Which Man Are You?

And Pastor, thank you for this opportunity.

I want to translate what the pastor said.

He was very kind.

He said, I hit it out of the park in the first service.

had high hopes for the second service.

What he was really saying was,

at your age, if we can get a bun out of you

that will advance some runners, we'll be happy.

It is Father's Day.

What a great day to be in the Lord's house,

to worship together, to spend time in His Word.

And I'm preaching from this Bible

that has been glued and taped

and resuscitated more times than the pastor.

And this Bible was given to me

on June 17, 1979, by my lovely wife.

And so it's a great honor to preach from it today.

Will you turn with me in your Bibles

to Luke 10, 25 through 37?

Luke 10, 25 through 37.

This is from a pastor's point of view.

I have studied Scripture time and time and time again.

Same Scripture.

Preached on it.

Taught on it.

Heard it preached on.

Heard it taught on.

Time and again.

And then one day,

I'll pick up that passage of Scripture

and I'll read it again.

And God reveals a hidden nugget

or a gem that I had never seen before.

And my reaction is always invariably the same.

How did I miss that for so many years?

Well, this is a very familiar passage of Scripture.

You all know it.

Hopefully, God's going to reveal a nugget or two

or perhaps even a gem

that we've never seen before this morning.

Luke 10, 25 through 37.

It's the story of the Good Samaritan.

On one occasion,

an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

Teacher, he asked,

what must I do to inherit eternal life?

What is written in the law?

He replied,

how do you read it?

He answered,

love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul,

and with all your strength,

and with all your mind.

And love your neighbor as yourself.

You have answered correctly,

Jesus replied,

do this and you will live.

Now we come to verse 29.

I want to tell you,

that verse carries more weight

than a lot of books I've ever read.

I want you to listen to what he's actually saying.

But he wanted to justify himself,

so he asked Jesus,

who is my neighbor?

What he's saying is this.

I don't have a problem with loving God.

God is holy.

God is righteous.

God is on his throne.

God is a God of grace,

a God of love,

a God of wrath,

a God of judgment.

I have no problem with God.

I love God and everything about him.

I love myself.

I love myself.

A lot of people go through life

and never reach that.

They always have ambiviant feelings

about themselves.

But he's able to love himself

as God directed.

But he said,

there's an area in my life

where there may be a problem.

And that is my neighbor.

Who is my neighbor?

He has stepped in the confessional booth of Jesus.

And he is saying,

there's a lot of things I do know,

but this one thing I'm not sure of,

I don't feel like I'm living up

to what God expects in this one area.

So he's confessing.

Can I tell you something?

Listen,

this lawyer is further down the road

than a lot of people in today's society

because he's been honest enough

to recognize there's something not right in my life.

I think it has to do with my neighbor.

I feel this way about some people,

but I don't feel that way about everybody.

Is that wrong

or can I justify myself in that?

And in reply, Jesus said,

a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho

when he fell into the hands of robbers.

They stripped him of his clothes,

beat him and went away,

leaving him half dead.

A priest happened to be going down the same road.

And when he saw the man,

he passed by on the other side.

So to a Levite,

when he came to the place and saw him,

passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, as he traveled,

came where the man was.

And when he saw him,

he took pity on him.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds,

pouring on oil and wine.

Then he put the man on his own donkey,

took him to an inn,

and took care of him.

The next day,

he took out two silver coins

and gave them to the innkeeper.

Look after him, he said,

And when I return,

I will promise you,

I will reimburse you

for the extra expenses you may have.

Then Jesus asked the lawyer,

Which of these three do you think

was a neighbor to the man

who fell into the hands of robbers?

And the expert in the law replied,

The one who had mercy on him.

The one who had mercy on him.

It was the correct answer.

It was not the right answer.

Sadly, correct,

but not the right answer.

Jesus told him,

Go and do likewise.

Years ago,

divinity schools

and seminaries

all across the nation

started giving some professors

this title,

Professor of Practical Theology.

Professor of Practical Theology.

Always made me wonder,

where did the professors

of impractical theology teach?

And even more so,

it made me wonder,

when you go and sign up

for your fall classes

and you saw, of course,

an impractical theology,

who wanted to sign up for that?

If theology can't be practical,

what use is it?

Well, in this dialogue,

in this conversation

with this lawyer,

Jesus demonstrates

that he is indeed

the master professor

of practical theology.

The man asked,

What must I do

to inherit eternal life?

Love the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and all your strength

and all your mind

and love your neighbors

as yourself.

And then,

who is my neighbor?

Actually,

that was a very practical question.

The Jews weren't sure

who their neighbors were.

Say you lived in the Holy City.

Lots of Jews.

Lots of people like you.

But there were Greeks.

Even spoke their language.

Romans, they rule over you.

Syrians,

all types of other people.

And every single day,

you brush shoulders

with these people.

You bought from them.

You sold to them.

You traded with them.

You did business with them.

Every single day,

they were a part

of the community

in which you live.

Now, they were different

from you,

but every single day,

they were a part of you.

Are they my neighbor

even though they're different?

And some Jews

were not even sure

about other Jews.

I mean,

here's one

in the Holy City

of Jerusalem.

He's very,

very much intent

on keeping

the ceremonial law.

If he does something

that needs to be cleansed,

he takes care of it.

But out here

in the country,

50 miles away,

there's this old farmer

or somebody else.

He can't do that.

He can't run 50 miles

to Jerusalem all the time.

So he can't keep

the ceremonial law.

They're not living

up to God's standard.

Are they my neighbor?

And just like today,

Israel's surrounded

by enemies.

Do we call them

neighbors as well?

So the man said,

who's my neighbor?

And true to form,

Jesus doesn't answer

the question directly.

Instead,

he tells a story.

Now,

why doesn't he answer it?

Because Jesus knows us.

You can speak truth

into your child's life.

That mean they're

going to adopt it?

I can speak truth

into your life

this morning.

You may not remember

the four o'clock

this afternoon.

But if you discover

the truth for yourself,

if you figure it out

for yourself,

that tends to stick

with you,

doesn't it?

That's the truth

that makes a difference.

That is a part

of life.

Now,

this parable

is a part of our lexicon.

It's part of our language.

If a person

goes about doing

good deeds,

a really nice person,

we refer to them

as a good Samaritan.

There are counseling centers

across the nation,

Samaritan centers.

We belong

to a,

one of the RV groups

who are members,

the Good Sam Club.

It's a guy

with a big grin

and a little yellow

halo around his head.

He's called

the Good Sam,

the Good Samaritan.

It's part of our language.

But to understand

this parable

and really understand it,

we have to take

a little geography lesson here.

Jerusalem and Jericho

are 17 miles apart.

Jerusalem is a very,

very safe place.

It's the holy city.

You're safe

when you're there.

Jericho

is a very,

very safe place.

It's a desert oasis.

But between the two,

there are 17 miles.

17 miles.

There's ravines

and wadis

and treeless mountains.

It's a tough,

treacherous

because there's

a lot of bandits.

It's a dangerous

road to travel.

Safe on both ends,

but it's dangerous

in the middle.

And it is one

tough hike.

Jerusalem is up here

almost at 3,000 feet.

Jericho is down here,

840 feet

below sea level.

It is the lowest city

on the planet,

this planet.

We were at the ocean

a couple weeks ago.

if you go out

far enough

to get in water

that's 840 feet deep,

you got to dive down

to the bottom

of the sea

to get to Jericho.

Friend,

I don't care

who you are,

that's a tough hike

when you ascend

or descend

almost 4,000 feet.

So that's the story.

And this is the way

Jesus deals with it.

A man goes down

from Jerusalem

to Jericho.

I don't know

whether the man

is rich or poor.

I don't know

whether he's religious

or not.

I don't know

whether he's prominent

or just an average Joe

like the rest of us.

Jesus is just a man.

He's sort of every man.

And then he tells

the story.

Now what does he want us

to take away

from this story?

I think Jesus

is going to demonstrate us

to us

three philosophies

in life.

Three philosophies

in life.

The first philosophy

was the one

that the robbers had.

That philosophy

was

what is yours?

It's mine.

They beat the man.

They strip the man.

And they walk away

leaving him half dead.

We will take from you

what

we

want.

Now nobody here

is going to do that.

You're not going to

beat somebody up

in the parking lot

out here

and take everything

they have

and walk off.

You're not even

going to do that

on a dark night

here in Pickens.

But somebody

might say something

about somebody

else

that would steal

their reputation

diminish them

in the eyes

of other people.

Somebody might

do a business deal

where they take

advantage of

somebody else.

Amy Grant

began her career

in gospel music.

She had a friend

a young woman

that had been abused

and quite honestly

the young woman

just never got over it.

It's amazing

the number of people

who have been abused

for a long time

struggle with

the rest of their lives.

Just a fact of life.

And so Amy Grant

her heart went out

to this person

so she wrote

a song

for this young lady

and the name

of the song

was Ask Me.

So she went over

to the young lady

and she said

I want to sing

this for you.

And she started

singing

and the woman

started listening

and she broke down

sobbing uncontrollably.

Amy said

what's wrong?

What's wrong?

At last

somebody understands me.

You understand

the pain

I've been living

with all my life.

Amy Grant said

man what an effect

it had on her.

I need to include

this in my concerts.

And so the next concert

she included the song

Ask Me

and a strange thing

happened.

Down here

in the audience

somebody stood up

and remained standing.

Back there

somebody stood up.

Back there

back there

down here

all over the audience

people began standing

and they remained standing

the whole time.

They were saying

this is my story.

I have been

through that.

I understand

the pain.

That may have been

physical abuse

it could have been

spousal abuse

it could have been

sexual abuse

it could have been

an employer

employee abuse

abuse

but it was

somebody saying

I'm going to

take from you

what I want.

And friend

we do it

in a thousand

different ways.

That's the first

philosophy.

The second

philosophy

was the

philosophy

of the priest

and Levite

the religious people.

What is mine

is mine.

They both

passed by

on the other

side

for two

reasons.

The first

is religious

people

if they came

within six feet

of a corpse

they had to go

back uphill

to Jerusalem

and get cleansed.

If they're near

Jericho

that's 17 miles

and 4,000 feet

of climbing.

That's no small

thing.

it's a whole

lot easier

to pass by

on the other

side.

And the

second reason

they passed

by was a little

bit of hypocrisy

because if there

had been a lot

of other people

standing around

to see what

they did

they may not

have passed

by.

They may have

acted in a

religious manner

but the only

thing out there

were some

sheep and

goats and

they won't

go and tell

anybody and

as long as

nobody's going

to tell on

them they're

going to take

the easy route

and just go

by.

Do you

realize

we've

institutionalized

this type of

thinking in our

society?

It's part of

our institutions.

Would you

believe that a

15 year old

boy completely

innocent in

Chicago was

walking down

the street one

night.

Two gangs got

into it and a

stray bullet hit

him.

He knew he was

hurt bad.

He started

walking immediately

to the nearest

hospital.

He got within

35 feet of the

emergency room

door and he

collapsed right

there in the

parking lot.

He lay there

for 25 minutes

he bled out

and died.

Oh if they'd

only known in

the hospital that

he was there.

They did know.

They saw him when

he walked up.

What did they do?

They called an

ambulance from

somewhere else to

come get him but

he didn't get there

in time.

Well why didn't

they just go out

pick him up and

bring him in?

Because the

hospital had a

policy.

You can't treat

anybody outside the

doors of this

hospital because we

might get sued.

There's a liability

problem here and

we're going to take

care of ourselves

and our people.

That's most

important.

What is mine is

mine.

Have you ever

bought something

that had a

warranty?

And so part of it

broke and you

called the

manufacturer.

This happened.

I'm sorry that's

not covered under

warranty.

Can I translate

that to you?

We've had such a

problem with that

part we're not

going to fix it

because it's going

to cost too much

what's mine is mine

and everybody here

has had that

experience right?

Everybody.

We've

institutionalized it.

We do it in a

thousand thousand

different ways.

And then there's

that third idea.

philosophy.

It's the

philosophy

exemplified by the

Samaritan.

His philosophy

was what is

mine is

yours.

And here's the

kicker to the

story.

The good guy,

the hero of the

whole story is the

Samaritan.

The one person

in that whole

region of the

world that

everybody hated.

The Jews hated

the Samaritans

because they had

left the Jewish

faith and the

ethnic group and

married a Gentile.

The Gentiles hated

the Samaritans

because they were

associated with the

Jews.

Those two groups

did not get along.

How much were the

Samaritans hated?

If you were a Jew

in the marketplace

and a Samaritan

walked by you,

now he didn't

touch you,

but his shadow

fell on you.

His shadow.

You were supposed

to go to the

temple and get

cleansed.

They were not

welcome at the

Jewish

temple.

Samaritans

had to go build

their own

temple at

Mount

Zeratham.

They resented

the Jews so

much, the

Samaritans

did, that

just a few

years before,

some Samaritans

snuck into

Jerusalem at

night to the

holy temple and

scattered some

human bones

throughout the

temple and

defiled it.

Oh, you

know how that

set things

off.

And here's

the kicker.

Jesus says,

this man,

the Samaritan,

is the hero

of the story.

The hero.

Why?

Because he

comes to the

place where the

man was and he

takes pity on

him and he

does what is

right.

He takes a

bottle of wine

and pours it

into his cuts

and wounds

to disinfect.

He takes

oil and pours

it over the

skin to keep

the skin soft

and supple.

He probably

cuts strips of

bandages from

his own clothing

and binds up

these wounds.

And then he

puts the man

on his donkey

and takes him

to an inn.

He stays with

him that night

and the next

day he leaves

two silver

coins, not

copper coins,

two silver

coins.

He says,

this will take

care of his

expenses.

If it doesn't,

I'm going to

be back this

way.

I will reimburse

you for whatever

it takes.

And then

Jesus asked,

who are you

in the story?

Who are you?

Your pastor

will not tell

you this.

I'm retired

and I don't

care.

Did you know

that when we

pastors in the

pulpit, we

can read your

minds?

I glanced

over there a

while ago at

Jeff.

When I asked

that question,

I know what

Jeff's thinking.

Jeff, I'm

going to tell

him what you

were thinking.

Jeff was

thinking,

hmm, well,

that's hard

to say.

If the truth

be known,

I'm probably

a composite

of all three.

There have

been times

that I've

taken advantage

of people.

Jeff, I'm

not putting

you down.

Everybody in

this room

has done

that,

including

myself.

Everybody in

this room

has done

that.

And there

are times

when I

passed by

on the

other side

when I

could have

helped.

And there

are times I've

been the

Good Samaritan.

So I'm

a composite

of all three

and I

say,

Jeff, you

can't be a

composite of

all three.

You've got to

be one person

in the story.

And Jeff

is thinking,

well, if the

truth be known,

it's that middle

person then because

I've taken

advantage and I've

been a Good

Samaritan,

but more often

than not,

I have probably

passed up more

opportunities to

help than any

other thing.

And I would

turn to Jeff

and I'd say,

Jeff, that's

not who you

are in the

story.

You're wrong.

You're the

same person I

am and the

same person you

are.

Every single

one of us in

this room is

the man who

was robbed and

left in the

road to die,

everything taken

away from him.

Every one of us

has been there

lying in the

middle of the

road, dead in

our sins,

hoping and

praying,

that a good

Samaritan would

come by.

And for many

of you, he

did.

His name was

Jesus.

What did he

do?

He saw you.

He took pity

on you.

He took wine

and poured

into your

wounds.

But it

wasn't wine

from a bottle.

It was wine

from a cup.

A cup that

he held up

one night

and said,

this cup is

the New

Testament,

the new

covenant in

my blood

which is

poured out

for you.

And it

not only

disinfected,

it forgave

your sin

eternally.

me.

And then he

poured on the

oil of the

Holy Spirit.

Not only to

make the skin

soft and

supple, but

make their

heart soft

and supple so

that when God

spoke to you,

you could feel

what God was

saying, where

God was

leading, and

what God

was directing.

And then he

took you on his

own donkey and

he took you to

a place and he

took care of you

and he left

those silver

coins.

And it was his

way of saying,

I'm not only

taking care of

you now, but if

you need anything

in the future, I'm

there for you.

Christ was a

good Samaritan.

But not

everybody has

that experience.

Because some of

you have not

called in his

name yet.

A while ago, I

said the lawyer,

when he said the

man who had

mercy on him, that

was the correct

answer, but not

the right answer.

The reason it

wasn't the right

answer, that

lawyer could not

bring himself to

say those

despicable words

that had come

from Jesus'

mouth.

He could not

say the two

words, the

Samaritan.

He understood

what Jesus

wanted.

His head was

there, but his

heart wasn't.

He could not

say the words.

We're in a

different position

because the word

we need to

speak is the

most beautiful

name in any

language in the

world.

It's the name

of Jesus.

If you haven't

had that experience

this morning, you

can have it.

All you have to

do, realize that

you're lying there

dead in your

sins, but there

is one that can

pull that wine on

there and forgive

that sin for all

eternity.

There is one that

can take that sin

and pull all on it,

all into your life

and make you

sensitive to the

leadership of the

Holy Spirit and

he'll take care of

you now and

forever.

Forever.

And all we have

to do is

genuinely with all

our heart, now

listen to me, I'm

going to say,

believe and trust

Jesus Christ.

And why do I say

that?

Because sometimes

our belief don't

go very far, but

our trust does.

Trust is a part of

belief.

All you have to do

is put your trust in

him and call on his

name this morning.

And everything that

was given to that

man who was robbed

will be given to you

today.

because he wants

to do that.

Now this is

Father's Day.

Father's Day.

Fathers,

my conviction for

many years has

been that you are

the unsung hero

in the family.

You go out every

single day, you

work hard as you

can because you

are expected to

be the provider in

so many ways to

put a roof over

their heads and

food on the table

and clothes on

their back and

all the other

things they need.

And you never get

the acclaim and

the applause of

mother.

Never.

Now you say,

well, why did

your family treat

you so bad?

I don't base it on

that, friend.

I base it on the

numbers.

Years ago, before

we had cell

phones, where we

make long-distance

calls free, you had

to pay to make

long-distance calls.

You didn't make

many because it

was expensive.

There were three

ways to do it.

You could call from

your home phone and

they would charge it

to your account.

You could make it

from a pay phone and

they'd say that's

$2.75 for the first

three minutes.

Ching, ching, ching,

ching, ching.

And after about three

minutes they'd say

that'd be $1.75 for

the next two minutes.

Ching, ching, ching,

ching.

Or the third way, you

could call collect.

This is Paul Wetz

calling for his dad.

Will you accept the

charges?

Every single year.

Not many long-distance

calls made because it

was expensive.

But every single year

they set records for

the number of long-distance

calls made.

What holiday do you

think it was made on?

Mother's Day.

Exactly.

Dads never did get there.

But hold it.

Father's Day set a record

too.

Did you know that?

This is a fact.

The most collect long-distance

calls every year was made

on Father's Day.

Men, you are the unsung

heroes in your family.

Dad, I want to tell you

how much I love and

appreciate you when you

accept the charges.

But guys, you're used

to giving.

And you're used to not

getting much acclaim.

I understand that.

That's just a fact of

being a dad.

But today, you know,

they're going to honor

and they're going to give

you a few nice things.

But you know what?

You're used to giving.

You've done it your whole

life without any

recognition hardly.

Give them something else

today.

A man who's not afraid

to say,

I was the robber

laying in the road

dead in my sins.

And Jesus entered my life.

And he gave me the Holy

Spirit.

And sometimes we're

going to do this and

sometimes we're going to

not do that simply because

I feel that's where God

is leading and I want to

be sensitive to his

leadership.

And I don't know whether

how things are going in

your life today, but this

I do know.

He has paid the innkeeper

and he's made a promise

that if anything else is

needed, he'll take care of

that too.

I don't know what the

future holds for me,

but I know who holds the

future and I know I can

trust the one who holds

the future.

Gentlemen, when you show

that to your family,

when you live that out

before them, you have

given them the best

Father's Day gift you can

ever give.

So this morning, whether it

be a profession of faith,

becoming a part of this

church, a step forward in

your faith, I'm going to go

one step further.

I remember the time my

pastor stood in the pulpit

and he said, every young

man here, every woman here

needs to start praying and

asking this one question.

What does God want you to

do vocationally the rest of

your life?

Does he want you to be a

teacher, a lawyer, a doctor,

a nurse, whatever?

Ask him what he wants you to

do?

I took up that challenge

and I was shocked at what

God called me to do.

But friend, don't ever make

a decision in life, ever,

without asking God his

direction.

That's part of that oil

thing, his leadership.

Pastor, would you come?

Thank God for the word that

Paul's given us today.

If you've never accepted the

Lord Jesus Christ as your

personal Lord and Savior, I

want you to know he accepts

you as you are today.

You just come and say,

Pastor, I'd love to surrender

my life to the Lord Jesus.

Maybe you've done that

privately, but you've never

done it publicly.

You've never acknowledged

that.

Jesus, by his commission

and by his example, tells

us to follow that with

baptism.

If you've never been

baptized as a believer, I

encourage you to be

obedient.

Follow the Lord.

We'll guide you through

that.

We're not doing it this

morning, but we'll guide

you in that.

Maybe God's leading you to

be a part of First Baptist

Church.

You know this is the place

where God would have you

to serve.

As soon as we stand and

begin to sing, I encourage

you to come.

We'd love to guide you in

what that means and

introduce you to the

congregation.

And maybe it's

something else.

Maybe you realize you've

passed by folks that

needed you to stop.

Or maybe you've not

acknowledged the one that

went to the cross for you,

gave his life for you.

I don't know what God's

telling you, but I'm

thankful that Paul shared

what God laid on his

heart.

And I encourage you to be

obedient this morning.

Lord Jesus, we love you.

We thank you for your

word.

Thank you, Lord, for the

challenge of it, the

personalization of it by

the Holy Spirit of God.

And I pray this morning,

dear Father, that you'll

help each one of us to be

obedient to follow exactly

as you lead right now in

these very moments.

In Jesus' precious name,

amen.

Bens,