it's beginning to look a lot like springtime
I'm so confused
well if you have a Bible turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 10
we'll start in the 25th verse and I've entitled this message this Samaritan I
should have entitled it, the lawyer in the Samaritan.
And, you know, it's amazing that we have laws today that are connected to this story that
Jesus tells here in Luke chapter 10.
It's called the Good Samaritan law, right?
And we have those laws that if people come along and try to do good, try to help someone,
that they should be not held accountable if they,
things go south if their intent was for help. But I think that this is really just more about a person
making a choice than somebody who is good. You remember when they came to Jesus and said,
good teacher? And he says, whoa, there's none good but God. And we like to think that we're good
people, don't we? I'm a good person. No, you're not. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. I'm
there's no such thing.
There are people who choose to do good things
and really isn't life all about choices?
It really is.
And especially that ultimate choice
that I believe that God and his goodness
and his mercy gives everybody an opportunity to decide.
are you going to when you're faced with the Lord Jesus what do you choose do you choose him or not
and it's really that simple and I've learned in my Christian walk I've been walking with the Lord since
1985 not very well I should say but it's been a long time and I realize that it is every single day
that I make a choice.
When I get up in the morning, I choose to say, whether I choose to say, Lord, Jesus, help me,
or just go to the bathroom and get a cup of coffee.
And I choose.
I choose to engage in battle with my wife, or not.
I choose to say desperately evil and wicked things, or not.
but just know that if your life is in an absolute tailspin, so much of it is connected to the choices you make.
And so if you want to see the problem, then go look in the mirror.
And so we're going to just read through this story because it's a great story.
I think I've gotten my notes some where here that, and I'll all,
skip over it if we get there, but it's not a parable. This isn't a parable. Most believe that this
is an actual story that actually probably happen, though we don't know that for sure.
But it says this in verse 25, we'll start reading there, read 13 verses of chapter 10 of the
gospel of Luke, and it says, and behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him. This is
Jesus, saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said to him, what is written in the law?
What is your reading of it? And so he answered and said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.
And he said to him, you have answered rightly, do this and you will live. But he, wanting to justify
himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor?
How many have you got neighbors?
Anybody got irritating neighbors?
You know, their dog comes over and just dumps a load in your yard.
You know, and you just have murder in your heart for the dog.
But after the third or fourth time, then the murder in your heart is towards your neighbor.
We all got neighbors, right?
And he says, you have answered rightly.
do this and you will live. But he wanting to justify himself said to Jesus, well, who was my neighbor?
And then Jesus answered and said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among
thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed leaving him half dead.
Now by chance a certain priest came down that road and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Likewise, a Levite. When he arrived at the place, came and
looked and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was,
and when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring
oil and on oil and wine, and he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of
him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out to Denari, gave them to the encumption,
keeper and said to him, take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.
And so which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?
And he said, he who showed mercy on him, and Jesus said to him, go and do likewise.
Let's pray.
Lord, this choice that you put before us every single day, Lord, to choose to be like you, to
like you, to forgive like you, to have compassion, Lord, for those around us. Lord, I just pray that
that would be something that you would supernaturally infuse into our lives, Lord, because it's,
it's like we don't have it. We don't have the capacity to do what we're reading about here in your
word. But I know that you're able, by your spirit, to give us that, to give us that supernatural life
that you've called us all to as your people, Lord, that we're incapable.
in and of ourselves. And that's why we need you so desperately. And so would you speak these truths
to our hearts today in Jesus' name? Amen. Amen. So first of all, it says,
behold a certain lawyer. And that's why some people think that this isn't a parable, obviously,
because this says a certain lawyer, but then Jesus says a certain man. And when he's describing
the whole Samaritan, Good Samaritan story.
And this lawyer stood up, noticed, to test him.
There's always trying to catch Jesus.
One of them, I gotcha.
Have you ever been around people like that?
Gotcha.
You know, they ask, oh, I got a question.
Freaking liar.
You don't got a question.
You want to fight.
I had a guy called me that one day.
Hey, pastor?
I said, yeah.
I got a question for you.
Yeah. And he starts rattling off a couple of scriptures and I says, do you really have a question?
Or he's trying to prove a point? And that's exactly what they were trying to do. They were trying to
prove a point. And this whole deal was about Jesus had never said he was God. And it wasn't on the tip of my tongue.
Then it would have been great if I, if Hebrews chapter one would have came to mind, it didn't.
And so I just yelled at him and hung up.
But that's this guy's motive, right?
He came to test Jesus.
They're going to try to catch him.
They're going to try to do one of them gotchas.
You don't know what you believe.
Have you ever been embarrassed by that?
Right?
Well, you got me there.
I guess I don't know what I believe.
That's why it's really important to know what you believe, right?
We live amongst a bunch of people here in southeast Idaho.
They don't know what they believe.
They just know what they've been told.
And so when you start pressing them on it, they get really frustrated and upset and can't defend what they believe.
So it's really important to be able to defend what you believe.
But he tested him and asked a question.
And I think that maybe in his heart he really did want to know the answer.
I don't about you, but I want to know the answer to this question.
Or he says, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
what should you do to inherit eternal life?
And Warren Wersby says,
it was expected that rabbis would discuss theological matters in public.
And the question this scribe or lawyer asked was one that was often debated by the Jews.
It was a good question asked with a bad motive.
What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
That is a great question.
because a liar hoped to trap our Lord.
However, Jesus ended up trapping him.
And the man calls him teacher.
This word literally means a master or doctor.
Hey, Doc.
Got a question for you.
And he recognized Jesus as one having authority, obviously.
And he asked this question about eternal life.
What about eternal life?
What does that mean?
Does it mean you just live forever?
That you exist forever?
The biblical understanding of eternal life
doesn't necessarily refer to duration of life
because every person, if you really think about it, is immortal.
Right?
We're all immortal.
You just have to figure out which neighborhood you want to spend eternity in.
right either heaven or hell and it doesn't refer to a life that begins only when we die
eternal life is a particular quality of life and that was the Hebrew mindset i want this quality of
life you hear that all the time right when people are are fading and struggling and just man i i i want
not just to live but i want to live well and have this quality of life
And that was the desire of every religious person.
I don't know about you.
But my life really sucked until I gave it to Jesus.
Right?
And it's not that it was that great.
You know, it's not been that glorious afterwards at times.
But I live with the promise of a quality of life for eternity.
And that, to me, is exciting.
I don't know about you, but I'm going,
Yeah.
Because, man, this thing starts giving up.
Oh, you blue hairs, you realize that?
Right?
It's giving up.
I used to could, but I can't know more.
And so a life that comes from God and a life that we can actually experience right now as eternal life.
And that's what Jesus said, right?
I have come to give you life and that more abundantly.
That you can, I think it's just a scratching of the surface of what we're going to truly
experience when we're with him.
And he lets us have a taste of that now.
And the scripture encourages that.
I think I might even read that verse last week or in the Hebrew study, taste and see that the Lord
is good.
He's so good.
So good.
And, but flesh and blood's not, this body's not going there.
I got to leave this thing around behind.
This is the shell, right?
The nut gets to go.
For it says in 1, Corinthians 1550, it says,
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
orders corruption, inherit incorruption. We're in this corruptible carcass right now,
but not for long, right? We get to experience this thing called him the change or the
raptus or in the twinking of an eye, the resurrection. The first resurrection is when we get
this change. The word actually means metaphorsis, something like that.
We metamorphous.
That just sounds exciting.
And if you don't want that,
I would have to say that you're not making a very good choice.
Verse 26,
and good teacher style or fashion,
Jesus answers a question with a question.
That's always really, it's kind of safe, right?
Because you go, oh, it's like a hot potato.
Oh, no, you take it.
Right?
Ask you a question.
No, you can throw it right back at them.
Ask a question.
Answer a question with a question.
And so Jesus knows this guy.
He knows this guy's a teacher, a lawyer, an expert is really what it means in the law.
He says, what is written in the law?
What is your reading of it?
how do you interpret God's word?
Do you read it and are confused?
You know, some people, I have a Bible here.
It doesn't have any notes in it.
It has a few cross-references, but it doesn't have any notes in it.
I like a Bible with notes in them.
Because people a whole lot smarter than me have studied this thing
and can comment on things that I don't understand.
So you need to get a study Bible if you don't have one.
But he says, what?
what is written in the law?
What is your reading of it?
Because the law was perfect.
Right?
So Jesus sent him to the law.
The New Testament tells us that the law is a schoolmaster to drive us to Christ.
In other words, when you read the law, you understand the gravity, the weight of your sin.
Until you know the law, until you know the Old Testament, you have no idea how you have
offended to God. You have no idea why we are under wrath. We are under wrath because we deserve it.
And anyone who doesn't have Jesus, the Bible says, is condemned already. Because the law of God is so
perfect. The problem is you and I aren't. And so this guy as an expert in the law, he says, hey, you know the law.
Surely you know that you've broken the law.
And that was the problem.
People who were expert in the law, they got all puffed up like a toad thinking that, oh, I understand the law of God.
So that puts me a few notches above you.
And that's not true.
That's not true at all.
And so what does it say? And so this guy's pretty bright, pretty sharp fella. So he answered,
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength,
and with all your mind. And your neighbor is yourself. So he merges some Old Testament passages here together.
Right. You don't find these together in the Old Testament. Right? You don't find them together.
Now, Jesus quoted it in this same way in Matthew chapter 22 when they came testing him,
right, about, hey, what's God's biggest commandment?
What's the greatest commandment that God gave?
You remember what Jesus said, right?
Number one, love God, with all your heart, mind, soul, strength.
Number two is like it, love your neighbor yourself.
On these two things, hang all the law and the prophets.
But this guy, not having a New Testament, he merged Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5 with
Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18 that says both of those scriptures.
Deuteronomy talks about loving God and Leviticus talks about loving your neighbor as yourself.
And that's kind of a twister. That twists people up.
Love my neighbor as myself.
And so the guy got it right.
and Jesus commends him in verse 28 and he said to him,
you have answered rightly, do this and you will live.
Simple, right?
Done deal.
Do this and you'll live.
You got it, dude.
But there's that great big butt, right?
We're always right in the way.
Because it revealed his motion.
motives, right? When he says, but he wanting to justify himself said to Jesus, who is my neighbor?
Right? So he's kind of, he's kind of showing his hand here that he's not just got a question,
but he's really trying to put Jesus on the spot, hoping that he's going to trip up.
But to justify himself, this tells us right off the bat that he's not on track because he seemed to be, right, when he said love God and love your neighbor, because we cannot justify ourselves.
There is no justification in self. We can't do it. You and I aren't justified by ourselves.
We're only condemned by ourselves and we're condemned by God because we've sinned and we're.
we've fallen short of the glory of God. That is called self-righteousness, right? And there's no place
for that in Scripture. It's a stench in the nostrils of the Lord when we think we are righteous.
You realize that Scripture says that righteousness is a gift. God gives us this gift of righteousness.
He looks Scotty Brown, your righteousness. No, I'm not, Lord. Yes, you are. That's the way I see you.
I'm giving you my righteousness. You're guilty of righteousness by association.
with the righteous one.
Romans chapter 5 verse 1,
therefore having been justified by faith.
Right?
Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's how we're justified.
This guy came to the one who could justify him,
and he wanted to justify himself,
when the one who could justify him was looking right into his face.
And he didn't see it.
And it's shocking.
It's shocking how many people come and sit in this room,
and they do not understand that.
If that's you, you need to get on your knees before the Lord
and humble yourself and ask him to help you.
Understand what it means to be justified.
Just if I'd never sinned.
Because only he can do that.
And this guy was missing it big time at this point.
Galatians 2.16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
Even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.
or by the works of the law, for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified.
The law was given as a schoolmaster, as a teacher, that want to show you where you need to go.
Not to make you all puffed up with knowledge is what the law was for.
And it's still there.
And it's never going to go away.
And it's even going to be in the millennial reign.
The law is going to be present there.
do this and you will live so he wanted to justify himself and so jesus starts right verse 30
then jesus answered and said a certain man went down from jerusalem to jericho and fell among
thieves who stripped him of his clothing wounded him and departed leaving him half dead
And so he tells this story of this fellow that took a thrash and most believed that this was a Jewish man.
Most Bible commentators all believed because this road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a famous, infinimus for crime and robbery.
And it wasn't surprising to Jesus as listeners that he set the story on this particular road.
Josepha says that that road was famous for its lurking dangers, especially robbers.
That's an extra-biblical quote from a historian.
That it was an infamous road of crime and wickedness.
And so this poor fella got jumped, got thrashed, got stripped,
and no doubt whatever he had, he had no more.
Verse 31, it says, now by chance a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side.
Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side.
They made a wide swath around this guy.
They went the other way.
Have you done that?
I did that last night.
You ever done that when you see somebody, you know, that you think, oh, I don't think.
think I want to. I'm going the other way. I did that with the AT&T salesmen's last night.
We were at Shopko, and they were just so jolly and asking people, and I'm going this way.
My wife walked by him, and she's honest with them. I'm a coward.
But these guys see somebody in need and look the other way. And walk a big wife. And walk a big wife,
swath around him.
I did have compassion because I've been studying for this all week and I saw a guy at Walmart
and I just, I had a little, I think, I got to help the guy.
Right?
It's probably because I've been listening to, I listened to a couple of interviews with
John Burke who wrote the book, Imagine Heaven, Anybody read it?
Imagine Heaven, John Burke.
Anyway, John does these podcasts with the people he's interviewed them.
And they've had near-death experiences, and they've actually had encounters with angelic beings, with the Lord, and just kind of wild stuff.
And one of the things was, be kind to the poor.
And so I'm thinking, oh, dude, I've got to get this guy some money.
It's because I was convicted, right?
Because I usually think, you're just a liar.
You're just going to go buy a half-gallon wine, go get slobber and drunk.
And I'm going to be a contributor to that.
but that's not compassion isn't that judgment right give the guy five bucks if he wants to go get a cheap
bottle wine or a can of beer or whatever show compassion let the lord sort out the other stuff
because it's about keeping our hearts right because now i mean i i look at these people and i
pass judgment and it's like yeah sure lucky i didn't kill you when you had it coming
And somebody showed you mercy.
And I look back and I think there's a lot of times when God showed me mercy.
And so his countryman rejected him, his own people.
Not only that, right, but they were religious people.
Priests and Levites are mentioned here, partly because they were the most frequent travelers on this road.
And partly to show that these were the,
the persons who from the nature of their office were most obliged to perform works of mercy.
You're a Christian and you turn away? You don't help? You don't give?
Some people only show up to take. They don't want to give anything. Feed me. Just feed me.
these guys were obviously able
and when they saw a person to distress
they should have immediately helped and comforted that person
but their inhuman conduct was a flat breach of what the law said
the Bible talks about this, right? It talks about loving your neighbor. And in another place,
the same verbiage is loving a stranger, somebody that you don't know. You know, could you imagine
all of the excuses? Well, I just showed you some of mine. All the excuses, right, that people, you know,
oh, this road is too dangerous for me. I can't even stop to help the man. It's too dangerous
because then I might get attacked.
I was talking to my nephew.
He moved to Twin Cities, Minneapolis.
And he said, so many people now won't stay stopped at a red light.
They'll stop, they'll slow down and they'll look both ways.
There's nobody's coming.
They run it.
I said, why is that?
He says, because of all the people that jump in their cars,
knock their windows out, and jerk them out and steal their cars.
It says people won't even stop at a red light anymore.
They run it, they run a red light for safety.
safety sake. Aren't you glad you live in Idaho? Or, or, he's just, he's just pretending he might be a
decoy for an ambush or I've got to get to the temple and perform my service for the Lord.
Or I've got to, I got to get home to see my family, right? That's more important.
I'm only one person, and the job's way too big.
I can pray for him.
He brought it on himself.
He shouldn't have been walking down here all by himself anyway,
so serves him right.
Well, he never asked for help.
But it's just excuses, right?
We come up with all kinds of excuses.
Jesus told us, he says,
listen, you're always going to have the poor with you.
You're always going to have opportunity to reach out.
Bless them.
Share them, share Jesus with him.
Give him a hug.
You can take a shower later.
I had a guy thanking me for giving him a hug the other day.
I'm like, wow.
I love hugs.
that's giving that's giving just showing the tiniest kindness just a high how are you i tell people
as a boy growing up i i look back at two acts of kindness in my life and it was the year that i was
nine years old from two men and to this day i think about it and i get teared up
And it was just the simplest little thing.
The one guy, my parents had divorced, and so I didn't have a dad, and I was in scouts,
and he was our neighbor, and he was a business owner in town.
He helped me build my pine wood derby.
And I got to thank him before he moved out of the area, and we were actually moving
up here to Idaho Falls at the time, and I got to thank him.
I said, man, thanks.
That just impressed me.
As a nine-year-old boy, you took enough interest in me to help me build my pine wood
Derby because I didn't have a clue how to put together a Pinewood Derby.
The other guy was a roommate of my mother's boyfriend, and this boyfriend showed up one night,
and he was the only one there. I don't know if he was babysitting us kids or what, and I woke
up and I had these most intense growing pains in my legs, and I was crying. He says,
what's the matter? I said, my legs are killing me. He goes, come here. He said, sit down on the
couch, and he started rubbing my calves until I went to sleep.
so simple. I never got it. He's gone now. I don't even know if he knew the Lord.
But it blessed my life. Just that simple little thing. It's just, they just chose to love me. I don't know why.
Because I wasn't, I was kind of a stinker. I wasn't very lovable.
It's incredible.
1st John 13, 3, excuse me, verse 17, says,
But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him,
how does the love of God abide in them?
It's not showing the love of God.
How we treat each other is pretty powerful.
Verse 33.
But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
A Samaritan.
This is anyone who knows any kind of biblical history realized Jesus uses this Samaritan as shock factor.
Right?
Shock factor.
And he uses this guy to,
prove a point and to fulfill what he was talking about over in Matthew, when Matthew
chapter 25, when Jesus says, hey, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty
and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. What motivates people to do that?
Compassion. Jesus, when he saw the people, right, all the people coming towards him,
it says he was moved with compassion, that he had this love, that you and I have to,
you got to choose to act on it and to be proactive, loving people and reaching out.
And so the Samaritan had compassion on this man, verse 34.
And so he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine,
and he set him on his own animal and brought him to an end.
and took care of him.
And on the next day when he departed,
he took out two denari,
gave them to the innkeeper,
and said to him,
take care of him,
and whatever more you spend
when I come again,
I will repay you.
He gave of himself.
Right?
He just gave himself
to ministering to this guy.
Jesus said, I was naked and you clothed me.
I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came to me.
Then the righteous will answer him saying,
Lord, when we see you hungry and feed you and thirsty and give you drink?
And he said, when you've done it to the least of these, my brothers, you've done it to me.
I don't know what it is about just doing something simple like that, helping somebody out.
Have you ever helped somebody out and you were so satisfied?
And then they try paying you for it?
It's just like, no, you're stealing my blessing.
I just really want to help you.
And now you want to pay me for it.
But I could use a little gas money, thanks.
But just in closing, we're going to look at some things that he gave.
And these are some things that we can do.
These are practical things.
First he gave him time. He saw him. No doubt he was maybe under time constraints as he traveled. He gave him his time. He stopped what he was doing. And he saw this need. This guy was wallowing probably in his own blood there. And the Lord says that he took time, that he saw him and he went to him. And he set what he was doing aside. This is what the Lord says, right? Love your neighbor.
as yourself.
We're usually pretty aware when we need help.
Right?
I don't about you, but I need help.
I need a lot of help.
But this guy didn't seem to ask.
It just seemed to he seen his condition.
He went to him and he gave him his time.
Secondly, he used his resource.
He bandaged him.
I don't know if he had to do a makeshift bandage or not,
but then he poured wine and oil on his wounds,
kind of as a medicinal thing.
And he helped him.
And that's what John's talking about.
He says, when you got the ability to do it, then do it.
So he gave him time.
He gave him his resources.
Those are things we can do.
And then he gave him a place.
He made sure he had a place.
If this isn't the heart of God, I don't know what is.
He made sure the guy had a place.
He took him to an end.
He cared for him in the end.
And then he paid in advance so he could stay at the end.
And I couldn't help.
But think of this, having a place from John 14,
When Jesus said, let your heart, let not your heart be troubled. Do you believe in God?
Believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you,
I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself.
That where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, the way I go, and the way you know.
That's why we try to help the mission.
here in town because they reach out so much to people like this who are in need and they give them a place.
Now, it isn't totally unconditional.
I mean, a lot of them have they got to go out.
I mean, they can sleep.
They got a place to sleep and stay warm all night.
I think at 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning they have to go out and start looking for work because you don't work.
You don't eat.
Isn't it funny they're trying to this whole socialist.
idea that everybody will just get a check and you don't have to work, we're all going to be
starving to death. Because if you don't work, you don't eat. That's a biblical
principle. So just be willing. Be willing to give some time. Be willing to give her your
resource, whatever the Lord's given you. Be willing to give a place. Because as you read through
the Old Testament, you see all these people, they would go to the town square there to see if people
needed a place to stay. And they would give them a place to stay and they would feed their animals.
And they took people in.
The New Testament tells us, don't be afraid to entertain strangers because some have entertained
angels unaware. Well, they might be a mass murder. They might.
or they might be somebody that God sends your way to just as a little test for you.
Warren Weirsby says,
by using a Samaritan as the hero,
Jesus disarmed the Jews.
For the Jews and Samaritans were enemies, right?
And it was not a Jew helping a Samaritan.
but a Samaritan helping a Jew who had been ignored by his fellow Jews.
The Samaritan loved those who hated him, risk his own life, spent his own money,
and was never public or rewarded or honored as far as we know.
No, but he stored up treasures in heaven.
Because like I said, God keeps great notes and accounts.
What do you do?
I don't believe this guy was probably better than anybody else, but when he was presented with this man,
he did something that every one of us should do, and that is make a choice to love.
He made a choice to love this man.
Just like God made a choice to love us by sending his son.
In today's economy, think of this.
Think about a Jewish baby abandoned on the side of the road.
Just think with me for a minute, you know, in light of recent happenings.
An abandoned Jewish baby on the side of the road, and here comes a Hamas soldier.
Instead of taking that baby and putting it in an oven or raping it or eating it,
this Hamas soldier gathers up this baby,
cares for it, gives it a place, feeds it, and gives it back to its people.
Because they don't do that.
That's against everything that we see.
This deal going on right now, folks, and the reason I brought this up, the peace deal is a joke.
It is a joke.
There's not going to be any peace over there until the prince.
of peace comes and he sets up his throne there in Jerusalem and he rules and reigns for a thousand
years. That's the only time there's going to be true peace there because they want nothing but to wipe
those people off the face of the earth. They want nothing to do that and they are committed to it
to the death. But think about somebody who hates you comes and blesses you. It's just choosing to love.
I, this last Friday, not this one, but a week ago Friday, or excuse me, Saturday was my wife's birthday.
And my little bride, she's kind of like fine wine, she gets better with age.
And we're sitting there, kind of just kicking back, is a beautiful day, kind of like today.
And all of a sudden she gets this message from her mother.
my wife's family was kind of a train wreck when we met and her parents had gone through a bitter, ugly divorce.
And really there's really been no relationship.
There was more with her dad than with her mom.
And it was Colleen, it was her mother.
And she said, Connie, don't be shocked.
This is your mother.
She leaves a message.
and she said, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, because she hasn't done that.
I mean, most of the time that we've been married.
And she said, and I beg your forgiveness for not being a very good mother for the last 40 years.
I started bawling like a baby.
I just start bawling.
I'm just thinking that had to be so hard for her.
And yet she chose to love her daughter.
And I could tell it. It affected my wife.
And, you know, because I cry when we watch 911.
My wife's not a big crier.
But I'm kind of a just a boob.
Yes, I am a big boob.
But I thought, because I had prayed with her 30 years ago to receive the Lord.
And obviously, wouldn't a lot of fruit and stuff that we had seen.
And the last year or two, she's just been pressing in.
And I can't tell you how powerful that was.
And it was just, it was a choice to speak just a few words.
Please forgive me.
Right?
And that's what it says in 1st John 1.9.
I don't know why people don't take that to heart.
If we confess, he's faithful and just, right?
To forgive us and cleanse us from all in righteousness.
And that's how we get right with God.
And that's how we get right with each other.
Right?
Just a simple, please forgive me.
and obviously it is on the other person to whether receive that or not but that's what he's called us to do
that's the choice that he's called us to make is to choose love love being right that
purposeful commitment to sacrificial action for another does that this
define this Samaritan, purposeful commitment to sacrificial action for another.
That's what this guy chose to do.
Fulfilling the law that we see in Micah, chapter 6, verse 8, we used to sing this song when I was a young Christian.
He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord does require of you to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
I don't know who you would have something against right now, but I'm just telling you, choose love.
Choose to let it go.
Choose to put it behind you.
Choose to pray for that person.
Because I've learned over the years that those that who have been sideways with, if I begin to pray for them,
God softens my heart towards them.
They may never soften towards me, but he softens me.
my heart towards them. And I want to show mercy. I want to be merciful. Because usually I don't
about you. I want to be vengeful. Kill them. Kill them all. But love and mercy is a much better way to go.
Not only that, but in that is incredible freedom.
So that's what the Samaritan chose to do, and I hope that that is what we would choose to do.
Let's all stand, shall we?
And we'll pray.
The prayer team would come up.
You need prayer this morning.
Go up and have them.
Pray for you.
Lord, we just thank you right now for your beautiful word, Lord, this incredible story.
of just humanity.
It includes all of us, Lord.
We can all find ourselves in this
in this story of the Good Samaritan.
Lord, I just pray that you would put a goodness in our heart
that we'd find ourselves doing that,
especially in this Christmas season, Lord,
so many who are just, they just need you.
We need you.
And so, Lord, would you fill our cup
that it might spill over on those around us?
And that by your spirit, Lord,
you would give us that strength to do so.
Give us that discernment.
It just means those who are close.
It doesn't matter how they look or how they smell,
how much money they have or don't have,
but it's somebody who bears you,
how much money they have or don't have,
but it's somebody who bears your image.
So help us to love that image
and show them who you are.
Love, love, love, love.
Christian, this is your call
to love your neighbor as yourself.
For God loves us all.
Lord, go with us.
I was to be like you this week in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Amen. God bless you guys. Have a great week in the Lord.