Love Like Jesus: From Comfort to Compassion | Reuben Ramsaran | Luke 10

In God's presence there is fullness of joy, so let's sing out to Him and worship Him this morning. I'm glad you're here. This is where I believe That You are more than enough, more than enough for me. You are faithful to Your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in Your presence, I'll have everything I need. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless this day. All that is within me say. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Jesus, come, obey. You are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise. You are faithful to Your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in Your presence, I'll have everything I need. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless this day. All that is within me say. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. I've got the joy, I've got the joy of the Lord. So let it rise up like a river, overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no limit, overflowing Holy Spirit. So let it rise up like a river, overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no limit, overflowing Holy Spirit. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. I've got the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. It's more than a feeling. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless this day. All that is within me say. Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless this day. All that is within me say. Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless this day. All that is within me say.

The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. It's more than a gift. It's more than a gift. Oh it is my strength. Thank you Lord. As we continue to sing. Let's fix our eyes on the cross and let's thank our selfless savior for his sacrifice for us tonight. Thank you, Jesus. ♪ The precious fountain from Calvary's mountain ♪ ♪ Flowing down to you and I ♪ ♪ It washes us clean, oh what a mystery ♪ ♪ The red blood makes me white, isn't it wild? ♪ ♪ Doesn't it make you wonder how something so profound ♪ ♪ Could be so simple, it's the blood, the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ Oh the wonderful blood, your love, your love, your love ♪ ♪ Oh the marvelous love, let the redeemed sing the song ♪ ♪ Praises belong to the son, the blood, the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ Oh the wonderful blood, my precious Jesus, oh I'm so thankful ♪ ♪ For the day you saved my life, thank you Lord ♪ ♪ And as I remember, my heart grows tender ♪ ♪ Tears begin to fill my eyes, isn't it, isn't it wild? ♪ ♪ Doesn't it make you wonder how something so profound ♪ ♪ Could be so simple, isn't it wild? ♪ ♪ Doesn't it make you wonder how something so profound ♪ ♪ Could be so simple, oh it's the blood, the blood, the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ Oh the wonderful blood of Jesus, your love, your love, your love ♪ ♪ Oh the marvelous love, let the redeemed sing the song ♪ ♪ Praises belong to the son, the blood, the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ Let the redeemed sing the song, praises belong to the son ♪

♪ The blood, the blood, the blood, oh the wonderful blood, oh ♪ ♪ Oh we thank you Jesus, we thank you for your body ♪ ♪ And we thank you for your blood that was shed for us ♪ You need to thank him in your own words right now. Thank you Jesus, you are worthy of our praise. We are in awe of your sacrifice, Lord, and we sing this in response. ♪ The work you did is finished, all of our sins forgiven ♪ ♪ And now we get to live the wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ The cross was your decision, but death was not the end ♪ ♪ You rose and now you're risen, oh wonder of the world ♪ ♪ The work you did is finished, all of our sins forgiven ♪ ♪ And now we get to live the wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ The cross was your decision, but death was not the end ♪ ♪ You rose and now you're risen, oh wonder of the world ♪ ♪ Oh the wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Oh the wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Oh the wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Oh the wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ You're blood, you're blood, you're blood ♪ ♪ All the wonder of my heart was there ♪ ♪ Ooh love, you love, you love ♪ ♪ All my heart was there ♪ ♪ You're blood, you're blood, you're blood ♪ ♪ Oh the wonder of the world ♪ ♪ You're blood, you're blood, you're blood ♪ ♪ Oh the wonder of the world ♪ ♪ Your purity is so strong ♪ ♪ Oh yes, praises belong to the Son ♪ ♪ The Word, the Word, the Word, oh the wonderful Word ♪

♪ And all creation is one forever ♪ ♪ God makes me glorious forevermore ♪ ♪ Oh I know nothing but the love of Jesus ♪ ♪ And all creation is one forevermore ♪ ♪ God makes me glorious forevermore ♪ ♪ Oh I know nothing but the love of Jesus ♪ ♪ Nothing but the love of Jesus, nothing but the love of Jesus ♪ ♪ Nothing but the love, nothing but the love of Jesus ♪ Thank you, we thank you Jesus. We thank you Jesus. So let me cry home. We sing a thousand generations. ♪ A thousand generations falling down in worship ♪ ♪ To sing the song of ages to the land, yeah ♪ ♪ And all who've gone before us and all who will believe ♪ ♪ We'll sing the song of ages to the land ♪ Sing your name. ♪ Your name is the highest, your name, sing ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all, oh yes ♪ ♪ All thrones and dominions, all powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name, sing ♪ ♪ And the angels cry, oh holy, all creation, you are holy ♪ ♪ And you are lifted high, oh holy, holy forever, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh holy, holy forever, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ And if you'll be forgiven, and if you'll be redeemed ♪ ♪ We'll sing the song forever to the land ♪ If you are with freedom. ♪ And if you are with freedom, and if you'll bear his name ♪ ♪ We'll sing the song forever to the land, oh sing ♪ ♪ Oh sing the song forever and amen, and the angels cry ♪

♪ Holy, all creation cries, holy, you are lifted high, high ♪ ♪ Holy, holy forever, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ And your people, and your people sing, holy, to the king of kings ♪ ♪ Oh holy, you are always me, holy, holy forever, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Always me forever, forever, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ This praises me. ♪ Your name is the highest, your name, is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all, yes it does see it out today ♪ ♪ All gods, and dominions, all powers and destitutions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all, bow down your hearts before it ♪ ♪ Your name is the highest, your name, is the greatest, yes it does see it out today ♪ ♪ Your name stands above all names ♪ ♪ All forms and dominions, all powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above all names ♪ ♪ You'll cry holy, all creation cry ♪ ♪ All creation cry holy, you are lifted high ♪ ♪ Holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ Hear your people sing holy to the king of kings ♪ ♪ Holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ You will always be holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ You'll always be holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ Holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ Oh come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Oh come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Oh come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Oh come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Oh come, let us adore him, come the Lord ♪ Sing it again. ♪ Oh come, let us adore him, come the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh come, let us adore him, come the Lord ♪

Can you give Jesus praise in this place tonight? Yes. We have come to adore you. King of kings, Lord of lords, your church is gathered tonight to adore and glorify the King who is worthy, the name of Jesus. Can you just worship Jesus in this place one more time? Can you just celebrate your King Jesus? Thank you, God. And I pray, Lord, that as we enter the Christmas season, that we would take moments to always remember the greatest gift you could have ever given us, your son, the Christ. And it's because of Jesus we get to enjoy friendship with the living God today. It's only because of Jesus. It's nothing that we have done, it's no work that we have done on our own, it is only because you are so gracious and merciful that you would give us your son, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, God with us. You are not far, you are not distant. You are so close. And the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead now lives in those who put their faith in Jesus. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. And so, Lord, give us grace to remember that you are the main thing.

Everything else comes second. You are first in our hearts and in our minds. We love you, King Jesus. And it's in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ Calvary, we said amen, amen. Come on, can you celebrate Jesus one more time? So we're gonna study tonight a very popular section of scripture. It's a parable entitled The Good Samaritan. And I'm sure if you've been around church for any length of time, you've probably read this parable. It's widely known, and any widely known parable is typically known because it's beautiful, but it's also messy. Messy stories get attraction. Beautiful stories are attractive. And when they're tied together, they become famous. You've probably even heard the term Good Samaritan before, no matter how connected you are to a church. Maybe you've even heard of the business called the Good Sam Club, right? Good Samaritans are people that we look for when we are in a difficult time or a difficult trouble. I remember as a young man, young boy actually, at seven or eight years old, this story coming to life in my mind. My dad used to be a mechanic, and he was an on-call mechanic, which mean he had one of those, back in the days, like a pager.

Anybody remember pagers? You know, you'd beep your friends, those little codes. I even forget the codes, it was like four, one, three. I forget, there was one for I love you. My wife and I, back then, girlfriend and boyfriend, we had like certain codes, you know, that she would know it's me. Well, my dad had this pager, this beeper, and I don't know what it was. I'm sure if you remember those, when you hear it vibrate or beep, you just know it's going off. And I remember as a kid, we'd sit around the dinner table, sometimes we'd be on vacation, and at the oddest and the most insignificant times, the pager would go off. And of course, my mom would say, oh, Rollin. And then he'd have to get up, get his work clothes on, and every once in a while, he would let us go for a ride with him in his work truck. And I remember just loving those trips in my dad's work truck, and he would go out. I remember this one night, it was like middle of the night, and I heard the bzzz, bzzz, bzzz. And I ran downstairs, and I'm like, dad, I can't sleep. Can I go with you? He's like, sure, come on in. And it was a long call. And I remember about halfway through thinking, okay, it's time to go home, I'm kind of tired.

So when he was finished, we get in the truck, and we're going home, and I just remember my dad saying to me, son, did you see that? And I said, what, what, what did you see? He said, I saw a blinking light off in the distance in a field. And he's like, I'm just interested, but I've got to turn this truck around and go look again. And then there in front of us, there was a car that was wrecked in the middle of the road. He's like, wait, wrecked car, blinking light, there might be somebody who needs help. And so he circled his truck around. He got out of the truck and walked off into the field. And I'm sitting there, which felt like several minutes. And all of a sudden, my dad opens the door, and in he puts a woman in the truck next to me. He's like, son, move over, move over. This woman needs help. And I remember at first, my first thought, my first thought was it was like a mom-aged, maybe a grandma-aged white American woman listening to her voice. And I remember as a young boy hanging out with some of my friends, when I was over at my white friend's house, sometimes their parents would treat me different. And I remember, because of the color of my skin and the way I looked, just feeling out of place. And so my first impression was like,

whoa, I better move over here. I'm not sure how she would feel next to me. And then I remember looking at her more closely. I could see the glass in her hair. Still, I'm thinking, oh man, she's really in bad shape. Looking even closer at her, there was blood on her ear and across her face. Man, this woman's in trouble. I remember trying to pick some of the glass out of her hair, giving her a napkin to wipe her face. And before I know it, the firemen were there and they carried her out of the truck, and I was back on my way. My dad getting inside beside me later that night, saying, son, do you realize what just happened? We were able to help somebody who needed help. And the Good Samaritan story just came upon me right in that moment. And I remembered all the elements of this rich story that I can't wait to share with you tonight. My hope is that this story reminds you that if it's not for the stories of the Good Samaritan that remind us that we've gotta get out of our comfort zones if we're gonna love like Jesus. If we're gonna love like Jesus, we gotta step outside of what makes us comfortable and move towards compassion. Not just a feeling of like, oh, I feel bad for that person, but move towards a place where you can step into somebody's pain

and help them when they need you the most. I wanna ask you to just listen to this verse that I read to you. It's in the book of James, chapter two, verse 14 through 17. Here's what the Bible says. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister. sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, go in peace, keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it's not accompanied by action, is dead. You see, this verse isn't telling us that our works save us. This verse reminds us that the works that come out of us to other people are a fruit of the faith that is deep within us. So what about you tonight? What's your recollection of the Good Samaritan story and where are you at in a place of moving from comfort to compassion? Here's what the Bible says. Let's read together what this story is all about. Luke chapter 10, verse 25. Here's what the Bible says. On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Verse 26, what is written in the law? He replied, how do you read it? He answered, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. You have answered correctly, Jesus replied. Do this and you will live. But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Look with me back at verse 25 for a moment. What we see here is that there's an expert and there was different groupings of men in Old Testament tradition. You might remember Pharisees and Sadducees, and now this expert was referred to as a lawyer, somebody who was an expert in the law, somebody who was so studied that people would come to him and say, hey, what's the interpretation of this Old Testament custom or tradition? And they were known to be fluent in the law. And so this expert comes to Jesus. If you remember all around Luke chapter 10 throughout the Gospels, you see these experts come to Jesus and test him, or try him, or ask him different questions. And it's hard for us to know what's in these individuals' hearts when they ask Jesus these questions, but we can safely assume that he's trying Jesus.

Now look with me closely. This expert asks his teacher, he calls him teacher. That word for teacher in the original language means master or elevated teacher. And so he understands how to respect Jesus, but he asks him, how do I get to eternal life? Eternal life, what is he asking? He's asking, how do I have a relationship with God that results in an eternity in heaven? Now, if you remember, he is an expert in the what? In the law, that's right. So what is he expecting Jesus to answer? He's probably expecting Jesus to point him back to himself. Well, I am the answer to that question. But Jesus answers him, if you look with me at verse 26, he answers him with a question. Probably shocks him, what is written in the what? He answers him with a question that points him back to his training. Shocks him, I'm sure. Well, what's written in the law, I didn't expect Jesus to answer me that way. How many times have you ever been asked a question and you felt a necessity to answer that question? If you're a parent in the room, I want you to dial in really closely. If you're a leader in the room, I want you to dial in really closely because I believe we as parents and we as leaders in the room

can often be put in weird circumstances when we're asked really hard questions. But I think we need to take a lesson here from Jesus. Instead of answering the question, he gives him another question to make him think all the more deeply. Have you ever tried that? Have you ever sat with one of your kids, they're asking you a question? You're like, oh man, how am I gonna answer this one? How can I make my child or this leader or person think more deeply before I just answer them? I think we can take cues from Jesus in the way that we lead our kids. I think we can take cues from Jesus in the way that we lead people when we lead like Jesus led others. That he answered this lawyer, this expert in the law, with how is it written? How would you answer? Look with me at verse 27. And he answers very well. The Bible says, he says, "'Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, "'soul, mind, and strength.'" What does he answer the Lord with? He answers him with the Shema. And the Shema was this phrase that was repeated all throughout the Old Testament. If you remember, it was called

the greatest of all the commandments, right? And the Shema was something that was put in phylacteries. Remember phylacteries? They were put on the wrist of traditional Jewish people. They were put at the front doorpost of homes. It was something that was repeated twice daily. It was a phrase that was repeated so much because parents and leaders wanted. in the hearts of their kids. Could you imagine, Christians in the room, if we truly lived as people that love God with everything inside of us? What would it change about us if we learned to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength? How differently would we live, how differently would we love our neighbors if we truly understood how to love God? How to truly allow His Spirit to fill us in a way that influences our actions, no matter what economic status a person held, no matter what skin color a person had, no matter what neighborhood a person lived in, no matter what a person looked like on the outside, if we loved God on our inside, it would affect how we love people on the outside. You follow me? And so it's important for us to remember the importance of this phrase in our own life. Now, this next law that the lawyer quoted here in verse 27, he says,

love your neighbor as yourself. Most Old Testament traditions called this second greatest commandment, the royal law, or the law that was the fruit of a change on the inside of a person. You see, when a person loves God, they're able to love others incredibly well. And so the lawyer answered well. Look with me at verse 28. Jesus says, you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. Now, of course, Jesus is setting this man up because who can follow the law with 100% accuracy? Nobody could. The law was created to show us our sin. The law was created in such a way where we would realize that we needed somebody or something greater than ourselves in order to overcome the issues that we battle with on the inside. And so the lawyer realized this. If you look with me here at verse 29, but he wanted to, you see it there? Justify himself. You can circle those words there. How many times have you wanted to justify yourself? You're face to face with a challenge, with a circumstance. Maybe the Lord's convicted you on a habit or a way of lifestyle,

and you realize it. And instead of submitting yourself to the Lord's way or will, you choose to justify yourself. Well, well, is there a different way? Or, well, what does the lawyer say here? Wanting to justify himself, he's asked him, what does he say? Who is my neighbor? He thinks he's got Jesus pinned, right? Oh, I got him now. Who's my neighbor? According to Jewish law or Jewish tradition, the neighbor of the Jew would be a person who was like the good Jew or the righteous Jew or somebody who was culturally Jewish. And so the neighborhood of God for those people would consist of their own. So anybody outside of a person who was culturally Jewish or a righteous Jewish person would be or could be considered an enemy. Now, a Samaritan was just that, the enemy. In some texts, we'll see that a Samaritan was referred to like an animal. They were the enemy of enemies. You can read times in the New Testament where Samaritans would throw pigs at Jewish people to defile them, to create anger and hostilities in them. And you could read in some places where Jewish people were so antagonistic

towards Samaritans. Who were Samaritans? They were Jews that were left during the exile and married outsiders. And so they were half Jews. And they were people that were looked down upon because they weren't 100% from a Jewish origin. And so these two groups were just at odds between each other. If you look with me here at verse 29, he wanted to justify himself, so he tried to define who his neighbor was or is. And in his narrow definition, we see Jesus explains the definition by telling him this parable. You ready for the parable? All right, here we go. Verse 30, look with me at Luke chapter 10. Here's what the Bible says. In reply, Jesus said, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And when he was attacked by robbers, they stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road. And when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So to a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him pass by on the other side. Verse 33, let's stop there. Go back up to verse 30 with me.

If you look here, we see a man. The Bible says Jesus told a story about a given man. We would assume that this was a Jewish man, a man who was walking down this road. from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now, if you look up this route, it's called the Way of Blood. And it was called the Way of Blood because it was such a dangerous path to take. 17 miles long. Most historians would say at the time the road was very narrow. It was platted through all of these different valleys and mountaintops and clefts that were written or kind of put in between. And so it was an easy place to find trouble for yourself. And so this man is on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. And while he's going down, he's beaten, he's stripped naked, he's robbed, and he's left for dead. And what we see here is that there was a priest who passed by. Now, I'm sure you might remember a priest as a person who would have responsibilities in the temple. He was a person who would understand religiously what he ought to do when he sees a person in need. He would have the training, he would have the expertise, he would have the understanding to know, wow, there's a person in need. I should do what I can do to help him. But what does the Bible say?

He saw him, but he passes by on the other side. Now, remember that narrow road. It's not like he could fake like he didn't see him. He saw him, but he didn't really see him see him. Does that make sense? He didn't see him to the point where it affected him with what he saw. Do you remember the last time that you saw something that affected you? Can you remember the last time that you were moved to action based upon what you've seen? Can you remember the last time that you saw something that should have moved you to action, but you allowed it to just leave you cold and leave you actionless? I can file through story after story in my own mind of regrets, of moments where I should have acted and didn't act. And I'm sure you could as well. And tonight is a moment of reminder for us. This priest saw something that should have led him to action, but he was left and in a place of inaction. Now, we see the priest. Secondarily, we see a Levite. Now, a Levite is a person who's also from the same tribe from which priests come. Also, he's a person who has responsibilities in the temple, and he's in the same place. He's passing by this man who's half dead, this man who's been robbed, a man who's been left for dead.

And what do we see here? He passes by on the other side. He sees him, but there's no action and there's no response. Now, you might be wondering, why would a priest and why would a Levite find themselves doing this? You notice back in verse 30 that he was close to being dead, right? There were laws that prevented a priest from touching something that was dead. And so you might look on and say, well, maybe the priest thought he was dead. Now, this could be a reasonable or a plausible excuse for us but we don't know what was in his mind. All that we know is that we realized the man was left half dead. Now, we also know that there's a law of mercy. Now, the law of mercy extends to a priest or a Levite. When they have a reasonable suspicion to believe the person is still alive, they could step into a situation and help an individual because of that law of mercy. Now, you realize if a priest touches somebody who's dead, they would have to sit out during a time of purification for seven full days. And so these two men allowed themselves to take an excuse to allow them to pass by. Could you imagine the excuses that were running in their mind? Could you imagine the excuses that would probably run through your mind?

I just got a new suit. I'm not sure if I want that suit to get bloody. I gotta let that one go. Oh, my wife is paging me, my beeper, or calling me, sending me a text, whatever it is, and I've gotta get home. I've got a baseball game for the kids to run to. Maybe he might say, the priest might say, oh, let the Levite, I saw a Levite coming. I've got some regulations on my life, and so maybe the Levite will take care of it. Could you imagine the Levite thinking, I'll let the common Jew just take care of it because I'm not sure if I could just get involved. It's too messy. What if the robbers left him as a decoy and I might get beat up, I might get hurt, I might have some danger posed on me if I go and help this individual. All of the excuses that ran through their mind. Could, what about you? What sort of excuses come through your mind when you see somebody in need? When's the last time you saw somebody stranded on the side of the road and you said to yourself, oh, you looked at the clock, oh, I don't know. Can I be late to that meeting? Man, this is a busy road. What if there's a car accident? I don't know who that person is.

I'm wearing my new shoes. Whatever the excuses are, excuses tend to run rampant in our mind when we're faced with the inconveniences of stepping in as a good Samaritan in somebody's life. Are you with me? And we need to pay attention to those excuses. Wouldn't you agree? The excuses in our life can tell us a little bit about who we are, what we're afraid of, what we're bothered by, what we feel when we're faced with stepping out of our comfort zones. Remember our title, right? From this place of comfort to compassion. From this place of being okay and just like comfortable with what's in front of us to compassion. I've got a vehicle where you can set the temperature in the car. I'm sure your car has that too. Like I can set it down to the degree. I'm sure your car does that as well. I even have like an AC in my seat. You have ACs in your seat? Like on a hot summer day, I can be really comfortable. And then I open the door and it's like vroom. The heat comes in, it's like, oh man, I'm not,

we care so much about our comfort, don't we? Don't we? I mean, we, I'm really concerned with the things that make me uncomfortable. And I look for ways to get them out of my life. And at times, the needs around us can be that very same thing. And we've gotta be mindful of, there's a chain of videos that sometimes I watch. And one of the taglines on this video, it says embrace discomfort, embrace discomfort. And at this stage of life that I'm in with my children and just working in South Florida, I often have to remind myself that as a man, as a man of God, as a child of God, I've gotta be reminded to embrace discomfort. And there may be times in your life, I hope tonight is a space and a time where we need to realize, are we embracing the discomforts of life in the midst of all the other comforts that we get to enjoy on such a consistent basis? Now, the story doesn't end there. There's so much more to read. If we look at me at verse 33, we'll pick up from verse 33 through 35. Here's what the Bible says. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds,

pouring oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra spendings that you may have. Look with me back at verse 33. I'm sure the Jewish people listening to Jesus' story didn't expect Jesus to say a Samaritan. They probably thought, okay, now the common Jew is gonna enter the story, but now Jesus brings in the enemy, the dog, the person that's less than into the story to be the hero of the story. Jesus, couldn't you have picked a better person than a Samaritan to be the hero of this story? What are you trying to teach us? The Samaritan comes in, the one that should walk by the person, the Jew that's in the ditch, the person who might say, oh man, I remember that guy. That guy threw a rock at me last time I was walking down the road. That guy did whatever it is. He might have like a reasonable way to say, I don't know if I can do this, but Jesus uses the Samaritan to teach us a lesson. He's the unlikely hero.

Look with me at verse 33 closely. You'll see here that he saw him just like the Levite, just like the priest, but he took pity. This word for took pity is like the crux of tonight's message. And if there's something that you don't forget about tonight's message, it's how do I take pity for the things that break God's heart? How do I allow the things that move God to move me? How do I allow the things that God would be concerned with to concern me? Not just for me to see it, but for me to do something about it. This word for pity is in the original language, like the word that says, like I have a feeling deep down inside of my gut. I have a feeling that bothers me, that drives me to action. It's not just, oh, I feel bad, but it's the thing that drives you into responsive action. My daughter, my youngest daughter, Sophia, she's eight years old. Whenever we go out like for a daddy-daughter date and there's somebody sitting by themselves, she'll say, oh, daddy. Oh, daddy, they're by themselves. Daddy, call them over. Let them have breakfast with us, daddy. breaks her heart when she sees anybody

who may be slightly in need. And sometimes I look on, oh, that sweetheart, like she's just a child. But I can become so abrasive to the needs of people around. I can become so cold, so absent-minded because of my comforts, if I'm not careful. But the Samaritan allowed himself to be touched and come into a place of compassion for the person that needed him the most. Now, let's look together at verse 34. He took out his own oil. He took out his own wine. And what do we see? These are symbolic of him bringing first aid to this person who was bloodied, who was hurt, who was close to death. He took out of his own pocket to say, you know what? These are costly things, expensive things, but I'm gonna help this individual out. He doesn't stop there. Look with me at verse 34. He puts him on his own donkey. The donkey would be like a mode of transportation. So it'd be like you lending your car to somebody who didn't have a car. This Samaritan was digging deep into his pocket of trying to help this individual out. Not only did he put him into his own donkey, but he brought him to an inn. And then he spent the night taking care of him.

Can you imagine spending the night to take care of somebody that you don't know? Like it's uncommon, right? It's unheard of here in our culture in South Florida to say, I'm gonna go the distance to help this individual out. The good Samaritan does this. Now he doesn't stop there. The Bible says he paid two weeks wages. Denarii could be two to three weeks of not just nights at this hotel, but care for him, medicine for him, supplies for him, food for him. And then the good Samaritan says, when I come back, if I owe you anything, I'm gonna pay you back. I'm gonna reimburse you for the things that I owe you. It's an uncommon kindness that this man shows that Jesus is explaining about what he wants his people to look like. An uncommon grace. It's the opposite of comfort. It's compassion at the highest level. How does that compare to the compassion that's in my heart today? How does it compare to the compassion that's in your heart today? See, the type of compassion that Jesus wants us to have, calls us out of our seats, calls us out of our comfort zones, and calls us into places where we can be

his literal hands and feet and show people the cross. And so he takes out this expense and he tells them he would repay it. Look with me at verse 36. At the end of the story, here's what we see. Jesus says, which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? Verse 37, the expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him, go and do likewise. What do we see here? We see that Jesus tests him and brings him back to the beginning of the story and challenges him and says, so who's the neighbor? Now, the truth is the neighbor was the Levite and the priest, right? But they didn't act like neighbors. They acted like strangers to this man. But the true neighbor was the Samaritan. What was Jesus trying to teach? What is he trying to teach us today? What was he trying to teach the lawyer back in that time? That there's not a geographical pin on who your neighbor is. Your neighbor could be anyone. There's not an economical descriptor of who your neighbor is. Your neighbor could look like or have really anything or not have anything.

There's not a culture or a skin color that describes who your neighbor is. If the person is alive, if the person is breathing, this is your neighbor. But we can forget that, can't we? I know I can. I know I could become kind of closed off into my shell and forget about the reality of this beautiful story that Jesus reminds us of. Humanity is our neighbor, especially for those of us who call ourselves Christians. This is the way to display the cross, the everyday kindness from which we can show people who are common day strangers to us. Love is a sacrifice that can help us display the cross to a lost and a broken world. Jesus tells this man, he goes, go and do it likewise. Go and respond in this same way. Could you imagine being the lawyer in that moment? Could you imagine what it felt like to realize, man, I've got a long way to go to understand the type of love? that Jesus is explaining to me tonight. I wanna read to you a story, if you fast forward several hundred years, in 300 AD, there was a historian named Eusebius, and he wrote about a time and an era where there were back-to-back plagues in a particular region. There was a famine and there was a plague

that combined with killing multitudes of people and even killing the same people, multitudes of people in the same house. Let me read for you this quote. Pestilence and famine destroyed whole families in a short time so that one could see, on a given day, two or three dead bodies carried out at once. Then did the evidence of the universal zeal and piety of the Christians become manifest to all the heathen. For they alone, in the midst of such ills, showed their sympathy and humanity by their deeds. Every day, some continued caring for and burying the dead, for there were who were afflicted by the famine throughout the entire city and gave bread to them all so that the thing became noised abroad among all men. And they glorified the God of the Christians and convinced by the facts themselves, convinced that they were alone, truly pious and truly religious. In the midst of devastation, the Christians rose up to care for people that were dead and dying. Now, there was an emperor later that century in 360 AD, the emperor was named Julian the Apostate. He wrote a letter to his priests and he wrote to the pagan priests discussing the need for pagan priests to be more active in assisting the poor and needy. His argument was that Christians cared for the poor so well

and were so charitable and compassionate that people were flocking to Christianity and away from paganism. Imagine that. He lamented that it is disgraceful that the impious Galileans, the Christians, support not only their own poor, but ours as well. All men see that our people lack aid from us. So I wanna ask you, what would it look like? How would South Florida seem if we, if I myself, if together, all of us went back to that sort of common living? When somebody was in need, we met their need. When somebody was in trouble, there was a person to help them. What would it look like if there was that sort of good Samaritan living happening today? Now, I'm not saying that it doesn't happen. It happens all around us, but it's less frequent. And this is why we return to stories like this to help us to go back to that way of living. What would it look like in our community? What would it look like in your neighborhood if there was a way for you to help your neighbors, practically speaking? What would it look like at your workplace if there was a way for you to meet some of the needs of those that you work with that were struggling and going through hardship? What would it look like on our streets, in our city ways?

If when somebody was in trouble, a Christian would stop, what would happen to the name of Jesus if we returned to a good Samaritan mentality in our own lives? I believe that there are some clues here in this text that we can turn back to. I'm gonna give you three application points that you can take note of. Point number one, the good Samaritan, he was giving without expecting anything in return from others. If you wanna be the type of good Samaritan that attracts people to Jesus, give without expecting anything in return. We see that the good Samaritan not only gave for this man's immediate needs, but he also gave for his future needs. There was no manipulation inside of him. He wasn't asking for anything back from this man. He simply gave because the person was in need. Proverbs chapter 19, verse 17, the Bible says, whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. You might say, well, Reuben, that's a big deal. Like, how do I take baby steps and move towards that direction? I wanna ask you tonight, if you wanna move in that direction, consider your motivation. Like, what's the motive of your gift

to somebody that has a need? I always ask myself that question. Anytime I begin to feel convicted about doing something for somebody, God, is this a need that you want me to fill? Is there any selfish ambition that's driving me meeting this need? And how do I take steps towards that? I wanna encourage you to step into outreaches here at our church. Right now, we have Operation Christmas Child going on, and it's a way for you to be generous to somebody that has a need. that you do not know. And so if you've never participated in Operation Christmas Child, it's a great way to give without anything in return expected from you. And it's a baby step that you can take. You can participate in food share outreaches. We just had one last week, and there will be more for you in the future. But anytime that you see a food share outreach, you should step in. It's a baby step for you learning how to give without any expectations in return. Point number two, serve even when it disrupts your schedule. Disrupts your schedule. How can I serve despite what's in front of me? There's a beautiful verse in Matthew chapter six,

verse 33, the Bible says, "'But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, "'and all these things will be given to you as well.'" So often I'm seeking my own kingdom, and I allow my calendar to drive my day, and any sort of interruptions are just interruptions that I ignore. But when I allow there to be white space in my calendar where I have space for interruptions, and I am able to seek God, instead of let what's the tyranny of the urgent drive me, I can make space and not let my calendar play God instead of God being God in my life. How do I do that? How do I walk towards that? I wanna encourage you to think if you don't serve regularly here at this church, consider serving regularly. We have several ministries that you can serve in a weekly basis. Kids ministry, 678 ministry, youth ministry. You can serve in the hospitality ministry on a weekly basis. What you're gonna find is that when you discover the joy of serving God, being interrupted by a random need is a joy as well. Because you realize that this sort of generosity can breed joy in your life. It becomes contagious. When you see the reality and the power of serving God

through meeting the needs of others. You guys with me? So far, okay, good. Point number three, love those who are different from you. And of course, the Good Samaritan is a great example of what it means to love others who are different from you. But I wanna submit to you, imagine the innkeeper in this story. The innkeeper, you remember, the Good Samaritan brings this man to the innkeeper. And just imagine what it would be like to be that business owner. Like, wow, what do I do with this? This Samaritan brings me this person. Should I even trust the Samaritan? Should I even help the Samaritan? But what I wanna submit to you is that the innkeeper played a pivotal role in the story. And I want you to think about the people that the Lord brings your way. When's the last time that you believed, God, are you bringing this need into my life? Are you bringing this person into my life for me to help? You see, the Lord is gonna bring people your way for you to have less excuse to help. And when you pray prayers like that, God, could you open my mind? Could you open my eyes to see the people that you want to bring me today? We don't always have to go looking for others.

Sometimes they kinda come into your purview. I can't tell you how many times I go throughout a given day and it's like, oh man, I gotta turn around. Oh no, I'm gonna be late to that meeting and now I have a choice. Am I gonna allow my calendar to be disrupted? Am I gonna allow that difference, whatever that difference looks like, to distract me or hold me back from what God could do in this moment through this person's life? Let me read you a verse in closing. Luke chapter six, verse 27 through 28. The Bible says, but to you who are listening, I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. So I wanna encourage you today to live with a mind that says, God, bring me the person that you want me to minister to. God, would you open my mind up for that? If you would bow with me, we're gonna close in a word of prayer. I'd love to pray for you and even submit myself as a part of this prayer because our hope is that Calvary Chapel, Fort Lauderdale and all of the Church United churches that are participating in this study, that we would be the capital C church, the capital K kingdom of God, where we're able to bring the hope, the joy, the presence of Jesus into people's pain,

into people's moments. And so I don't know what the Lord has been doing in your soul as I've been speaking. I don't know. If he's caught your attention in some way and revealed something inside of you that needs to change so that he can use you in the midst of somebody's pain, but if that's the case, I just wanna ask you to ask him for help. Take this moment now in quietness and ask him to mobilize you. Ask him to send you a page, a little beep. Beep, beep, beep. And alert you to the needs that are in front of you. Ask him to open your eyes, to open your heart. Maybe there's a callousness that you've allowed to develop. Ask him to take those callous areas off and strip your heart into a place of humility to help you to see afresh and be affected by people's pain. Ask him to help you with your focus. So take this moment now and go to him, ask him for help, and then I'll pray for you as we close. God, I thank you for your church, for your people, called out ones, sanctified, set apart, bought with the precious blood of the lamb. And sometimes, Lord, we find ourselves in places that we grow callous and cold. So God, I ask that you would just speak to my heart. Help me to see, God.

Help me to feel. Help me to know when you're calling me to intercept somebody's need and step in as an extension of your hand into our lives, into their lives. Lord, would you do the same for my brothers and sisters in this room tonight? God, we wanna be people motivated by you. We wanna be people moved by you. God, we wanna be an extension of your mighty right arm at a time when people need it most. So help us, God, to get rid of excuses and move from a place of comfort and straight into compassion, especially in this season, God, of Thanksgiving and Christmas, there will be needs all around us. So would you, God, deploy us? Would you deploy us to be your agents? Would you deploy this church to be changemakers in South Florida? Would you deploy the churches that call themselves a part of Church United to be agents, changemakers for your kingdom and for your glory? Together, God, we wanna see you move. We wanna see your name made famous. We wanna see revival here in South Florida. See, God, we repent of ways that allow us to be cold. We repent, God, of inaction, and pray, God, would you make us men and women of action?

Help us, God, to do this by your will, for your glory and for your purposes, and we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.