SPEAKER_00: Today, I invite you to study with me in Luke chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 10, we have heard it read.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to look into this passage a little more, the parable of the Good Samaritan, where a lawyer approaches Jesus and asks him a question.
SPEAKER_00: Now, lawyers have their ways of asking challenging questions sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: I've realized this living in Germany, and I'm realizing this living in this area as well.
SPEAKER_00: And here, perhaps, the scribes came to its end, the Pharisees came to its end, and it says here that a lawyer came, and this lawyer positioned himself testing, tempting Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But he's asking a pretty good question.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you have asked this question before?
SPEAKER_00: What must I do to have eternal life?
SPEAKER_00: He's asking a genuine question.
SPEAKER_00: He truly wanted to know, teacher, what shall I do to have eternal life?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus responds with another question.
SPEAKER_00: But what is written in the law?
SPEAKER_00: How do you read?
SPEAKER_00: I love the fact that he doesn't say, does he read?
SPEAKER_00: He's asking how he reads.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, in case you're wondering, reading the Bible itself, there are 137 million Americans.
SPEAKER_00: They wish they read their Bible more.
SPEAKER_00: You know how many people is reported that they're reading scripture every day in America?
SPEAKER_00: Only 24 million.
SPEAKER_00: 24 million people on average read their Bible every day.
SPEAKER_00: I thought to myself, boy, now having our phones available so easily, perhaps we would be quicker to actually do this.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, with your phone in 2019, the Washington Post was reporting that people in America checked their phone about 50 to 100 times a day.
SPEAKER_00: That's a that was in 2019.
SPEAKER_00: Now in 2025, do you think that this has increased or decreased?
SPEAKER_00: You guessed it.
SPEAKER_00: It has gone up.
SPEAKER_00: The average that we check our phone is 205 times a day.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the average American spends 4.5 or 4.5 hours a day on their phone.
SPEAKER_00: And then I kept reading.
SPEAKER_00: And now it got really interesting.
SPEAKER_00: In a recent study, the research has concluded that people retain only 25 to 50 percent of what they hear immediately.
SPEAKER_00: This is not after days.
SPEAKER_00: This is just you having a conversation and then you walking away and you only retaining 25 to 50 percent.
SPEAKER_00: You're only hearing a fourth or maybe half of what the person actually said.
SPEAKER_00: So when I read that, I said, this message today must be short so that we can increase what actually is maintained.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is asking, How do you read?
SPEAKER_00: He's asking, How do you read?
SPEAKER_00: And he gives a good response.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Love the Lord your God, just as we heard.
SPEAKER_00: Love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Do this and you will live.
SPEAKER_00: Correct theology, correct information, correct answer.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the lawyer was not satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: And perhaps because of the people that were surrounding him, he now seeks to vindicate himself.
SPEAKER_00: He seeks to defend himself and says, Well, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Let's be a bit more nuanced here.
SPEAKER_00: Who is my neighbor?
SPEAKER_00: If somebody asked you who your neighbor is, what would you say?
SPEAKER_00: Who is your neighbor?
SPEAKER_00: Is your neighbor the person that is in the same social class?
SPEAKER_00: Is your neighbor the person that you work with?
SPEAKER_00: Is your neighbor the person that lives next to you?
SPEAKER_00: Who is your neighbor?
SPEAKER_00: A man travels from Jerusalem to Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: Now, just by a show of hands, how many of you have been to Israel before and might have an image of what that is like?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, some of you have been there.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever scripture tells that somebody is going from Jerusalem somewhere else, it's typically bad news because they were focused on going to Jerusalem and seeking the face of God.
SPEAKER_00: Here it says that a certain man, in fact, went from Jerusalem to Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you go there even today, it's a very treacherous route.
SPEAKER_00: It has some hills and has different curves, and if you're traveling there by yourself, not safe.
SPEAKER_00: Even if you're traveling with a group, it's a risky route.
SPEAKER_00: From Jerusalem to Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is painting a picture here of a certain man traveling.
SPEAKER_00: And if you read Alan White and Desire of Ages, in fact, it says that there was an actual person that went there.
SPEAKER_00: And the priest and the Levite that are mentioned in the story were in the hearing of Jesus when he shared this with the lawyer.
SPEAKER_00: But this story is not just about one man, this story is about humanity.
SPEAKER_00: This story is about us.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us that all scripture is given by inspiration, and ultimately all of scripture testifies of who?
SPEAKER_00: Of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So where is Jesus in the story?
SPEAKER_00: You might say, well, most beautifully, isn't he the Good Samaritan?
SPEAKER_00: Certainly he is.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that moves toward the wounded when others pass by.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that binds up our wounds.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that carries the broken.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that pours oil and wine.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that goes and pays the debt.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that gives the deposit if there was any more missing.
SPEAKER_00: But what about you?
SPEAKER_00: What about me?
SPEAKER_00: Where are we in the story?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we are the lawyer.
SPEAKER_00: Educated, religious, precise.
SPEAKER_00: We philosophize about love while avoiding costly compassion.
SPEAKER_00: We ask, who qualifies as my neighbor, really?
SPEAKER_00: Some of us might feel like the wounded man.
SPEAKER_00: Broken, ambushed by sin, wounded by others, exhausted, bleeding, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, perhaps stripped of dignity, stripped of hope, stripped of identity, unable to save ourselves, leaving half dead.
SPEAKER_00: Looking much worse than I do with a partial side today.
SPEAKER_00: Half dead.
SPEAKER_00: One time I shared this as a children's lesson, and I asked the kids who they liked in the story.
SPEAKER_00: And one said, the robbers.
SPEAKER_00: Because he thought we were going to act out the story, and he thought that was the exciting part.
SPEAKER_00: But really, sometimes we are the robbers.
SPEAKER_00: Not always physically, but we steal peace.
SPEAKER_00: We steal dignity.
SPEAKER_00: We steal attention.
SPEAKER_00: Innocence.
SPEAKER_00: Trust.
SPEAKER_00: Sin fundamentally is anti-neighbor.
SPEAKER_00: It consumes others for self.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, perhaps you're saying, well, I'm more like the priest.
SPEAKER_00: Religious.
SPEAKER_00: Respected.
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps preserving ceremonial purity.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps protecting schedule.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever become so busy for God, working in his ministry, that you no longer had time for God's people?
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps simply emotionally exhausted, burned out.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you can work in ministry and stop listening to the suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we're so consumed with religious duty that compassion becomes inconvenient.
SPEAKER_00: The priest may have heard the wounded man.
SPEAKER_00: He might have even checked.
SPEAKER_00: But then chose to pass him by.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, perhaps he was checking.
SPEAKER_00: Well, is this a Jew?
SPEAKER_00: If he's a Jew, ah, torn.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if he's a Samaritan, Samaritan.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just check.
SPEAKER_00: Is this an immigrant?
SPEAKER_00: Is this an ICE agent?
SPEAKER_00: Is this guy from Argentina?
SPEAKER_00: Is this guy from Spain?
SPEAKER_00: What about the Levite?
SPEAKER_00: The Levite also comes, he notices, but he passes by.
SPEAKER_00: Close enough to help, but has awareness and no action.
SPEAKER_00: He just scrolls past it.
SPEAKER_00: We scroll past things too, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: In fact, in a recent uh article that I read in the Washington Post as well, it says that when you have a notification come on your phone, even if you don't pick up your phone, it distracts you for seven seconds to just process the fact that a notification came in.
SPEAKER_00: However, when you're responding to a notification, it takes you an average of 25 seconds to get back to focusing on what you actually were doing.
SPEAKER_00: Every time you get distracted, your productivity decreases.
SPEAKER_00: Harvard Business Review says that your productivity lessens by 80%, up to 80% by getting so distracted.
SPEAKER_00: So perhaps that's how the Levite felt.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, this was just another news.
SPEAKER_00: Every day, earthquakes, floods, politics, genocides, starvation, divorce, cancer, loneliness.
SPEAKER_00: So much that we no longer care.
SPEAKER_00: Ellen White has these beautiful words to say.
SPEAKER_00: She says, this was no imaginary scene, but an actual occurrence, which we know to be exactly as represented.
SPEAKER_00: The priest and the Levite who had passed by on the other side were in the company that listened to Christ's words.
SPEAKER_00: But then he goes on.
SPEAKER_00: The Good Samaritan, the Good Samaritan, he does not check the nationality of the person.
SPEAKER_00: He does not check whether they can repay them.
SPEAKER_00: The Good Samaritan, he's an outsider.
SPEAKER_00: He's the unexpected one.
SPEAKER_00: And I wonder sometimes if for some people, when they're looking at God, they might expect that God looks like a Levite and looks like a priest.
SPEAKER_00: When they look at Christians, they might think, oh, surely they will help me.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes maybe God comes across as somebody that is like a Samaritan.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody we don't expect.
SPEAKER_00: It says in Scripture that when he saw him, he had compassion.
SPEAKER_00: That's the turning point in the story.
SPEAKER_00: Not mere awareness, but compassion.
SPEAKER_00: He approaches this man, he touches the person, he uses the oil and the wine.
SPEAKER_00: He's ready.
SPEAKER_00: This is a medical missionary.
SPEAKER_00: He's ready anywhere, anytime.
SPEAKER_00: He places the man on his own animal.
SPEAKER_00: He spends his own money.
SPEAKER_00: He changes his whole schedule.
SPEAKER_00: He has compassion.
SPEAKER_00: And it costs him, but he's willing to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Check this quote out.
SPEAKER_00: Christ has shown that our neighbor does not mean merely one of the church or one of faith to which we belong.
SPEAKER_00: It has no reference to race, color, or class distinction.
SPEAKER_00: Our neighbor is every person who needs our help.
SPEAKER_00: Our neighbor is every soul who is wounded and bruised by the adversary.
SPEAKER_00: Our neighbor is everyone who is the property of God.
SPEAKER_00: As you keep reading, this Good Samaritan brings this wounded soul somewhere to the innkeeper.
SPEAKER_00: I started thinking.
SPEAKER_00: Often we might overlook that part with the innkeeper.
SPEAKER_00: But could it be that we as a people might be called to be in the business of being innkeepers, being the stewardship of compassion?
SPEAKER_00: And as God brings sinners to us, as God brings wounded people to us, as God brings those he seeks to save, he's bringing them to this church.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, I have paid the price for them.
SPEAKER_00: Take good care of them.
SPEAKER_00: I have to go on some other errands.
SPEAKER_00: But when I come back and you have spent more than I have already given, I surely will repay you.
SPEAKER_00: That's no longer about a building, that's about people, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: And if it's about people, then this kind of innkeeper might be in a church, this kind of innkeeper might be in a hospital, this innkeeper might be in a business, this innkeeper might be in a publishing house, it might be at a school, might be in a home.
SPEAKER_00: So they came for their seminary degree, and before they were getting started, they were asked to be in two groups, and one group was given some educational research reading to be reviewed and then to be reported on to say what would best prepare you for your time as a seminarian for the next four years.
SPEAKER_00: So part of the group was reading this educational research material, and the other part of the class was given scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what passage they were reading?
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 10, the story of the Good Samaritan.
SPEAKER_00: And so they were given this time, research, read your passage, and then come and report.
SPEAKER_00: But you cannot do this in this building.
SPEAKER_00: You'll have to go to another building, and in that hall, you can then give your presentation.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: But going to that other hall, there was a small alley.
SPEAKER_00: And in that hallway, there was another person that was part of the experiment, but the students didn't know it.
SPEAKER_00: It was an elderly person.
SPEAKER_00: And this elder person was slumped in the alleyway, and they appeared distressed and they were in need of help.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Some students went and rushed to the other building.
SPEAKER_00: Other students, hesitant, trying to think, can I help?
SPEAKER_00: Can I not?
SPEAKER_00: Can I eventually went too?
SPEAKER_00: Others were helping.
SPEAKER_00: Others stayed with the person until they got the help.
SPEAKER_00: And so the researchers then came together and uh they wanted to know who was more likely to stop and help the person in the hallway.
SPEAKER_00: What would you say?
SPEAKER_00: Well, they suspected that it was those that read scripture, that read the story of the Good Samaritan, and were impressed and therefore showed compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Surprisingly, the determining factor was not what passage was studied, it was whether they believed that they were late.
SPEAKER_00: See, part of the group was told that they had to rush to get there.
SPEAKER_00: And others were told that they have a little bit of time.
SPEAKER_00: Those that felt that they were late did not stop to help.
SPEAKER_00: That got me thinking.
SPEAKER_00: Because hurry can often be the enemy of compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Compassion requires interruption.
SPEAKER_00: But when we do not allow time for interruption, it's less likely that we are compassionate.
SPEAKER_00: Hurry, by the way, has become norm in our society.
SPEAKER_00: One in every five Americans considers themselves chronically late.
SPEAKER_00: And one out of three Americans, nearly one out of three, arrives late to work consistently.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when a person says I'm running late, they're looking at this too.
SPEAKER_00: What do you consider running late?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm gonna be running late.
SPEAKER_00: The majority of people would interpret this by saying you will be late by five to ten minutes.
SPEAKER_00: Now, only about 14% of people think that this can extend to 20 to 30 minutes.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just letting you know in case this might be helpful to you as you're running late.
SPEAKER_00: People might think it's five to ten minutes.
SPEAKER_00: It's over that, you might want to clarify.
SPEAKER_00: But people are busy.
SPEAKER_00: Pastor, don't you know?
SPEAKER_00: We live in the DMV.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's busy here.
SPEAKER_00: Aren't we supposed to be?
SPEAKER_00: Politicians?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Health practitioners?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Teachers?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Doctors?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Scientists?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Lawyers?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Managers?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Directors?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Presidents?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Artists?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Athletes?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Realtors?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Environmentalists?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Entrepreneurs?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Parents?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Students?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: Christians?
SPEAKER_00: Busy.
SPEAKER_00: I've wondered if perhaps the greatest danger facing our church might not be heresy.
SPEAKER_00: What if it is hurry?
SPEAKER_00: What if one of the dangers we are wrestling with is hurry?
SPEAKER_00: Because if we hurry, we don't take the time to stop and listen to God.
SPEAKER_00: How can we listen to others?
SPEAKER_00: How can we listen to the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_00: How can you listen to your body?
SPEAKER_00: We become experts at hearing without understanding, without loving.
SPEAKER_00: Think of Jesus for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: What pressure he had experienced.
SPEAKER_00: Three and a half years to fulfill the mission of saving this planet.
SPEAKER_00: If you had three and a half years for a mission, I know some of you more than others would plan it out, more or less.
SPEAKER_00: But interruptions, it's probably something we wish to avoid.
SPEAKER_00: But look at Christ's life.
SPEAKER_00: Blind men interrupted him, lepers interrupted him, the bleeding woman interrupted him, Bartimaeus interrupted him.
SPEAKER_00: Martha was busy for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Martha interrupted him.
SPEAKER_00: Children interrupted him.
SPEAKER_00: Women interrupted him.
SPEAKER_00: Men interrupted him.
SPEAKER_00: We interrupt him.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, Jesus, he loves us enough to stop.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now I was curious about this, and I was reading in scientific literature.
SPEAKER_00: Psychologists now say the following things.
SPEAKER_00: They say there are different levels, which I was unaware of.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're unaware of this too.
SPEAKER_00: But they say there's something called sympathy.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody says sympathy.
SPEAKER_00: Sympathy essentially saying, I hear what you're saying, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00: I acknowledge, and that's it.
SPEAKER_00: That's sympathy.
SPEAKER_00: But the person might be left saying, I didn't really feel that this person listened to me.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't really, they didn't really feel me, they didn't really hear me.
SPEAKER_00: That would be called empathy.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody says empathy.
SPEAKER_00: When a person experienced empathy, that's more of a buzzword lately.
SPEAKER_00: The empathy means, oh, this person gets me.
SPEAKER_00: This person feels they they tried to put themselves in my perspective.
SPEAKER_00: Sympathy, empathy.
SPEAKER_00: But then they went further.
SPEAKER_00: It says, there is compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Compassion essentially is empathy turned into action.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus saw the people and he had compassion on them.
SPEAKER_00: Others were saying, Jesus, you don't have time for this.
SPEAKER_00: Do something else, send them home.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had compassion on them.
SPEAKER_00: The Good Samaritan, he had compassion.
SPEAKER_00: And if that wasn't enough, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: When a person consistently shows up compassionate, they call that rapport.
SPEAKER_00: I guess for us as Christians, we would call that character.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine that our culture here at Spencerville would be that we consistently show up with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that word would get around?
SPEAKER_00: What would that mean for you in your life?
SPEAKER_00: What would that mean for you in your relationships?
SPEAKER_00: What would that mean for you in your leadership to have this kind of pacing where you can, in fact, beyond sympathy, beyond empathy, show compassion and consistently show up with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not here to tell you that I'm a model of this.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, do not talk with my wife today at all.
SPEAKER_00: Because we'd have plenty of examples just from past week where we're realizing perhaps some adjustments ought to be made so that we can show up for our loved ones, for our neighborhood, for the people we interact with with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus listened.
SPEAKER_00: So perhaps you are a person that is wounded on the road.
SPEAKER_00: You have come and you're encouraged because you know that you, as the wounded person on the road, Jesus would not pass you by.
SPEAKER_00: He would come and bind up your wounds.
SPEAKER_00: He's here to save you.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you have come because you're realizing you're like the priest, you're spiritually busy but emotionally unavailable.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you have come as the Levite, aware but disengaged.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you have come like the lawyer, informed, but a bit defensive.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you identify with the Samaritan.
SPEAKER_00: You're encouraged because you want to be a medical missionary.
SPEAKER_00: You want to be ready to help other people, and you're encouraged to keep going.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you realize that there is an innkeeper's calling where you are a part of helping create a church where wounded people can heal.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus listened.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus got interrupted even when he was on the cross and continued showing compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Even when he died, there was compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Today, you've noticed the songs were very powerful.
SPEAKER_00: Whew! About the second coming.
SPEAKER_00: That's the foundation of why we preach, it's the foundation of why we live.
SPEAKER_00: But if seminarians who have set out to study the word and they read scripture, and we, as devoted as we are, reading scripture, singing these powerful songs, giving to the Lord's cause and praying, chances are that if we do not take time to slow down, if we do not take time in our schedules, if we do not allow interruptions, that we might not be able to show up as compassionate to others.
SPEAKER_00: For a closing song, we're going to sing the holy city.
SPEAKER_00: Now I know.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are used to hearing the holy city only being performed.
SPEAKER_00: But today, we are going to be singing that.
SPEAKER_00: Because we are on a journey and we're not away from Jerusalem, we're actually walking toward the heavenly Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And perhaps today is a little vision call that you need it by the vision vocal ensemble, but also from the Lord Himself in Scripture, that there's a better place waiting for us where our wounds will eventually and finally and ultimately be healed.
SPEAKER_00: There'll be no more suffering, there'll be no more pain, there'll be no more dying.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a people out here that needs to hear the good news that Jesus will not pass them by.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not passing us by.
SPEAKER_00: And so wherever you might be in the story and wherever you might be on this journey of the song we're singing, I'm inviting you to stand.
SPEAKER_00: And if you've never sung the song, just try to follow along.
SPEAKER_00: But if you have sung the song, sing it with all your heart.