The Remarkable Church: Part 3
For the past couple of weeks, we have been examining what a remarkable church looks like. I mentioned that Seth Godin said that today, advertising doesn’t work anymore, and that if you want to get an important message or idea across today, the most effective way to do that is through “word of mouth.” People have to talk about it. In order to get people to talk about your message, product, or business, you have to be remarkable, which just means that you have to be worthy of being talked about. We established that what is not remarkable in our society is invisible.
We have looked at what makes up a remarkable church, a church that makes people talk. The models that we have examined as examples of a remarkable church have not come from the twitters or blogs of one of the countless “church experts,” but from the word of God. What I hope you are beginning to discover is that the church found in scriptures is a remarkable, loving, scandalous, and revolutionary force. Almost unrecognizable from the “religious” organizations that we often refer to as churches.
I had planned to share this message next Sunday, but the events of this week have compelled me to swap the two messages. Today, we are going to examine a story familiar to many of you, The Parable of the Good Samaritan. If you are familiar with this story, you might be asking, “What does this have to do with church?” The answer is plenty. I think that Jesus used this parable as an example of what real love and compassion is, and how they are different from religious rules and going through the motions.
Luke 10:25-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan
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?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself."
28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Unpacking the Scriptures
A man is beaten by robbers and left for dead. Three men come upon him. The first two passersby were religious professionals: a priest and a levite, or a worship pastor.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
In Jewish society, the priest was a holy person. The priest taught the scriptures to people. People needed the priest to help them offer their sacrifices for their sins. You couldn’t do that on your own. You needed this holy priest, this religious leader to do that for you. The priest could go in parts of the temple that the regular people could not. Surely, if there was an example of someone with good character and mercy, it would be a priest. Yet Jesus said that the priest just went on by.
A Levite, as I mentioned, was like a worship pastor. Levites were in charge of making sure that certain traditions and ceremonies were performed correctly. They were like religious referees. They knew all of the rules and regulations about how a temple ceremony should operate. They were highly thought of by the Jews. The Levite also went on by the badly beaten man on the road. He didn’t want to get involved. We are not told why. Maybe he was afraid for his personal safety; after all, whoever beat this man so badly might still be around. But maybe it was because there was no payoff for him. You may have noticed that most acts of kindness and benevolence these days are accompanied by a camera crew. Helping people is good television. It also proves what a nice person you are. Helping a stranger on a desolate road was not very showy.
The one who did stop was a Samaritan
3 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
What is so remarkable about that? Well, you have to remember the occasion for this parable. Jesus is addressing a question from an “expert in the law,” a Jew who wanted to know who he had to love in order to love his neighbor as himself. He was asking Jesus for the technical definition so that he could technically follow the rule about loving his neighbor. Who is my neighbor? Or, how little love can I get by with and still meet this “religious requirement?”
I mentioned before that the two who ignored the beaten man were religious leaders. Well, Jesus takes it a step further. Not only are the uncaring people who passed by religious Jews, but the compassionate man who stopped to help was a Samaritan. This does not mean much to us. The term “Good Samaritan” is common in our society, used to describe people who do nice things for others. But Samaritans and Jews did not like each other. This is a bit of an understatement. A Jew, at that time, would NEVER use the words “good” and “Samaritan” in the same sentence. Samaritans and Jews had been enemies for hundreds of years. The Jews considered the Samaritans to be outcast, unclean, the scourge of society. They got along about as well as Muslims and Jews do today, or Duke fans and Tarheel fans.
Notice that when Jesus asks the religious expert which of the three people who passed by the badly beaten man was a neighbor, what does he say?
37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Notice that the man that Jesus asked the question to could not bring himself to say the word “Samaritan.”
Why did the Samaritan stop?
Why did he care for this person who would not have even spoken to “his kind” or even walk near him in normal circumstances? A bitter enemy is wounded, so why not just finish him off?
33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
He stopped because he had pity on the beaten man. The word used here that is translated as “pity” is an interesting one. It is not just like an intellectual pit, like “how sad, oh well.” It is a word that refers to a disturbance in the intestines or bowels. It is like when we might say that something was so sad it tore us up inside. His reaction was like a gut reaction. What he saw was gut-wrenching, causing him to feel such a pity that he was physically affected, and he had to take action. His actions took sacrifice. The Samaritan gave of himself, his time, his money, maybe even risking his personal safety. All to help an enemy.
We can learn so much from how the Samaritan did not react. Some of the most common ways that people react to seeing people in need.
It is not my problem
This would have been an easy response for the Samaritan, especially since the badly injured man was an enemy.
A few days ago I read about a church in Allentown, PA called Life Church. This church partnered with another church in SC to sponsor an orphanage in Haiti. After the Earthquake hit the other day, they did not hear from the 5 staff or 12 children as the orphanage, even after 36 hours after the quake. Their pastor, Dave Jones, said “We didn’t even know if they were still alive.” They finally got a text message saying that they were all alive and sleeping outside. By the time the pastor had received this text, the church had already mobilized a three-person team with 800 pounds of supplies, and had flown to DR. which is on the same island as Haiti.
~Philadelphia Daily News.
I was deeply moved by this story. Why would this church in Philadelphia fund an orphanage on a Caribbean island, where they were also helping to fund a school and a medical center? And then agonize over how the orphans and staff were doing? Why didn’t they just figure that an orphanage in Haiti was really not their problem? Maybe they would send a check occasionally, but how could they be expected to do so much for an orphanage in Haiti?
1 John 3:17
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
I think that this church in PA saw the orphans in Haiti as their problem because they love God. When we love someone, we start to become concerned with what they are concerned about. God loves the orphans in Haiti, so he will put compassion for them on the hearts of people and churches who love him.
If your church ceased to exist, would anyone miss it?
~ First Comes Faith: Proclaiming the Gospel in the Church By W. Frank Harrington.
This is an important thing to ask. If a church wouldn’t be missed by anyone except their own people, they are probably unremarkable and self-serving.
I get the feeling that if the Life Church in Allentown, PA ceased to exist, if no one else noticed, the orphanage in Haiti would.
The problem is too big, What can I do about it?
Have you ever felt this way? This is how we can somehow think after seeing widespread devastation
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, an old man was walking along the shore; he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself and he walked faster to catch up. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?" The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean." "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the man. To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die." the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!" At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."
Adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977)
We can make a difference to this one person, one orphanage. With God there is also a divine multiplier. Throughout the Bible, we see examples of God using people to do things much bigger than themselves.
In Matthew 14, we are told of an occasion where Jesus fed 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. After everyone ate until they were satisfied, there were 12 baskets full of food left over. Why would Jesus do such a thing? Suspend the laws of physics? Do the miraculous and the unexplainable? Was it to show off? “Hey check this out.” It wasn’t to win a bet. Look in Matthew 14:14 prior to feeding the crowds, what does it say?
It says When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd; he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
He fed the multitudes because of his compassion for them. When we, as a church, show compassion, it is comforting to know that we serve a savior who will do miraculous things out of that compassion. He can take our compassion and our efforts and do whatever he wants through us. We cannot look at what little we have. It would have been easy to not even mention the few loaves of bread and fish given the huge need. Why even bring it up? What good would it do? Maybe I should keep it, so at least I can eat? God can do the miraculous through compassionate people.
When God’s work is done in God’s way for God’s glory, it will never lack God’s supply.
~Hudson Taylor.
Conclusion
The story of the Good Samaritan is really about religion. Jesus used this parable to show the difference between religion, or loving enough to meet the qualifications for getting into heaven, and really loving because of a changed heart and a real relationship with God.
When the religious people came by the badly beaten man, they did nothing. They walked on by. Just like the religious often do today. Yes, churches might do a bake sale for a charity, or stuff a few shoe boxes at Christmas, but turn a blind eye to the need all around us.
The Bible says that the church is the body of Christ. As Christ’s body, we are to physically do the things that he wants us to do. Help people, hug people, care for people. We are to do what Christ wants us to do. To serve as He would.
When he said, “Love your neighbor as yourself, HE MEANT IT.
~Francis Chan.
We don’t serve people just enough to get into heaven. This is what the expert in the law was trying to get out of Jesus. How little can I do and meet the requirements?
That is what Religion is interested in — doing enough to be justified. This is the problem with religion. Like the expert in the law, religion asks the wrong questions.
How can we apply this to our lives?
1. Pray for compassion
Why do we need to pray for compassion? Shouldn’t my heart be full of compassion because I am a Christian?
If loving our neighbor was easy, it wouldn’t have needed to be in a commandment. Commanding us to do so would have been redundant. Usually when we are commanded to do something, it is not what comes easy to us. We are not commanded to eat or breathe. We are commanded to love our neighbors.
2. Give without ceremony
Jesus did not tell us whether the Samaritan man had a film crew to record his act of compassion. We don’t know if he blogged or tweeted about how impressive his intervention was.
Charles Spurgeon and his wife would sell, but refused to give away, the eggs their chickens laid. Even close relatives were told, "You may have them if you pay for them." As a result, some people labeled the Spurgeons greedy and grasping.
They accepted the criticisms without defending themselves, and only after Mrs. Spurgeon died was the full story revealed. All the profits from the sale of eggs went to support two elderly widows. Because the Spurgeons where unwilling to let their left hand know what the right hand was doing (Matthew 6:3), they endured the attacks in silence.
~Chaplain Magazine
3. Get involved.
There is a Zen saying that says something like, “To know but not do, is to not know.”
The Bible has a similar message.
James 2:15-17
15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
That is Christ’s message for his church, “Go and do likewise.” Not like the religious did, the priest and the Levite, but like the social outcast with compassion and mercy did. That is our take-away today. Go and do likewise.
We don’t have to do this. But if have the world’s goods, and we see people in need and close our hearts, how does the love of God abide in us?”
Would we then be a church that would not be missed if we ceased to exist? Having compassion and doing something about it is remarkable. It is what the church has been instructed to do. Go and do likewise.
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