Neighbor

[00:00:00] Go and practice. Luke chapter 10, I want to look at the parable this morning of the Good Samaritan [00:00:33] If we think about the Good Samaritan, all kinds of ideas come into our mind We have the news media, when they see something good that's done, they mention the Good Samaritan Instantly our ears pop up, we want to hear what's said about the Good Samaritan What did somebody do? What good deed? Actually I went into, I googled Good Samaritan and I was amazed at what all was there Remember, a lot of this had to do with what I did, not what somebody else did. I thought that was interesting. [00:01:06] That's not what the focus is of the Good Samaritan in the story here. We have Samaritan ministries. A lot of us are involved in that. What is the idea behind that? Bearing each other's load, helping each other. There's a man, I read a story of a man that, he was considered a good Samaritan. He had an old pickup. He had a certain stretch of highway that he patrolled on his own. He wasn't paid. This was just his idea of being a good Samaritan. [00:01:38] He would drive that highway day after day and just help people. And he wrote in this story how many miles that he put on. How many different things that he did for other people. And I was just really amazed. He was taking no credit. He was just doing it because he enjoyed helping. I thought that was such a good picture. Let's go to Luke chapter 10 here. We're going to read in verse 25 to 37. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, [00:02:11] Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? We're going to stop here in this verse here. I just want to pick out a few things and then we'll get to what I want to share at the end here. This lawyer, I'm guessing he was probably a learned man. He had a good education. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? He knew the scriptures. He knew the first five books of the Bible probably from front to back like Howard was sharing here a little bit ago. He probably knew this. He knew everything that it said. [00:02:42] But then he asked the question, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? I've got a feeling here that probably he was trying to corner Jesus. Here we have this man called Jesus that's really not educated. He's not learned. I'm going to see if I can corner him. That's kind of the picture I get here. Verse 26, he said unto him, Jesus talking here, what is written in the law? How readest thou? And I just love this. Jesus just turns this whole thing around and puts it back in his lap. What are you reading? What does it say? And he answering said, [00:03:15] Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. He agreed with him. He didn't argue with him. He said, Yeah, I said, You're right. But he willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? I kind of look at this, this guy is kind of getting into a little bit of a corner here. Let's go another direction. Who's my neighbor? [00:03:48] And Jesus answering said, and this is what I want to focus on this morning a little bit, the account here. It says, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among the thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. and by chance there came down a certain priest that way and when he saw him he passed by on the other side and likewise the Levite when he was at the place came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was and when he saw him he had compassion on him [00:04:23] and went to him and bound up his wounds pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pens, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more when I come, I will repay thee. Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. [00:04:56] Sorry, my mouth gets dry. When you're not used to being up front, that happens. This area here from Jerusalem to Jericho, I was reading a little bit of what the area was like. And there's a big drop. There's 17 miles in between there. And where this man was going through was not a nice place to travel. It wasn't an easy road. And we saw there in verse 31 how the priest came by after he was beat up. [00:05:29] The priest came by, the Levite came by. I'd like to spend time on that, but we're not going to. I want to focus on verse 33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. I've got three points I want to hit this morning real quick. Actually, three questions. The first question I have is, who is my neighbor? We like to think of our neighbor as our next door person, maybe a mile down the road. But who is my neighbor? The Pharisees were taught that the Jews only were their neighbors. [00:06:07] Nobody else. No other race. No mixed blood. The Jews were their neighbors, their friends, their kin, their blood family, or their neighbor by location, the one that was living next to them. Who do I think is my neighbor today? Is it just those that I associate with? Am I going to step on toes when I say is it just the Mennonites? Who is our neighbor? How about the Muslim that we meet on the street? [00:06:38] The Jehovah's Witness that comes to the door? So easy to shut the door and tell him to take his watchtower and just go on. Is he my neighbor? He's my neighbor. What about the person that I don't care for? You know, we can be believers, but there's still some people that we really just don't care for. They're our neighbor. What about those at the mission? I think the youth went up to the mission on Monday night. Is that right, Will? [00:07:09] I believe they went to the mission on Monday night. What about the people at the mission? Are they my neighbor? They're my neighbor also. What about the guy next to me at work? We rub shoulders all day long. Sometimes I'd like to take something and throw it at him. He's my neighbor. He's my neighbor also. I was with a friend. We went to Walmart. Walked up to the cash register where they take your money. [00:07:44] And he walked up ahead of me and he looked at our name tag. I don't know what her name was, we're going to say Mary. And in a cheerful voice, he said, well, hi Mary, how are you doing? How was your day? And you know, her face just, it just changed. Somebody was taking interest in her. This was his neighbor. Not literally, he didn't know her. But when he left, he left something there. He left what Jesus had given him. I was just blessed by this. [00:08:16] Who's my neighbor? I think we all understand who our neighbor is. Anybody we meet, anybody we have contact with is our neighbor. Second question I have is how am I caring for my neighbor? Am I caring for my neighbor? What is my responsibility? I don't know how many of you have ever seen the video called The Man Called Norman. If you haven't, I haven't, you could borrow it. It's really good about a man who cared for his neighbor. [00:08:48] He was not a clean man. He was a dirty old man. When he put him in the tub to give him a bath, it didn't take one bath. It took a lot of baths. But he loved him. Can we love somebody to salvation? Back in verse 35, And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pens and gave them to the host, And said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come, I will repay thee. [00:09:22] That hurts. Do you see what he did here? He used some of his own money. Am I willing to give some of my finances to help my neighbor, who I really don't care for anyhow? What if it was me in that situation? [00:10:05] Somebody coming to help me. It's an area where I need to open my heart more to be able to help my neighbor, to care for my neighbor. And I had to think about this question. I thought later, I thought, well, maybe this isn't a fair question, but maybe it is. What if Jesus was my neighbor? What would I do? Would I just bypass him like I do the neighbors that I have now? Something interesting that I've been experiencing, I like to wave at people. [00:10:39] When I meet people on the road, I will wave at them. You get some weird stares. But when you meet them the second time, it seems like something's coming. They understand a little more. I have a guy that's been driving past our house. I used to have kind of a green-colored Chevy pickup. And there was a fellow that drove past our house with a green-colored Chevy pickup. I've looked just about identical to mine. And he went past and I waved at him. He honked his horn. There was a little connection there. We both had the same truck sitting out there. And he kept on honking. [00:11:11] Every time he'd come by, he'd honk. That's been years ago. Now he drives a Ford. Oh, I'm sorry, another Chevy, a dark blue Chevy. He didn't go that far. He drives a dark blue Chevy, almost like Howard Schwartz drives. I drive a Dodge. Not near the same truck anymore You know what, that guy still honks his horn when he goes past I have no clue who he is I would love to meet him someday But can we reach out? Can we just show love to those around us? [00:11:41] What have we got inside? Have we got God's love? Have we got that Holy Spirit love in our hearts? I need more of it I guess the reason I'm talking about this morning is because God just spoke to me and said you need more of that Give yourself more to me so I can fill you. That's what I'm desiring this morning. I want to read Matthew 25. I know this scripture I believe was used in one of our videos here this morning. And this is rather lengthy. I'll try to read through this real quick. [00:12:25] Matthew 25, let's begin at verse 31. Thinking of how am I caring for my neighbor, what am I doing? And I realize this is not a work salvation, but as we draw closer to the Lord, I think there's going to be more works that are seen in our lives. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne in his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another. As a shepherd divided the sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. [00:13:04] Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was in hunger, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in. Naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee in hunger, and fed thee a thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? [00:13:36] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. What you've done to your neighbor, what I've done to my neighbor, you've done it to me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was in hunger, and ye gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. [00:14:08] I was a stranger, and ye took me not in, naked, and ye clothed me not, sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, whence are we thee in hunger, or in thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Those are some sobering words when I think about it. [00:14:42] Which side am I going to be on? The third question I have, can people see that Holy Spirit love in my life? And we've talked about this quite a bit already. I'd like to turn to Galatians 5. Let's read 13 through 25. We're going to look at the fruit of the Spirit just a little bit here. [00:15:14] Galatians 5, 13-25 Anabaptist against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. [00:15:53] But if ye be led by the spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, Variants, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like And of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God [00:16:24] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Underneath that I have written from somebody's message, I'm not sure, but I wrote down, let us walk, with a bunch of exclamation points. [00:16:58] If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. You know, it's easy to care for somebody that's cared for a baby to show our love. How many of you read the article from International Faith Missions about the little baby that they found? I had to ask Harold to stick that in their mailbox and I forgot to pick it up. I didn't have mine anymore. A little baby that they found. It's so easy for us to take this little baby and take it home and care for it. What about an older person? [00:17:30] They're also our neighbor. Our love needs to shine through to an older person. To love them. I still recall my dad, we had a, there was a gas station in town where we had lived One evening, my dad went down to the gas station. Here was an old pickup, and there was a little old camper on the back of it, one of these little old silver, real tiny ones, tied, hooked to the back of the pickup. And dad went in there, and the gas station owner knew my dad, and he said, I've got this gentleman here that needs a place to park his vehicle. He's got family in town, but they don't want him, because he didn't want them when they were younger. [00:18:14] He said he wants a place to park for the night. Well, Dad said, bring him out to the farm. We'll take him. So he pulled his truck and camper out to the farm, and we parked it. And he was there until he couldn't drive anymore. He just lived there in his little camper. And I don't know, was this, I can't recall anymore. It would have been two years, maybe, I'm not sure. But Mr. Weir stayed in that camper. We would go out, and we'd sit and talk with him. I don't think he ever gave his heart to the Lord. But he had an opportunity. Because my dad was willing to open his heart to help this man [00:18:46] To allow his Holy Spirit love to shine through I wish I could say Mr. Weir gave his heart to the Lord But as far as I know he never did Let's turn to Galatians 6 Read a couple of verses there yet and then we'll close Verse 9 and 10 And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. [00:19:19] As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. The measure of loving God is to love Him without measure. I read that last night and I'll let that one sink in a little bit. The measure of loving God is to love him without measure. Something I've been really thinking about. I guess one of the key verses that I'd like for you to remember is the one we just read here, verse 10. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. [00:19:59] I was so glad to see that video this morning and see what the youth and different ones are doing with kids club. That's what I'm talking about. Allowing this love that's in our heart to come out to those around us. I'm not that interested in just seeing our little group here. But I'm interested in reaching out. And I know we need to take care of our own people here. I realize that. But there's Sturgis that's got people that are hurting. Shipshawana's got people that are hurting. [00:20:30] It's all around us. So allow this week, allow that Holy Spirit love to shine. And if that Holy Spirit love isn't there, there's a way to get that. I just encourage you to walk with him this week and to live out what you believe. Let's stand for prayer. Father, I thank you again for your love to us. We thank you, Lord, that you loved us enough, Father, that you gave your life for us. [00:21:01] Lord, we have never loved anybody like that. And we just thank you so much for that. Lord, I pray that as we go from here that we would continue to serve you, that we would allow that Holy Spirit love to go out, to reach other people, Lord, to bless those around us. Just dismiss us with your blessing in your name we pray. Amen.