Real Christian Ministry

Eric, if you have your Bibles, turn to Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

I want to thank Lawrence Crenshaw for filling in for Brian.

Short notice like that when sickness came upon him.

And he's already learned the power of the methodical pause in the middle of reading Scripture

that only ministers and video tech guys know.

Today I want to deal with a passage that talks about the greatest question that's ever been asked.

It's asked a few times in Scripture.

Once it is asked by Nicodemus who came to Jesus under the cover of darkness to find the answer.

The rich young ruler wanted to know the same thing.

And then we see it again in our passage today.

Although when it's asked today it's not a genuine question.

It's not asked genuinely.

It's like a set up question.

It's like when they asked the preacher who was Cain's wife.

You know.

It's just to test them.

And they wanted to test Jesus.

And they didn't really want to know what he had to say.

They were just kind of needling him.

So this was intended to be a set up question.

However, the way Jesus answered the question not only tested the listener.

It tested all of us.

He didn't set up Jesus.

Jesus kind of set us up to realize what it means to do real Christian ministry.

Church, we do well to listen to Christ.

Church, we do well to listen to Christ.

Even when he challenges us.

Even when he shakes us up.

Especially when he shakes us up.

And this morning's passage does exactly that.

It's found in Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 10 verse 25.

Luke 10:25

And it says,

Jesus said to him,

Correctly, do this and you will live.

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus,

And who's my neighbor?

And Jesus replied,

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

And he fell among 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.

So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,

passed by on the other side.

But as Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was.

And when he saw him, he had compassion.

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.

And the next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper,

saying, Take care of him.

And whatever more you spend, I'll repay you when I come back.

Which of these three, Jesus asked,

do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?

And the man said, The one who showed him mercy.

And Jesus said, You go and do likewise.

Now, you know that story, probably.

It's a very familiar story.

As a matter of fact, if you were using the curriculum that we were using in Sunday school last week,

you dealt with it last week,

and you think the preacher ain't even done his homework.

He's just doing the Sunday school lesson.

But I will tell you that the listener in the first audience,

the one Jesus was talking to that day,

heard this story with a little bit different light than we hear it.

And it always helps us to understand Scripture in the context that it's in.

That's why it's important to read Scripture around the Scripture that you're looking at.

But also to understand the cultural context of when he speaks this story,

what it meant to them.

It helps us through that filter to understand how it speaks to us even more.

And so when the listener in the first audience heard this,

they came up with some conclusions right off the bat.

One of them was the victim deserved it.

He deserved it.

I mean, don't get me wrong.

It's not right to attack and rob a man,

but I mean, what was he doing there?

Nobody with good sense travels the road to Jericho alone.

The road has a dark reputation.

Josephus, a historian of that day, called it the bloody way.

And if you go down from Jerusalem to Jericho,

you really go down.

It is a 17-mile journey that drops rapidly from 2,800 feet above sea level

to 1,300 feet below sea level, almost a mile in depth.

It is a mountainous trek of rough terrain with 300-foot drops,

limestone caves, massive boulders,

all kinds of places for bandits to hide.

And they did.

And that's why it was called the bloody way.

In other words, it was a known danger.

Now, I didn't do this last week.

Last week, I went to Mississippi and, praise God,

got a contract on a house, on my house.

Amen.

Amen.

Pray that it goes through and she gets a burden

and gives a little more than she committed to.

But what if I told you instead that I took my family,

after we watched some crime sitcom on TV,

that I decided to take them to a notoriously dangerous place

in a downtown major city in Atlanta,

excuse me, in America.

I drove to Atlanta yesterday.

Good example.

But anyway, a major city in America to see the real crime scenes,

just like we watch on TV.

And when we went down in that dark alley at night,

I got hit in the head and robbed,

and I barely made it out alive.

Now, I know you.

You are a gracious people.

You're kind.

You've been gracious to us as we've come into a new congregation.

I'm telling you, Ralph Carter told me they're appreciative people,

and he's right.

And I appreciate that.

You'd be nice to me.

But when you went home,

you'd have me for dinner.

The preacher has lost his mind.

He deserved it.

And his precious wife and his precious,

how in the world could he?

The old boy deserved it.

We ought to knock another knot upside his head.

Because remember, we help those who help themselves.

I mean, if you don't have any better sense than that,

then just leave him by the side of the road.

That's what the first century audience would have said.

Tell you another thing the first century audience would have said.

They would have said the clergy did exactly what they were expected to do.

Now, I know we look at them and go,

sorry, old preachers.

But the reality is they did exactly what was expected.

Numbers 1911 and Leviticus 21.1,

tells us that if something is dead and is touched,

you are made ceremonially unclean.

And Jericho was a town of 12,000 priests.

And they were on their way to perform religious ceremonies.

They better not stop and get their hands dirty in the matter.

And these men didn't.

They made a point to go around him on the opposite side of the road

because in case he died,

and they got sidetracked,

they were like, don't look, just keep walking.

Because if they came in contact with dead,

it would not allow them to be a part of that process.

The ceremonies that they were going to.

Now, they knew the law,

and there's a lot of other passages that tell them to help,

but that's not the ones that they chose at the time.

Sometimes we have a tendency to pick the ones we want to pick too.

Therefore, they did exactly what was expected,

and the first audience would have expected them to do just what they did.

I'll tell you what else they would have expected.

When they thought of this story,

the first century audience would have said

the Samaritan was not supposed to help anybody.

This guy needed help bad.

He didn't only get robbed.

He got beat.

He got stripped.

He got left for dead.

Don't expect a Samaritan to help

because Jews hated Samaritans.

They called them mixed dogs,

and I'll tell you why they called them that.

Because Samaria is the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel,

and when the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom,

they exiled 27,000,

and they only left a remnant behind.

Assyrian captives from other places also settled there,

and for those that remained,

they intermarried with the Assyrians that came into that area.

So Jews with Gentiles,

and then they adopted into a lot of the foreign gods

that came into that melting pot of an atmosphere.

And by the time the Jews returned to Jerusalem,

they had a hatred toward the Samaritans.

All of them, not just the guilty ones,

because they all compromised, the whole people.

No longer were they pure.

They were mixed.

They had mixed with the world.

Listen, racism is not a new thing,

and it was very real there.

Therefore, when Jesus used a Samaritan

to do the right thing in the story,

he hit a nerve.

It was a shocker.

Samaritans don't do good things.

It'd be like making a Jew a hero

to an audience of Nazis,

or making a member of the Taliban a hero.

We just don't want to hear that kind of thing.

It's unheard of.

It's controversial even to suggest it.

And John's Gospel tells us

that the Jewish leaders thought

that Jesus was a Samaritan

with a demon after hearing this story.

What in the world's going on?

And that's why this story challenged everything.

It crossed social barriers.

It was uncomfortable.

It was challenging.

And the truth is,

when you get to the heart of it,

it still is.

But Jesus taught it that day for a reason,

and through the power and the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit of God,

it applies to us as well today

to teach us.

And it teaches us a few things.

One of them is that real ministry is not easy.

Real ministry is not easy.

This lawyer is really just trying to goad Jesus.

He asked him a hard question

and provoke him

and get him to say the wrong thing.

Religious folks often do that kind of thing to Jesus.

And it didn't work.

Jesus saw it coming.

He didn't get mad about it.

He didn't get in a debate about it.

No, as my grandpa said,

he killed him with kindness.

He surprised him with his answer.

The lawyer wanted a formula for religion.

Tell me what I have to do.

Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

That's not Christianity, folks.

You can't do anything to earn your salvation.

Eternal life cannot be earned.

Christianity is surrendering your have-tos to God.

In other words,

you don't have to attend church to be saved.

But you will if it's real.

There will be a drawing there if it's real.

You don't have to reach out to others if you're saved.

But if Christ has touched your life,

you're going to want to tell others about it.

You don't have to tithe your money to the church

and be a Christian.

But if you are a Christian

and you realize how much God has done for you,

you realize everything that you have

has been entrusted to you

and it's not yours anyway, it's God's.

So why not give him back the portion

that he tells us to?

You don't have to pray

to be a Christian.

But the reality is,

if you are a Christian, you will pray.

You don't have to care about others

to be a Christian.

But if you are a Christian,

you will care about others.

The reality is,

real ministry is not just loving

those who are our own.

It's not just loving folks that are like me.

It's not just loving those

that we think deserve it.

Real ministry is when you sweat,

when it stings,

when you sacrifice,

when it's tough.

Not only did the Samaritan

reach out to this guy,

but he reached out to one

that should have known better.

He reached out to one

who was,

he reached out to one

and took a risk

when he reached out to him.

I mean,

this could have been a trap

to bait somebody.

There could have been fentanyl

on that dollar bill.

I mean, you know,

I was going to touch it, you know.

Leave him alone.

By the way,

me and Mama found a 20

at Dollar General the other day.

We took our chances,

but anyway.

Anyway.

Those are the things

that we would say today,

and it ain't even affected,

you know.

But that's no different

than that day

is what I'm saying.

Remember,

this is the bloody way.

Notice as well,

it was not just spot ministry.

He didn't buy the meal

of the guy behind him

in the drive-thru.

It was ongoing.

He spotted a beaten stranger

even after he was gone,

and he supported him

and took care of him.

Not endless support.

Don't misunderstand me.

Not endless support,

but he helped him get up

and get back on his feet,

and you know what?

I bet that was a pattern

for the Samaritan,

and the reason why

is because the innkeeper

trusted him.

And when folks

are coming back

to pay cash,

you don't trust them

unless they've come back before.

It wasn't spot ministry.

It was ongoing ministry.

Spot ministry.

Let's be plain.

Spot ministry is easy.

Real ministry is not easy.

It also teaches us this,

that real Christianity

is fruitful.

Real Christianity is fruitful.

We like to talk about

the gifts of the Spirit

and what we're gifted at

and those unique gifts

and abilities that God

has given us

to enable us

to do the work of the church,

the gift of evangelism,

the gift of proclaiming,

the gift of teaching,

the gift of faith,

the gift of discernment,

the gift of showing mercy,

the gift of leadership.

Man, if you give folks

the opportunity

to take a spiritual gifts test,

which basically asks them

what they think they're good at,

they'll fill it up.

You know,

they're multi-gifted.

Just ask them.

I mean,

we like to know

about that kind of stuff.

What's our gifts?

But what about the fruit?

I mean,

the fruit's what really matters.

If you have the gifts

but no fruit,

you're unfit for the kingdom.

And what am I talking about?

When I say fruit,

it's Galatians 5, 22 and 23.

When the apostle Paul said,

the fruit of the spirit

is love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness,

self-control.

You want to know

what the Christian life's about?

The fruit's where it's at, folks.

If you want to live out your faith

for the Lord Jesus Christ,

the fruit's where it's at.

And I promise you

that if you pray over those matters

in your life every day,

the Holy Spirit of God

will not only beat you up

but he'll show you

how to improve in those areas.

Because that's where the growth is.

Without fruit,

you're not effective

no matter what gifts you have.

And if you have fruit without gifts,

well, you don't.

But even if you could,

you'd still change lives

because that kind of stuff

gets people's attention.

It matters.

Jesus teaches us

it's not about what you got.

It's about what you do with it.

And so be fruitful.

He also teaches us this.

Real Christians don't make excuses.

Real Christians don't make excuses.

The Samaritan didn't say,

oh, no, I'm just a Samaritan.

What are people going to think?

I'm not even qualified to do that.

He didn't say,

he didn't say I didn't do it

because I didn't know what to say.

How many times are Christians

sidetracked from doing

what God's burdened them to do?

Because they don't know what to say.

By the way,

if you don't know what to say,

don't say it.

Just be there.

People who try to defend

the role of God

in the midst of tragedy

usually cause tragedy to be worse.

And your presence means

more than your words.

And if I walk in a heavy room

and stand on the wall

and say nothing,

it's because I don't know

what to say.

And if you don't know

what to say,

please don't say it.

This Samaritan could have easily said,

I don't have time for this.

He also did not look

at the situation logically.

Like the lawyer

that asked the question

would have expected

somebody to look at something

because that's what they look at

is logic.

And logic does not always work.

Let me tell you about this,

oh boy.

I heard of a man

who decided to get married

based on logic

and scientific principles.

He was 30 years old,

logical age to consider

getting married.

And so he made a list of,

in black ink, by the way,

of,

on quality paper,

good paper,

because he's logical

and it's important.

And he made two columns.

One column

was why he should get married.

The other column

was why he shouldn't get married.

And when he wrote down

those things,

marriage outweighed

not getting married.

And so he got out

another piece

of good quality paper

with his black ink

and wrote down

eligible,

good quality

young ladies.

And he got out

index cards

and he put their names

on them

and he listed reasons

why he ought to marry

each one.

And he soon found one

that

he thought logically

should be his wife.

And he asked her

to marry him

and she said,

yes.

And the marriage

was a disaster

because love

don't wait on logic

and logic

does not lead

to love.

When the woman

anointed the feet

of Jesus,

as I mentioned

last week,

it was not logical.

It was love.

The Samaritan

did not act

logically.

He acted

lovingly.

He acted

when he had

the opportunity

to walk

by the victim.

He would have

missed that opportunity.

The priest

and the Levite

asked,

they responded

logically.

I mean,

a dead body

would have

sidelined them

for a week.

The very thing

that they were

going to do,

they would not

be able to do

if this fellow

didn't make it.

And it's much easier

to say,

I don't have time

for this.

Because the reality

is,

we only have time

for the things

that are important

to us.

So the question

is,

what's important

to us?

we've pledged

our life

to Christ.

We've pledged

our life

to serve him.

If today

you're a

professed

Christian,

so

what's important

to us?

And you may

say,

well,

to do

such as this

would be

fanatical.

To put

yourself out

like this?

Now look,

preacher,

I mean,

you know,

I love the Lord

and the church

and all that,

but I'm not

going to get

fanatical about

this thing.

So let me get

this straight.

Christ left

the glories

of heaven

to be born

on earth

in a cattle

stall.

To face

every temptation

that we would

ever face,

what scripture

says,

and to endure

all of it

sinlessly,

only to be

opposed by

the church

of that day

and endure

the worst

torture

and the worst

execution

known to man

studied by

the Roman

Empire to know

exactly the best

way to torture

a man before

you kill him.

so that you

and I

who fall

to too many

temptations

will have

the opportunity

to have

our many sins

forgiven

and go to

heaven when

we die,

but he

didn't mean

for us

to get

fanatical

about our

faith,

yet we're

to follow

his example.

Let the church

sit on their

tough,

proclaim their

way is right,

and dare the

world to join

them.

Or let's

get outside

the walls

and make a

difference for

Christ.

Because Jesus

said,

this is what

it means to

have eternal

life.

So how do we

do that?

We follow

the example

of who,

of what?

a Samaritan.

I heard

about a

PGA golfer,

don't know

who it is,

that won

$48,000

one weekend,

rough weekend

in PGA.

He won

$48,000,

and when he

had the check

in his hand,

a lady came

to him

with a baby

in her hands

and said,

my baby

is deathly

ill and

needs surgery,

and it is

$25,000,

and I don't

have the money.

And the man

took the check,

endorsed the

back of it,

and handed

it to her.

The next

day,

he got a

call.

from an

official

with PGA

and said,

you've been

fleeced.

He said,

what,

is the baby

all right?

He said,

yeah,

the baby's

all right.

He said,

the woman

was messing

with you.

She took

your money.

You've been

fleeced.

He said,

is the baby

all right?

He said,

yeah,

the baby's

fine.

He said,

good.

That's

all that

matters.

With every

head bowed,

and every

eye closed,

I think

God leads

us to do

what really

matters.

And I'll

tell you what

really matters

is if you

are here

this morning

and there's

never been a

time in your

life when you've

given your heart

and life to the

Lord Jesus

Christ,

I am thankful

today that

today is the

day of salvation.

That Jesus is

the same yesterday,

today,

and forever,

and the offer

that he makes

to those that he

comes in contact

with in the first

century is the

same offer that

he makes to you

today.

That if you'll

come and say,

Lord,

I come as I am.

I know I'm a

sinner.

I know I've done

wrong,

and I ask you to

forgive me,

to cleanse me,

to come into my

life,

and to change

me,

and from this

day forward,

I commit my

life to follow

you.

If you've never

done that,

or you're willing

to surrender your

life to the Lord

Jesus like that,

we're going to

stand in just a

moment,

and we're going

to sing,

and we're doing

it for you,

to give you the

opportunity to come.

If you come,

I'll make sure

someone talks to

you about what it

means to give your

heart and life to

the Lord Jesus

Christ.

Maybe you're here,

and you have done

that, but as you

watch those people

go through baptism

waters today, you

realize that you've

never publicly

professed that

private faith in a

way that is in

obedience to the

Lord, and as I tell

many baptism

candidates, the

reality is that is a

hindrance and a

hurdle in your

Christian walk.

Until you obey God

in that first step of

obedience that not

only Christ showed us

by example, but also

impelled us to do,

unless we do that,

there's a hindrance

there.

So maybe you want

to come this morning

and say, preacher, I

have given my heart

and life to the

Lord Jesus Christ, but

I've never been

baptized as a believer,

and today I want to

come just the way

Christ showed us to

come.

Maybe God's drawing

you to be a part of

this congregation.

God's blessed us in

recent days with many

who have felt led to

come and join us

along this journey.

We're not perfect,

nor are you, and so

man, we get along

great.

So you come as God

leads, and we'll

happily guide you

through that.

You have questions

about that and wonder

about that, my phone

number, I'm easy to

contact.

It's all over the

bulletin.

You let me know.

I'd love to talk to

you about that.

And then I sit among

a lot of priests,

Levites, good old

church folk.

We believe the right

thing.

We're sitting in the

right place today.

Seemingly doing the

right thing.

God says, are we

doing what really

matters?

Are we staking out

our life to follow

his will and his way

in our heart and

life?

I don't know how

God's leading you.

I don't pretend to

know that, but I know

that you'll never be

satisfied until you

follow him.

And so you come as

God leads you.

Maybe you'll make a

decision for the Lord

where you are.

Maybe you'll make a

decision for the Lord

privately at this altar

praying.

Maybe you want

somebody to pray with

you.

I'm here.

Just obey God.

Let's not hinder the

Holy Spirit by not

doing what he tells

us.

Lord Jesus, I love

you.

Thank you for the

privilege and opportunity

you give us today.

Lead us right now, oh

God, I pray in Jesus'

precious name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.