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About The Episode:
Ever grappled with the weight of wanting to help everyone and feeling like it’s never enough? Our latest episode peels back the layers of the Messiah complex, highlighting the need to establish boundaries in altruism while remaining deeply compassionate. We’re joined by a special guest who embodies the biblical Good Samaritan’s spirit, sharing a poignant tale of Israeli volunteers reaching across deep-seated divides. Their actions exemplify the transformative power that simple, heartfelt kindness can have in a world often blinded by self-interest and media narratives. Together, we explore the delicate balance between aiding others and recognizing our limitations, providing insightful commentary on conflicts that span the globe and the echoes of ancient parables in our modern reality.
As we reminisce about the pre-digital days of yore, a time of undivided family attention and community solidarity, you’ll find yourself yearning for a return to those core values. Our discussion ventures into the Christian ideals of community and the power of disconnecting from the relentless pull of technology to foster genuine connections. We’re not just talking about looking back with nostalgia; we’re fostering a dialogue about embracing the essence of togetherness and the Christian call to be a beacon in the shadows. Listen in for a fresh perspective on the Christian life, with practical steps on how to reclaim that sense of unity and purpose amidst the distractions of our high-speed, high-tech lives.
Wrapping up with a potent call to action, this episode doesn’t shy away from confronting the challenges we face in our spiritual journeys. From the pitfalls of self-justification to the dangers of spreading ourselves too thin, we’re digging deep into what it means to live out mature, balanced compassion. Become part of our uplifting community as we pray for the audacity to make meaningful moves, console the troubled, and immerse ourselves wholeheartedly in the mission of disseminating the gospel. This isn’t just a message; it’s a movement toward living intentionally within the teachings of Jesus, fortified by the collective purpose and unity of believers. Join us and be part of the change.
Where to dive in:
(0:00:00) – Messiah Complex and Good Samaritan Parable (6 Minutes)
This chapter tackles the concept of the Messiah complex and the importance of setting boundaries in our desire to help others, emphasizing that we are not called to take on every task or burden. I share insights on the current divisive issues surrounding Israel and Palestine, highlighting how easily we can be misled by biases and the media, and the need for individuals to seek out truth independently. I also recount an uplifting story of Israeli volunteers, led by a rabbi, who extended a gesture of friendship to Palestinians by facilitating a day at the beach for those who have never had the chance to experience it due to military borders, drawing a parallel to the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. Through these narratives, I underscore the significance of genuine acts of kindness in a world where people are often too consumed with their own lives to notice the needs of others.
(0:05:58) – Technology, Community, and Belief (8 Minutes)
This chapter reflects on the profound changes in communication and lifestyle from the era of landline phones to the present day of constant connectivity. I reminisce about the slower pace of life, the value of uninterrupted family time, and the impact of technology on our peace and free time. We also consider the biblical principle of community within the body of Christ, emphasizing the importance of caring for one another instinctively, as one part of the body naturally responds to the pain of another. Drawing from the parable of the Good Samaritan, I stress the Christian call to be a light in the darkness and to love others as a testament to our faith. Furthermore, I encourage a shift towards self-control, advocating for more quality time with family, less engagement with digital distractions, and a focus on the promises and blessings of God as seen in the story of Jacob.
(0:13:45) – Understanding Eternal Life Through Loving Others (8 Minutes)
This chapter examines the profound exchange between Jesus and a lawyer on the subject of inheriting eternal life, highlighting the lawyer’s correct understanding of the law—to love God and neighbor—as well as his internal struggle to justify his actions. I discuss the revolutionary nature of Jesus’ teachings and the challenge they posed to the established religious order of the Pharisees. The lawyer’s attempt to justify himself leads to a further exploration of who constitutes a neighbor, setting the stage for the parable of the Good Samaritan, which serves as a lesson on compassion beyond cultural and religious boundaries. Through this narrative, I address the implications of Jesus’ message for our daily lives and the importance of genuine love in action towards others.
(0:22:00) – Compassion Overcomes Bias and Justifications (6 Minutes)
This chapter examines the common human tendency to justify inaction in the face of others’ suffering, drawing on the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan to highlight how biases and prejudices can lead to neglect of those in need. I reflect on the excuses we often make to avoid helping—such as being too busy or fearful—and how these justifications prevent us from showing compassion. Emphasizing that this is not about condemnation but rather about understanding Jesus’ teachings, I stress the importance of compassion and action over indifference, regardless of social divisions or personal prejudices. The discussion underscores the unexpected kindness of the Samaritan, who, despite societal contempt, exemplifies true neighborly love by aiding a stranger in distress. I also touch on contemporary examples of such compassion across racial and religious divides, encouraging listeners to look beyond their biases and preconceptions to embrace empathy and help others.
(0:28:28) – Call to Growth and Compassion (11 Minutes)
This chapter examines the importance of personal growth and maturity within a spiritual context, using the biblical story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate the concept of responsible compassion and balance in our lives. I discuss the expectation of growth that is placed upon us, emphasizing the need for dedicated time with God for prayer and understanding of His word to fulfill our purpose. The conversation also navigates the challenges of avoiding self-justification and the pitfalls of a “Messiah complex,” where one might overextend themselves in helping others at the expense of their own responsibilities. Through the Samaritan’s example, I highlight the significance of addressing immediate needs with kindness and mercy, while also maintaining our own journey and commitments. The message culminates in the encouragement to show mercy as a form of compassion that transcends enmity, reflecting on Jesus’s teaching to turn the other cheek within the context of oppressive Roman rule.
(0:39:11) – Challenge to Live for Jesus (6 Minutes)
This chapter examines the importance of compassion and selflessness in living a Christian life, even in the face of personal hardship. I reflect on a story about a man who continued to help others while dealing with the loss of his son and his own family’s health issues, challenging listeners to consider what inconveniences they might be avoiding when called to act by their faith. I also share a personal experience of regret for not acting on the opportunity to offer encouragement to someone in need, underscoring that acts of kindness can take many forms, not just financial aid. Throughout, I emphasize the need for discernment and obedience to God’s calling, encouraging believers to genuinely love one another and live out the compassionate work exemplified by Jesus. The chapter concludes with a prayer for listeners facing their own struggles, highlighting God’s faithfulness and the importance of community support.
(0:44:44) – Prayer for Courage and Action (1 Minutes)
This chapter is a heartfelt call to action, encouraging us to be instruments of faith without fear or self-justification. I discuss the importance of following divine guidance to comfort those in need, to speak out with conviction when necessary, and to trust in the unwavering faithfulness of the Lord. By sharing this message, I invite listeners to not only receive spiritual nourishment but to also spread the gospel further, emphasizing the power of social media in amplifying our collective mission. In closing, I express gratitude for the presence and participation of our community, leaving us with a sense of unity and purpose until the next gathering.
About your host:
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Full Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.
0:00:00 – Jaime Luce
and avail myself, or become kind of they call it in the world, the Messiah complex, where you’re going around thinking you can help everybody and do something for everybody. And God’s not called you to take care of everybody and he’s not called you to every task and he’s not called you to do, um, everybody else’s work and everybody else’s job. You can work at a job and you’re exhausted because you’re so busy always helping everybody else that you don’t have time to get your own stuff done, let alone your family and your home and your own time. That’s not okay either. Welcome to the Jamie Luce Podcast. It’s my pleasure to be with you today to open the word and share it with you. I recently read a headline and you know right now it’s a hot topic.
The whole issue with Israel and Palestine has caused a lot of division. We see those who think that Israel is responsible for killing innocent lives. We see those who say it’s the Palestinians who are responsible. And then there are those say no, it’s not the Palestinians, but it is the groups of terroristic terrorists causing these acts of violence against both, and so it really is a divisive thing, depending on what you hear, what you believe, what you’re seeing in the news on how you divide across these lines. Now, as Christians, we stand with Israel. We don’t, of course, stand with wrong acts or stand against evil done against people, but we know that the current situation that happened began because a terrorist group literally parachuted themselves into these territories and began killing innocent people left and right.
Israel was immediately in a war and recently I was away with my husband and we saw a very large protest group protesting for the Palestinians, the Palestinian people, and you know, protests are an interesting thing because the people who are protesting are protesting for what they believe to be true. They think they are protesting for the help of whatever it is that they’re protesting for, and they’re very committed. They are very demonstrative, they’re not afraid to stand up for what they believe. And yet what was so sad to me was the very act of what they were doing and and the people that were there that day those who were protesting were standing for things aside from the Palestinian people, were standing for things that the Palestinian people do not stand for, and it just showed the confusion. It really showed the way the enemy tricks and the way that we can be deceived, whether we’re deceived by watching the news on television or having a particular bias because of where we grew up, whether we’re deceived by watching the news on television or having a particular bias because of where we grew up, what we’ve been taught, the people we associate with and their thoughts about things. And we tend to be a generation of people who is not very diligent about seeking out the truth for ourselves. We like to be spoon-fed, we’re not good about going and finding out facts for ourselves, we rely on others to tell us and we just blindly believe things Not a good place to be in.
And so I was reading this story, and the story was of a group of Israeli people who, it was started from a rabbi who gathered volunteers who would take a group of people across the border into the Palestinian territory and gather those together who wanted to come and have a day at the beach. Though these Palestinian people live only about an hour away from the ocean, they have never been. They’ve never been, they’ve never enjoyed a day at the beach and seen what that looks like, let alone experience what it is because of the military borders that they cannot come through without having proper paperwork to get through into the Israeli territory. And so, as a way to just show them love and friendship and to let them know, as a people, we are not against you. They go in and they cross the border because they have the paperwork to cross. They cross over the border, gather those, take them to the beach, give them a beautiful day at the beach and then take them back home. And the looks on these people’s faces and the joy that was brought to them out of an act of kindness that they did not have to do was a blessing. It was a great, feel-good story, but it reminded me of the story that we read in Luke 10 of the Good Samaritan and, honestly, if you look at our lives, we are so busy. I mean, if you look at just a phone, just your phone, you have your phone with you everywhere. Everywhere you go, you’re checking emails and text messages and going on social media apps and using them for banking, using them for phone service, using them for I mean, there’s a million things for gaming, they’re constantly in use and whatever time we used to have.
You know, back when I was coming up in age, we had two phones in the house and one was in my parents’ room and one was in the den and they were attached to a wall and if you were not home you were free from interruption. You didn’t have, there were no pagers, even back then. If, in fact, if you were on the phone and somebody was trying to call you, they simply got a busy signal. They’d have to try again later. If you were on the phone and somebody was trying to call you, they simply got a busy signal. They’d have to try again later. You didn’t have instant email. People had to actually mail something and it was a big deal just to have a fax machine that you could fax something over, because you had to wait several days and then that was just for someone to receive the mail. Then, if they were going to respond, you’d have to wait another several days for them to respond and send it back to you.
Business was slower and our lives were slower. There was more peace. Families had actual family time that was uninterrupted, people actually talked to one another. Because that time was that way and because of these phones and this technological advance, we are constantly interrupted. We have no peace, we have no free time and because of this assault on our time and this assault on our lives and freedom from free time, we are exhausted. The thought of helping somebody else in their distress is like adding tons of burden to your own burden, because when do we have time to deal with anything else other than what we’ve been given? And we need to have a mindset of caring about the community of believers that we live amongst and I’m not even talking about the community at large, the secular community around us. That’s a whole, nother thing. But even just in dealing with our families and our friends and the church that we attend and the members of the church, and caring about one another, being good stewards as a body of Christ that you know, paul and I’m not going to be reading that today, but Paul beautifully explains that we are like a body and every part of us matters, and it’s so true, matters and it’s so true.
The other day I hit my knee, just right, right on the kneecap, against a cabinet that had a knob sticking out. And boy did I immediately take my hand and grab and squeeze that knee. Well, not to mention, I pierced a I I. Well, with scissors, I accidentally punctured my in between my thumb and finger. I did the exact same thing. I took this hand and I squeezed for all I was worth for about an hour on that area. I didn’t want it bleeding all over, and I was, and it hurt and so I was. It was my way of caring for myself, right, one member caring for the other member.
We all do that by instinct. You don’t do it because you think I should take my hand and put my hand on here and fix this. No, it is an instinctual thing that just happens. You just do it. You do it without thinking, you completely do it without thinking. And we are supposed to be that way. As the body of Christ, we are to care for one another and care about our lives and instinctively care about one another. And when we come to this particular passage of the Good Samaritan, there are several things to see here. If you care about being a Christian, that your life can be seen, that you are a light in a dark place, that people you know scripture says they will know you by your love one for another. So the way that I love those around me is what will tell the world that I belong to Jesus Christ.
And I just wanted to. This is really a reminder. I guess a reminder. I guess, um, and and I’m wanting to provoke a little bit that we cannot lose sight of who we’re supposed to be right now, even though our world is crazy and chaotic, and maybe we need to learn some self-control and put our phones down, talk to our family, spend time not checking emails and doing business 24-7 and not being blindly and mindlessly entertained and causing dopamine dumps in our head that end up leaving us feeling completely depleted and unable to find joy. We’re hurting ourselves, folks. We’re really hurting ourselves, and I just feel like if we go over this today, we will be able to see a life that was intended for us as Christians.
So let’s look at Luke, chapter 10. I’m going to read from verse 25 through 37, if you’d like to read along with me. And it says and behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test. To put him to the test. So Jesus is being put to the test by this lawyer, and I’m sure there were all kinds of motives that he had. He wants to know what does Jesus really think and what is he going to say to me? And how does that bear out with what I know as a lawyer and my ability to argue? And I don’t know about you, but many times we like to argue with the word.
My son and I had a conversation just a couple nights ago and I had heard a statement made by life of Jacob and the wrestling he did with God. Wrestling means I care, that I’m not turning loose of this until I get what I have need of here, and that’s a whole nother message and I don’t want to go into that today. But that wrestling is a part of our understanding who God is. It’s a part of us being determined not to let go, that we’re not turning loose of what we know about God and what we expect from our partnership with him, this covenant we have with him. He’s promised to bless and take care of us and he’s promised to make a way for us in the face of our enemies. Jacob had his brother to face and as far as he was concerned, it was his enemy who was out to kill him. And God had made Jacob a promise that when he came back to this place that he would well, he said he’d bless him in his journey in doing these things. But Jacob said if you actually do what you’ve promised me to do, then I’m going to give you a 10th of all that I have. Everything about my life basically changes because I will believe who you are. So this wrestling of who is God and is he what the Bible says he is.
And this lawyer is saying, jesus, I need to put you to the test. And he says, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? It’s a good question. What do I need to do to be free and to be saved, even beyond this life, to be able to enter into the kingdom of God? Truly, what do I need to do? And he said to him what is written in the law? I mean he’s talking to an attorney what does the law say in the law? I mean he’s talking to an attorney, what does the law say?
But I love this second part of Jesus’ question to him because he doesn’t just say what is written in the law. He says how do you read it? How do you read it? Tell me what the law says and tell me what you think that means. Tell me what your take on that is. Tell me what your perspective is. You’re getting, you’re trying to test me, but I want to know from where. What platform are you standing on? You need to know where you’re standing, you don’t just need to know the answer I’m giving. You need to know from where you’re asking this question of me.
Okay, and he answered 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. Jesus, said to him you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. I mean, he basically is saying everything that Jesus had been teaching. So he’s got a right mindset. He’s been listening, he’s been learning, he’s been taking in what he knows of Jesus and his teachings. He’s not just thrown them out. He’s debated, he’s wrestled, he’s been wrestling with this. I mean, think about this for a minute. Jesus came and he is bringing to them the gospel, the good news, but to them this is revolutionary. What he’s saying seems contrary to what they’ve been taught. The Pharisees are against him. They aren’t rejoicing in what he’s teaching them. Jesus had given them the Beatitudes and he said you’ve heard it said. But I say to you, I mean this is they’re having to completely radically think about. Okay, jesus gave all the bewares. Beware of the Pharisees teaching, beware of these things. And he’s heard the criticisms and he’s thinking okay, in this wrestling, what’s right? What is right? What am I supposed to believe? What am I supposed to think about this? And in his wrestling he says exactly what Jesus has said. So, up to this point he’s saying okay, this is what I’m taking from that, this is what I think I’m supposed to do. And Jesus says to him you have answered correctly, do this and you will live. But he, the lawyer desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus okay, this is really important. Okay, this is really important.
This attorney, this lawyer, knows some things about himself. He knows some attitudes in his heart, he knows what he’s supposed to do, he knows what the law says, he interprets the law correctly and at the same time, he knows he’s not really doing it. Because he’s looking for a way to justify himself. He’s looking for a way to say, yeah, I’m doing it, when he knows deep inside himself he’s not. He knows what were the criteria Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Now Jesus, with his next answer to this man’s question to justify himself, points out to the man where the problem is. Because this man, up to this point, if we read this, we don’t know which of these things he’s trying to justify. Is it his love for the Lord or is it his love for people? Is the mission of his life only about the Lord and not about people? Where is his heart? Why is he trying to justify? Why is he trying to justify? But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus and who is my neighbor? And this is a really good question too, because if you were to ask this to a Christian, we might think well, it’s to our Christian brothers and sisters.
I mentioned to you the portions of scripture that talk about the body of Christ and that we, as Christians, are the body of Christ and that there is this other community, this other bigger community. How do we deal with those who stand against us, who bring persecution, who stand in protest for what we stand for, who fight and argue and come against everything we’re trying to do? That, we know, is in the name of God. That is right, according to his word, to bring peace, to bring love and charity to people. If we know that Jesus is coming was because he was bringing peace and goodwill toward men on this earth, what does that mean for our life and how are we supposed to live that out? And this man is asking a great question who is my neighbor? Jesus replied a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among robbers. So there’s a man we’re assuming this man is Jewish and this man has fallen into very hard times. He’s a man who’s been mistreated. This man didn’t deserve what he got. As far as we’re told in the story, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and these robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, a priest was going down that road and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
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Just that statement alone. We can have all kinds of justification. I’m late for a meeting. There are people amongst my flock that I’ve got to take care of. Sounds like a good justification. That person’s unclean. I’m not supposed to touch that person. We could come up with all kinds of reasons why I’m scared. Maybe those robbers are still there, maybe that’s dangerous for me to go over there. But he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side. So what we’re seeing is these two people who are supposed to represent God come to this person, look at his situation and cross over and ignore it and keep going.
First, let me say we have probably all done that. I am not pointing a finger. If I pointed you, I’ve got them all pointing back at me. We have probably all done this, so please keep an open ear. I’m not condemning, I’m not, I’m not coming against you. I’m not trying to browbeat you. I’m not saying and giving you the shamey finger. You know I’m not doing that. I’m just saying what Jesus said. We’re just looking at what Jesus said. But verse 33, a Samaritan Now a Samaritan was considered like a half-breed.
They were completely. They would not associate with them. They wouldn’t, they would not. This is like Israel and the Palestinians. That’s why I gave you this example. These are two groups of people who do not associate with one another. And if we were to believe all the news that we read, not only don’t they associate with one another, they hate one another. And if we were to believe all the news that we read, not only don’t they associate with one another, they hate one another. Okay, there’s bad blood, animosity always amongst all of them, which isn’t true, but this is what we’re told and this is the scene. Okay, this is the scene. These are two groups of people who do not associate with one another. There’s bad blood there. They think bad thoughts about one another.
I actually had looked up some other stories and I could have told you several stories, and these are stories of Samaritan activity, amongst a police officer who was white, I’m sorry, a black police officer helping a white supremacist who was injured, and there were several things having to do with Muslims and Christians. There was one where a group of I don’t remember which group did this, but one group, I think it was the Muslims came and protected the Catholic Church for the sake of the Catholics. I’m not saying this always happens, it doesn’t always happen, but it does happen. So you just need to see that this is a common—Jesus is using something as a great example. These two groups do not associate with one another.
It’s usually bad, but a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was and when he saw him, he had compassion which, if you read all the stories of healings for Jesus, he was always moved with compassion For a moment. He saw the plight of these people and he felt what they felt and he wanted to bring a change to their circumstance and to help them in some way. And this man, though he is considered rejected and a cast off and a half breed and and not worthy and um, I mean really looked down on, really belittled the name calling, I mean to say half breed is a bad. It’s a bad. I’m saying it because that’s what they were, that’s what they use, that was wording. They used and considered them and and this was a horrible way to be looked at. And yet this man who was looked at this way was the one who had compassion.
This man that that people thought was the bad guy was a good guy. Okay, and when he had compassion on him, um verse 34, says he went to him and he bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. So what do we foresee? He used of his own means to take care of this man. He used his own means. Now, this man was on a journey, which means he had business to do. He was journeying for a reason, most likely for business. So it interrupts his business. He’s got things he needs to do and instead of just ignoring it because he was too busy, too much going on, I’ve got my own stuff to worry about. I don’t have time to take care of this man. For all I know, this man deserved what he’s getting. I mean, maybe he egged these people on, maybe he was in a fight and he’s the one who started it Without knowing anything. He sees the plight of this man.
Now I’m not telling you in your life not to use wisdom and I’m not telling you not to use discernment. By all means, you are to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. You are to do what God calls you to do. I’m simply showing you by this example that Jesus is pointing out a problem in the man. Jesus is pointing out a problem in this attorney.
This attorney has a problem with loving people. He’s wanting to know how to enter eternal life. He’s wanting to know how to live a life pleasing to the Lord, and he loves the Lord very much. That’s not his issue. His issue is his bias and treatment of people and he wants to justify that. He wants to say it’s okay to feel those things. And we do that. We try to justify ourselves. We try to say it’s okay to be this way and say, well, you know, I’m sorry, that’s just the way I was raised. I’m sorry. That’s not an excuse. You don’t get to say I’m sorry, that’s the way I, that’s just the way I am.
We’re called. We are a people called to growth. We are a people called to maturity. Paul’s whole passage of saying when I was a child, I acted like a child, I talk like a child, I behave like a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. There is growth expected of us. We are expected to mature, and there are things that we have to look at, that we’re trying to justify, and it may not be doing the job of a Samaritan that we’re going to be talking about that, but we have to understand that we cannot simply allow things in our lives and justifications in our life.
When God is wanting growth, he’s wanting growth and we need to take time to do that. We need to avail ourselves. If I need to grow in the scripture, I have got to make sure that my schedule is not just allowing for, but that I am scheduling it this way that I have time with the Lord. I need to be in prayer, I need to be in his word, I need to know what he wants from me and how I’m to do that, and I can’t do it without him. It takes time with him so that I’m able to do what he’s called me to do.
So here this man is. Let’s get back to the story. Here he is. So here this man is. Let’s get back to the story. Here he is. Let’s pick up in verse. Let’s go back to 34. Again he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. He truly took care of him. Let’s continue. And the next day he took out two denarii and that’s basically a day’s wages. A denarii was basically a day’s wages, so two denarii. So he’s giving him two days worth of care, two days worth wages to care for this man which obviously he knows he’s going to do business and he needs that much and he’s going to be coming back. And he says and the next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, saying take care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.
Now this is an important caveat here. If we’re talking just about the story of the good Samaritan, if we’re just talking about being a Good Samaritan and letting go of the fact that, I’m also talking about being a steward of your time and a person of growth and somebody who doesn’t seek to justify themselves. But if we look just at the story of the Samaritan, um, if you are somebody who tends to, because we also can’t be busy bodies and we also can’t be people who are so involved in everybody else’s life that we’re not taking care to do this. This is a balancing act because I can make myself and avail myself or become kind of they call it in the world, the Messiah complex, where you’re going around thinking you can help everybody and do something for everybody, and God’s not called you to take care of everybody and he’s not called you to every task and he’s not called you to do, um, everybody else’s work and everybody else’s job. You can work at a job and you’re exhausted because you’re so busy always helping everybody else that you don’t have time to get your own stuff done, let alone your family and your home and your own time. That’s not okay either. So this is a balancing act and this is a beautiful picture of this balancing act.
This man, on his journey, took the time out of the compassion of his heart to bandage up and take care of a man who, on the outside, he shouldn’t bother taking care of because he’s probably despised in this man’s eyes to begin with. But he is taking care of him by his own means. He’s paying a bill and paying a debt that this man cannot pay. He’s offering help this man on his own cannot accomplish. He’s half dead, he can’t get to an inn, he doesn’t have a way, he was robbed, he doesn’t have the finances now to pay for this. And so in this exchange, this man still has business to take care of. He doesn’t say, okay, I’m canceling my business trip and all I’m doing is taking care of this man and then I’m going to go back home. I mean everything. I can’t keep going with what I’m doing. Look at what he does.
He comes to this man. He does what he can in those moments. He pays for that bill, he gets some setup with care and he tells the innkeeper I’m going to check back, I’ve got business to tend to On my way back. I’ll see if there was anything else that I owed you for what I’ve asked you to do and I’ll make sure that he’s taken care of. Now his expectation is that this man’s going to heal up and be able to go home.
He knows there’s an end to this care. He doesn’t forever take care of this man. He took care of the need at the moment, but this was something he’s confronted with. It didn’t overtake his whole life, but at the same time it interrupted his life. He made space in his life to care for the needs of somebody else. Are you getting what I’m saying here? Let’s go back to the story else. Are you getting what I’m saying here?
Let’s go back to the story he says which this is proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers. He said the one who showed him mercy, he gave mercy to somebody. What is mercy? Mercy is giving you what you don’t deserve. Mercy is saying even though we were not friends, are not friends, are considered enemies in the eyes of the world. That means you don’t deserve my help, but I gave you my help. I think this helps us see.
When Jesus says turn the other cheek. What was he talking about? He’s talking about the Roman rule. These people were ordered around by soldiers all the time. They were mistreated by soldiers. And he’s saying when they hit you on the one cheek, go ahead and turn the other. Don’t become their enemy. Make sure that your attitude and your heart stays right. Make sure that you walk in the compassion I walk in. It doesn’t mean that we subject ourselves to being doormats. I’m not. Please don’t hear what I’m not saying. So much can be misconstrued and conjecture can be all over the place, but we just have to be wise.
The Good Samaritan story is told to a man who was dealing with this issue. Not everybody deals with this issue, so I’m not telling you to become more of something or less of something. I’m telling us that we have to look out for our blind spots. That’s what I guess. That’s what I’m saying. We need to, to be watching for the, the ways and the means that we try to justify where we’re not growing, where we’re not living according to the ways of the kingdom, where we want to let ourselves off the hook. Yet we’re usually, in that area, quick to judge somebody else. This is the. Take the plank out of your own eye before you deal with the speck in somebody else’s. You know this is a lawyer.
He’s coming to Jesus to test him and to kind of use his smarts to figure out if there’s a way. And we do that. There’s none. What is the saying? My mother used to always say this to us there’s none so clever as the one who tries to justify himself. I’m not saying it exactly right, but that’s the gist of it, we’re never so clever as when we want to justify our own behavior. So I guess my challenge to us today well, I’ll finish this up and then I’ll give you the challenge Jesus said.
He said verse 37, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him so my challenge to us is this when we’re faced with things that immediately we sense that I don’t want to do that, I don’t want to do that, it just comes up in us. I don’t want to do that. Lord, don’t make to do that. It just comes up in us. I don’t want to do that. Lord, don’t make me do that. I want us to look truly in our own hearts and say Lord, I want to please you more than I want to please myself. What is your will in this? Do you need me to do this? Does this person in your eyes, is this an opportunity for me to show the light of who you are? By loving somebody, by being compassionate, by maybe paying somebody’s bill because I have the means and they don’t by? You know, I watched if you’re familiar at all with movies Gary Sinise, the actor.
Gary Sinise is a good actor. He’s known most famously for his role as Lieutenant Dan in the movie Forrest Gump, but he was so affected by his knowledge of what our servicemen have gone through and what they deal with that he has made it his, even though his job is acting. He’s also made it his life’s mission to help basically those who are in that situation. He has different organizations that he heads up and he partners with other big businesses to get funds and volunteers and people who help pay for ways to care for veterans. He also supports the children who have lost their parents in the military due to death or those who are first responders, and he takes their children through one of his organizations and the different organizations who partner with him to do that, to pay for it that, from wherever they live, they take them on a trip to Disney World, they take them um, or to Disneyland they pay for um, they pay for expenses for them on different things, and so he really has made it his life’s mission to be a compassionate person and to make a way for people who are hurting.
And to my knowledge he’s not a Christian Um, but he spends a lot of effort when his own child, his son Mac, is a composer and has recently passed and he was dealing with so many health issues, and so you can say that he could have easily have said I don’t have time, talk about justified not helping others. I’ve got my own issues and my family needs me and they need my funds to care for the medical issues and all of those things. And yet he makes he. It didn’t stop him, and so we need to look at what, what? What inconvenience am I not wanting to be inconvenienced with? What am I not wanting to do for the Lord when he pricks my heart? What am I saying inside? What am I using to justify myself? I really want us to be challenged with this, that we truly want to live our lives for Jesus Christ. That means doing whatever it is that he’s called us to do.
It may not be to help somebody in this way. It could be something completely different. And you know, over the years we’ve had the opportunity to help ministries where, financially, they needed help to continue their ministry, where they need help with medical expenses, and we’re not called to do it for every person all the time. We do have things we have to take care of that are our own, but at the same time, we take them before. The Lord. Say Lord, what would you have us do? What would you have me do in this situation? And I can tell you, in most of those situations we had our own need at the time. Even when we met a need, we had our own need and we would continue to meet those needs at the expense of meeting our need. And I’m not saying, you know, I’m not patting myself on the shoulder, I’m not saying that’s not a proud statement, I’m just letting you know it will always cost you something. That’s what carrying a cross is. It will cost us something and I’ve not always gotten it right.
I think I told this once before. It right? I think I told this once before. And to this day it haunts me and I wish so badly I could go back and redo it. But I had the opportunity, sitting in a restaurant, to obey the voice of the Lord in telling me to encourage our waitress with a very specific thing, a very specific word, and I was intimidated at the moment I felt by the environment we were in and how things were. I just was, I was afraid. And when I mustered the courage to do it, I found out she had left on her break and was gone. When I mustered the courage to do it. I found out she had left on her break and was gone and I missed my opportunity. And that haunts me, that really haunts me, and my hope and my prayer, because I prayed immediately. I wept and I prayed and I said, oh God, send somebody else who will be better than me and obey. It isn’t always paying a bill and it isn’t always taking a bill and it isn’t always, you know, taking out a day um from your schedule. It could be saying a word of encouragement to somebody who needs it.
But I want us to to just be challenged today to ignore the impulse to justify ourselves, the impulse to justify ourselves. Let’s be real Christians. Let’s do what God’s called us to do. Let’s love one another. Again, I’m not saying we don’t stand for what we need to stand for. And Jesus boldly chastised what needed to be chastised and he boldly proclaimed truth, regardless of what would come against him. Don’t misunderstand the two. We don’t do one thing 100% of the time. We need the wisdom of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in us to tell us what is necessary for the moment, but with that knowledge that we would do what we are called to do and to love one another. I hope this has been an encouragement to you, I hope it’s been a challenge to you and I pray that you take this seriously. Let’s take being Christians really seriously and doing the work of compassion that we saw Jesus do.
Let me pray for you, father.
I thank you for this day.
I thank you for every person listening today. You’re so good, you’re so faithful to us. You’re so faithful to always talk to us about what we need talking to, about. You get right to the heart of the matter. You go right to the source of the issue and, father, today, whatever anybody is dealing with, I ask that you would meet their needs.
If they are the person who has fell amongst robbers today and has been mistreated, they’ve lost things that belong to them, they feel they’re sick in body. They have no one to help them. They feel alone. Father, I pray that by your spirit, you send help, send help, lord, send someone with compassion to meet those needs.
And for those of us, father, who need that prick of conviction, that we not justify ourselves, but that we would be your hands extended, we would go where you tell us to go, we would do what you tell us to do. We would say and comfort the people who need comforting, and say what we need to say, and even if that means standing up and saying something strongly that needs to be said without fear, cause us to hear you and to not justify ourselves, to not be afraid and to do what you’ve called us to do. Father, I thank you that you are always faithful and we can call on you. You hear us and you answer our prayers and you will give us what we need in the moment that we need it. Thank you, lord, and it is in Jesus’ name that we pray all of these things, amen.
Thank you so much for being with me today. If you have the time, you could encourage me today, give me a like if this ministered to you, and you could share this message with those that you think would love to hear it. You can share it on social media. You can help us get the gospel out. Thanks again for being with me today. We’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.
Transcribed by https://podium.page
