw the need and reached out with whatever resources that he had to meet the need. His motto was, “See a need and meet it, find a hurt and heal it.”
   • They go to where the hurting are. The Samaritan came to where the man was. We cannot always wait for the needy people to come to us. In fact, I often find that the truly needy are not the ones who are coming and the ones who are coming are not the truly needy. I am glad that Jesus was willing to come to where we were in our wounded, stripped condition when we could do nothing for ourselves. 
   • God want us to be relatable. He wants us to be able to touch people where they are. Some of us want people to clean themselves up first. But we must be willing to take men as we find them. 
   • They express Compassion to the Hurting.
   •  Notice how the Samaritan express compassion on the man.  Here is the thing that separated the Samaritan from the priest and the Levite. He had a different heart. He had a heart of compassion. The word “compassion” means to feel what someone else feels and to hurt with those who hurt. 
   • Because the Samaritan had a compassionate heart, he could not keep walking. He had to stop and minister to the man in need. No other motivation will sustain you in the ministry. Ministering to people is need orientated. We must be able to feel what people feel if we are going to be true ministers of reconciliation.
   • They do what is necessary to help and support the hurting. 
   • Notice what he did; he bound up the man’s wounds. Jesus came to bind up the broken hearted (Is. 61:1). He bandaged the hurting areas and dressed the wounds of Satan’s victims. He was willing to touch the untouchable (Mark 1:40-42). 
   • He poured in the wine and the oil. The oil and the wine represent the Word and the Spirit. The wine brought cleansing and the oil brought soothing to the man’s wounds.
   • He set the man on his own animal. He was willing to use his own resources to meet this man’s needs (not the central government). He used his own animal, his own wine and oil, and his own money to help the man in need. 
   • He brought the man to an inn. He didn’t leave this man on the roadside. He brought him to a place that he could receive ongoing care. He brought him to a place of refuge and healing. We need to bring people to the local church where they can get ongoing care through relationship.
   • He followed up on him. He didn’t stop his involvement with this man until the man was up on his feet and he could take care of himself.

Conclusion 

This story helps us establish our definitions and boundaries of Envangelizm

1. Evangelism involves loving people. Jesus said to the lawyer at the end of the story that he was to “Go and do likewise!” 
2. Evangelism involves meeting both natural and spiritual needs. 
3. Evangelism involves being ready with the gospel to those who are open.

Altar Time

• Lord, show me the Hurting 
• Lord, make me willing to help