Mr Rogers. Yes from Mr Rogers neighborhood. When he entered the TV scene, he
seemed to go against what culturally was expected and accepted in that time
where everything there in the sixties and seventies was getting louder and
brighter and more expressive. He was seen to get quieter and steady and he would
focus on things before they were really seen on trend. He would focus on
emotions and mental health and steadiness in Children and had a way of speaking
to everyone and everyone then longed to have a neighbor with a sweet sweater
came, although those puppets were a little scary, just being transparent there.
But he had a way of speaking to people in a way that would reach Children on
their level that would take difficult topics and connected, not just with their
head, but with their heart. And when he asked where some of that came from, he
said also by the way, an ordained minister. And so uh he went and actually said,
when I was a boy, I would see scary things in the news and my mom would say,
look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping And so in the
middle of chaos, in the middle of stress, there are first responders, there are
people that come in and aid those in need. And so that's gonna be the challenge
today is can we look for the helpers? And can we be the helpers to meet the
needs in a culture filled with chaos and in a culture focused on me, could we be
the neighbors that the world really is seeking? And so this morning's message is
simply and appropriately entitled, won't you be my neighbor? Because we are
taking a look at one of the most famous parables in the Bible, the parable of
the good Samaritan. And now just a quick reminder, as we in our series, Stories
of the Kingdom Parables was the primary way through which Jesus preached and
told stories and, and really to describe the Kingdom of God. And a parable is
defined as a practical story that I that Jesus tells to illustrate a spiritual
truth at its core, the word parable means to place alongside or to align. And so
you take an invisible, unknown spiritual truth and you place it next to a
tangible practical, physical story that his context and audience can relate it
to. And you get a little bit of insight into the heart of God and ultimately the
Kingdom of God. So then we said, well, what actually is the Kingdom of God, we
defined it this way? We said that the kingdom of God is the power of God working
through the people of God that the Lord is reigning overall, he is king over
all. And if he is king, we are his kingdom, we are his people. And it's right
now, it's currently more about people than it is a place. And it's more about
the presence of God working in our lives. And so one day Jesus will return and
reign physically over the world. But today, right now, he's still reigning
spiritually over the world. And so that means that when you have the Holy Spirit
in your life, when you believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, that the power of
God is living in you, and now you can live as we pray. The Lord's prayer. Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on on earth as it is in heaven. So we get to live
kingdom down or heaven down as opposed to culture up. So you can bring a little
bit of heaven, a little bit of God into every conversation, every relationship
into the workplace and really into our neighborhoods here. And so today, we have
the story of the good Samaritan. And even if you are non-religious, even if this
is your first time into the ch e entering a church building or maybe tuning into
a message online. Chances are you've heard at least a reference to the good
Samaritan. We now name hospitals and ministries and activities and it's really
seen now as a similar metaphor or even a trope where people get described. Oh,
they did something nice. He was a good Samaritan. She was a good Samaritan. But
where does this actually come from? And what is the original context in which it
was given? Well, we find it here in the gospel account of Luke. So Luke was a
doctor who was a disciple of Jesus. He writes this, he ca he brings everything
together. And so he's writing to a person who's trying to share the gospel with
him and it's seen in two parts. So part one is the gospel of Luke. Part two is
the book of acts same author in both. And so he's writing the accounts in the
message in the ministry of Jesus. Now we get to chapter 10 and here in the story
of Jesus, Jesus sends out the 72. So there's the 12, but then there's even more
believers that sends out the 72. Now, some translations. So 70. So is it 70 or
72? I don't know. But either way, both actually numbers have spirit, spiritual
significance. And so whether your Bible reads 70 or 72 sends out quite a few
people. They go out in a sense, the first mission trip or first service project.
And he says these words in verse nine, he says, heal the sick and, and, and say
to them, the Kingdom of God has come near to you again, it's the power of God
working through the people of God. So he sends the people out and now they are
performing miracles. The blind are seen, the lame are walking. People like with
leprosy are being healed. And so they come back together and they are all amped
up and pumped up about it. If you've ever been on a mission trip before you
understand this concept, you go out and you do these things and you come back
and you talk about it and even if you're not familiar with the mission trip,
same thing happens if you go to any type of camp or any type of sporting event
where your team is out and you come back and you share stories, right? Teachers,
they share stories about their students, students share stories about their
teachers. Like it's just what we do, we go out and we do stuff and we come back
together there and we're like, oh, can you believe? He said this? Can you
believe that she did that? And so they're doing all these things and all these
people are really excited. But then Jesus says this interesting verse that could
be its own sermon. Verse 20. He says, don't rejoice that demons obey you,
rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Now, pause for a second. If if
you cast out a demon, that would be pretty crazy, right? Like I'm, I don't think
that's on anyone's agenda tomorrow. As you go into the work week. But if you
did, like if someone is demon possessed and you said in the name of Jesus come
out and it comes out and you're like, you, you would tell someone about that,
right? You'd be pretty amped up. And so these guys are amped up about what
they're doing for Jesus. But Jesus, even in the ministry, even those who are
obeying God and doing what he tells them to do. It says, don't rejoice simply
that you're doing this rejoice in the fact that you were saved, rejoice in the
fact that you are forgiven, that you get to go to heaven. Don't forget in your
ministry for God that your greatest ministry is to God and from God and that we
have to live continually as people of grace. And so he's preaching on this and
just to give a little bit more background before we jump into it, he's gonna
encounter this lawyer but not a lawyer. And like we think of it, it's a
religious lawyer. Someone who is an expert in the Old Testament. Old Testament,
specifically the first five books known as the Torah, someone who is like the
gatekeeper of is this person following the rules are not. So he's knowledgeable,
he's smart, he's moral, he's got authority. So he's seen as an expert at the
time, he's gonna challenge Jesus and then to illustrate it, Jesus is gonna pick
the least likely person to illustrate his point. A Samaritan. Now, why the Jew
Jews and Samaritans hate each other. Well, back in, let me get the year.
Correct. Yes. 722 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel was ta overtaken by the
Assyrians. So they were disobeying God and God allowed judgment to come in. The
Syrians come and take the northern part of the country and they take them into
captivity. Now, eventually they are freed. But when they come back, those
believers actually marry and intermarry with the different ethnicities and
different people. But more importantly, the different gods. And so they kind of
mix and match religions and eventually create their own style, their own way of
worship. Now contrast that versus the southern kingdom who in eight or 587 BC
was taken captive by the Babylonians. And so this is the story of Daniel. This
is the story of Nehemiah, those things there that and Nehemiah eventually leads
to people back and they hold true to the word of God and to the faith of God and
they rebuild the temple walls. And so they're seen as those that have stayed
true to the faith, stayed true to God. And the Sumerians are seen as they have
given into the world, given into idol worship. And actually, in 330 BC, they
actually said, you know what, we're not gonna travel down to your temple, we're
gonna build our own temple and we have a couple of other accounts in the New
Testament where Jesus, for example, in John chapter four interacts with the
Samaritan woman at a well now in that day, Jewish people would add two
additional days to their journeys to walk around Samaria just so they did, they
could avoid interacting with them. And so this is such an extreme thing. This
goes well beyond any petty pettiness we see in rivalries in sports and things
like of that nature, right? Like, and I love sports and pettiness. Ok. You guys
know this about me like growing up in Ohio, big Ohio State fan when it was
Michigan week, we wouldn't refer and use the word Michigan. We would say team up
north the campus. I didn't go to Ohio State but didn't live too far from there
about an hour away. They would, they would X out all the MS on campus. So like
it would say stadium, they would cross out the m as if that was making a point
where like, I don't even want to use the letters and like this is how bad and
yet we call ourselves the Ohio State because there's confusion. And um and so we
have this and I love the pettiness of sports but people go to extreme lengths.
Ok? And that's cute and fun. But this is way more intense. Ok. This was seen
almost like a terrorist group. This was seen as someone who could infect your
family who's someone who has rebelled against God. And so at least I'm not a
Samaritan to the point where in Luke chapter nine, they're going around
ministering to people and these Samaritans reject them and the disciples go to
Jesus like, oh, they rejected us. Can we pray a prayer of curse on them and
bring down fire like you did with Elijah like they were ready, they were ready
to start war with these people. So this is a hated group. And yet Jesus is gonna
use this as an example for what it means to be a neighbor. So we have this
context. The lawyer comes up, they're coming back from the mission trip. They're
all amped up. Jesus says, hey, it's not what you do for me. It's what I've done
for you or I'm about to do for you. And this lawyer comes as OK, let's see if
this rabbi knows what he's talking about. Verse 25 and behold, a lawyer stood up
and put him to the test saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit? Eternal
life? Like, oh toss him this question and he said to him, what is written in the
law? How do you read it? I love this. Jesus responds to the question with a
question. He understands that on the surface there's the visible part of the
iceberg, what someone says. But then there's the underneath the iceberg that's
way more weighted, has way more mass and it's the tone, it's the intention, it's
the emotion, it's what are they after, right? And he knows that. So he asked the
question. Well, how do you read it? Now? The Lord is like, oh, easy, easy. I'm
an expert and he answered that you shall love the Lord, your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and all your mind and
your neighbor as yourself. So he's quoting Deuteronomy chapter six that's known
as the Shama. They prayed that every single day and you might recognize that
verse because in the New Testament, that's seen as the great commandment, right?
They're attached and then Jesus and John 13 as then love your neighbor as I have
loved you. But this is a very common verse that is the basis for Jewish
religion. But then also the Christian religion. And so he answers like boom
nailed it is that all you got Jesus kind of like this, right? Like really,
you're gonna ask me like the most basic question. I clearly know that. And then
Jesus has this mic drop moment verse 28. He says, and he said to him, you have
answered correctly, do this and you will live. In other words, he's saying
you're not doing this. She says, oh yeah. Yep, you are correct. So why don't you
do it to which all the people in the crowd are going? Oh, because this is like
the most moral educated smart dude. He's probably not using words like dude and,
and he said, OK, now just go do it. Now, why does Jesus say this? He says this?
Because in all reality, no one can that at our core, we are selfish that no one
can actually obey this completely and perfectly that we will mess up any day,
every day. There are people, I guarantee that people that drove here to church
fighting. Let's just be real, right? You were probably arguing in the parking
lot and then you walked in, how are you? Great? You know, but that's, that's
because we're human. It's, it's common, we all do it. And that's what Jesus is
saying. No one can live up to this. That's why I had to come now verse 29. So
he's offended, the lawyers offended and he says, but desiring to justify
himself, you see, that's under the surface stuff that is not the asking. He's
not saying because he genuinely wants to know he's, he's asking this question
because he wants to make sure he's good, right? He says to justify himself. He
said to Jesus and who is my neighbor? This is interesting because then he asked
the question, who is my neighbor? Not because he wants to know who he can help.
He wants to know who he doesn't have to help. He wants to know where is the
circle that I can say, OK, I'm good. I've done enough. I've gone far enough
because I want the rule. We, we hate principles. We love rules, but we hate
principles. Why? Because if we know a specific tangible rule, we can know when
we're succeeding or failing and we can freely judge others. Right? Tell me
exactly what to do. We love your neighbor. Well, who is my neighbor? Because
he's probably thinking he's gonna say the people of God, the Jewish people, all
these things. So he's ready to say because then Jesus explains how anyone else
would explain in that day to which then he gets like done. Did that? Well, you
want me to clean my room? Oh, I cleaned it. What exactly do you want me to do
again? So he could like justify himself and prove to himself that he's better
than everybody else in the room. But Jesus knows the motive and this is the
context in which he tells the story verse 30. So a man going down from Jerusalem
and Jericho, he doesn't give any distinguishing features because this man could
be anybody and this man could be everybody. And it's a very common path. It's 17
miles from Jerusalem to Jericho and known as it's known, it was called The Way
of Blood. It's not a great highway name. But the reason for that is because
there are a lot of turns and maybe some people in this room have actually
visited Jericho and visited the town and it's very rocky. A lot of places you
could hide. And so there was a lot of stealing, a lot of, you know, thieving
that would go on. And so he describes this a very common road that people would
travel. He says, and this man, he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat
him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance, this is an interesting
thing because anytime you say now by chance, that really is a quiet way of
saying the of the provision of God, how many chance encounters have you had in
your life? Chance moments at just the right time and just the right way, just
the right person was there to say or do something, whether it came across for
you or someone else for you. I don't know. But there's a lot of four chance
moments and this is even illustrated in this story. Now, by chance, a priest was
going down that road. Now, if you're going from Jerusalem to Jericho, there's a
good chance he's leaving a church service, he's leaving a time where he was
leading and it says going down the road and when he saw him, he passed by on the
other side. Now, why did he pass by? We don't fully know his motives. Maybe he
had been working all day, he was exhausted, wanted to get home. Maybe he didn't,
he was performing a ceremony. He didn't want to be seen as unclean because that
was a big deal in those days. Maybe he just pretended like he didn't know. But,
you know, he knew because he said he passed by on the other side, he had to
intentionally cross to avoid him almost walking by the road like this. Ok. It's
like when you see that person that you don't want to talk to in public in the
grocery store and you duck into the aisle or, or has no one else done that. Ok.
Now you've all done that. Ok. And so now I don't appreciate it when you do it to
me. But it's ok. I still see you. I'm tall, I can look over aisles, but it's ok.
I'll let it go. And, and so here's the thing. We've all done that. And so here's
the priest, the religious guy, the leader says, no passes by the other side,
verse 32. Likewise a levi another spiritual person. This is really from the
tribe of people that the priest came from. And even the high priest. And so
likewise a Levite when he came to the place and saw him pass by on the other
side, he had intentionally chose to ignore the issue. Again, we don't know his
motives. So, but a Samaritan to which the crowd would go, right? And so they
were shocked by this, another part. Another thing here too, if you see somebody
as attacked, we don't know what time of day it is. But if you see someone
attacked, aren't you? Yes, you're worried for the person. But aren't you
thinking too, I wonder if the robbers are still there, right. This is dangerous.
This is dangerous, right. So, I, I mean, we learn in airplanes, put my mask on
first, right? Like I need to get to safety first right before I can help the
neighbor. And so they might just simply be afraid. We don't know. He says, but a
Samaritan as he journeyed, came to where he was. And when he saw him, he had
compassion. The root word for this compassion is SPG. That's so great. It's a
great word. SPG which means from the depth of my bowels back then when they
would say I love you, right? Or had compassion or feeling it would, they would
go to the bowels because they would, you would feel it in your gut, right? You
don't necessarily see that on Hallmark cards. Now, I love you from all my spla
gma, right? But, but that's what he's saying here. So not only did you have the
Samaritan, the Samaritan had compassion from the depth of his soul from his
bowels. And it says here and he went to him, um he went to him bound up his
wounds, pouring oil on, pouring on oil and wine, and then he set him on his own
animal and brought him to an end to take care of him. And on the next day, he
took out two dear. So this was enough scene to like a month stay, maybe even two
months in an inn or hotel here, it says, gave them to the innkeeper saying, take
care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back,
says, which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who
fell among the robbers? And the lawyer said, the one who showed him mercy and
Jesus said, go and do likewise. Now our morning's message is entitled, won't you
be my neighbor? I thought about titling the message, get off your donkey and
help someone or an alternative of that. But it didn't seem appropriate. But then
again, I also just said it out loud. So maybe that's not great. Um I didn't say
anything anyway. So you have this story and what does it mean? Well, we love to
think ourselves as the good Samaritan, right? But if you have the five
characters, ok, the priest, the Levi, the Samaritan, the man and the innkeeper,
what is most likely our character in the story? The guy on the road that's
actually probably most representative of who we are in eternal reality. Go ahead
and turn to your neighbor and just say you are not the good Samaritan. You, we
don't have to say it angrily, but like, well, you're not the good Samaritan,
that's for sure. Well, see, we love to see ourselves as a good Samaritan. And
that is a great aspirational feel. But the reality is that we probably aren't.
And that's kind of the point of the story. That's why he uses a Samaritan. See,
that's the furthest person from the person asking the question, the last
possible person that you think would do that, he's busting down walls, busting
down categories and saying what you think, you know about religion and love is
not true that in all reality, we are not just left half dead, that we are
completely dead in our sins and transgressions. And whether we did it by our own
volition or we got beat up by the world that is going down a dark path. However,
we got here, we were helpless and we were hopeless until Jesus came and Jesus
came down into our world and he paid the price ultimately with his life so that
when he rose again, we can rise again. So if we had to be a character, most
likely we are the guy on the road. But the second thing, the second person that
probably most closely resembles us would actually be the innkeeper. See, the
innkeeper actually helped the guy as well except the good Samaritan. In this
case, the great Samaritan would be Jesus and brings people in. It's a great
picture of the church to be honest, right? You have the in and Jesus comes and
brings someone at your feet and says, take care of this person and whatever you
give, I will give you more. Now it's a parable. So it's not a direct connection,
but you can see the picture of it. Can't you that as a church, as we receive
people, as Jesus comes in and tells us to take care of the people I bring to
you, to love and to serve others the way that I have loved you. And so we have
the innkeeper and then the people that he's judging or the priest and the Levite
or the people asking the question. And so then really here is the picture that
aspiration to be the good Samaritan to be the great Samaritan to be like Jesus.
The goal if you will is simply this, the best time to meet a need is now the
best time to meet a need is now this is why this is important religion says or
ask the question, who is my neighbor? All right, tell me who's in, who's out?
Jesus says, be a good neighbor. The lawyer asks, who am I supposed to love? Who
is out? We see this in church all the time, don't we? Who's allowed in? Who's
allowed out? They don't have the same um structure as me. They don't have the
same class as me. They don't have the same political system as me. Now don't get
me wrong. Jesus is the only way in truth and life to heaven. The way to Jesus,
the way to heaven is very exclusive. Otherwise, why would Jesus come and die if
Jesus was just a way? Ok. But the group of people that can come to Jesus is so
inclusive because God so loved the world and he gives that invitation to
everybody to receive him. And Jesus had dinner and ate with the tax collectors
and the sinners and the Samaritans. He said, yeah, they get in too whatever
category you think doesn't get in. If they believe in me as Lord and Savior,
they do. And so he bust down walls, he bust down categories and says, you're
asking who is my neighbor? That's not your job to define who is and who isn't.
Your job is to be a good neighbor. That if you have the light with you, you take
that everywhere you go. That's why those disciples and workers could say the
Kingdom of God is near because they were near. They were the image. They were
the blessing. They were the answer to someone else's prayer. You could be the
actual answer to someone else's prayer when you meet the need that is in front
of you. Yeah, the lawyer wanted to know who he could leave out. Jesus lets
everybody in and we're not talking salvation. At this point, we're talking about
what does it mean to be a Christian? You see saved people, serve people,
forgiven people, forgive people that when you imagine you are the man who was
then brought back to life taken cared for in the end? How do you not go and back
into your life? Changed? How, how would you not view Samaritan so differently?
At that point? If you were the man that was changed by him, does that make
sense? Then we've been picked up, restored, renewed, refreshed, made whole, sent
back into the world and said, go and do likewise. Then why are we so quick to
judge? Why are churches defined by who we keep out and defined by what people
have done wrong that we love to feel better about ourselves by saying, well, my
sins not as bad as their sin. When Jesus, it's not about that. Go and be light,
be love, be a good neighbor. Pastor Alastair Begg puts it this way. He says the
attitude and actions of the Samaritan are not held up by Jesus as a way to life.
But the attitude and actions of the Samaritan are for those who are in Christ a
way of life. We don't always have to call things mission trips and Bible camps
and Bible studies. We can just call it Thursday. Does that make sense? Like,
yes, let's do those things. Let's change the world, but you can change it right
now. Pastor and social activist, Martin Luther King Junior, one of his last
sermons he ever preached was on the Good Samaritan and he put it this way. It's
such a great thought. He said the priest and the Levite thought if I help this
man, what will happen to me where the Samaritan came up to the situation and
said, if I don't help this man, what will happen to him? Flips the script. It's
not about identifying the neighbor. It's just being a neighbor, it's being love,
it's being light Patrick Lioni, author and leadership guru who is also a
believer puts it this way. He says, my hope is that someday people won't talk
about servant leadership because that will be the only type of leadership that
exists. OK. I got my doctorate in in leadership and, and studying so studying
theory and traits and different things in there and, and now it's like the
latest phase is this servant leadership craze like, wow. Yeah, like this is
where business is going. And so like, I'm doing this and writing papers and
taking notes and doing a lot of citations, which I'm just gonna be real. I hate
all that stuff but it's good. Yeah, school is great and um and so going and
we're writing all these theories and they, and, and you get to the end of all
like hours and hours and hours and hours of study and like the big conclusion of
all these books are like Serve people. I'm like, hello, Jesus has been saying
this for 2000 years, but it's true, isn't it the best boss that you've ever had
is someone who knew you cared for you who showed it through action first, right?
The best employees and coworkers and friends and family members are those that
put the needs of someone else over their own. This is what it means to lead.
This is what it means to learn. This is what it means to love. And ultimately
this is what it means to live. It's not a way to life, it's a way of life. The
gospel writer John in a letter later in his life, first John four put it this
way. He said in verse seven, beloved, let us love one another. For love is from
God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God and anyone who does,
who does not love does not know God because God is love. In verse nine, it says
in this, the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent His only son
into the world so that we might live through Him. He is the great Samaritan,
right? He met our niece. He came down not when we were half dead, but when we
were fully dead in our sins. And he says in this is love, not that we have loved
God, but that He loved us and sent his son to be propitiation, a fancy word for
payment for our sins, beloved. If God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another that no one has ever seen God. But if we love one another God abides in
us and his love is perfected in us. You know, it's hard to quote, justify or
explain or understand the wind. But when you see it moving through the trees, it
becomes very obvious. Right? The first storm here of monsoon season here in
Arizona didn't bring a lot of rain, but oh, did it bring wind? Right. And when
you saw all the trees moving and swaying, can you imagine going out and be like,
wind's not real. It's calm like you to be seen as crazy, right? To be seen as
crazy at the same time, if the trees were perfectly still. And so like, it's so
windy out, you wouldn't believe it. And you're like, like throwing grass up in
the air. Although we don't have a lot in Arizona. So you try to save it, right?
And like you're like, wait, I don't see anything. Ok? I think the same is true
in the church. If every single little tree in here was moved by the love of God
where we are helping the neighbors around us. You cannot help but admit that.
Wow, God is real. Wow. God is love in a world that judges in a world that hates
in a world that says get yours. Love is love. Get yours. Yours do what you want.
No, God is love, but I don't need to focus on who is my neighbor. I'm just gonna
be one. You see, I get to take the Kingdom of God with me. Everywhere I go in
every conversation, in every relationship on the sports field in the classroom,
in the workplace, in the home, in my marriage with my kids, I get to bring just
a little bit of light, just a little bit of love and I know we're not gonna be
perfect because none of us are the good Samaritan. We get a little bit closer.
He had a little bit brighter. I wanna end today just by giving some real
practical advice that comes directly from this passage is that if you wanna
start, if you wanna help, let me share with you four needs what you need to meet
needs. If the best time to meet Anita is now, what does that look like? The
first thing you need to meet a need is awareness is awareness. Do you see the
needs before you? I wonder how many needs we miss every single day because we
are so busy with our to do list. We get so busy with the things we have to
accomplish. We miss the people that we can impact and the gospel conversations
and the by chance moments that God has ordained for us to interact with because
meeting a need is rarely convenient. You don't schedule that typically, right?
Ok. We got church. Ok, Monday, got that meeting Tuesday. Oh, I'm gonna meet the
need with that coworker. But are you at least aware can you go through life,
eyes, open ears, open, looking and seeking and just, just being aware of the
needs of the people around you or do you have your head down? Focus so much on
self and Samaritan had somewhere to go, had something to do. It wasn't
convenient, it was what was needed and he didn't just stay at awareness. The
second thing you need is you need affection, you need compassion, you need to
feel it in your spg. Are you moved? Right? Or is it? That's too bad? Do you
care? And those first two are great. But the third thing you need is you need
ability. May the Samaritan used his resources and see, I think this is where we
get stuck at times because we live in an age now where it can be overwhelming
because we see every need all the time, right? We see something happening across
the world and we're like, wow. And so we see awareness and we have affection for
it and we're broken for it and we're like, I can't do everything and then we end
up doing nothing. And here's the truth. You might not be able to change the
entire world, but you can change somebody's world. You might not text a word of
encouragement to everybody in your phone. That might seem overwhelming, but you
can text one person, right? You might not be able to pay the neighbor's rent
that month, but you can buy him a a card or your grocery card, right? You can
call him and say, how are you really? We get so overwhelmed like why can't do
everything? And then we end up doing nothing. I don't think call God's called us
to do everything. You know why? Because he did everything. We can be more like
the innkeeper and someone that God places in front of our life and say, hey, I
want you to take care of this person that little nudge. I place on your heart,
that child, that friend, I, I want you to reach out. You might be able to give a
buck, you might be able to give 10. I don't know. But that's why we bring our
pool of resources to join the generosity because this church isn't just for us.
This church is for the world and this church is for this community. That's why
we say for the community all the time. Imagine if everybody in this room gave
something, did something we got off our donkeys and did something every once in
a while, right? Imagine in this community, if they look up and they just see
these trees waving every which way you can't deny the wind at that point is that
last part, the most important one. If you got to take action, if you have
awareness and you have affection and you have ability and then you don't take
action missing something but picture with me for a moment. A world where
everyone in this room, everyone tuning in online went into their week, not
focused on who's simply around them but said, you know what, I'm gonna be the
good neighbor. I'm gonna be the one that serves. I'm gonna be the one to give.
Why? Because Jesus gave everything to me. If we do that, the world will take
notice and revival will come. The best time to meet a need is right now. Will
you pray with me, dear Hely, father? We thank you for who you are and what
you've done that you gave your life for us. So God, I ask now that it can be a
way of life that we can love the people next to us and in front of us and when
love is inconvenient, we understand that we can do what we can, we can use what
we have. We can start where we are that if everyone in this room does just a
little bit gone, we start to reflect your kingdom and your heart and people's
lives have changed. And as we take communion now, I pray that we can remember
all that you gave for us. You as the great Samaritan. It's your son's name. We
pray. Amen.