#The Good Samaritan

Parables are like onions. They're like onions really are.

They need peeling away. I think I grew up thinking

parables were a way of making hard ideas easy.

And Jesus doesn't say that. In fact, when he does, the

parable of the so and they go, why'd you why'd you do that?

Why'd you talk in stories he says that that people.

He quotes the Old Testament and Jesus says that so people will

be ever hearing and never knowing.

He he he knows that you and I, we we are really bad listeners.

We're really bad listeners. And so he has to create

something that makes us dig in and explore.

Want to peel away and find out more.

If he could just offer it to us on the plate, we would just kind

of throw it away. So.

So Jesus constructs something that means that we peel away, we

keep looking. There is more levels, more

layers. And so as we kind of do the

parables over the summer, we're actually meant to be looking for

more. And actually an obstacle to kind

of understanding the parables is knowing them we've kind of

formed our opinion. We've kind of sort of said well

that's that's about I've done that one, done next one.

But actually if he really is trying to make us kind of

explore and understand something, there is more than

what you know to it. And so I'd like you to do

something for me, I want you to think about we're going to look

at the parable of the Good Samaritan.

I'd like you to think about what you think Good Samaritan story

is all about. And I'd like you in your mind to

tear it up and throw it away and come to it fresh, like Jesus

listeners would have done. They never heard it before.

This was a brand new story and look at it through their eyes.

One of the privileges of my job is to, as I go into school and I

tell these stories to people who have never heard them before.

And and what we hear back is mind blowing, which is here just

extraordinary comments and ideas that they're a little bit

disturbing sometimes and and sometimes you think, gosh, you

should be a preacher. How, how did you get there?

So we're at this parable, the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Since September, Steph has taught her over 40 times in

school. So that's kind of 1300 young

people we've sat with kind of just playing with this idea and

talking about and hearing back for them.

Some of them say it's about morality and ethics.

Some of them say it's about nationalism.

Some of them say it's about racism.

Some of them say it's about religious prejudice.

Some of them say it's an analogy of Jesus.

We we've heard so many different views about the story so I might

draw on a little bit of what some you know, 14 year olds have

been teaching me about it. One of the things that really

struck me was this year. Do you remember when Extinction

rebellion kind of protested near the M25 and it got shut down a

bit so. So I was teaching on parables

that day and I went into school and I went through and worked

through with these amazing 30 young smart people that this

story and and we go on to a slide of what Martin Luther King

thinks about this, this story. Martin Luther King says, he

calls it the great Reversal. He says that as the as the

priest and his leafy walked by and see this man or woman broken

on the side of the road, they asked themselves, if I stop to

help them, what will happen to me, Martin Luther King says.

And then the Good Samaritan comes along and he sees this

person by the side of the road and he reverses the question and

says if I don't stop to help them, what will happen to them.

So we put this slide up, One of the student reads it out and

then they will discuss it. And then this one kid who had

been late to the lesson because his trip to school had been

disrupted by the by by the motorway being kind of slowed

down slightly, he puts his hands up and says, So if this is about

helping others, no matter what the cost is to you and the world

is in a really bad state, does this mean that you should do

things that that cost you, like might put you at risk?

And I was like, that's a hard one to answer in school because

you don't want to encourage kids to do something dangerous, but

that's a good way of reading their story.

So I said, that's a good way of reading a story.

He said then why aren't all Christians in extinction

rebellion? Sorry.

And he was like, if if we're really worried about our planet,

why, why aren't we doing things that cost us?

And I was like, I I need to shut this down right now.

You know what? And I felt really, really

uncomfortable. But interesting how a 14 year

old reads a story that we have heard so many times and then

he's like, well, if this is true and we care about our planet, we

need to do something. So I'm not saying whether I or

anyone else should agree with that perspective.

But isn't it fascinating when you come to a story for the

first time and you try and make sense of it in your context, how

it should challenge you and my prayer?

My hope is as you come to this story for the first time, as

you've ripped up everything you know about it, you have the

privilege of maybe seeing it slightly different.

So I'm going to share kind of my perspective on it.

But my job is to lead you in worship, and your job is to look

for Jesus and allow him to speak to you.

So let's get peeling, take some layers off.

And so to understand this parable, we need to understand

the context. We're going to start in our

Bibles at Loop 1025, which is where the story starts.

If you've got your Bibles or your devices, have a look, but

they're going to appear on the screen as well.

So Luke 1025 says this. On one occasion an expert of the

law stood up to test Jesus teacher.

He said, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

So this experts of the law we might call them a lawyer stood

up to test or as many kids in school say trap Jesus.

Interesting little thing he he appears to be trying to distract

Jesus. We don't know if he's like and

he's that annoying person that when you get in a good

conversation sidetracks, it all takes you off target and you're

like, he appears to be that person and he actually is is

inviting Jesus into a popular debate, Debate at the time.

So we have popular debates, we have Brexit, we have the

environment. Everyone has an opinion on it.

Everyone think has a different view.

He's inviting Jesus into a divisive conversation.

You see at the time there was a debate going on about eternity.

Now one side say when you die, you die.

That's it. There was another side that said

when you die, there was a life after the one side that said

when you die, you die said, So the debate really is about

whether you have a life full of meaning while you're here, a

long life, an eternal life, or you have a short, meaningless

life. That was the debate that Jesus

was being invited into. And so when Jesus says, you

know, I'm, I give you life and life in all its fullness, He is

stepping into a debate that everyone was having.

Everyone has an opinion. Everyone had a kind of

perspective on it. It was divisive.

The Jesus has been sidetracked, it would appear into something

that everyone is talking about. So what do you think he's kind

of asking Jesus, what are you promoting A value.

What is the most important thing to you?

We don't know if it really is a test.

The text text says he's testing him, he's trapping him.

But we'll find out quite quickly.

This becomes almost like a discipleship question.

So Jesus, we're going to read on that and see what what Jesus

says. So 26 to 28, Jesus says this.

What is written in the law? He replied.

How do you read it? Really good way of avoiding a

trap is to say nothing. The ball back in their court and

the the, the, the, the expert in the Lord, he answers.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

with all your strength and with all your mind.

And love your neighbor as yourself.

Really really interesting answer.

You see he quotes 10 commandments, the beginning of

the 10 commandments, and then he zooms all the way to Leviticus

19 and he quotes one line out of Leviticus 19 in between those

two, Exodus 20 and Leviticus 19, which let me show you how much

of the Bible is it is as it helps a bit.

There you go. So this much is all laws,

instructions, how to live when Moses started setting them out.

So. So he's kind of saying to Jesus

well actually it's from the beginning of them to the end of

them. You, you, you, you, you love God

with all of that. You need to get them all right.

Every page. You need to get it all sorted.

Really, really interested. So you got it, You got to be

perfect. You got to follow all of these

statutes beginning to end. And Jesus answers this, so we'll

read verse 2928. You have answered correctly.

Jesus replied, Do this and you shall live.

So if you manage to fulfill do all those every day every moment

then you will have a life full of meaning.

Pretty tough call. And I think suddenly this young

man that's trying to distract Jesus with a test goes Oh no I

didn't really expect you to say that I have to follow every bit

of this And and so he he goes on let me read what he goes on so

do this and you will live as 20 science says.

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus and

who is my neighbor? So he goes all the way to the

end to this one bit in Exodus 19 and says, well, who who's my

neighbor? But he wanted to justify

himself. Think back maybe 4 weeks and

Mark talks about that word, didn't he?

He talked that way that that we are justified, we are

sanctified, we are glorified, we are justified by what Jesus did

on the cross. But this young man doesn't want

that. He wants to justify himself.

So if we want to stand right before God on our own, we need

to fulfill keep all of those. And he's starting to feel a

little bit awkward. And he seems to be a little bit

awkward about one particular bit.

And that is about who is my neighbor?

Who? Who is it not that that I should

love? Who is it that I should love?

Who is it that I should it should treat as myself.

Who is that specifically? And I think in this moment we

see something of who Jesus is. This young man has come along.

He's tried to distract Jesus. He's asked that kind of awkward

conversation that drags him into a popular debate.

And then he's kind of fallen a cropper of Jesus asking him

questions. And he suddenly realized, Oh my

goodness, I can't do that. So he wants to justify the thing

he's struggling with and and and in this moment we see Jesus for

who he is and all his beauty and all his glory.

Rather than being frustrated that he's been thrown off track,

he sees the one in front of him. He sees the you and the me, and

he velves into that situation. And so Jesus actually goes and

explores that one line with this young man.

So if we could put up the Exodus passage, we're going to look at

that. So the Exodus passage, actually,

it's another big debate. It's a debate about scenario and

about neighbors. And it's a debate about the

Scripture says if it comes up, that we should.

Let me read it for you. If it's not gonna find it,

resist. Do not seek revenge or bear a

grudge against anyone amongst your people, but love your

neighbor as yourself. Do not seek revenge or bear a

grudge against any one of your people, but love your neighbor

as yourself. I am the Lord your God, so he's

basically gone. Well, that that text says I only

need to care for my people, Maybe my family, maybe my

neighbors, maybe the people in my tribe, which doesn't sound

very Jesus, which is what he's probably trying to catch him

out. And so Jesus is like, how do I

expand this person's worldview? Because Jesus all to us is to go

to all nations. Matthew 28.

So he wants to expand this young man's view.

So Jesus looks this text and thinks, how do I help this young

man? How do I expand his worldview?

And so he tells a story. So we finally got the context on

the story. So let me read you the story as

Jesus tries to help just one person with his obstacle to

understanding what Jesus and who Jesus is all about.

And I think Jesus does that with each of us.

He finds our obstacle and he begins to put things and moments

in our path so that we can overcome it.

Trevor said in his his talk last week that Jesus is more

interested in your character and your comfort, and I think that's

dead right you. You are the center of his

attention, and many of the things that come your way is

because Jesus is trying to get rid of your obstacles.

That's what he's doing with this young man and that's what he's

doing with you and me often. And this story shows how he does

it with a young man. So let's read it and in reply to

the question who is my neighbor? Jesus says a man was going down

from Jerusalem to Jericho. When he falls into the hands of

robbers they strip him of his clothes and they beat him and

went away, leaving him for dead. A priest happens to be going

down the same road, and when he saw the man he passed by onto

the other side, and so to a Levite.

When he came to the place he saw the man he passed onto the other

side. But then a Samaritan who is as

he traveled, came with the man. So man the man was, when he saw

him, he took pity on him, he went to him and he banned his

wounds. He pulled oil on oil and wine,

and then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an

inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two

silver coins and gave them to the Innkleeper.

Look after him, said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for

the extra expense you may have interesting story to do with

someone that's trying to distract you, so I thought we'd

just go for a little bit and explore them in every kind of

parable. You kind of into us yourself.

Who am I in this? Who or where is gold and what is

it trying to say? Let me peel an arrow of the

young. So let's look at the characters

in the story. So we've got the first one is

this poor victim that is has taken a shortcut from Jerusalem

to Jericho. It says he's gone down, but

Jerusalem is there, Jericho is there.

Interesting going down is because Jerusalem is like

standing on the top of Snowden, and Jericho is like being at the

bottom. So it's not going down the map

because it's up the map, but it's going down this huge

incline. I don't think it was as big as

Snowden. So it wasn't a mountain, but it

was going down. And it was called the Way of

Blood. It was a shortcut from Jerusalem

to Jericho. And you could have gone all the

way around and you would have been safe.

But if you took the shortcuts, you cut through Samaria and

Jewish people and Samaritans, they hated each other.

In fact, the parents encouraged their children to spit at each

other and throw stones. The kind of the animosity in

that space was like that. So we can't grasp that.

But as soon as we talk about the victim in this story, everyone

thinks, my goodness, why would he do that?

He must have been desperate or stupid.

That's the only reason you would go the way of blood, because it

was downhill and there were robbers and and people wanting

to get you all the way. And it's going through some area

where Jewish people fought. They're horrible.

And so let's give the victim a name in this.

So it's a choice they have made. It's not that they've done it

unwillingly, though I know many of us, we've been victims from

no fault of our own. This isn't that kind of person.

This is someone that has chosen to to to make a careless choice

in their haste or in their lack of consideration.

So let's call them careless just for lack of things.

As I know some of us are victims and it's not our fault and it is

not fair and it is not right. But in this story, this person

has chosen this. They've walked down this,

they've intentionally gone this way.

And so this victim called careless or reckless.

He walks the way of blood, knowing what's going to happen

and and what happens happens. I wonder if you can relate to

him at all or her at all. Where you you've made choices,

careless choices. Maybe you think you are

immortal. I know I used to say as a

teenage Christian, I'm immortal until God wants to Take Me Home,

which is true, but it also. Is an interesting attitude to

life. Or maybe we've got so used to

our kind of sin that goes on in our life that we're a bit

careless around it. That's okay.

Remember Mark talking about his snake?

That you get out and you look at it and you pet it?

You're being a bit careless, even having a snake.

Sorry if you have a snake. So it's careless.

So our victim has made a choice and maybe you can relate to

that. Maybe you've done careless

things sometimes. If that's true, then you're

you're in this story, it relates to you in some ways.

We can acknowledge this and Scripture calls us.

It says that even though you are young, don't let them look on

you, but be an example in Word and speech and deed.

So the call of Scripture is not to be careless, but to be an

example. So maybe we fall short of that

and that's OK. That's why this story is so

amazing, is it means we're in the story and we look to the end

to see what happens. So maybe you relate to the

victim, but there's there's another group of people in this

store, aren't they? And they're the robbers.

And we're meant to ask ourselves, are we in this story?

Well, I'm in a room full of lovely Christians.

There won't be any robbers in here.

Or would there? Do we, in our deeds, sometimes,

you know, do things that rob other people?

Maybe we're not the boss we hoped we would be.

Or maybe we're not the parent we had hoped we would be in for our

deeds. We kind of steal things.

We say things. Or maybe you've just been a

victim of a robber. Maybe you work with a robber.

That kind of is abrupt and callous.

Should we give the robber a name?

Should we call them callous? Some of those can be a bit

callous, especially when it's just hitting the summer and

we're tired. I'm tired.

I need my summer holidays. Hence me wearing my shirt.

I am convincing myself I am on holiday to get rid of my

callousness. The shirt doesn't work.

But some of those can be a bit callous sometimes.

And if we are, then we're in this story as well, aren't we?

And and scriptures call to us actually is to to live in a way

that it invites a question. Let me read it to you.

One Pizza 315 says. One Pizza 315 says Always be

ready with a with an answer for the faith you have, for the hope

you have. Well, why would they even ask us

unless we we are such an amazing different boss or colleague that

they go, what? Why are you so different?

Well, what Why'd you live like that?

And so the call on us is to be so different that people ask the

question and then we're ready with an answer.

So I'm maybe we're in the story. Some of us can be a bit callous

sometimes and some of us I know aren't.

Who else is there in this story? Well, there there is the the

priest who walks along the road. That's their job.

They are the religious best of the best.

Now we know he's going from Jerusalem to Jericho, so he's

finished work. He's done a stint at work.

He is taking the shortcut time. Not very wise, but he's cutting

along, thinking his religion will save him and he crosses

over. Now some narratives tell you he

crosses over because it's against his religion to touch a

body with blood in it. If he if he touched the body and

blood with it, he needs to go back to the temple and he needs

to get cleansed and he can't do his job for a while and so he

crosses over for the good of everyone else.

But what if we gave his him the name?

Conformity, not conformity, convenience, or comfort?

What if he said he was crossing over because it was against his

religion? But actually, I just want to get

home after work. This is just hard.

I just, I just need to get home. And though he is the best of the

best and he's on his way home, he just wants to get home.

I was. I read the story a while back in

school, and on my way home I realized we didn't have enough

spices for the meal that I was preparing.

And I went up to the coop on the way home just before I got back

and and I I needed those spices to to cook the meal.

And as I went in I got my spices started to queue up and these

two gentlemen in front of me kind of put they, they had a A4

pack of beers I think and they put free back on the shelf and

then stood in the queue and bought something small.

And I was like I think think they've stolen something.

I don't know. I think they have.

And then they go and then they paid for the chewing gum or

whatever it was. And I'm standing in the queue

with the free beers and the one missing there.

And I'm like Kate's going to kill me if I if I say anything.

Because if I if I say anything then they're going to ring the

police. The police are going to come.

It's not your fault. The the the the police are going

to come. I'm going to be an hour at least

dealing with, you know, the police and da da da.

Or maybe I didn't see that and so go and pay and I leave.

You can throw me off the stage now if you want.

On the way from home, work, home, from work, and out of

comfort, I decide to do nothing and I go home.

So I'm in this story, seriously in the story.

And it bugs me as parables are meant to and meant to eat away

and kind of get you to think about it out of comfort of

thinking, gosh, I don't want to put dinner back an hour, I

allowed another person, another shock, to suffer.

So I'm in this story. So the priest cross, it crosses

over. Matthew 16 says take up your

cross and follow me. Discipleship is meant to be

disruptive and I chose to avoid the disruption and just get the

spices. And so I'm in this story and

there's another person, isn't there?

There is the Levite. By right of birth, this person

gets to work in the temple and they're heading home.

They actually work for the priest, so the priest is a bit

further ahead. They probably just packed

everything away and just half an hour behind they've done all the

donkey work and they're falling behind.

They see someone outside the road and they see the priest

further down the hill wandering off.

And they think, why? Why didn't they do that?

Why didn't they help? What?

What's going on there? And should we give their Levi a

name? If we've given the victim a name

called Carelessness, and we've given the robbers callous and

the priest we're going to call comfort or convenience, let's

call the Levi conformity, shall we?

And he thinks, you know what, they didn't do it.

And I I work for them. And I I'm just going to cross

over and carry on as well. And so they conform to an

opinion. They don't even know if the

other person. Has you ever done that?

I think some of the worst things we've ever done in our lives

often are bowing to an opinion that someone else hasn't even

expressed. We just think that they think

that and we dictate the direction of our life based on

what we think someone else thinks.

We haven't even got the evidence And so they conform.

They cross over and scriptures command on that.

It's it's it's bar on that is to be conformed to the likeness of

Christ. Yeah, he forms conforms to the

right as well. So we shouldn't conform to the

praest. We shouldn't conform to anyone

else but Jesus. And in this story, we're given

the bar of where to conform to. And so the Levi crosses over and

bounce to a view he doesn't even know the other person has and

carries on. So we've got one other person in

this story. And so the Good Samaritan,

remember, Samaritans are the enemy.

They are a religious enemy. They are a national enemy.

They probably were. There was conflict over race as

well. So on every level, this is the

baddie who hiss. So Jesus introduces this new

enemy and and there's an enemy, but a very different enemy.

This character is the enemy of carelessness.

He is the enemy of callousness. He is the enemy of comfort, and

he is the enemy of conformity. But he is not our animal, and

the Good Samaritan begins to walk down the road.

Now the Good Samaritan hasn't made a bad choice going down the

road of blood. The Good Samaritan is

intentionally heading down this perilous route with one person

in mind and to rescue them and this, this this enemy of

callousness and carelessness and comfort and conformity.

He heads down the road and I think you can work out who he

is, and it's not you and me. We are not him.

He's coming, looking for those things, to get them out of the

way, to get them out of our lives.

And he comes to rescue us in our victims.

And he heads down the road and he looks for us.

And when he finds us on the side of the road, it says that he,

he, he bandages us up. This isn't just a ticket into

heaven. The Good Samaritan or Jesus

isn't just about bringing a little bit of healing.

It's not just about bringing a rescue.

It is about, he is about taking away all the obstacles that keep

us from him, which he's doing for just one lad in one story,

and makes it into our Bibles, but actually shows how he treats

each one of us. And so he heads down the road,

he doesn't cross over and he begins to heal him up and he

puts him on his back of his donkey and he pays everything

he's done in the past, everything he's done in the

present and everything he would do in the future.

That's literally what he says. He says, you know, take care of

everything. And so all Jesus, all Good

Samaritan place for all those things.

The story is really, I think, not about moral ethics, though,

it's got something about moral ethics about in it.

This story is about the nation and your race, but it's more

than that. It is about a rescue plan from

heaven, of God entering A perilous world to rescue us from

our obstacles. And so he picks him up, he puts

him on the donkey. He takes him and he pays for

everything past and present. And then Jesus says, after

telling a story about himself, he says to this young man, he

says that's 37, let me read it, says, which of these three she

think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the

robbers And the expert of the law replied the one who had

mercy on him, Jesus then told him go and do likewise.

We get the band up. Is that okay?

Thank you. So we see in this sweet little

moment our Jesus that we sing to that has told this elaborate,

amazing story for the audience of 1 saying, I don't know why

you want to justify your callousness or your carelessness

or your elevating your comfort over everything else, or or why

you keep conforming and doing what everyone else thinks.

Yeah, I I don't know why you do that, but I do know my job is to

come and pick you up, heal you, hey, for everything you've done

in the past, everything you've done now and everything you're

doing in the future, because I know it will change you.

So we could argue this story is just about being good and having

good ethics, but it's not really.

In fact, based on my story of just going home from work that

one day, Christians aren't good. We're we're not good.

But we are grateful. We are so grateful that God

comes and walks that perilous route for you and me.

And so there is an inspiration to be good.

There is an inspiration. Jesus says go and do likewise.

So once we've grasped the immensity of what Christ did for

us, then yes, it does affect our ethics.

But firstly we need to grasp what was done for us.

Once we understand that the Christ walked down that perilous

route to get rid of those obstacles, then we begin to

think right. Being a Christian is actually

about, out of gratitude, beginning to be a Good

Samaritan. Thank you very much.