WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR

Sermon of TBOLF By Br. Peter Luis

(Text - Luke 10:25-37): A clever lawyer came to Jesus with a juvenile question, ‘Who is my neighbour?" (Lk 10:29). Because he asked a childish question, Jesus replied with a story that any child can understand.

Is it possible that we act as if we do not know who our neighbour is? The dictionary defines a neighbour as "one who dwells near to another." This fits

into the programme of God in the reaching of the world for Christ. Every soul in need is our neighbour. We are surrounded by men and women without Christ. It is not true that some should pray, some should give and some should go. All should pray and all should give and all should go. Our missionary praying and giving is sounding brass and tinkling cymbal if it is not founded on missionary living. Every Christian is to be a witness for Christ.

"He fell among thieves" (v 30): The man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho obviously possessed something that strongly attracted the thieves. How typical this is of human experience. Satan finds in man something that is inexplicably desirable. History is littered with evidence of the unmerciful cruelty of the evil one. Every mission field of the world is filled with unmistakable signs of the havoc that the Devil has wrought in human lives.

We could probably call these thieves the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. They are Satan’s age-old cohorts in the business of ruining the lives of men. These thieves possess many changes of garment. They may wear the red garb of Communism, the purple vesture of Romanism, the black attire of atheism, the saffron robes of polytheism, the scarlet gowns of immorality, the silver cloak of materialism or the pale veil of complacency.

"stripped... wounded... half dead" (v 30): How accurately this portrays the mission fields. No other words could more aptly describe the condition of men and women without Christ. The Satan-inspired worship of man, birds, beasts and creeping things has left millions of people without a vestige of holy character. They have been stripped of their morals and ethics. Man without Christ is a body that is sick from head to foot, full of open wounds and putrefying sores. Out of these sores pour sorceries, witchcraft, fornication, murder, hate deceit, malice and a hundred other forms of evil. This is your neighbour, your business associate, your friend.

Came.. saw... passed by" (vv 31,32): It is significant that Jesus brings two religious leaders into the picture. The "priest" stood as a symbol of man’s relationship to God, and the "Levite" as a symbol of man’s relationship to man. The Priest demonstrated that he did not love God by doing nothing for the needy man. The Levite demonstrated that he did not love his neighbour. Apparently their own Sabbath day sermons of loving God and neighbour carried little weight in their own hearts. Let us pray ever to be delivered from such gross hypocrisy. They "came", they "saw" and they "passed by." We like they have come and seen. We have long been aware of the lost condition of neighbours, communities, cities and nations without Christ.

The Priest and the Levite had reasons for passing by. Perhaps the first and the most likely was the fear of man. Behind what bushes or trees were the cruel thieves now lurking? Would the priest or Levite be the next to feel their attack?

Strange indeed that we can fear man so much and God so little. It is also most likely that these men had appointments to fill. Their sin is ours. How often have we chosen to spend an evening in social enjoyment at the expense of ministering to a neighbour in need.

"But a certain Samaritan" (V 33): We are not told so, but it would seem likely that our Good Samaritan was one of those converts who believed through the testimony of the Samaritan woman in John 4. He had the same reasons for passing by as the priest and Levite, plus one. And that a very strong one. The spirit of segregation and racial hostility between Jews and Samaritans was bitter indeed. At the end of the story when Christ asked the lawyer who was the neighbour to the wounded man, the lawyer answered, "He who showed mercy on him" (v 37). He refused to say the Samaritan! He would not take that name on his lips.

"He went to him" (V 34): The Samaritan makes no attempt to attract, beg or coax the dying man to him. Such an endeavour would have been fatal. Nevertheless that seems to be the programme of the church today. Big names, sensational programmes and high pressure advertising are all a part of our feverish attempt to woo men in Church. But the Church should be a classroom in which the saints are to be taught, exhorted, edified and challenged to go out into the highways and byways to live for Christ. The Church is neither a maternity ward nor an orphanage. It is a military camp for training soldiers. Souls are to be won to Christ in the circumstances in which they are found. The going Christian is a growing Christian and so it is with the Church.

"bandaged.. pouring on oil and wine" (v 34): Something must be done quickly.

There’s no time to go to Jericho for medical supplies. "Good Samaritan, what have you in your hand?" "But Lord, this robe is the only one I possess. This oil is to be sold to buy food for my children. This little bottle of wine is to refresh me on this long hot journey." "Good Samaritan, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I command you?"

‘Yes, Lord, not as I will but as You will."

The Samaritan takes his cloak, tears it into two-inch bandage and binds up the wounds of the victim. Joy begins to flood his heart. He is not conscious of any sense of loss or sacrifice. He dips into his supply of oil and anoints the wounds. As strong feeling that he is anointing the nail-pierced feet of his Saviour grips his heart. Somehow his own thirst is satisfied as he pours wine onto the lips of his dying neighbour. Someone invisible stoops and whispers into his ear, "I was thirsty and you gave Me drink.., Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."

Tears of thankfulness well up in the Samaritan’s eyes as he whispers, ‘Thank You, Lord. From now on my oil business is Yours - not some of it but all. I care no

longer for the food I eat nor for the clothes I wear. To be a faithful steward of these things is honour enough for me."

Would there be any wounded heart unbound, any hungry soul unfed, any broken life unreached if the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the house in which we live, the car we drive, and the business we run were in His Name surrendered to God?

But for the concern of some Good Samaritan. you and I would today be in the mini nit. like other men without Christ.

"He set him on his own animal" (v 34): A faint smile of amazed appreciation

breaks across the face of the afflicted man as he regains consciousness. The donkeVs load is heavy to be sure, but the Samaritan’s heart is light. As he walks along the hot, dusty, mountain road, he whistles, Bringing in the sheaves, Bringing in the sheaves; We shall come rejoicing, Bringing in the sheaves.

The Samaritan donkey will make our beautiful cars look cheap in heaven unless they are surrendered to and used for the glory of God. Remember, "the Lord has need of him" - and you.

"When I come again..." (v 35): One is impressed with the fact that the Good Samaritan has already gone the second mile. And yet as leaves the scene, he makes two promises. The first is to "come again." The second, to "repay" any expenditure.

The whole story has pictured for us the character of our Lord. But nothing in it so convinces us that the Good Samaritan is a type of Christ, as the phrase, "When I come again, I will repay you."

‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor

15:58).

"He who showed mercy" (v 37): The showing of mercy seems to be a lost art even in some evangelical circles. We have forgotten that man is body, soul and spirit. To condemn him we are ready; to comfort him we are slow. In our passionate desire to separate the wheat from the tares, we have become so far removed from sinful man that we can no longer enter into his struggles or feel his sorrow. Woe unto us if we are not "touched with the feelings" of the infirmities of man lost in sin.

"Go and do likewise" (v 37): Christ did not tell the lawyer to go to the synagogue and sing, "Bring them in from the fields of sin." Nor did He exhort him to go and think or pray about this matter. The entire message is summarised in the verbs "go" and "do." The average Christian today does not need to know more, he

needs to do more. He does not need to have more light, he needs to walk in the light he has. More obedience is the need of the hour.

To trust and obey are the two feet of the Christian walk. Our faith is demonstrated by our obedience, and our fellowship is maintained by it. The evangelisation of the world will only be accomplished by men and women who are "doers" of the Word.

"Go and do!"

Walking in the footsteps of the Good Samaritan is the earthly evidence of the heavenly life.
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