The apostle Paul once said in Philippians 4:12, “12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.” And oh brother . . . isn’t that true! You and I both know what it’s like to have a wallet full of cash, and then other times we don’t even two nickels to rub together. I know that I’ve talked about it before, but the best example I can think of this in our lives was when we were at seminary.
During our time at seminary I didn’t have anything that could reasonably be called a “job.” Without a job, of course, there’s no such thing as a steady paycheck, right? So the single-most comforting thing that modern man knows—the knowledge that payday was only a few days away—was something that we didn’t know for three years. It was a time that could have been very, very dark indeed.
But strangely enough, those years without any discernible source of income were, in fact, filled with light and hope. And the simple reason is this: God’s people provided for us. Every moment we lived, we lived on the charity of others. And while that was a very humbling thing, it was also something that personally taught me a deep truth: God works through people to provide for people.
But soon we began to look around, and at a place where we were all in the same boat it didn’t take long to find someone who needed a bit of help. And so even as we continued to receive gifts from God’s people, we also began to take a portion of God’s gift to us and use it as His gift to others. And while it was certainly always a joy to give thanks to God when we received a gift from one of His people, it was an even greater joy to realize that we could share those gifts with our fellow seminarians. We had the most fun sneaking around at night, dropping a little envelop or a gift card on someone’s doorstep or their car window . . . and then we’d ring the doorbell and run away! And then sure enough, some time later our friends might relate how they had received an anonymous gift, and we’d rejoice together at how God had brought light and hope into our lives through His people.
Who are the people you know that live in the darkness of need? There’s a place on your interactive sermon sheet for you to make a list; a list of people that you know, that you can think of, that have some need in their lives that they cannot fill on their own. They have a darkness, but no light to dispel it. Think about those people: are they your neighbors? Are they your family? Are they people you hear about on the news? (The people involved with the terrible shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech come to mind.) Think about those people—your neighbors, your family, others you may not know personally but still know of a need—and then write their names down on your interactive sermon sheet.
What can you do about their darkness? They might have some significant—maybe even overwhelming—needs . . . how can you help? For that matter, where in the heck do you even get started?
Luke 10:25-29, “25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"”
Now you all know the story that follows that discussion. The man wants to know who his neighbor is. Just who is the one he’s supposed to love as himself? Into whose life, exactly, is he supposed to bring a little light?
Despite the fact that the expert in the Law doesn’t really care about who his neighbor is—he’s really just trying to see how strong Jesus’ theological muscles are—nevertheless Jesus is going to give him a lesson he won’t soon forget.
The story Jesus tells is about a poor traveler who is ambushed by the side of the road. He is beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Two people pass by the man, they see his obvious need, but for some reason choose to pass by without offering even the slightest bit of help.
But a third man comes by, and he takes action. Watch what he does: Luke 10:33-35, “33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'”
There are three things I want you to notice about how the Samaritan brought some light into this poor traveler’s darkness. 1) He got emotionally involved. 2) He got personally involved. 3) He got financially involved.
1) The Samaritan got emotionally involved. Verse thirty-three tells us that when he saw this poor, beaten, and bloody man he took pity on him. This is the first level of involvement. It’s a good first step. It’s necessary. Unless you first get emotionally involved, there is virtually no chance that you are going to get involved any further.
The problem is, of course, that it’s much easier to be desensitized. Sometimes we believe that it hurts too much to care. For instance, this past week, on two of the internet forums I participate in, someone brought up the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Thirty-three people . . . dead. Killed. In cold blood. The worst mass murder in the history of the United States. Thirty-three human beings . . . each life precious to God . . . each a life that Christ shed His blood for . . . each life somebody’s son . . . somebody’s daughter. And on both of these online discussions, do you know in what direction the conversation turned? Gun control. Talking about thirty lost lives was just too painful; it was too raw of an emotion, and so we turned very quickly to something clinical, to something sterile. But when the conversation changed, we lost something precious because we avoided getting emotionally involved.
To bring light into the darkness of need, we must first get emotionally involved . . . but we cannot leave it at that. The Samaritan then got personally involved. With his own hands, he poured soothing oil on the man’s wounds. He disinfected the festering wounds with wine. He bent down, gently lifted the man up, and placed him on his donkey. These are not the marks of a clinical detachment, but a personal involvement. His true emotional involvement led him to personal acts of service. Because he cared, the Samaritan was willing to roll up his own sleeves and get his own hands dirty.
Thirdly, the Samaritan got financially involved. After making sure the traveler was comfortable and well cared for, he pays for the man’s stay in the inn where he would leave him. Two silver coins were certainly enough to pay for several days’ stay. But not only that, he tells the innkeeper to keep a tab for him . . . he’ll pay for whatever needs the man might have as he recovers. In effect, he leaves a blank check, he leaves his credit card and says, “Whatever he needs, it’s on me.” That is some serious financial involvement.
In order to bring some much-needed light into the darkness of the poor traveler’s life, the Samaritan got emotionally involved, he got personally involved, and he got financially involved. And what does Jesus say to me? To you? “Go and do likewise.”
“Go and do likewise!” That means you! Go, get emotionally involved! Risk some heartache! Stay sensitive to the needs of others! Get personally involved! Roll your sleeves up and get into the trenches! That’s where you’re needed! Get financially involved! Open up those wallets and purses and spread some light into the lives of someone who needs it!
Where can you “go and do likewise”? Well, obviously one way is through assisting the ministry of Compassion International. That’s what Everett Swanson did.
Everett Swanson was an evangelist during the Korean War. At one point he was on a preaching tour of Japan and Korea, and he shared the gospel with thousands of our troops.
But one frigid winter as he walked through the city of Seoul, he encountered something that would change his life forever. As Everett walked along one morning, he noticed some garbage collectors on a flatbed truck. Every few blocks the truck would stop and the sanitation workers would climb from the cab and head into the gutters and doorways and alleys, scoop up some piles of rags and trash, and throw it onto the back of the truck.
Strangely enough, however, the workers would kick each pile of rags before they picked it up. Everett thought, “Well, that makes sense . . . there’s a lot of rats in the city. I’d want to make sure I wasn’t picking up a rat, myself.” But as a worker approached a pile near him, Everett noticed a small arm protruding from the bottom of the pile. It was a child’s arm . . . no doubt one of the many children who lived on the streets, huddling together for warmth and begging for coins to stay alive. The child must have slept under the rags to keep warm.
Everett didn’t want the garbage man to kick the child by accident, so he began to run towards the man to stop him . . . and then his eyes were opened. He drew up alongside the “garbage” truck and saw what it was truly filled with. They weren’t bundles of rags . . . they were children dressed in rags. The street children who had frozen to death in the night . . . they were piled on the truck like garbage. The street children who had survived another night of the frigid Korean winter would be woken up by the kicks of the garbage men and rise to face another day of hunger, cold . . . and darkness.
I’m not sure which group of children was luckier.
But I do know this: Everett Swanson got emotionally involved. His heart broke for the poor kids on the streets. Everett Swanson got financially involved, setting aside a portion of his own monthly income to help those children. And Everett Swanson came back home to the United States and got personally involved, slowly building a ministry called Compassion International where more and more people caught the vision to “go and do likewise.”
Compassion International is an excellent way to bring light into the dark lives of others! But you need to realize that there is no limit to the number of places you can bring light. Who is your neighbor? Wherever you see the darkness of need, you see your neighbor. Your neighbor is the one who lives in the darkness of need . . . a darkness that God has given you a light to banish.
But wait . . . wait just a minute. The entire premise of this sermon series is how the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ serves as the model and basis for our daily lives. Where is He in all of this?
I think the answer has been right in front of us all along. I wonder if the story of the Good Samaritan is perhaps . . . just perhaps . . . Jesus telling us something about how He brings light and hope to us.
Getting emotionally involved . . . getting personally involved . . . getting financially involved . . . isn’t this exactly what Christ did for you?
Has there ever been a darkness in your life that Christ did not bring light into? When you’ve preferred to isolate yourself and shield your heart from the pain of getting emotionally involved, Jesus Christ nevertheless loved you with an unbridled love that is cosmic in scale and scope. When you’ve turned away from a need and failed to get personally involved, He’s the one who got down and dirty and became a human being, living among us. God Himself getting His hands dirty . . . for you.
And when we’ve balked at taking that last step, when we decided we’d rather keep our money for ourselves, Jesus Christ is the one who paid the full price for our redemption. He got financially involved by paying for your sins . . . buying you with His own precious blood. One drop of that blood is worth more than a world full of diamonds . . . and yet He used that precious blood to buy you back from the sins that lead to death and bring you into eternal life.
When we’ve lived in darkness, Christ has brought us His light. And in so doing, He has changed our lives forever. That’s the kind of impact His light has.
And that light that Christ has brought us? That’s the same light we give to others. He uses us to bring His light to others. His work for us is accomplished, His work through us carries on as we get emotionally, personally, and financially involved in bringing light and hope into the dark, dark lives of people who desperately need Christ.
That’s where Christ fits in. He’s the one who got involved for us. He’s the one who got involved and brought us poor, desperate people out of the darkness and into the light.
That’s what Christ has done for you. Look at your list from earlier . . . look at those people who live in darkness. Remember what Christ has done for you . . . what He has given you. Now in Him . . . you go and do likewise.
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