2/2/25 “Neighborly Advice”
“Neighborly Advice”
Luke 10:25-37
Many of you probably remember a TV show from back in the 90’s called “Home Improvement”….?
The show starred Tim Allen as Tim Taylor who, along with his friend Al Borland, produced a local cable show called “Tool Time” in which they would teach lessons on various carpentry techniques.
At home, Tim had a wife (Jill) along with three sons…and they supposedly lived somewhere in the suburbs of Detroit.
But my favorite character on the show was a man named Wilson.
Wilson was Tim’s next-door neighbor who was always shrouded in mystery…figuratively…..and literally.
Wilson would always speak to Tim from behind the adjoining property line fence – this fence would cover up Wilson’s entire body except for his nose, eyes, and hat.
What always drew me to Wilson was that – not only was he extremely polite with his “Hi-di-ho, neighbor!” greeting -
…but he always had the answers to whatever Tim needed help with…basically, he was Tim’s unofficial therapist…
And…if you recall…Tim needed a good deal of therapy!
Wilson was full of wise, neighborly advice…always knowing just what to say in order to solve a problem.
Here’s a few of Wilson’s most memorable quotes:
“Obsessions are like fire and water; good servants but bad masters”
“True nobility lies not in being superior to another man, but in being superior to one’s previous self”
“He who has not learned to obey will not be a great leader”
“A faithful friend is a medicine for life”
“A successful marriage is a structure that must be rebuilt everyday”
“Nothing I never said ever did me any harm”
Wilson was full of helpful, neighborly advice for any life questions that Tim - or anyone else in his family - would have.
In today’s passage of scripture, we also see some neighborly advice being given out – but his time – its from our savior, Jesus Christ….
…and it has to do with how we are to treat others….our neighbors.
We are currently in the middle of a sermon series looking at the parables of Jesus – his stories that taught spiritual lessons by referencing everyday things such as people, animals, objects, or situations.
This week’s parable of the Good Samaritan is generally regarded as the best-known parable of all time.
No matter where you go in the world, most people will recognize the story of the Good Samaritan.
It has been taught in schools to teach children the value of kindness toward others
It has been used as a tool in advocating for certain human-rights causes…
It’s even been a part of our legal system, as many states have what are called “Good Samaritan Laws”
…laws where you are protected from litigation if you provide immediate, life-saving assistance to someone else…
…there are also some states, such as our own, that have secondary “Good Samaritan Laws” or “Duty to Rescue” laws, as they are sometimes called.
…these laws say you can be held liable for not providing basic assistance to someone when you have the opportunity to do so.
I guess what that means is – even if you don’t like today’s sermon – you still gotta help me out if I start choking on a meatball during Fellowship Dinner later on…😊
Sorry….It’s the law here in Wisconsin!
The parable of the Good Samaritan is only included in the gospel of Luke, and it begins at verse 25 of chapter 10 (Luke 10:25) “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher”, he asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
First of all, this ‘expert in the law’ would not have been like a modern-day lawyer today.
…this guy was not representing clients like Ben Matlock or Perry Mason.
This particular ‘expert in the law’ here in verse 25 would have been a theological authority on the Mosaic law – the first 5 books of the Bible – also known as the Torah…or the Pentateuch.
Another name for his occupation would have been that of a “Scribe”…perhaps you’ve heard of that term before…
One day, this scribe decides to go and listen to Jesus preach…and, while there, he asks Jesus a question.
Now, the text tells us that his motivation was to ‘test’ Jesus…
So…He didn’t ask the question because he genuinely wanted to hear the answer…he asked the question just to see if Jesus knew the correct answer.
Although his motives were impure…the question itself is a good one.
In fact…one might argue that this question is the most important question a man or woman could ever ask.
…After all, there is nothing more important than one’s eternal destiny, right?
All of us – at one point in our lives – have asked the same question “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
I’m certain Jesus was asked this question on many occasions.
One example was the rich young ruler a few chapters later in Luke 18:18.
…He comes to Jesus and says “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answers the rich young ruler in much the same way as we see the answer given here in our passage for today.
In verse 26 (Luke 10:26) Jesus responds to the Scribe with a question of his own…
Jesus says “What is written in the law?”
…or, in other words, “You’re an expert in the law…you tell me!”
So, the scribe proceeds to deliver the correct theological answer.
He quotes a highly revered passage of scripture from Deuteronomy chapter 6 called the Shema…it says to love the Lord with all your heart…and with all your soul…and with all your strength.
Then, the scribe quotes another very important passage from Leviticus 19 when he provides the second part of the answer…he says “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus tells him in verse 28 (Luke 10:28) “You have answered correctly”……..“Do this and you will live.”
So, here’s where we need to pause for a minute and talk about Jesus’ response to the Scribe.
To love the Lord with all of our being…and to love others as ourselves…these two requirements basically sum up the entire 10 commandments…
If you recall, the first 5 commandments deal with our relationship with God..
…While the second 5 commandments deal with our relationship with others people.
Since the 10 commandments are essentially a summation of the entire Moral Law of the Old Testament….
And the requirements of loving God and loving others are a summary of the 10 Commandments…
Then, essentially, the requirement to love God…and to love others…sums up the entire moral law of the Old Testament.
So, what this answer suggests is that by a lifetime of obeying every facet of the OT Law, one can then inherit eternal life…
Jesus says “Do this and you will live.”
But…there’s a problem.
No one can do it.
No one who has ever lived (except for Jesus) has been able to follow every facet of the law to its fullest extent.
No one (except for Jesus) has been able to truly love God with their entire being…
…and to perfectly love others is even harder, isn’t it?
I believe it was Charlie Brown’s friend, Linus, who once said “I love humanity…it’s people I can’t stand”
It’s hard to love others. Especially those who are difficult to love.
We – as human beings – are wired to think of ourselves before we think of others…
Want proof of that?
Imagine If I took a wide angle picture of all of you right now and had Julie put it on the screen over here….who would you first look for in the crowd?
…Yeah, we would all look for ourselves, right?
The point is, no one other than Jesus Christ has ever been able to live in complete obedience to the law.
…and we know from verses such as Romans 3:23 that all people have sinned…
and then Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin – the consequence of sin…even 1 sin…is physical and spiritual death.
So, when Jesus tells the young rich man in Luke chapter 18…as well as the scribe here in our passage for today…that obeying the law will lead to eternal life…..he’s not wrong.
He’s just waiting for the lightbulb of humility to go on in these men’s heads…but, unfortunately for both of them, it never does….at least during these recorded conversations.
He’s waiting for both of these men to say “But, Jesus I cannot perfectly follow the law..I need help.”
….A humble admission of spiritual insufficiency is what Jesus is waiting to hear from every single human being
…He is waiting for people to get to the point in their lives where they realize they just can’t live in obedience to God’s moral law in their own strength…
He’s waiting to hear from all of us that we recognize our sinfulness…and that we are in need of a savior…
This…THIS…is what the rich young ruler and the scribe should have said.
But neither of them did.
The rich young ruler just walked away content to remain enslaved to his materialistic idols…
..and the scribe in today’s passage tries to turn an uncomfortable spiritual conversation into a philosophically academic conversation regarding the definition of the word ‘Neighbor.’
In verse 29, the scribe says “…And who is my neighbor”
He does not want to talk about his own failure to live up the law’s requirements…
…He’d rather keep it all theoretical…theological…academic.
It reminds me of the time former president Bill Clinton – when attempting to dodge impeachment questions surrounding the Monica Lewinsky scandal – tried to muddy the waters of understanding by arguing about the definition of the word “is”….anyone here remember that?
Same thing going on here with the scribe….this man does not want to talk about his own moral failures…
…He’d much rather keep it all academically sanitized.
Don’t we do that sometimes as well?
There’s a reason why bible studies (which are primarily academic in nature) always have far better attendance than discipleship-oriented accountability groups (which are more spiritually revealing in nature)
…We naturally reject the idea of facing our spiritual deficiencies…especially in the company of others.
So, in verse 30 (Luke 10:30) in response to the scribe’s question about the definition of neighbor, Jesus begins to tell the story of the good Samaritan.
This is a story containing a practical lesson – how we ought to help others in need….
but, more importantly, it also contains a spiritual lesson about the outward evidence of an inward change…
…A change that points like a compass to our eternal destiny.
The well-known story goes like this:
Verse 30 (Luke 10:30) tells us that a man goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and gets ambushed on the way….beaten to the point where he is just clinging on to life.
This road from Jerusalem to Jericho (Which is still there today) is a very steep road….it drops 3500’ in just 17 miles.
So, back in that day, it is very believable that someone could get mugged by thugs hiding in the nearby caves and crevices.
In fact, some Bible scholars believe that this parable was based on actual events that may have recently taken place on this road.
While the man is laying there slowly dying, a Priest comes along.
Verse 31 (Luke 10:31) tells us that he takes one look at the man, then passes on by.
Some theologians think that possibly, the priest thought the man to be dead – and since it would have been a violation for him as a member of the clergy to touch a corpse, he kept his distance.
I don’t really buy that…I believe that the priest just did not feel compassion enough for this man to stop and help him.
Verse 32 (Luke 10:32) tells us about a Levite who basically does the same thing – takes one look at the man and moves on.
If you’re wondering, Levites were officials who were given the responsibility of overseeing certain elements and rituals involved with Temple worship …
Levites were of the Priestly order of Levi, but they were not full-blown Priests.
To put it another way, All Priests were Levites…but not all Levites were Priests…does that make sense?
Finally, verse 33 (Luke 10:33) tells us about a Samaritan man who also came up alongside the injured man…and – as we are told in verses 33-35 – the Samaritan takes pity on the man….
…he bandages his injuries…he pours ointment on his wounds…he transports him to a local Inn where he pays the Innkeeper to care for him until he returns.
The Jewish people in Jesus’ audience would have winced in pain upon hearing that the hero of this story was a Samaritan.
Jews and Samaritans did not get along…AT ALL.
For some quick history:
Samaritans inhabited the land that was once the Northern kingdom of Israel until it was invaded and taken over by Assyria in 723 BC…
The Assyrians exiled a good deal of Jewish people from the Northern Kingdom to Assyria…but left a certain percentage of them in their homeland.
The Assyrians, then, repopulated the land with people from Assyria who would then begin intermarrying with the native Jewish population…
….eventually, this resulted in a homogeneous people group who were basically half Jewish and half Assyrian.
To the full-blooded Jewish person living in the Southern region, these Samaritan people were disgusting “Half-Breeds” who were not worthy of having the same religious and cultural privileges as those who were 100% Jewish…
Basically, it was racism disguised as religious piety and tradition.
Finally, in verse 36 (Luke 10:36) Jesus asks the scribe “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
To which the expert of the law replies in verse 37 (Luke 10:37) “The one who had mercy on him.”
….Then Jesus tells him, “Go and do likewise.”
Did you notice the scribe couldn’t even bring himself to utter the word ‘Samaritan’?....Rather, he says “The one who had mercy on him.”
…that’s how much the Jews hated this group of people…to the point that they couldn’t even say the name of their ethnicity!
Yet, Jesus tells the scribe to act like the Samaritan.
So, what exactly can we learn from this parable?
What is Wilson telling us here from the other side of the fence?
I’m going to leave you with 2 lessons that I believe we can take away from this parable today…
So, if you’ve been sleeping (Dreaming of meatballs or something)…WAKE UP!
1) Show love to everybody….because everybody is your neighbor!
…And by love, I don’t just mean some fuzzy, warm feeling toward other people.
If we look at the biblical definition of love, it almost always involves action of some kind…we demonstrate our love by what we do.
1 John 3:18 teaches us “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth”
We can say that we love something, or someone, but it doesn’t mean anything unless it is accompanied by action.
The story is told of a young girl who went over to her best friend’s house for dinner.
The friend’s mom asks the girl “Do you like Broccoli?”
….to which the girl responded, “Why, yes, I LOVE broccoli!”
So, when it came time to eat, the mom was perplexed when the broccoli was passed around the table and the little girl didn’t take any.
“I thought you said you loved broccoli…why didn’t you put any on your plate?”
To which the girl replied…Oh, I do love broccoli….Just not enough to eat it!”
Unfortunately, this is how we sometimes treat other people…
We say that we love them, but when it comes down to actually sacrificing our time…our effort…our money in giving them a helping hand….
…That’s when we start to make excuses.
Oh, so-and-so is much better at repairing a water leak…they should be the one to help them.
Or…I can’t go over and console my friend who’s grieving the loss of her mother…I have plans tonight…Thursday night is always my grocery shopping night…I can’t change that!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but human beings are really, really good at not acting in alignment with what we profess to believe.
Some would say that cancer is the most problematic disease known to affect mankind…I would also place the disease of hypocrisy right up there alongside of it.
The parable of the good Samaritan reminds us to love others – to love our neighbor - with our hands & feet…not simply our mouths.
2) The other lesson we can learn from this story is a spiritual one….
Remember the scribe’s original question back in verse 25?
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
When Jesus tells the scribe in verse 37 (Luke 10:37) to “Go and do likewise”…
Jesus was looking for a specific response from the scribe.
He was looking for the scribe to humble himself and admit that he cannot “go and do likewise”
Why?....because he is a sinful man who does not have the power within himself to love others the way God commands him to.
Jesus was looking for him to say “I cannot perfectly love God - and perfectly love others - and thereby inherit eternal life”
…so I need help….What do I do? ….Where do I go from here?
I cannot save myself by my own efforts…so through what – or through whom – can I find salvation?
This is the response that Jesus was looking for from the scribe…
This is the response that Jesus was looking for from the rich young ruler in Luke chapter 18
Remember what scripture says about the crowd in Jerusalem after hearing Peter’s convicting message during Pentecost in Acts chapter 2?
Verse 37 (Acts 2:37) says “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brother, what shall we do?”
THIS is the humble response of conviction that Jesus is looking for from all of mankind today as well.
So, it begs the question:
Have you been cut to the heart…?
Have you fallen on your knees before God begging for the mercy that is found only through the person and work of Jesus Christ?
Placing one’s faith and trust in Christ and what he did for us on the cross is the only way in which one is able to truly love one’s neighbor.
When we put to death the old self and submit to the authority of Jesus Christ…that is when we see tangible change in our lives…
When we repent of our sins and come to the savior, He gives us the Holy Spirit to take up residence within us…and that changes us.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
…that is when we are truly able to love others as Christ loves us.
…and that is when the love of Jesus that we demonstrate toward others consistently manifests itself through acts of service toward other people – toward our neighbors.
…even neighbors who are different from us…or those who are difficult to love.
As Jesus said: ‘Go and do likewise’…but remember…you can only ‘Go’ and ‘Do’ in the power of the one who died for you.
Let’s Pray.