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Luke 10:25-37
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test
Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you
read it?”
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.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this
and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
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 for dead. A priest happened
to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the
other side. So, too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by
on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was;
and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 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. 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.’
“Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the
man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy
on him,”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
A few weeks ago I stopped by a local coffee shop
to meet someone for an appointment. As I headed toward the counter to make my
order, I saw a woman I know from FBCG sitting at a nearby table. After
exchanging a brief greeting, I noticed a baby lying in a detachable car-seat in
the chair next to where the woman was sitting. I glanced back and said in a teasing
manner, “Are you babysitting for someone?” I knew her children were pretty much
grown so I simply assumed that the mom belonging to the baby must be standing
in line for coffee. But my friend responded by explaining that she was indeed
taking care of the baby – because the infant’s mother was a child herself and
needed help. She was giving her time, care and experience to help a young unwed
mother at a very difficult time in her life.
I went on to get my coffee and met my
appointment, but later it dawned on me that I had witnessed a modern day version
of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan! And the story of the Good Samaritan,
when you really think about it, is a story all about generosity.
Jesus tells this brilliant story in response to
a series of questions about religion. Luke tells us that an “expert in the law”
asks him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The motivation of the questioner was no doubt to
test Jesus’ knowledge of religious law. Knowing this, Jesus answers the
question with a question: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
The questioner responds straight from the book: “‘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.’”
Jesus affirms and challenges this response: “You
have answered correctly, do this and you will live.”
Then the questioner asks one more question: “But
who is my neighbor?”
In asking this question the man gives himself
and his motivation away. He isn’t interested in loving God with all his heart,
soul, mind and strength – he’s interested in meeting the bare minimum standards
of the law so that he can know he is a “good person.”
This is the equivalent of a high school student
listening to a teacher lecture for 45 minutes and then asking, “Which parts of
that do we have to know for the test?” The student who asks this question does
not love the subject matter, nor the teacher, but rather simply wants to pass a
test.
Knowing the questioners heart, Jesus tells a
story that turns everything upside down.
A man is robbed, beaten and left for dead on the
side of the road – in obvious and dire need. Two respected and very religious
men, a priest and a Levite, both choose to pass by on the other side of the
road – either too busy or too important to interrupt their day to help the man.
But a despised Samaritan – who would have been
considered both irreligious and unclean before God – sees the man and has
compassion for him. And the rest of the story is a beautiful picture of
generosity.
The Samaritan gives his time to the stricken
man.
The Samaritan shares his resources - his donkey,
his money – to care for the man’s physical needs.
But all of this began because the Samaritan
opened his heart. Jesus said, “…he took pity on him…” which means, he felt
compassion and then acted out of that compassion.
It seems to me that this is the heart of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not saved because we keep the religious rules
and therefore “pass the test”. We are saved by the grace of God who gave his
only Son to die for our sins. We are saved when we enter into a personal
relationship with Jesus by faith. And then we live out this relationship; this
love; this grace; in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in
our hearts.
Generosity, therefore, can be understood as
simply the gift of a heart that has been set free.
As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:15:
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
Pastor Brian Coffey
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