WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.259 You know this last week. I actually I went to 00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:07.759 Las Vegas for the first time It was for a pastor's 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.380 conference It was it was it was a preaching conference. 00:00:12.380 --> 00:00:15.199 All right, absolutely You know just because I've 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:18.780 stayed an extra two days So now I mean, yes, 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:20.940 that does sound kind of like the setup to a joke, 00:00:20.940 --> 00:00:22.839 you know a priest a rabbi and a pastor go into 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:26.480 a casino But you know, I mean it was it was honestly 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.300 great. I had a chance to you know wander around 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:33.840 I saw a show in the sphere just gigantic it's 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.159 just the giant sphere that's got a screen and 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:38.899 everything like over the whole thing and And 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:40.979 then I went to go see a Cirque du Soleil show. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:43.979 Not that kind of Cirque du Soleil show. It was 00:00:43.979 --> 00:00:47.179 Michael Jackson, all right. Everybody was clothed, 00:00:47.259 --> 00:00:50.920 enough. And yes, I did walk through the casinos. 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:53.719 You kind of can't avoid it. They're like in every 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:56.979 single hotel. But, you know, I was able to resist 00:00:56.979 --> 00:00:59.560 because I saw it was like a $100 buy -in for 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:02.240 most of them. I'm like, yeah, I'll just go get 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:05.319 a Gordon Ramsay hamburger and I'll be okay. So 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:08.719 it was pretty good hamburgers. But while I was 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:12.519 in town, I went to go see some friends of ours, 00:01:12.659 --> 00:01:15.379 the Planzas. They were the ones who actually 00:01:15.379 --> 00:01:19.120 owned my house before me. And it was wonderful. 00:01:19.299 --> 00:01:22.060 I'd get a chance to see them. And remembering 00:01:22.060 --> 00:01:25.640 that they went out of their way to make sure 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:29.019 that I'd be able to get into their home. At a 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:31.359 time, four years ago, whenever all the prices 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:34.689 were skyrocketing and they didn't skyrocket with 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:37.530 it, and in fact, were even willing to go just 00:01:37.530 --> 00:01:40.829 down a little bit so that I could get in, because 00:01:40.829 --> 00:01:43.530 they cared. And technically, even though we were 00:01:43.530 --> 00:01:46.109 never neighbors, because, well, I moved in when 00:01:46.109 --> 00:01:49.170 they moved out, they treated me like someone 00:01:49.170 --> 00:01:51.609 that mattered, like someone that they wanted 00:01:51.609 --> 00:01:54.950 to make sure that they cared for. But when we 00:01:54.950 --> 00:01:57.329 were talking, we were talking about our next 00:01:57.329 --> 00:02:00.239 door neighbor. And she's just this really nice 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.420 lady. She's been there for any number of years. 00:02:03.099 --> 00:02:06.079 And she lost her husband some years ago. But 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:08.639 really, every time that I'd come out and every 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:11.080 time that we'd see her is that she's the sweetest 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:14.000 lady and that she's there with her kids and her 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.900 grandkids and always an opportunity to be able 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:19.819 to just check on each other and just care. But 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:23.979 you know... When somebody is is sharing your 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:26.939 your faith and sharing your outlook on life And 00:02:26.939 --> 00:02:29.259 and even oftentimes if somebody you know looks 00:02:29.259 --> 00:02:33.240 like us it can be oftentimes be easy To see ways 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:36.680 to care and to reach out But what if my neighbor 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:40.000 didn't share my values and my beliefs? What if 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.500 my neighbor was difficult or rude? Would it be 00:02:45.500 --> 00:02:48.419 tempting to look at them and to say that that's 00:02:48.419 --> 00:02:52.610 a bad neighbor? Or more than that, would I still 00:02:52.610 --> 00:02:55.590 be willing to say that that neighbor is worthy 00:02:55.590 --> 00:02:59.870 of being called my neighbor? See, that's the 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:01.590 question that we want to have at the heart of 00:03:01.590 --> 00:03:06.990 today's message. Who is my neighbor? And more 00:03:06.990 --> 00:03:11.110 importantly, what kind of neighbor am I willing 00:03:11.110 --> 00:03:15.530 to be? You know, as Romans 13 10 says, love does 00:03:15.530 --> 00:03:17.789 no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the 00:03:17.789 --> 00:03:22.400 fulfillment of So, as we think about our neighbors, 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:26.120 we may be thinking, well, I've never done any 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:30.120 harm to my neighbor, but if we did do something 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:33.759 wrong toward the people around us, would we even 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:37.860 be willing to admit it, even to ourselves? You 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:41.000 know, before Jesus ever told the parable of the 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.310 Good Samaritan, God had already laid out a clear 00:03:44.310 --> 00:03:47.069 picture of what it meant to love your neighbor. 00:03:47.430 --> 00:03:50.150 In Leviticus 19, which we're looking at, we're 00:03:50.150 --> 00:03:53.689 given a series of commandments. Not just about 00:03:53.689 --> 00:03:56.169 rituals and sacrifice and all the other stuff 00:03:56.169 --> 00:04:00.610 we see in Leviticus, but about justice, generosity, 00:04:01.490 --> 00:04:05.590 and everyday decency. Things that we oftentimes 00:04:05.590 --> 00:04:08.250 skip over. And they're all wrapped around the 00:04:08.250 --> 00:04:11.479 same core idea. Do no harm to your neighbor. 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:15.840 Do good when you have the power to do it. Let's 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.680 break it down a little bit, and no, not like 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:23.160 white boy dancing. Verses nine through 10 talk 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:26.759 about leaving the edges of your field unharvested. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:30.740 In other words, you're not trying to get every 00:04:30.740 --> 00:04:33.620 single little piece, no matter what it takes. 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:35.980 We might be thinking that they're talking about 00:04:35.980 --> 00:04:39.790 wasting resources, but God is saying, Don't grab 00:04:39.790 --> 00:04:43.290 every scrap for yourselves because there are 00:04:43.290 --> 00:04:46.129 other people who may be able to benefit from 00:04:46.129 --> 00:04:49.029 the leftovers. You know, sometimes we're so desperate 00:04:49.029 --> 00:04:52.670 to hold on to what we think is ours, even those 00:04:52.670 --> 00:04:55.110 little extra pieces, the ones that, let's be 00:04:55.110 --> 00:04:58.709 honest, we don't really need. But we forget that 00:04:58.709 --> 00:05:01.629 those scraps could mean everything to somebody 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:06.129 else. When we hoard what might not actually help 00:05:06.129 --> 00:05:09.329 us, but it could be a lifeline, to someone else. 00:05:10.189 --> 00:05:13.569 Did you really need to sell that couch for $50 00:05:13.569 --> 00:05:16.949 online that you've had for 20 years when you 00:05:16.949 --> 00:05:21.110 know that the family just starting out next door 00:05:21.110 --> 00:05:24.089 doesn't really have any furniture right now? 00:05:24.930 --> 00:05:28.750 Or verses 11 through 12. They call out lying 00:05:28.750 --> 00:05:32.569 and stealing and using God's name as cover for 00:05:32.569 --> 00:05:36.410 our selfishness. It's a spiritual version of 00:05:36.410 --> 00:05:38.589 slapping a Jesus bumper sticker on something 00:05:38.589 --> 00:05:41.629 and trying to act like it's holy Which is one 00:05:41.629 --> 00:05:43.930 reason I don't put a bumper sticker on my car 00:05:43.930 --> 00:05:48.250 in Houston freeway traffic, you know Oftentimes 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:52.129 we can end up doing things that are underhanded, 00:05:52.129 --> 00:05:56.230 but then we act like well I'm just being blessed 00:05:56.230 --> 00:05:59.209 by God. This is what God would want. This is 00:05:59.209 --> 00:06:02.350 what's right and We're actually just doing what 00:06:02.350 --> 00:06:06.730 we would want Sometimes we're even acting as 00:06:06.730 --> 00:06:11.170 if being religious or acting like we're moral 00:06:11.170 --> 00:06:16.370 allows us to hide behind God as his people when 00:06:16.370 --> 00:06:20.970 our actions say otherwise. Even if we're sitting 00:06:20.970 --> 00:06:23.170 there looking at our taxes saying, you know, 00:06:23.170 --> 00:06:25.769 I could manipulate this in this way, when in 00:06:25.769 --> 00:06:28.589 reality we know that it's not really true. We're 00:06:28.589 --> 00:06:30.670 not really writing off something that really 00:06:30.670 --> 00:06:34.769 was for a business. Or even more than that, going 00:06:34.769 --> 00:06:37.189 further and saying, well, God is just blessing 00:06:37.189 --> 00:06:40.250 me, and that I'm so intelligent to know how to 00:06:40.250 --> 00:06:45.230 do this. Or even verses 13 through 14. Don't 00:06:45.230 --> 00:06:49.589 take advantage of those who can't stop us. You 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:51.769 know, the times whenever we know that we can 00:06:51.769 --> 00:06:53.490 get away with something, and we're like, well, 00:06:53.490 --> 00:06:55.629 this is a little more convenient for me, so I'd 00:06:55.629 --> 00:06:59.250 prefer that. The person who was underpaid for 00:06:59.250 --> 00:07:01.939 a job, when you know that they actually did put 00:07:01.939 --> 00:07:05.180 forth the effort into it, or the person we ignore, 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:08.560 or the one that we don't help because there's 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.579 no reward for it in us. And we can easily tell 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:13.800 ourselves that, well, we've done nothing wrong. 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:17.879 Well, I haven't broken the law as if legality 00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:22.519 is the same as morality. We know that we could 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:26.540 just delay paying off this person even though 00:07:26.540 --> 00:07:29.360 we know that They need the money just as well 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.040 as anyone else does. We just didn't want to have 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:35.779 to take it out of our savings. And verses 15 00:07:35.779 --> 00:07:39.279 through 16 shift to how we use systems and narratives 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:41.839 to get what we want, whether we're trying to 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:43.680 manipulate the legal system or just the court 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:46.600 of public opinion, and we're trying to get others 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:51.680 to somehow do our dirty work for us. We're even 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.500 willing to bend the truth or amplify things that 00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:58.310 we know aren't really real. to gain power or 00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:01.730 money or influence. When we know that we could 00:08:01.730 --> 00:08:05.029 just go to the person and deal with it, but instead 00:08:05.029 --> 00:08:08.189 we're going to talk about them and not even give 00:08:08.189 --> 00:08:11.790 them that chance. See, the times whenever we 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:15.269 want to use our social media or our gossip in 00:08:15.269 --> 00:08:18.050 order to ruin someone's reputation, we're not 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:23.819 really venting. We're just hurting someone. or 00:08:23.819 --> 00:08:28.199 even looking at verses 17 through 18 about not 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:30.620 hating your brother in your heart. You know, 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:32.200 let's be honest, there are times whenever we 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:34.919 feel that we've been wronged. There's a lot of 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:37.460 resentment that can be there. You know, we may 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:40.340 be saying, well, I'm just saying I wish that 00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:44.279 I had some justice done for me, but is that necessarily 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:49.100 what God is seeing? Are we ignoring that maybe 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:51.320 it turns out the other person felt wronged by 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:56.019 us? Or even more than that, even if we were wronged, 00:08:56.360 --> 00:09:00.259 if God is really the judge, then why aren't we 00:09:00.259 --> 00:09:03.639 letting Him sort it out? We may keep saying, 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:06.980 I've forgiven that person, and yet somehow it 00:09:06.980 --> 00:09:12.539 comes up over and over and over. You know, all 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:15.799 these verses, they're all trying to get around 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:19.519 this one idea. Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:23.350 I mean, sometimes, We harm our neighbor, we don't 00:09:23.350 --> 00:09:27.250 even realize it. Sometimes, let's be honest, 00:09:27.889 --> 00:09:29.789 we actually do know exactly what we're doing. 00:09:30.610 --> 00:09:32.850 We just don't want to admit it. But either way, 00:09:32.970 --> 00:09:37.870 the question remains, how can we do better? And 00:09:37.870 --> 00:09:40.809 that points us to what Jesus is trying to show 00:09:40.809 --> 00:09:44.029 us in many ways with the Good Samaritan. You 00:09:44.029 --> 00:09:47.549 know, we know it, and maybe we know it a little 00:09:47.549 --> 00:09:50.539 too well. We hear Good Samaritan. We immediately 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:52.820 know what it what it means, but sometimes we 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:56.120 know a story so well we Stop listening to what 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:59.080 it's actually saying You know, let's let's lean 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:01.480 in just a little bit There's a man who is beaten 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.519 and half dead on the side of the road and two 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:10.139 men pass by a priest and a Levi and these are 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:12.960 religious leaders These are the ones who are 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:16.019 meant to represent God's presence and blessing 00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:18.419 among the people. They're supposed to welcome 00:10:18.419 --> 00:10:21.500 people into the presence of God for sacrifice 00:10:21.500 --> 00:10:26.600 and for worship. And yet, even though they should 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:30.460 be the ones you would think would love and would 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:36.159 care, they don't. They see them, but they cross 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.179 over to the other side. The text doesn't spell 00:10:39.179 --> 00:10:42.320 out why, but we could only imagine. Maybe they 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.480 were in a hurry. Maybe they were afraid that 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:47.379 the man was actually dead and they didn't want 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:51.259 to risk being unclean while they had jobs to 00:10:51.259 --> 00:10:54.720 do. They just didn't want the hassle, maybe. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:59.120 They crossed over because how easy is it that 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:01.860 in our minds, that if we can somehow just separate 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:04.460 ourselves, then we don't have to actually do 00:11:04.460 --> 00:11:07.649 anything. They keep going. They stay technically 00:11:07.649 --> 00:11:12.610 clean, but spiritually, they walk right past 00:11:12.610 --> 00:11:16.710 the heart of God. You know, this part of the 00:11:16.710 --> 00:11:18.750 message, you know, it reminds me of those moments, 00:11:18.769 --> 00:11:21.049 you know, whenever we see someone struggling 00:11:21.049 --> 00:11:25.750 to carry groceries and we just, well, you know, 00:11:25.789 --> 00:11:28.950 I don't want to, you know, worry them or bother 00:11:28.950 --> 00:11:30.990 them. You know, maybe they don't want anybody 00:11:30.990 --> 00:11:34.720 touching them. and then we see the oranges falling 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:39.500 out of the bag. Or the times whenever someone's 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:41.620 trying to merge into traffic, they've had the 00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:44.539 blinker on for a while, but we decide we're going 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:47.240 to go in, rev on up and, you know, stop them 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:50.080 from it because how dare they get into our lane. 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:53.620 You know, the times whenever we're deliberately 00:11:53.620 --> 00:11:57.039 looking in the other direction because of what 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:00.080 we don't want to see. If you don't make eye contact, 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:04.490 it's like you're off the hook, right? as if your 00:12:04.490 --> 00:12:06.730 moral obligation is canceled by your ability 00:12:06.730 --> 00:12:09.210 to act like you didn't see it. And that's priest 00:12:09.210 --> 00:12:12.889 and Levite level of avoidance there. And it's 00:12:12.889 --> 00:12:17.610 kind of funny, except it's kind of true. And 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:22.289 then comes the Samaritan, the outsider. The one 00:12:22.289 --> 00:12:25.570 considered impure by the religious establishment. 00:12:25.830 --> 00:12:29.309 Samaritan was not a good word in the scripture. 00:12:30.190 --> 00:12:34.450 It was used by the Jewish community to show the 00:12:34.450 --> 00:12:38.570 outsiders. Samaritan, people from Samaria, was 00:12:38.570 --> 00:12:42.429 turned into a bad word. See, the Samaritan though, 00:12:42.429 --> 00:12:46.070 he sees the man. And instead of calculating the 00:12:46.070 --> 00:12:52.129 cost, he crosses the road to him. He helps, he 00:12:52.129 --> 00:12:56.730 gives, he stays. The move goes from not harming 00:12:57.400 --> 00:13:00.639 to actively helping. From avoiding trouble to 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:03.840 becoming a blessing. From asking what happens 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:07.960 to me if I stop, to asking what happens to him 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:13.440 if I don't. And it hits today. Because we live 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:15.279 in a world where we've gotten really good at 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:19.120 defining who does and doesn't count as our neighbor. 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:22.820 And if we can find a technicality, a zip code, 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:25.539 a background, a legal status, a lifestyle, we 00:13:25.539 --> 00:13:28.200 can convince ourselves that we don't have to 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:31.799 help, that it's not our issue. And yes, I know 00:13:31.799 --> 00:13:34.320 you caught what I put in there, third in that 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:36.980 list, as if I were trying to somehow be sneaky, 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:41.039 because pastors apparently have to be sneaky 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:43.179 to convince you to look at people without finding 00:13:43.179 --> 00:13:46.720 an excuse to get out of loving them. But Jesus 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:50.820 doesn't give us that out. So I can't either. 00:13:52.199 --> 00:13:54.220 Our neighbor is the person right in front of 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:57.299 us. The person in the ditch. The person that 00:13:57.299 --> 00:13:59.539 God has placed in our path. We might not agree 00:13:59.539 --> 00:14:02.500 with them. We might not understand them. We might 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:04.940 not even be afraid of the implications of helping. 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:08.899 But Jesus doesn't call us to caution. He calls 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:12.539 us to compassion. It doesn't mean we throw away 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:17.220 wisdom. It does mean we throw away indifference. 00:14:18.220 --> 00:14:21.830 Because love doesn't look for loopholes. So let 00:14:21.830 --> 00:14:25.129 me ask you this, who have you been avoiding because 00:14:25.129 --> 00:14:28.629 it might be inconvenient to care? Who have you 00:14:28.629 --> 00:14:31.850 crossed the road to avoid physically, emotionally, 00:14:32.129 --> 00:14:35.210 socially, spiritually, and what would it take 00:14:35.210 --> 00:14:40.850 to get you to cross back over? First John 4 11, 00:14:41.169 --> 00:14:44.690 beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to 00:14:44.690 --> 00:14:47.710 love one another. So let's go back to that last 00:14:47.710 --> 00:14:50.909 question. What would it take for you to cross 00:14:50.909 --> 00:14:55.629 back over, to stop avoiding and to start loving. 00:14:56.809 --> 00:15:00.090 Let's take a closer look at the one person in 00:15:00.090 --> 00:15:03.429 Jesus' story who did cross over, the Samaritan. 00:15:04.090 --> 00:15:07.190 See, it may not land with full weight today, 00:15:07.690 --> 00:15:11.710 but it would have hit hard in Jesus' time. Because 00:15:11.710 --> 00:15:14.110 Samaritans, they weren't just the outsiders, 00:15:14.210 --> 00:15:17.559 they were enemies. They were seen by the Jewish 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.620 people as spiritual traitors. They were the impure 00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:24.480 ones, the religiously heretical, because Samaria 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.220 and the northern part of Israel, they had their 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:30.779 own altar areas. They had their own spots. They 00:15:30.779 --> 00:15:33.580 worshipped in ways that were not connected to 00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:38.960 the true Jewish community. And therefore, as 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.980 they also married to people in the surrounding 00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:46.360 lands, they weren't seen as pure enough. The 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:49.740 name Samaritan wasn't neutral. It was a racial 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:54.580 slur. They were half -breeds, deliberately and 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:58.200 offensively, to mark them as less than. And these 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:01.860 were people, yeah, they shared ancestry, but, 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:04.740 well, y 'all married those other people. They 00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:06.419 worshiped at the wrong place. They had their 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:08.700 own version of faith. They were seen as people 00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:13.039 to be avoided, dismissed, rejected, and yet it's 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:16.889 this man. The one you'd never expect because 00:16:16.889 --> 00:16:22.850 what good are they who chooses to stop? Who chooses 00:16:22.850 --> 00:16:29.190 to help? Who chooses to love? Like people crossing 00:16:29.190 --> 00:16:31.889 into our state just to help us find our lost 00:16:31.889 --> 00:16:33.809 children despite everything we've done to label 00:16:33.809 --> 00:16:37.110 them over the years and Here's the key the Samaritan 00:16:37.110 --> 00:16:39.470 doesn't get caught up in religious posturing. 00:16:39.470 --> 00:16:41.970 He's not worried about ceremonial cleanliness 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:45.220 He's not calculating risk or social consequence. 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:48.179 He's not looking for a theological loophole to 00:16:48.179 --> 00:16:52.120 justify walking away. He just sees a person in 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:56.000 need and moves toward him with compassion. And 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:59.500 that right there, that's what righteousness looks 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:03.320 like. Because sometimes we use our own morality 00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:08.349 as a shield to protect our comforts. We use our 00:17:08.349 --> 00:17:10.710 religion as an excuse not to love. We say things 00:17:10.710 --> 00:17:14.349 like, it's complicated, and it's not my problem, 00:17:14.490 --> 00:17:17.710 or they don't belong here. All while the person 00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:21.410 on the side of the road is bleeding out. But 00:17:21.410 --> 00:17:23.349 the Samaritan sees a person, not a category. 00:17:24.490 --> 00:17:26.609 The Samaritan sees a neighbor, not a nuisance. 00:17:27.710 --> 00:17:29.809 The Samaritan sees an opportunity, not a threat. 00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:33.509 So how much more should we, the people of God, 00:17:33.829 --> 00:17:37.420 do the same? And Jesus asks the neighbor that 00:17:37.420 --> 00:17:41.579 flips everything on its head, who was the neighbor 00:17:41.579 --> 00:17:44.960 to the man? Not who counts as my neighbor that 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:52.240 I'm stuck with, but who became a neighbor. You 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:57.940 hear that? Became. Because being a neighbor isn't 00:17:57.940 --> 00:18:00.880 something we inherit. It's something we choose 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:05.059 to become. Here's the question for us. Do we... 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.599 want to be the neighbor. Do we see it as a burden? 00:18:09.700 --> 00:18:12.839 Do we see it as a privilege? Because the world 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:15.519 around us that's falling apart, it's not going 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.079 to change by self -protection. It's going to 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:21.920 be changed by sacrificial love, by people who 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:24.079 cross boundaries, by people who break prejudice, 00:18:24.579 --> 00:18:27.740 who love not just when it's easy, but especially 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:33.170 when it's hard. We keep asking why the world 00:18:33.170 --> 00:18:35.309 is so broken, why people don't know Jesus, but 00:18:35.309 --> 00:18:37.809 maybe it's because we stopped looking for ways 00:18:37.809 --> 00:18:41.650 to be their neighbor. Maybe it's because we've 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:45.250 made loving people optional. But Jesus says the 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:47.150 neighbor, the true neighbor, is the one who stops, 00:18:47.950 --> 00:18:51.450 the one who serves, the one who loves, even when 00:18:51.450 --> 00:18:54.509 it costs, even when it's uncomfortable, even 00:18:54.509 --> 00:18:57.450 when the person is offensive to us, or maybe 00:18:57.450 --> 00:19:01.910 we're offensive to them. Even when your pastor 00:19:01.910 --> 00:19:03.930 is afraid of how many people don't want to hear 00:19:03.930 --> 00:19:08.430 this. It is a privilege to be a neighbor. So 00:19:08.430 --> 00:19:13.390 what's stopping us? You know, this is what we 00:19:13.390 --> 00:19:16.569 see in Christ. Christ has done everything to 00:19:16.569 --> 00:19:19.690 be our neighbor. Even when we were His enemies 00:19:19.690 --> 00:19:23.210 because of sin. And yes, I am using the term 00:19:23.210 --> 00:19:25.829 neighbor. Yes, He is our Savior. Yes, He is Lord 00:19:25.829 --> 00:19:28.750 of all. I'm not trying to minimize that for one 00:19:28.750 --> 00:19:31.079 second. But the same heart we've been talking 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:33.640 about, the heart that crosses the road, the heart 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:36.079 that refuses to look away, the heart that sees 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:40.579 worth in the wounded, is the very heart of Christ. 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:43.640 Because Christ wants to be our neighbor, not 00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:46.440 because that's nothing, but because it's everything 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:49.380 from someone who dwells in the Kingdom of God 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:54.940 and welcomes us into it. It's the miracle, the 00:19:54.940 --> 00:19:57.640 mystery that the Son of God looked at us not 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:00.259 just as lost sheep, but as neighbors worth loving. 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:03.779 Even when we were His enemies because of sin, 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:08.380 He didn't walk away, He came closer. He made 00:20:08.380 --> 00:20:12.279 room. He gave everything, even His life, to bring 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:16.420 us into His family. Not just to be next door, 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.150 but to be inside. Jesus looks at broken people, 00:20:20.230 --> 00:20:22.809 people like us, let's be honest, we are broken. 00:20:23.009 --> 00:20:25.349 And he says, I want you in my kingdom, I want 00:20:25.349 --> 00:20:28.710 you in my home, I want to live with you. And 00:20:28.710 --> 00:20:31.730 if that's the heart of Christ, then what greater 00:20:31.730 --> 00:20:33.710 privilege do we have than to reflect that same 00:20:33.710 --> 00:20:36.809 heart to others? To look at someone, even someone 00:20:36.809 --> 00:20:39.089 we disagree with or feel distant from or have 00:20:39.089 --> 00:20:42.069 labeled as other and say, I want the privilege 00:20:42.069 --> 00:20:45.230 of loving you. I want the privilege of seeing 00:20:45.230 --> 00:20:48.359 you. I want the privilege of being your neighbor, 00:20:48.859 --> 00:20:50.980 because that's how the world actually changes. 00:20:51.819 --> 00:20:55.019 Not with arguments, not with excuses. With love. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.240 Real love. Cross the road love. Love that doesn't 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:01.599 make excuses to avoid people, but searches for 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:05.640 opportunities to bless them. There are many voices 00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:09.500 around us that give us excuses. Priestly logic, 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:12.859 Levite caution, theological technicalities, political 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:15.430 talking points. But there's one voice that cuts 00:21:15.430 --> 00:21:19.609 through it all. It's the voice of Christ. The 00:21:19.609 --> 00:21:22.769 one who came as the unexpected neighbor. The 00:21:22.769 --> 00:21:26.089 one who, like the Samaritan, was rejected, misunderstood, 00:21:26.430 --> 00:21:30.009 and even offensive. And yet, He's the one who 00:21:30.009 --> 00:21:31.630 showed us what the Father's love really looks 00:21:31.630 --> 00:21:36.630 like. And now He says to us, go and do likewise. 00:21:38.190 --> 00:21:44.279 But not just do. Go and be likewise. Be the neighbor 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:47.240 Christ has made you to be because he was the 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:49.400 neighbor who crossed heaven to love you first 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:56.759 so go and love like that as Hard as it may be 00:21:56.759 --> 00:21:57.779 Thanks be to God