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Needed_ A Few Good Neighbors · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Today we're going to be looking in a few moments
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  Speaker 1: at a day in the life of Jesus as it
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  Speaker 1: is recorded in Luke chapter 10. This passage is very
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  Speaker 1: familiar to most of us, but we want to take
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  Speaker 1: a little different slant on the story that Jesus delivered
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  Speaker 1: to a man who had an honest question. So please
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  Speaker 1: turn with me to Luke 10 and we'll begin our
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  Speaker 1: reading at verse 25. Luke 10, 25. And a lawyer
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  Speaker 1: stood up and put him to the test, saying, Teacher,
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  Speaker 1: what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he
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  Speaker 1: said to him, What is written in the law? How
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  Speaker 1: does it read to you? And he answered and said,
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  Speaker 1: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
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  Speaker 1: and with all your soul, and with all your strength,
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  Speaker 1: and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
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  Speaker 1: And he said to him, You have answered correctly. do
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  Speaker 1: this and you will live. But wishing to justify himself,
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  Speaker 1: he said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? And
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  Speaker 1: Jesus replied and said, a man was going down from
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  Speaker 1: Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers, and they stripped
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  Speaker 1: him and beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
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  Speaker 1: And by chance, a priest was going down on that
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  Speaker 1: road and and when he saw him, he passed by
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  Speaker 1: on the other side. Likewise, a Levite also, when he
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  Speaker 1: came to the place and saw him, passed by on
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  Speaker 1: the other side. But a Samaritan, who was on a journey,
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  Speaker 1: came upon him, and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
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  Speaker 1: and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring
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  Speaker 1: oil and wine on them. And he put him on
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  Speaker 1: his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and
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  Speaker 1: took care of him. On the next day he took
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  Speaker 1: out two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said,
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  Speaker 1: Take care of him, and whatever more you spend when
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  Speaker 1: I return, I will repay you. Which of these three
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  Speaker 1: do you think proved to be a neighbor to the
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  Speaker 1: man who fell into the robber's hands? And he said,
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  Speaker 1: The one who showed mercy toward him. Then Jesus said
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  Speaker 1: to him, Go and do the same. Join with me
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  Speaker 1: for a few, very few moments of prayer. Will you
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  Speaker 1: do that, please? Thank you for those who traveled to
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  Speaker 1: this very area we've looked at today in these few
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  Speaker 1: scenes on video. Thank you for their presence even as
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  Speaker 1: we meet today. We pray you'd watch over and protect
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  Speaker 1: and use them effectively, Father. Thank you for touching our
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  Speaker 1: lives so that we're able to lift our thoughts and
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  Speaker 1: priorities beyond our own lists and agenda and see a
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  Speaker 1: people whose language we don't know in a world, a
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  Speaker 1: culture we've never been acquainted with in the midst of
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  Speaker 1: a region we've never been. Thank you for touching our
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  Speaker 1: life at one day Some time passed when you captured
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  Speaker 1: us and you have begun to transform us. We give
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  Speaker 1: today our Father out of great joy. We have been
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  Speaker 1: provided for so bountifully by you and that goes on
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  Speaker 1: one day at a time and in our lives, one
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  Speaker 1: situation at a time. Thank you for meeting our needs.
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  Speaker 1: Because you have done that, we find great delight in
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  Speaker 1: returning to you a portion of these gifts. Be honored
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  Speaker 1: in the giving and the motive behind it. And as
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  Speaker 1: we meet for this time of instruction, your presence is
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  Speaker 1: among us. May we be stimulated and encouraged in area
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  Speaker 1: of our lives. Some specific area you would point out
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  Speaker 1: to us. We pray all of this and we give
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  Speaker 1: now in the lovely name of Christ, our Savior, and
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  Speaker 1: all of his people said, Amen. It happened way back
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  Speaker 1: in the 1960s when the then head coach of the
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  Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers was standing in front of his beloved
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  Speaker 1: team who had lost again to the hated Chicago Bears
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  Speaker 1: and Lombardi could not stand losing. He couldn't stand a
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  Speaker 1: lot of things, but losing especially. So he decided on
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  Speaker 1: his own, it's time to get back to the basics.
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  Speaker 1: Standing in front of a group of veteran football players,
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  Speaker 1: he said, gentlemen, this is a football game. You can't
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  Speaker 1: get much more basic than that, especially with a group
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  Speaker 1: of guys that have been playing the game for, what,
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  Speaker 1: 20 years or more? I mean, they knew the plays
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  Speaker 1: of the game better than they knew their own kids' names.
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  Speaker 1: This is a football. It's like saying to the members
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  Speaker 1: of the Philadelphia Philharmonic, ladies and gentlemen, this is a
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  Speaker 1: half note. Or for some high school student to say
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  Speaker 1: to the librarian as he hands in the book, Miss Brown,
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  Speaker 1: this is a book. Or for me to say to
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  Speaker 1: a mother of twins as I reach into a package
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  Speaker 1: of Pampers, Susie, this is a diaper. I mean, it's
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  Speaker 1: insultingly basic. There are days that I am standing in
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  Speaker 1: some churches preaching and saying, I find myself tempted to
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  Speaker 1: want to say to all of the Christians who have
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  Speaker 1: gathered in that church, as I point to someone who
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  Speaker 1: has come in off the street, who is not familiar
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  Speaker 1: with our songs and is clueless regarding Christ, I want
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  Speaker 1: to say to that group of Christians, folks, this is
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  Speaker 1: a neighbor. This is a neighbor. What the ball is
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  Speaker 1: to the game, what the musical note is to the symphony,
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  Speaker 1: what the book is to the librarian, what the diaper
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  Speaker 1: is to the mother who lives with babies hour after hour,
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  Speaker 1: a neighbor is to the Christian. How easy to forget, huh?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it's so easy for it to begin to
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  Speaker 1: revolve around us, isn't it? My parking place. My seat.
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  Speaker 1: Some of you have been coming long enough to where
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  Speaker 1: your seat has impacted the seat, and it's yours. When
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  Speaker 1: I was a little kid, I remember holding hands with
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  Speaker 1: my mother, and my mother has her hand in my
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  Speaker 1: dad's arm as we walk into our church we have
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  Speaker 1: been coming to for years, and they, of course, have
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  Speaker 1: their seats. And they get to the door. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: it's early. We always came early so that they could
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  Speaker 1: get their seats. And some neighbors, some visitors had come
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  Speaker 1: and had the audacity to sit in their seat. And
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  Speaker 1: my mother said, I promise you, my mother says to
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  Speaker 1: my dad, well, Earl, what do you think we ought
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  Speaker 1: to do? And my dad said, well, Lovell, I think
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  Speaker 1: we ought to go home. So we got in our
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  Speaker 1: car and we drove home. I remember driving home thinking,
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  Speaker 1: there's something wrong with this picture here. I mean, there's
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  Speaker 1: 300 other seats and we go home because theirs is taken.
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  Speaker 1: While we're laughing at them, we're feeling the sting of
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  Speaker 1: conviction ourselves. Life becomes increasingly more myopic, even as Christians.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe that's the reason I'm drawn to a familiar story
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  Speaker 1: that broadens my world and assaults my selfishness. I like
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  Speaker 1: it that it took place out in the street. It
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  Speaker 1: wasn't in a temple or some synagogue. It happened on
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  Speaker 1: the street. Jesus gave his best words and did his
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  Speaker 1: best work among people. People on the street. The crowd
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  Speaker 1: has gathered and they've heard him speak and they've watched
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  Speaker 1: him do his work. And there's a skeptic in the crowd.
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  Speaker 1: According to verse 25, he's called simply a certain lawyer.
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  Speaker 1: No offense. But this one stood up and maybe raised
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  Speaker 1: his hand to get Jesus' attention. What you may not
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  Speaker 1: remember is on the wrist of the scribe, the professional
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  Speaker 1: interpreter of the law called a scribe, translated lawyer, there
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  Speaker 1: was a wristband called a phylactery, leather pouch. In it
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  Speaker 1: would be placed verses from the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
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  Speaker 1: Verses would be tucked in that phylactery for the purpose
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  Speaker 1: of memory or reminding the wearer of some truth from
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  Speaker 1: God's book. A teacher says this lawyer, what must I
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  Speaker 1: do to inherit eternal life? What a question. What must
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  Speaker 1: I do? But before you think about the question, please
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  Speaker 1: notice the motive. He stood up and put him to
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  Speaker 1: the test. Expirazo means to entrap someone into giving information
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  Speaker 1: that will jeopardize the person. He wanted to entrap Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what do I have to do? To get
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  Speaker 1: this life you keep talking about. Emphasis on doing. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: in good pedagogical fashion doesn't jump in and answer the question.
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  Speaker 1: He answers it with another question. Remember getting teachers like that?
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  Speaker 1: Some of our best teachers knew the best questions. And
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  Speaker 1: Jesus turns the question around and asks another. Maybe as
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  Speaker 1: he saw the phylactery on his wrist. Uh. You tell
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  Speaker 1: me what is written in the law. How does it
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  Speaker 1: read to you? You're the professional interpreter. What does it
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  Speaker 1: say to you? This attorney, I'm sure, without needing to
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  Speaker 1: pull anything from the pouch, simply spouted out a verse
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  Speaker 1: out of Deuteronomy 6 and a piece out of Leviticus 19.
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  Speaker 1: Familiar to us, you shall love the Lord your God
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  Speaker 1: with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
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  Speaker 1: your strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
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  Speaker 1: That's what one must do. As I read the law. Now,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said to him, you're right. Now keep on doing
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  Speaker 1: this and you will live. Pretty succinct, isn't it? If
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  Speaker 1: he were a Texan, he'd say, you got it? Get
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  Speaker 1: at it. Just get at it. All of a sudden,
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  Speaker 1: the ball is back in the lawyer's court. Lawyers don't
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  Speaker 1: like balls in their court. They like serving them. They
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  Speaker 1: don't like getting them. And so he, now this text,
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  Speaker 1: Luke is so careful in his writing, wishing to justify himself.
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  Speaker 1: Never miss little comments like that. When you're reading your Bible.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 29 kicks off with again the motive. Wishing to
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  Speaker 1: justify himself. Trying to make himself look better than he
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  Speaker 1: really was. He picked at a word. Lawyers are known
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  Speaker 1: to do that aren't they? Neighbor. Who is my neighbor?
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  Speaker 1: Is it the person who lives right next door to me? Okay,
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  Speaker 1: how about two doors down or into the block? Or
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  Speaker 1: is he a neighbor if we've never met? What if
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  Speaker 1: he's in another part of the town where I live?
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  Speaker 1: Is that a neighbor? I mean, I don't know who
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  Speaker 1: a neighbor is. There is an eloquent pause that we
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  Speaker 1: can't read about, but At that moment, the wheels begin
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  Speaker 1: to turn in Jesus' omniscient mind. And he puts together
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  Speaker 1: a story. Nothing like a story to communicate a point.
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  Speaker 1: Remember the question. Who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor?
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  Speaker 1: Jesus leaves the scene where they're standing and mentally takes
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  Speaker 1: the lawyer and those listening to another road at another time.
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  Speaker 1: A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now,
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  Speaker 1: if you ever travel to the Holy Land, be sure
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  Speaker 1: and take that 17 miles of bad road. When he
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  Speaker 1: says going down, he means it. Jerusalem sits like a
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  Speaker 1: gym with a beautiful backdrop on the hill at 2,300
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  Speaker 1: feet above sea level. Jericho sits in a slew down
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  Speaker 1: below of 1,300 feet below. 3,600 feet between the two.
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  Speaker 1: It's enough to make your ears pop if you travel
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  Speaker 1: it quickly. But in those days, no one traveled quickly.
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  Speaker 1: They walked or they rode a mule or a donkey Horse.
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  Speaker 1: And it was a favorite place for thugs and thieves
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  Speaker 1: to hang out. The road is winding and there are
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  Speaker 1: lots of rocks and boulders and many places to hide.
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  Speaker 1: And if you're alone, there's no one who will hear
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  Speaker 1: if you call for help. It's like all big cities
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  Speaker 1: with their back alleys. You'll learn soon after you've moved
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  Speaker 1: to a city where to stay away from. You don't
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  Speaker 1: go there unless there's a police force parade, and you're
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  Speaker 1: marching in the parade yourself, well-armed. It's not a spot
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  Speaker 1: where you spend some casual time. It was that kind
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  Speaker 1: of road. This lawyer knew that. So Jesus picks a
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  Speaker 1: place familiar to the attorney, and he says, not surprisingly,
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  Speaker 1: he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat
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  Speaker 1: him and went off, leaving him half dead. It's pretty
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  Speaker 1: obvious what happened. This man's a victim of a mugging.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure by now the attorney is wondering, what's this
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  Speaker 1: got to do with who is my neighbor? Everything. But
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  Speaker 1: it has a twist to it. By chance, a certain
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  Speaker 1: priest was going down on that road. Now, to take
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  Speaker 1: the pressure off you, let's say this is a pastor.
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  Speaker 1: And we pastors are preoccupied. We've got sermons to prepare
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  Speaker 1: and people to talk to and events to attend. And
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  Speaker 1: so this priest, Pastor, seeing him, goes to the other
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  Speaker 1: side of the road. I mean, my time is far
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  Speaker 1: more important than this individual. For all I know, he
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  Speaker 1: had it coming. You know how pastors think. But he
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  Speaker 1: sees him. Don't miss that. He just doesn't want to
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  Speaker 1: get involved. And then verse 32, there's a Levite. All
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  Speaker 1: of this is coming out of Jesus' mind. It's never
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  Speaker 1: been told before. He's imagining the scene and it's enough
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  Speaker 1: to make the lawyer's mouth drop open. Where's he going
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  Speaker 1: with this? I just want to know who's my neighbor. Well,
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  Speaker 1: now there's a Levite. Let's call him an assistant pastor,
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  Speaker 1: music minister. How would that be? And they're busy. They've
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  Speaker 1: got a lot of stuff to do, songs to work on,
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  Speaker 1: choir to present, and prepare, and he sees him, and
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  Speaker 1: he doesn't want to get involved. But a certain Samaritan.
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  Speaker 1: Hear the breaks? That's exactly what happened in the mind
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  Speaker 1: of the lawyer who has been raised a good Jew, Orthodox,
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  Speaker 1: if you will, and he's learned before he could talk
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  Speaker 1: or walk to hate them, those Samaritans. half-breeds. So hated
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  Speaker 1: were the Samaritans that a good Jew didn't even want
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  Speaker 1: the dust of Samaria on their sandals. What you don't
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  Speaker 1: know is that Samaria is right in the center of
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  Speaker 1: the heart of what the Romans called Palestine. In ancient Israel,
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  Speaker 1: if you traveled from southern Judea up to northern Galilee,
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  Speaker 1: you'd have to go through Samaria, but not the Jews.
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  Speaker 1: They went around to get up to Galilee. I was
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  Speaker 1: speaking on this on one occasion, and I remember saying
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  Speaker 1: to the group, it would be like going from Texas
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  Speaker 1: to Kansas and going around Oklahoma to get to Kansas.
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  Speaker 1: People chuckled, except for three big guys sitting down near
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  Speaker 1: the front. And after it was over, they walked up
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  Speaker 1: and said to me, hey, Chuck, got a couple minutes.
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  Speaker 1: I want to talk to you about something. I said... Sure,
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  Speaker 1: if you don't hit me, I'll be glad to talk
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  Speaker 1: to you. These were big guys, looked like the starting
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  Speaker 1: front line for the Sooners. And I said, what's on
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  Speaker 1: your mind? They said, well, we're from Oklahoma. We just
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  Speaker 1: want you to know there are no Samaritans in Oklahoma.
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  Speaker 1: We ain't got Samaritans in Oklahoma. Well, they had them
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  Speaker 1: in Samaria, and they were hated. And they hated in return.
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  Speaker 1: It was an exchange of hate. In any way they
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  Speaker 1: could get back at each other, they got back. This
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  Speaker 1: Samaritan is on a journey. He too has plans. And
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  Speaker 1: like the other two, he also sees. the same thing
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  Speaker 1: they saw. But there's something different. See the last three words?
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  Speaker 1: They always make me pause. He felt compassion. Something happened
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  Speaker 1: inside him. And all of a sudden, the man was
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  Speaker 1: faceless and raceless and colorless. And he hurt as he
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  Speaker 1: put himself in his place. Jess Booty wrote on one occasion,
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  Speaker 1: compassion is not a snob gone slumming. Anybody can salve
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  Speaker 1: his conscience by an occasional foray into knitting for the
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  Speaker 1: spastic home. But did you ever take a real trip
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  Speaker 1: down inside the broken heart of another to feel the
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  Speaker 1: sob of the soul, the raw red crucible of emotional agony,
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  Speaker 1: to have this almost as much yours as that of
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  Speaker 1: your soul-crushed neighbor than to sit down with him and
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  Speaker 1: silently weep. This is the beginning of compassion. It happened
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  Speaker 1: to my friend Mary. Mary Graham had a meal with
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  Speaker 1: Johnny Erickson. And don't we all feel it when just
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  Speaker 1: the name comes up? Mary said she sat down and
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  Speaker 1: Johnny was her cheery self and they were having a
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  Speaker 1: great time and the meal was served and Mary began
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  Speaker 1: to and Johnny said to her, Mary, would you feed me, please?
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  Speaker 1: It's compassion you feel right now. Would you feed me?
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  Speaker 1: And then Mary said, I did a quick review, and
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  Speaker 1: I thought someone had to help her that morning in
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  Speaker 1: the bathroom. Someone had to dress her. Someone had to
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  Speaker 1: help her get into the chair. It's only right that
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  Speaker 1: I help feed her. The next time you see someone
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  Speaker 1: without legs, don't wonder what he did wrong to get
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  Speaker 1: over there on the corner asking for money. Just let
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  Speaker 1: your heart be broken a little. Like the Samaritan. Oh, man.
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  Speaker 1: He's about to die. One life connecting with one life.
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  Speaker 1: The story is about who is my neighbor. Don't forget that.
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  Speaker 1: So what did he do? Compassion won't just sit there
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  Speaker 1: and be quiet. It accelerates a number of very important
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  Speaker 1: steps toward the person to whom your heart goes out.
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  Speaker 1: He came upon him. In fact, kata is used in
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  Speaker 1: the Greek. It suggests down, coming down. So he knelt
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  Speaker 1: down to him. He got right down there with him.
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  Speaker 1: And he bound up his wounds. You would expect a
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  Speaker 1: physician to write that. That's important to Dr. Luke. along
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  Speaker 1: with pouring oil and wine on the wounds. You've heard
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  Speaker 1: of the Hippocratic Oath that physicians take. I understand they
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  Speaker 1: no longer take that oath, but back when I was
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  Speaker 1: a boy, they did. Named after Hippocrates, the 4th century B.C. physician,
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  Speaker 1: known as the father of medicine. Long before Jesus ever lived,
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  Speaker 1: Hippocrates wrote this. For skin ulcers bind with soft wool
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  Speaker 1: and sprinkle with wine and oil. The wine would soothe
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  Speaker 1: the fevered laceration and the oil would soothe it and
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  Speaker 1: the wine with its alcohol content would serve as an
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  Speaker 1: antiseptic to clean the wound. And the Samaritan had both
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  Speaker 1: and freely poured that out. And then, of all things,
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  Speaker 1: we read that he put him on his own beast.
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  Speaker 1: So he let him ride on the animal he was
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  Speaker 1: riding on. And he brought him to an inn and
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  Speaker 1: he took care of him. He didn't just dump him
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  Speaker 1: off for somebody to take him to a room. Notice
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  Speaker 1: the next words, on the next day. So he stayed
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  Speaker 1: that night with him. He doesn't even know him. He's
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  Speaker 1: a Jew. He's a Jew. I'm a Samaritan. The Jew
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  Speaker 1: would never have done that for him. And isn't it
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  Speaker 1: gracious of Jesus to tell the story like this rather
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  Speaker 1: than the other way? In fact, he doesn't just stay
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  Speaker 1: with him. He has to leave the next day. And
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  Speaker 1: so he says to the innkeeper 35, take care of
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: him and whatever more you spend. When I return, I
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: will repay you when I return. Not if. I'll come
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: back and check on him. I went quickly over the
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: little money exchange. He took out two denarii. We don't
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: have a medium of exchange that involves a denarius. You
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: wouldn't know it. So allow me. A denarius was one
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: day's wage. So he left two days wage behind. Daryl
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Bach has helped us understand how long that would provide
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: for nights at the inn. He writes in his fine
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: work on Luke, given the amount the Samaritan leaves with
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: the innkeeper, the injured man probably has about three and
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: a half weeks to recover if he needs it, since
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: the going in rate was one twelfth of a denarius.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Two denarii would be two days' wages. He doesn't even
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: know him. Would you notice the twist? I love this
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: about Jesus as much as anything in his style. Verse 36.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Looking now at the attorney who's trying to get his
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: jaw off his chest. Which of these three do you
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: think proved to be a neighbor? Isn't that great? Not
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: who is my neighbor? Which one proved to be a neighbor?
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Neighbor is not about the other person. Jesus is not
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: concerned about what kind of person is my neighbor, but
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: what kind of person is my neighbor's neighbor. You see,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: the core issue has nothing to do with where my
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: neighbor lives. Looks like, or language he speaks, or color
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: he Or how well we may or may not know
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: one another. It has everything to do with what kind
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: of neighbor am I. Put bluntly, the issue is not,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: is my neighbor really lost? But is my neighbor's neighbor
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: really saved? That's it. And the attorney sees it. He's
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: failed every test before, but now he gets good marks.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Verse 37, when asked which one of these proved to
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: be a neighbor, he said the one who showed mercy
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: toward him. And Jesus responded, you got it. The Samaritan
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: saw what others did not see because of the man
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: he was. That, to me, is the message of the story.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: What you are determines what you see, and what you
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: see determines what you do. There had to be a
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: long moment for that attorney. Ah, he's cornered. He needs
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: one of those Southwest Airline commercials. Want to get away?
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: But he can't. He's caught. Just like we are. We
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: may run to another state, but we can't escape what
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: this is saying. Who are you? Depending on that will
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: determine what you see and what you do. When the
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: late great preacher John Henry Jowett was reaching very near
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: the end of a very fruitful ministry, he was asked
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: on one occasion, what would you do differently if you
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: had it all to do over again? He summed it
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: all up in five simple words. I would major on compassion.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: If I had my druthers regarding the Stonebriar Community Church people,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: I would love it if we were known as people
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: of compassion. I would love that. You know those people
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: over there in that little square building? That funny looking
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: place over there. Doesn't have any signs. You know what?
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: They know how to love a guy. Like that fella
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: that wrapped his arms around me and reeked of alcohol
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: several Sundays ago. I hugged him. He told me he
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: didn't have a job. He was kind of run over
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: in his heels. I said, I want you to know something.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: we love having you here. He said, I don't have
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: a job. I said, we love having you here. So
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: Christmas Eve night, he came back. He gave me half
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: a bag of candy. I mean, he's hungry, so I
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: got half a bag. But what's that, an honor? Gave
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: me something important to him. He said, hey preacher, I'm back.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: I said, you know what? We need guys like you
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: around us. We respect you for being here. Man. I
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: know you'd have done the same thing. That's what makes
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: a church great. I couldn't sleep a number of nights ago,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: and I got up and stood at the bedroom window
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: and looked out. It was one of those clear nights
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: where the stars were shimmering like diamond-studded nail heads in
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: the sky. It was clear. I mean, I lived in
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: California so long, I got scared of air I couldn't see.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: And I remember looking up and thinking something. Some glorious
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: day he's going to split the sky. He's going to
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: come back for his own. In fact, someday yet future,
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: he's going to return to the earth and establish his kingdom.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: And he will reign as king of kings and lord
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: of lords. I thought all of this that night I
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: couldn't sleep. And I remembered the line out of Matthew 25.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: That he will separate sheep from goats. Those who are
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: his own from those who are not. And the sheep,
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: amazed at the joy of entering into his place of
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: delight and presence and visible forgiveness, all ask, how could
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: it be? He says, when I was hungry, you gave
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: me something to eat. And when I was thirsty, you
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: gave me something to drink. And when I was in prison,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: you visited me. Lord, when were you hungry and we
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: gave you something to eat? When were you thirsty and
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: we gave you something to drink? When were you in
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: prison and we visited you? Matthew records it so simply
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: where Jesus says, inasmuch as you've done it to the
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: least of these, my brothers, you've done it unto me. Oh,
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: don't go too quickly. Don't go too quickly. There's a
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: syntactical technical insight I've got to pass along to you
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: at the risk of really wiping out this great conclusion.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: So bear with me. It's called the restrictive attributive. In
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: that syntactical construction of the sentence, the emphasis falls on
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: the adjective and requires the repeating of the definite article.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Inasmuch as you have done it to these, even the
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: least of these, you've done it unto me. Isn't that great?
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Inasmuch as you have done it to these, the least,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: the hated, the unknown, the hungry, the hurting, the addicted,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: the prostitutes, the forgotten, Or as one mother of two
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: children paraphrased, I said, he said, I was afflicted with
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: cerebral palsy and you listened to my faltering speech and
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: gently held my flailing hands. I was born a Down syndrome.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: And you welcomed me into your church and your love
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: reached out to me. And the people said, Lord, when
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: did we see you with cerebral palsy and listen to you?
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: When were you born with Down syndrome? And he said,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: in that you did it. Even to the least of
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: these my people, you did it to me. That is
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: so good. We miss it a mile in our pace
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: and flash through life, taking care of our own. Thank you.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: Christianity is not about that. It's about souls in great need.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: It's about the broken and the bruised and the abused
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: and the battered and the forgotten. And it's about our
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: spirit and, well, it's about what we see that determines
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: what we do. One day at a time. One life
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: at a time. I've been around that kind of Christianity
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: so seldom, I don't know how I would act if
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: I saw a whole church of it. It is so rare.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: Trust me, this community would have no need for us
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: to canvas them with evangelistic crusades. They couldn't stay out
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: if they saw that kind of compassion. They couldn't stay away.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: Let's bow our heads together. We don't know what happened
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: to the lawyer. I want to believe that he believed.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: I want to believe that he stayed around until it
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: darkened and the crowd left and he and Jesus talked
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: through his salvation. I want to believe he trusted Jesus
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: as his own personal Lord. But I don't know. I
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: want to believe that as a result of his trust
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: in Christ, he became not a sophisticated professional, but a
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: compassionate neighbor. More importantly, I want to believe that that's
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: what we're going to become. I have so far to
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: go and I know that some of you do too.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: If you've never met Christ, a perfect place to start
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: is admitting your own selfishness and sinfulness and distance from
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: God and saying to the Lord, I not only want you,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: I need you. I can't know what it is to
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: have that kind of compassion without your Please come. Please
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: invade my life. Transform my thinking. Give me eyes to
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: see what I've overlooked all my life. Lord, I think
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: all of us have probably lined up to feed Johnny Erickson, Tata,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: out of love for her and respect. Chances are good, however,
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: we drive past most people in need. And therein lies
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: the heart of the issue. Help us as we work
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: our way on this long journey through the labyrinth of
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: all the things that attract our time and attention. Teach
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: us in the process to let our hearts be broken.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: Guard us from a perfunctory spirit in ministry. May our
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: thoughts throb for those who are lost, just lost. Give
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: us the pleasure of charming them into righteousness, disarming them
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: from all of their criticism of Christians because of our
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: compassion and love. In Jesus' dear name. Amen.
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Needed, A Few Good Neighbors, was copyrighted
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: in 2005 and 2019 and the sound recording was copyrighted
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: in 2019 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.