Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Luke 10:25-37
Luke 10:25 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 was attacked by 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, brought
him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii 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.”
-- Phillip
Yancey opened one of his books by quoting a friend as he shared a story of
sadness that he experienced – I want to share that with you now, quoting from
Yancey’s friend:
-- “A
prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food
for her two-year old daughter. Through
sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter -- two years
old! -- to men interested in kinky sex.
She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn
on her own in a night.
-- “She had to do it, she said, to
support her own drug habit. I could
hardly bear hearing her sordid story. I
had no idea what to say to this woman
-- “At last,
I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naive
shock that crossed her face.
"Church!" she cried.
"Why would I ever go there?
I was already feeling terrible about myself. They'd just make me feel worse."”
-- this
morning, we are continuing in our series on the spiritual disciplines and
spiritual gifts – I hope that this has been an enlightening series for you and
that you are putting into practice what we have discussed – for it is through
the practice of the spiritual disciplines, such as prayer and Bible study and
worship – and through the exercise of our spiritual gifts for the common good –
whatever those gifts may be for you individually – that we begin to truly grow
and experience Christ and fulfill the good works that He allotted for each of us
before the beginning of the world, as Ephesians 2:10 states
II. Mercy and Empathy
-- today, we are looking at the
spiritual gift of mercy – and of all the spiritual gifts that have been given
to us, this gift is one that is sorely lacking in application – mercy seems to
be in short supply in our world and our country today – and while there are
some in our churches who have been specially gifted in this area, we are all
called to be agents of God’s grace and mercy in the world today
-- and, as I have tried to stress
in our messages and in Bible study, we need to take care to always define our
terms before we try to engage with the subject at hand – because, as we know, people
may use the same term but mean something entirely different
– as we see with many of the cults
in our very own area, these groups use and proclaim the name of Jesus, but the
Jesus they talk about is not the same as that described in the Bible – The
Bible tells us that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity – God incarnate –
the Word -- who was present in the beginning and who was with God and who was
God
– these cults use the name Jesus,
but the Jesus they talk about is not the same as ours – for most of them, He is
not divine but either a created being or the result of a physical union between
a father god and a mother god
– so, anytime we have a discussion
with anyone, especially in regards to spiritual matters, we need to make sure
we’re talking about the same thing so that we don’t get led astray from the
truth
-- with that said, what is mercy? –
what is the biblical definition and understanding of this word?
-- in our Bible studies, we have
defined grace and mercy in this way – grace is God giving us what we do not
deserve – and mercy is God not giving us what we deserve
-- and while that definition is
true, it is not as comprehensive as it could be – nor is mercy singular and
separated from the other aspects of God, especially His grace – mercy and grace
are always together, for each is a component of the other – so, it’s hard to
separate it out and say, “This is mercy” and “This is grace” – for they work
together as an avenue of God’s love
-- one of the best definitions of
mercy I have seen comes from Compassion International, the ministry that seeks
to take care of impoverished children across the world – they define mercy as “compassionate
action towards those in need, particularly withholding punishment or vengeance
from those who deserve it. It is God's loving compassion and forgiveness, often
paired with grace, which provides unmerited favor. Mercy is a divine attribute
shown through salvation, kindness, and pity.”
-- so, mercy is an act – it is
something we do – it is something that we share with others as we seek to meet
their needs, whether we are talking about salvation, the forgiveness of sin,
the forgiveness of transgressions, or providing resources they need to survive
or improve their lot in life
-- mercy is showing the love of God
to others in a real and tangible way
-- and believe it or not, acts of
mercy have been denounced in our society in recent years – the reason is
because mercy is very closely associated with empathy – empathy is when we
share in another person’s emotional journey while sympathy is a sincere concern
for someone experiencing a difficult situation
-- the key difference is that
empathy involves action – it means that you put yourself in the place of
another person and you seek to meet their needs – to help them through their
situation – whatever the need is – sympathy is hands-off – it is looking at
another person in pain or trouble and feeling sorry for them, but not engaging
them to the level where you are led to do something for them
-- easy way to understand this is
the way we react when someone we know loses a loved one – sympathy leads us to
see their pain and grief – we might give them kind words – we might give them a
sympathy card – if you’re from the south, you’ll probably bring them something
to eat – but that’s it – that’s the extent of our involvement
-- empathy is a deeper response –
empathy has no time limit – and you try to invest yourself in the life of the
other person, helping them to learn to live this life without their loved one –
helping them in the times of overwhelming grief and sorrow by being there and
listening or holding them – taking action where you can
-- sympathy says, “I’m sorry” –
empathy says, “I’m here with you” – and empathy moves us to merciful actions as
we share God’s love with others
-- however, some in our society
today have invented a term called, “toxic empathy” – meaning that we can go too
far in engaging with others and trying to walk a mile in their shoes – that we
can go too far in trying to help others through their time of trials and
tribulations – to the point where merciful actions become illegal or
unwarranted
-- this came up a lot during the
issues about immigration over the last couple of years – and without diving
into any political position, just to help you understand the issue – some
people felt that some individuals and groups were being too empathetic towards
illegal immigrants and doing too much to support them or stand up for them –
they felt that sympathy would be a better response, where you could feel sorry
for the immigrant’s plight, but you would not take direct action to alleviate
that situation
-- in response, several of the
empathetic individuals and groups defended their actions as religious responses
to a crisis and felt this was what their faith demanded – that God’s word commanded
empathy and mercy towards all, regardless of legal status in the country
-- the
question of illegal immigration and what to do about it is a very divisive
subject in our country – and there are a lot of complexities and legal
questions that we are struggling with as a society in this regard – but I
wanted you to be aware that the question of empathy and mercy was part of the
overall discussion – which brings us to our topic for today
-- Romans
12:8 affirms that mercy is a spiritual gift – and that there are some people in
the church of Christ – in fact, in this congregation, who have been given the
gift of mercy
-- which
means that these individuals have been given the supernatural ability to
empathize with others and to be merciful to them in a way that most of us don’t
have the ability to do – as Christians, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, all of us
have a tendency towards empathy and mercy – but not at the same level as those
who are gifted in this area by the Holy Spirit
-- Mr.
Rogers famously advised children that when disasters and troubles come, to look
for the helpers – the helpers are those with the gift of mercy – they can’t
help but be there and they can’t help but inspire others to action, also
-- the most
famous person associated with empathy and mercy has to be the good Samaritan
III. The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
-- there
are several stories in the Bible that everyone is familiar with – and that’s
true whether they are a Christian or not – the story of the good Samaritan is
one of those
-- we all
know it – and we all put ourselves in the place of the good Samaritan when we
hear it – no one hears this story and says, “I am the priest” or “I am the
Levite” – we always take the place of the hero – even though very few of us
actually put into practice what Jesus teaches here
-- I read
about a study conducted in a seminary one time -- students were learning about
the parables -- each week, they had to write a report and present an oral
presentation of their thoughts on that particular parable and then answer
questions from the professor
-- each student was scheduled to
come at a certain time -- if they missed their time, they would receive a zero –
on the day they were being tested on their knowledge of the story of the good
Samaritan, each student headed for their professor’s office at their scheduled
time – and, as each one got close to the professor’s building, they heard the
cries of a man in need
-- he was laying on the sidewalk –
his clothes were disheveled – his hair was out of place – he looked to have
been hurt – there was no indication of what might have happened to him –
whether he had gotten robbed or hit by a car or something else – he was just
there – a person in need
-- and every student in that
seminary class had to have noticed that man – they had to pass right by him –
but not a single one of them stopped to help, because they knew if they were
late to their appointment with the professor or if they missed it, they would
be given a zero – so, they looked at the man with sympathy, but rushed on by
-- what they didn’t know was that
this was their real test -- after an in-depth study of the parable of the good
Samaritan, the professor wanted to see if the students would apply what they
had learned -- none did and all failed the test – because all failed to show mercy
to another
-- In this
passage, Jesus is being tested, too – we read here that on one occasion, as He
was teaching, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus – he asked Jesus how someone
inherits eternal life -- and Jesus affirmed that they way to eternal life is by
loving the Lord your God all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your strength and with all your mind' and to `Love your neighbor as yourself –
in verse 28, Jesus tells the expert in the law to do this, and he would live
-- don’t
miss what Jesus said to the expert in the law – He affirms that the expert
knows exactly what to do – the real question is “have you been doing it?” -- Jesus called into question whether the
expert in the law had actually put into practice that which he had preached
-- look at
verse 29
Luke 10:29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he
asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
-- so now
the accuser becomes the defendant -- the expert in the law had started this
conversation by trying to test Jesus and put Him on the spot, but now he finds
himself defending his own righteousness -- so, seeking to justify himself, he
responds back to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
-- more
than likely, the expert in the law expects Jesus to respond with the
traditional Jewish understanding of the term neighbor -- not only your near kin
who lives next door, but the stranger, the poor, the orphaned, and the widows
who live among you -- this is who the law said you were to take care of
-- and when
Jesus agreed with him, then the expert in the law could probably say, “Good – I
have been doing that”
-- as
Thomas Long points out, the lawyer “had found a place to stand -- [he] depended
upon the concepts “love God” and “love neighbor” to remain fixed and stable --
a system of religious justification and tradition – the expert had found an
answer in his religion that allowed him to be satisfied with himself and his
life
-- or, to
put it another way, the lawyer justified himself because he went to church,
read the scriptures, made the required sacrifices, and loved his family and his
friends and neighbors -- sound familiar? -- sound like us?
-- but
Jesus doesn’t respond the way the expert in the law expected -- instead of
affirming what the expert in the law believes to be true, Jesus throws into
question the definition of a neighbor by telling him the story of the good
Samaritan
-- verse 30
Luke 10:30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down
from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by 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,
brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two
denarii 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.’
-- Jesus
begins the story by saying, “a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho” --
other translations have this as “a certain man was going down” -- and the
inference here is that this man Jesus is talking about in the story is the
expert in the Law himself
-- Jesus is
making this personal -- He is saying to the expert in the law, “pretend that
one day, you were going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when you fall into the
hands of robbers -- they beat you -- they strip you of your clothes -- they
leave you for dead and throw you in the ditch -- you need help -- who do you
look to for assistance? -- who will be your neighbor when you need help?”
-- and then
we read the familiar story – Jesus says that a priest comes by and sees the
man, but crosses the road and passes by on the other side -- he is followed by
a Levite, who also comes to the same place and sees the man needing help, but
does nothing -- finally, a Samaritan comes by and takes pity on the man
-- seeing his need, he has
compassion for the man – he shows empathy and mercy – he takes action and gets
involved – sterilizing the wounded man’s injuries with oil and wine and putting
a bandage on him -- he takes him to an inn, where he sits by him and takes care
of him through the night -- the next day, he leaves money behind to ensure the
wounded man is taken care of, and promises he will return to check in on his
progress and take care of any more needs
-- now it’s
important that you know the Jews and Samaritans absolutely hated each other --
“The two groups disagreed about everything that mattered: how to honor God, how
to interpret the Scriptures, and where to worship. They practiced their faith in separate
temples, read different versions of the Torah, and avoided social contact with
each other whenever possible.” -- Jews would not even cross into the region of
Samaria, even if doing so would shorten a trip -- they would have nothing to do
with them at all
-- so, when
Jesus introduces the Samaritan as the hero in the story, this would have been
shocking to the ears of His Jewish listeners -- they would never consider
helping a Samaritan -- and they would never consider having to rely on a
Samaritan for help
-- but
Jesus has now painted the picture of the expert in the Law, rejected by the
priest and the Levite, now being ministered to by someone he absolutely hated
-- think about your worst enemy -- think about that person you just can’t stand
-- or that group of people you just can’t be around -- or that person who’s a
different color than you -- or a different religion -- or who votes for the
wrong political party
-- now
consider yourself in need -- and while the people you thought were your friends
and neighbors pass you by -- the only person who comes to your aid is the very
person you hated -- that’s the message Jesus is trying to get across
-- verse 36
Luke 10:36 “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.”
-- once
again, Jesus turns the question of the expert in the law back on him -- the
lawyer had asked, “And who is my neighbor?” -- now, after telling the story of
the good Samaritan, Jesus asks the question back to the lawyer, “Who do you
think was a neighbor to this man?”
-- “The one
who had mercy on him”
-- Jesus
has stretched the understanding of the expert in the law -- “When you're lying
bloody in a ditch, what matters is not whose help you'd prefer -- whose way of
practicing Christianity you like best -- whose politics you agree with – whose
legal status as a citizen you affirm -- what matters is whether or not anyone
will stop to show you mercy before you die.”
-- Jesus’
whole point is that your neighbor is not defined by relation -- your neighbor
is not defined by geographic proximity -- your neighbor is not defined by
religion or politics or personal beliefs or citizenship or the color of their
skin -- everyone is your neighbor because everyone is in need
-- “the
real answer to the lawyer’s question “who is my neighbor?” is that you have no
idea who your neighbor is until you, yourself, know how needy you are, and in
that need receive the unexpected grace and mercy of being neighbored by God”
-- Jesus
did not come to be a neighbor only to the righteous -- nor did He come to be a
neighbor only to the Jews -- He came to be the neighbor to everyone, and to
save everyone who was in that ditch -- He came for all of us – and He tells us
to “Go and do likewise”
IV. Closing
-- like I
said, we like the story of the good Samaritan, because we always put ourselves
in that role – we like to think that if we were there, we would take care of
the injured man just like the Samaritan did – but history and experience say
otherwise
-- all too
often, we know the answer that Jesus wants – but we stop short of putting that
answer into practice
-- we
define who we will be merciful to and who we won’t – we choose who we will love
and who we will not -- we can get so wrapped up in our own holiness and in
playing church, we forget the mercy that we have been given and we forget to be
merciful to others
-- and when
that happens, our churches become known as places, not of refuge in time of
need, but of places where people don't receive what they desperately need –
grace and mercy and empathy
-- when
that happens, our country becomes a place where people do not find mercy or
empathy, but hatred
-- this is
not the way it should be
-- so, what
can we do about it? – what can those who are gifted with mercy do to lead us
and inspire us to be better?
-- first, we have to remember –
that could be us on the side of the road – that WAS us on the side of the road
-- we must be careful to never
forget where we were and who we were when the mercy and grace of Christ touched
us and healed us of our sin – we must remember that old saying, “There, but for
the grace of God, I go” – and we must let that move us to action – regardless
of whether it is politically correct or not
-- because
we have been given so much and forgiven so great a debt, grace and mercy should
be part of who we are – it should flow from us to others -- regardless of who
they are or what they have done
-- second,
we have to admit our failures and our sins -- right or wrong, as the story of
the prostitute shows, our churches have become known as places where hypocrites
gather -- as places where self-righteous people seek to justify themselves and
judge others who come -- as places where following church law is more important
than helping hurt people
-- our
churches today are no longer recognized as places to come to receive grace and
mercy and empathy
-- when
Jesus was here on earth, He constantly drew to Himself those who were hurt,
those who were sick, those who had sinned -- they came to Him for a refuge --
for a place where they would not be judged but healed
-- God's
church on earth is called to do no less today -- and, with the grace of God, it
can once again serve as a refuge for those who truly need help -- a hospital administering
God’s grace in an ungraceful world – God’s mercy in a merciless world
-- the
change must start with you and it must start with me – we must “Go and do
likewise”
-- in
closing, I would like to read you a quote from Charles Sheldon's book, "In
His Steps", which started the "What would Jesus do?" movement
-- in this
book a tramp, a man without a home and without a job has been going from church
to church looking for help, and in the last church in town he asks for
permission to speak to the congregation.
This is what he says right before he collapses on the altar and must be
taken to the hospital:
"I'm
not an ordinary tramp, though I don't know of any teaching of Jesus that makes
one kind of tramp less worth saving than another. Do you?
I was wondering as I sat here tonight, if what you call following Jesus
is the same thing as what He taught.
What did you Christians mean by following the steps of Jesus?
"I've
tramped through this city for three days trying to find a job and in all that
time I've not had a word of sympathy or comfort. What is meant by following Jesus? What do you mean when you sing "I'll go
with Him, with Him, all the way? Do you
mean that you are suffering and denying yourselves and trying to save lost,
suffering humanity just as I understand Jesus did? What do you mean by it?
"It
seems to me there's an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn't
exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out. I suppose I don't understand. But what would Jesus do?"
-- this
morning as we consider the words of Jesus in the parable of the good Samaritan
-- as we consider the grace and the mercy that we see displayed in this story
-- let us consider whether we are truly being examples of His grace and mercy to
others or if we are justifying ourselves like the teacher of the law, the
priest, and the Levite
-- are we
truly loving the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with
all our strength and with all our mind' -- and are we truly loving our neighbor
as ourselves?
-- this is
what mercy looks like – and this is what the gift of mercy demands
-- Let us
pray.
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