Loving God and Loving Kindness
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25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
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7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[a] with a plumb line[b] in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”Amos and Amaziah
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’”12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,
“‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a pagan[c] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’”
My experience of a Good Samaritan, a Christian Doctor who came to my aid when I was crushed beneath a vehicle at the foot of a ravine in Honister Pass, Lake District, UK. He was a life saver when I was in need.
The parable of the Good Samaritan is a story JC told in response to a question he was asked by a religious lawyer. Luke creates literary drama by writing: "an expert in the law stood to test Jesus."
The Lawyer asks a trick question. ‘How do I get to heaven?’ He hoped Jesus would say ‘all you need is me, simply follow me’ the law is so Old Testament.
But JC questions the lawyer - what does the law say? As we explore this encounter, we will find it is more about the meaning of loving kindness than it is about trick questions.
I wish to present 3 statements about loving kindness:
1. God’s loving kindness is expressed in the Law
2. Loving Kindness flows from Christ's loving mercy
3. Loving Kindness means loving kindness to all.
1.God’s loving kindness is expressed in the Law
When JC asks the lawyer ‘what does the law say,’ he is directing him to the 10 Commandments. The lawyer correctly summarises the law as ‘Love God & Love your neighbour.’ It is a textbook answer. That’s how the lawyer sees the law - a text of rules, moral codes to keep. Disobey and break these and you're in trouble. People outside our churches looking in see a people burdened by rules, when it’s human nature to cry freedom. As Christians we can get drawn into a way of obeying the moral code and we’ll be alright in the end.
For Jesus these 10 Comms is God’s love letter to his people. Not a burden but a blessing to help you live a complete, free, fulfilling and joyful life.’ Obey the first 4 and you will be whole as a person, complete and joyful, obey the 6 and you will know freedom. [Parents/Murder/Adultery/Steal/Lie/Envy] That is Godly freedom - Ps 119:16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. These are not rules but God’s love letter to us. Ps 63:3 ‘Your loving kindness is better than life.’ From Gods loving kindness flows our Loving God and loving kindness to others (& self).
V29 ‘BUT he wanted to justify himself - asked 'Who is my neighbour?'"
This is crucial, he wanted to know where does my responsibility stop?
Where is the boundary on the ‘Love your Neighbour’ rule? What’s the least I have to do to keep the law. Say, 5 mins Loving God, and 1 act per day of loving neighbour but who is my neighbour?
[Illustration] We have DvD at home, ‘Dance Extravaganza’ – a 2 hour long ballet show by children to family and friends. My three girls were in it. Before the show, the dancers were shown the stage and told that there was a red line that they should all stay behind. During the performance of one of the dances, a girl was very concerned that the dancers were stepping over the red line. So much so that she kept warning and telling off her fellow dancers. She was so focused on the rules that she forgot to dance.
The Lord wanted this lawyer to dance – not to keep the rules.
God’s word is His love-letter to us and he wants us to dance. Loving God, spends time in his presence, in his word, in prayer, in praise –‘To be in your presence, not rushing away, this is my desire.’ Acts 17:28 '- ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’
Loving God doesn’t ask what the minimum is. Neither does Loving kindness ask what is the minimum that I have to do to fulfil my obligations. Loving kindness goes the extra mile, loving Kindness does the golden rule (do unto others). The lawyer’s question says more about him than about the neighbour. Is your faith law or love God, justified by grace or self-justified?
Loving Kindness flows from Christ's loving mercy
I’m sure most of us are good people but that doesn’t gain you access to eternal life. That’s justifying yourself. Only by the mercy of God can we be justified and by mercy alone. That is what JC is trying to show lawyer.
We don’t come close to God’s definition of love. When you realise you can never be good enough, you can't make it yourself and cry out to the Lord he says, ‘I will show you mercy.’ When you get this it breaks you/melts you. The kind of love the Samaritan shows has a great influence on the lawyer. When he was asked who was the good neighbour his answer was, the one who showed mercy. In truth, the Good Samaritan is Jesus himself. He stopped with you when you needed him most, had compassion, tended, carried & he paid everything. Before you truly love your neighbour, you must receive from the Good Samaritan Jesus Christ.
Your loving kindness to others will flow from Christ’s loving mercy to you. You will naturally go to the needy, broken, poorly.
[Illustration] Donald’s poor prognosis. ‘I should be OK when I get to the other side.’ [I explained to him, it is not about what you do, it is about what Jesus has done for you. [Do v done]. Donald put his trust in the Lord Jesus who was merciful to him and prepared a heavenly place for him. Let the magnitude of what Jesus has done melt your heart today.
Loving Kindness means Loving Kindness towards all
The Priests and Levite’s stayed safe, passed by. The hero got off his Ass and got down in the dust, blood, dirt and wiped his wounds. Then he brought the injured Jew to a hostel and paid for his rehab. That’s loving kindness. NB Text said he was ‘Naked & unconscious’ which means the hero had no thought about his race or status. If he was clothed he could have been identified as a Jew or gentile. If conscious, he could speak, would have an accent. But unconscious & naked.
v36 JC asks which of the three was the good neighbour. He says ‘the one who showed mercy.’ v37 JC says ‘Go & Do!’ 3 words.
The KJV (King James Version) word for love was charity – it means ‘love in action.’ Charity involves self-sacrifice irrespective of race class, religion.
I believe how we treat the people who are the hardest, the smelliest, most time consuming - indicates whether you are self-justified or a sinner saved by grace, who knows the mercy of God – first hand.
Society today so self-centred that we only want to include in our ‘sphere of kindness’ those who live in the neighbourhood, do the same things. Like the lawyer asking, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ - we hope the answer is someone who looks like me, sounds like me, acts like me, same colour as me. Jesus says no. Go & Do v37. Go where the Lord places a burden on your heart whether it's on the streets of Shanklin or Gaza, to your family or the costliest, most awkward, smelliest person you can think of.
Our loving kindness is to be to all (2 Tim 2:24). Kindness should flow from us because we have tasted God's mercy.
How will we, how will the church make a difference for God? Not by passing by on the other side. Look back in church history and see how we have made an impact. In the 19th Century, Wm Booth & Sallvation Army served and witnessed in the slums. Christians risked their lives to show kindness.
2nd Century letter to Diognetus, titled: ‘Extraordinary people’ - “Christians are not differentiated from other people by country language or customs; They love everyone but are persecuted by all. They are poor and yet make many rich they are dishonoured and yet gain glory through dishonour. They are mocked and bless in return. They are treated outrageously and behave respectfully to others. When they do good they are punished as evil doers, when punished they rejoice as if being given new life. To put it simply the soul is to the body as Christians are to the world. The soul is in the body but is not off the body - Christians are in the world but not off the world.”
How I wish they wrote about Christians like that today. It’s a challenge to us. Ask yourself what can I do in response to this word? Show me a church that pursues kindness to all and I will show you people who make an impact for the Lord in our town and further afield. Pray.
