Needed: A Few Good Neighbors, Part 1

The longer we follow Jesus, the more we tend to gravitate toward like-minded Christian instead of intermingling with the laws we seem to isolate ourselves among other believers today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll teaches from Luke chapter 10 in this passage, Jesus challenges us to step into foreign territory to rub shoulders with the laws and engage with people who don't seem to have their act together using a simple yet powerful story, Jesus presents a wonderful model for stepping outside our comfort zones to share our faith titled today's message needed a few good they were going to be looking in a few moments at a day in the life of as it is recorded in Luke chapter 10. This passage is very familiar to most of us, but we want to take a little different slant on the story that Jesus delivered to a man who had an honest question so please turn with me to Luke 10 and will begin our reading at verse 25 Luke 1025 and the lawyer stood up and put into the test, saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life and he said to him what is written in the law, how does it read to you and he answered and said, you shall 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 your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him you have answered correctly do this and you will live, but wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor and Jesus replied and said a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him and went away, leaving him half dead, and by chance a priest was going down that road and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also. When he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side but a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him, he felt compassion and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him on the next day he took out two denarii. I and gave them to the innkeeper and said, take care of him and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers hand and he said the one who showed mercy toward him.

Then Jesus said to him, go and do the same or listening to to search the Scriptures with Chuck Swindoll. Be sure to download his searching the Scriptures.

Studies by going to Insight world.org/studies Chuck titled his message needed a few good neighbors. It happened way back in the 1960s, when the then head coach of the Green Bay Packers was standing in front of his beloved team who had lost again to the hated Chicago Bears. Barney could not stand losing, he could stand a lot of things, but losing a special so he decided on his own.

It's time to get back to the basics standing in front of a group of veteran football players. He said gentlemen, this is a football that you can't get much more basic than that, especially with a group of guys that had been playing the game for 120 years or more.

There are days that I am standing in some churches preaching and I find myself tempted to want to say to all of the Christians who have gathered in the church.

As I point to someone who is come in off the street who is not familiar with our songs and is clueless regarding Christ. I want to say to that group of Christians folks, this is a neighbor. This is a neighbor what the ball is to the game. What musical note is to the symphony what the book is to the librarian what the diaper is to the mother who lives with babies hour after hour neighbor is the Christian how easy to forget is so easy for it to begin to revolve around us. Isn't it my parking place my seat. Some of you been coming long enough to where your seed has impacted the seat and it's yours. When I was a little kid, I remember holding hands with my mother and my mother has her hand in my dad's arm is we walk into our church. We have been coming to for years and they of course have their seats and they get to the door and I mean it's early we always came early so they could get their seats and some neighbors, some visitors had come and had the audacity to sit in their seat and my mother said thus promise you. My mother says to my dad the world what you think we ought to do. I said well level. I think we want to go home so we drove home. I member driving home thinking is something wrong with this picture here is 300 other seats and we go home because there was this taken overlapping of them were feeling the sting of conviction ourselves life becomes increasingly more myopic even as Christians.

Maybe that's the reason I'm drawn to familiar story that broadens my world and assaults my selfishness. I like it that it took place out in the street wasn't in the temple. Laura some synagogue.

It it happened on the street.

Jesus gave his best words and did his best work among people on the street.

The crowd is gathered and they've heard him speak and they watched him do his work in the skeptic in the crowd. According to verse 25 is called simply a certain lawyer, no offense, but this would stood up and maybe raised his hand to get Jesus attention. What you may not remember is on the wrist of the scribe.

The professional interpreter of the law called the scribe translated lawyer. There was a wristband called the phylacteries leather pouch unit would be placed verses from the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy verses would be talk to him that phylacteries for the purpose of memory or reminding the. The wearer of some truth from God's book. The teacher says this is lawyer.

What must I do to inherit eternal life with a question.

What must I do, but before you think about the question. Please notice the motive, he stood up and put him to the test expire rods old means to entrap someone into giving information that would jeopardize the person he wanted to entrap Jesus, I'm anywhere I might have to do to get this life and keep talking about emphasis on doing Jesus and good pedagogical fashion doesn't jump in and answer the question he answers it with another question. Member getting teachers like that some of our best teachers knew the best questions and Jesus turns the question around and asks another baby as he saw the phylacteries on his wrist. You tell me what is written in the law but how does it read to you. You're the professional interpreter. Oh what is it say to you this attorney. I'm sure without needing to pull anything from the pouch simply spouted outs of verse out of Deuteronomy 6 in a piece out of Leviticus 19 familiar to us, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

That's what one must do as I read the law now Jesus said to him, you're right that keep on doing this and you will live processing is he were Texan did say you got it get it.

Just getting all of a sudden the ball is back in the lawyers court.

Yours don't like balls in their court. They like serving them they don't like getting them and so he now this textbook is so careful it is writing wishing to justify himself. Never miss little comments like that when you're reading your Bible verse 29 kicks off with. Again, the motive wishing to justify himself, trying to make himself look better.

Then he really was. He picked out a word. Lawyers are known to do that RK Newman neighbor who is my name.

Is it the person who lives right next door to me. Okay, I got two doors down or end of the block or is he a neighbor if if we never met, but what if he's in another part of the town where I live. That is, that it is at a neighbor neighbor is there is a and an eloquent pause that we can't read about at that moment the wheels began to turn in Jesus, omniscient mind, and he puts together a story. Nothing like a story to communicate a point member.

The question, who is my neighbor who is my neighbor, Jesus leaves the scene where there were standing and mentally takes the lawyer and those listening to another road and another time, a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now if you ever travel to the holy land. Be sure and take that 17 miles of bad road when he says going down he means it.

Jerusalem sits like like a gym with a beautiful backdrop on the hill at 2300 feet above sea level.

Jericho sits in a slew down below 1300 feet below 3600 feet between the two is enough to make your ears pop if you travel to quickly but in those days no one traveled quickly. They walked, or they wrote of Mueller or donkey horse and it was a favorite place for thugs and thieves to hang out.

The road is winding and there are lots of rocks and boulders in many places to hide and if you're long there is no one who will hear if you call for help is like all big cities with their back balance. You learn soon after you move to a city where to stay away from you. Don't go there as there is a police force parade in your marching in the parade himself well armed. It's not a spot for you.

Spend some casual time it was that, road. This lawyer knew that Jesus picks a place familiar to the attorney and he says not surprisingly, he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him and went off leaving him half dead. Pretty obvious what happened this man's a victim of a mugging. I'm sure by now the attorney is wondering what's this got to do with who is my neighbor and everything but it has a twist to it by chance a certain priest was going down on that road now to take the pressure off you let say this is a pastor and we pastors are preoccupied with got sermons to prepare and people to talk to and events to attend and so this pastor seeing him go to the other side of the road. Me, my time is far more important than this individual.

For all I know he he had it coming in how pastors think when he sees him.

Don't miss that. He just doesn't want to get involved and then verse 32.

There is a Levite. All this is coming out of Jesus mind is never been told before is imagining the scene and it's it's enough to make the lawyers mouth drop open where's he going with this. I just want to know who's my neighbor well now there's a Levite it's called admin assistant pastor music minister, how would that be in their busy they got a lot of stuff to do songs to work on required to present in preparing and he sees admin and the doesn't want to get involved, but a certain Samaritan hear the brakes. That's exactly what happened in the mind of the lawyer who has been raised a good Jew Orthodox if you will and is learned before he could talk or walk to hate them.

The Samaritans half breeds so hated where the Samaritans that a good Jew didn't even want the dust of Samaria on their sandal but you don't know is that Samaria is right in the center of the heart of what the Romans called Palestine. In ancient Israel if you traveled from southern Judea up to northern Galilee unit, you have to go through Samaria but not the Jews. They went around to get up to Galilee. This is Samaritan is on a journey he too has plans like the other two here. He also sees the same thing they saw the something different for the last three words always make me pause, he felt compassion.

Something happened inside him and all of a sudden the man was faceless and graceless and colorless, and he heard as he put himself in in his place.

Just Moody wrote on one occasion.

Compassion is not a slob gone swimming.

Anybody can send his conscience by an occasional foray into knitting for this plastic home but did you ever take a real trip down inside the broken heart of another to feel the sob of the soul, the raw red crucible of emotional agony to have this almost as much.

Ewers is that of your soul crushed neighbor than to sit down with him and silently we this is the beginning of compassion. It happened to my friend Mary Mary Graham I had a meal with Johnny Erickson and we all feel it when just the name comes up. Mary said she sat down and Johnny was her cheery self. They were having a great time and the meal was served in Mary began to eat. And Johnny said to her, Mary, would you feed me please it's compassion you feel right now. Would you feed me and then Mary said I did a quick review and I thought someone had to help her. That morning the bathroom someone had to dress her, someone had to help her get into the chair.

It's only right that I helped feature my next time you see someone without legs.

Don't wonder what he did wrong to get over there on the corner asking for money just let your heart be broken like a Samaritan is about to die, one life connecting with one life story is about who is my neighbor get so what did he do compassion will just sit there and be quiet. It accelerates a number of very important steps toward the person to whom your heart goes out. He he came upon him that Qatar is used in the Greek it suggests down coming down so he knelt down to he got right down there with him and he bound up his wounds you would expect physician to write that that's important to Dr. Luke along with pouring oil and wine on the wounds you heard of the Hippocratic oath.

The physicians take our understanding no longer take that oath, but back when I was a boy.

They did, named after Hippocrates, the fourth century BC, physician known as the father of medicine long before Jesus ever lived. Hippocrates wrote for skin ulcers bind with soft wool and sprinkle with wine. The wine would soon the fevered laceration and the oil with its in the end, the oil would soothe it in the wine with its alcohol content servers and antiseptic clean and the Samaritan had both and freely poured that out and he brought him to an inn and he took care of him midway through a message from Chuck Swindoll called needed a few good neighbors.

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That's tomorrow on insight for living. The preceding message needed a few good neighbors was copyrighted in 2005 and 2019 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2019 by Charles R. Swindoll.

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