WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:08.640 Well, if you're anything like me, you saw Matt and saw a man that looked wise up here in the pulpit and then proceeded to see a young man come right after him for the sermon. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:11.359 So sorry ahead of time, uh, but it's good to see you. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:12.320 Again, my name is Sam. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:13.279 I'm the student pastor. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:17.600 I've been here for uh four years, and I'm I'm honored to be with you this morning. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:22.399 So to open up, why are some people so hard to love? 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:28.879 Whether you're a Christian or not, you know that some people come very easy to love, and then others are amazingly hard to love. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:31.679 And maybe someone's coming to mind for you. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:39.039 We live in a culture that says things like love is love, and yet the same culture, the moment somebody says something off, cancels them. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:45.520 No place for forgiveness, no second chances, no space for love, as God has defined it. 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:50.240 And so, what on earth is the role of the Christian in a culture like this? 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:56.320 During the month of July, we've been going through this series that we've been calling kingdom fruit, fruit of the kingdom. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:57.520 And here's the big idea. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:11.040 As someone is caught up in the bigger story, as someone is caught up in living their life through the lens of the kingdom of God as the center point, their lens on themselves, the world, and others will be changed. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:14.480 And the primary heart of this is that we are citizens of a different kingdom. 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:17.840 We don't belong primarily to the United States that we do now. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:28.959 There is another kingdom that we ultimately belong to, and so what we've been seeing is that as a person and as a culture and as a group of people are seeing the world through this lens, things change. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:35.439 Because our primary identity is that we belong to King Jesus, and that come what may, we belong to him. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:41.280 And so, as we do that, we'll see how that impacts us as we operate in the world today. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:45.599 The first week, Pastor Matt walked us through the first fruit of the kingdom piece. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.719 In this sermon, Matt talked about the reality that we live in a very, very anxious age. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:52.480 We don't have to look far to see. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:53.760 It's an election year. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.319 Donald Trump was shot in the head eight days ago. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:01.040 We don't have to look far or wide to see that the day we live in is unsettled. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:03.760 So, man, how can the people of God respond to this? 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:05.920 How do we respond as a people? 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:14.319 As Matt talked about, we can be a people who seek first the kingdom of God, who seek his righteousness, and allow that peace to take deep root in our hearts. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:18.960 Because no matter what happens this year or in the years to come, King Jesus is on the throne. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:24.960 And there's no greater peace than knowing that the God of the universe, the one who knows you and loves you, is in complete control. 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:29.280 And then last week, Keel walked us through the second fruit of the kingdom, humility. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:34.560 Humility, as Keel argued last week, is not thinking that we're the worst or hating ourselves. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.319 That's not humility at all. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:41.599 Humility is rather having a right reaction and response to God and his kingdom. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:44.800 And what that means is that you and I aren't the heroes of the story. 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:56.560 And so, as Keel talked about last week, we're actually invited into the relieving reality that we don't have to hold everything together, that we don't have to be in control, that we can allow God to be God and see ourselves rightly in that. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:01.759 And now this morning we're hitting the third fruit of the kingdom that we're doing in this series, which is love. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:08.639 And we'll see that the love of the Bible, as God defines it, is a little different than the way that our world does. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:13.840 So if you have your copy of God's word, I'd invite you to turn to Luke 10 that we just read. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:25.039 This will be a familiar story to many of you, as we just saw, but I've been praying this week that it would be fresh to us this morning, and we'd perhaps see the gospel in a more sweet way. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:36.719 While you're turning there, I'd love to share a story with you a couple months ago, or a couple weeks ago, sorry, uh Grace and I flew up to Hartford, Connecticut and drove about an hour down 95 to this little beach town called Old Saybrook, right there on the coast. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.759 There's a few pictures that will uh cycle through of us. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:43.039 This is a place that I've gone every year my entire life. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:47.599 One of my favorite parts about the town is that it moves at such a slow place. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:49.280 Like everything closes at 7 p.m. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:51.120 Seriously, in July, 7 p.m. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:54.879 Every year I always find myself exhausted when I get there. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:56.879 I always find myself tired. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:04.000 I always find myself especially tired of the really fast pace that I move at and really ready to go slower. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:20.000 And this year, especially, I went into the trip exhausted, just ready for a break, ready to slow down, be with grace and my family, and let the space of this slowness open up my heart to be refreshed in the gospel, in my belovedness, in my father's arms. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:24.079 And so in the weeks leading up, with that in mind, I wanted to find a new book to read. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:31.120 I wanted to find a book about God and faith, but one that wasn't overwhelmingly heady and theological because I spend way too much time doing that in seminary. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:34.639 And so I wanted something really light and devotional and easy to read. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:38.000 And so I picked up uh Abba's Child by Brennan Manning. 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:39.040 I don't know if you've read it. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:51.279 I spent each morning in Connecticut pouring over these pages with a fresh cup of coffee at this little wicker wooden table with a view of the ocean to my left, and I was just letting these pages wash over me. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:05:10.879 I found myself each morning just brought to tears as Brennan would tell stories, as he would remind me that I am beloved and cherished by the God of the universe, and not me and my put-together self, me and my messy self, and my unable-to-hide self, and my childlike self. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:19.680 In the fourth chapter of the book, Manning he's fleshing out what it means to live as children of God, children of Abba, children of the good father. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:24.560 And he's going into this idea of love, of forgiveness, of compassion. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:29.040 He's getting into this idea that God's children overflow with gospel compassion. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:38.560 And he tells this story where this author, he's living in New York, he has this moment where this one person was very hard to love, and then they became a little easier to love. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:39.839 Listen to this story. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.399 He says, understanding triggers the compassion that makes forgiveness possible. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:49.519 Author Stephen Covey recalled an incident while riding the New York City subway one Sunday morning. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.480 The few passengers aboard were reading the newspaper or dozing. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:56.079 It was a quiet, almost sleepy ride through the bowels of the Big Apple. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:01.759 Covey was engrossed in reading when a man, accompanied by several small children, boarded at the next stop. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.480 In less than a minute, chaos erupted. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:09.279 The kids ran up and down the aisle, shouting, screaming, and wrestling with one another on the floor. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.600 The father made no attempt to intervene. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.600 The elderly passenger shifted nervously, stress became distress. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:17.360 Covey waited patiently. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:26.639 Surely the father would do something to restore order, a gentle word of correction, a stern command, some expression of paternal authority, anything. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:28.319 None was forthcoming. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:38.480 Frustration mounted, and after an unduly generous pause, Covey turned to the father and said, Kindly, sir, perhaps you could restore order here by telling your children to come back and sit down. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:41.759 And the man replied, I know I should do something. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:43.279 We just came from the hospital. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.959 Their mother died an hour ago, and I just don't know what to do. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:48.399 Can you imagine? 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.759 How do you respond in that moment to this? 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:57.360 There's this man broken with grief over the horrible news he just heard. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:02.560 All the while he has these small children, he's probably been calculating all morning how he's gonna make it work for them. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:09.199 He's probably in shock, probably walking around a bit like a ghost, thinking about all the years that are coming of loneliness. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:14.000 And then he gets on this bus, his kids go crazy like they always do, but he's on his own now. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:19.839 He clearly doesn't have the energy to quiet them down, and meanwhile, all these cranky Yankees are upset at him. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:22.560 They have no idea what he's going through. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:28.800 They're just mad that his kids turn their quiet Sunday morning ride into a disruption. 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:33.439 And this disruption in their bus ride is just far too much for them to handle. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:35.519 If only these people could love him. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:38.959 And then Manning closes with this conclusion of this quote. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:46.800 He says this the heartfelt compassion that hastens or quickens forgiveness matures when we discover why our enemy cries. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.160 The father's inaction begins to make sense. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:57.680 Him sitting quietly all of a sudden adds up, your frustration is quieted, and compassion is set aflame. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:02.319 So how on earth can we be a people set on fire by compassion and love? 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.879 People that love without measure? 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.240 Because people are so hard to love so often, aren't they? 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:22.800 So how can we have the strength to love the people who are disrupting, that are frustrating, that are hard, the people that speak ill of us, the people on the other side of whatever spectrum you want to name, to love those that everything in us doesn't. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:24.720 How do we love these people? 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:28.480 Pick up with me here again in Luke 10. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:35.440 It says this, and behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:38.639 And he, Jesus, said to him, What is what's written in the law? 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:39.919 How do you read it? 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:45.840 And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.000 And he said to him, You have answered correctly. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.399 Do this and you will live. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:52.799 Lawyers love justice. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:53.840 And rightfully so. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.559 Justice is a good thing, it's a gift of God's grace. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:02.480 And we find this man approaching the Son of God, deity wrapped in flesh, and he tries to test him. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:11.679 I've always been told, maybe by mentors or movies, to never sign a contract without a lawyer presence, because lawyers are really good at finding the holes in a contract. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:17.360 And here's this man trained in the law, knows how to dot his I's and cross his T's. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:20.159 He's really good at details, and he's trying to find a loophole. 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:23.200 And the really hard part is that he really knows his Bible. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:25.600 He knows the two great commandments to a T. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:28.799 Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:29.919 It's a good question. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.840 And Jesus responds, tell me, lawyer, what's written in the law? 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.559 You know that part of the Bible that's your favorite, the law? 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:39.440 That would have been the best thing Jesus could have possibly said to him. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:40.559 That's my favorite part. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:41.279 Yes, you're right. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:43.279 Hey, what does it say? 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.320 How does it tell you where eternal life comes in the law? 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.960 And this man, like any good lawyer, he knows the details. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.000 He knows the answer. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:51.279 He's ready for the answer. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:53.120 Love God, love your neighbor. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:53.759 Amen. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:54.639 Go in peace. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:57.679 So Jesus responds, You answered rightly. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:58.799 That's the right answer. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:09:59.600 Well done, lawyer. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:00.320 Pat on the back. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:01.440 You know the law. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:02.879 Now go do them. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.440 Go fulfill these commandments and you'll live. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:07.600 And maybe that's a promise of salvation. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.000 Go, lawyer, follow the law. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:11.360 If you do that, you will live. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:15.519 And wouldn't it be great if this man just said, sounds great, Jesus, I'll do it. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:20.159 And wouldn't it be great if, gosh, if we responded quickly in obedience? 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:22.080 But Luke goes on. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:23.120 Verse 29. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:28.240 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:33.120 See, the foundational problem with that question is this. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:41.120 To ask Jesus who the neighbor is, is to assume that there is someone who's not, that there is a non-neighbor. 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:43.440 Yeah, Jesus, the law sounds great. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.480 Love God, love people, love my neighbor. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:48.399 But who again is that? 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:49.919 Who's my neighbor? 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:53.840 This question is saying, hey, Jesus, you you and me both know, man, if we're honest. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.960 That there's somebody that I can, I don't have to love them. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:58.399 I don't have to love them. 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:02.639 I can be right in my own eyes to reject them, to not give them grace. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:07.039 And frankly, his question to Jesus, it makes sense if I'm honest with myself. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:12.399 The command to love people without measure, without prejudice, and without border is impossible. 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:16.399 If I'm honest in my heart of hearts, I'm like this lawyer. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.840 And I really love finding out who the non-neighbor is. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.799 God, isn't there someone that even you, God, would agree? 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:24.000 I don't have to love. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:27.360 There has to be someone who isn't worthy for me to call neighbor. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.480 And I just wonder who might come to mind for us this morning. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.600 Who could we justify ourselves to not have to love? 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.279 Who in our minds is the non-neighbor? 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.039 Last fall, we took our students through the Old Testament book of Jonah. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:45.200 And in this book, God calls Jonah to go preach the gospel to Nineveh. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:51.759 But the big problem is that that is the prime example of the non-neighbor to Jonah. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:55.759 The Ninevites were the farthest reaches for Jonah. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.240 So what does Jonah, God's prophet, do? 00:11:58.480 --> 00:11:59.759 He runs away. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:00.799 No thank you. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:01.360 Look at this. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.480 I found this picture of the map of the world at the time of Jonah. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:07.840 So you can see there, that's the entirety of the ancient world at this time. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:14.480 So Jonah would have rather literally gone to the farthest point in his mind of the world than preach the gospel to this city. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.360 You can see Nineveh was just a little bit to the east of where he was. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:19.840 It's like 600 miles, 400 miles, whatever it is. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.519 But then Tarshish, the place he flees to, is on the other end of the world for him. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:30.399 That's how far he wanted to go instead of preaching the gospel to these people. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:34.080 And the reason is because the Ninevites were the non-neighbor to him. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:36.960 We learn later in the book that Jonah is angry at God. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:42.320 And he's not angry at God because of God's justice, he's angry at God because of God's mercy. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.200 He hates the fact that God is merciful. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:50.559 He loves that God is merciful to him, but he hates that God would be merciful to the Ninevites. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.799 The whole reason he didn't go to Nineveh is because he knew that God would forgive them. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:56.879 He knew that God would forgive them. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:59.360 And that was the worst news in the world to Jonah. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:07.440 So Jonah would rather go to Tarshish, 2,500 miles away, because we love God's grace for us, but not for them. 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:13.360 So here we find ourselves with this lawyer, and he, like us, wants to be right before God. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:15.120 He wants to be justified. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:23.360 To be justified was a legal term for a lawyer, would have been familiar, where all legal claims for a person were completely done away with. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:25.519 All charges dropped. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:27.840 That's what we find by faith in Christ. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:34.639 That no matter where you've been, what you've done, no matter what you're presently struggling with, by faith in Christ, your slate is wiped clean. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:38.000 But did you notice the language of the lawyer in verse 29? 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:40.480 Desiring to justify himself. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.960 For a lawyer, that would have made no sense. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:50.320 A guilty party standing solo before a judge would have had no possibility of getting off clean. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:54.639 He would need someone outside of himself to defend him for any possibility of justification. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:14:02.799 And yet, this lawyer, so caught up in his own self-righteousness, even what he knows to be logical is put to the side here. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:07.279 And then, beginning in verse 30, Jesus responds to his question, Who is my neighbor? 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:08.879 Look at verse 30 with me. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:16.480 Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:21.840 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.240 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:31.759 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:38.720 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he sat on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:46.320 And the next day he took out two deneri and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.879 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:53.279 He said, The one who showed him mercy. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:56.399 Jesus said to him, You go and do likewise. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:00.960 So Jesus, as he often did, he responded with a story, a parable. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:09.600 This lawyer, desperate to be justified by his own doing, desperate to find a loophole, comes face to face with the Son of God who knows his heart. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:11.759 So Jesus tells a brilliant story. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:20.799 Hey, there's this unnamed man, comes close to death from some robbers left on the side of the road, desperately in need of somebody to come save him. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:26.480 And then Jesus ironically says, by chance, because he knows nothing happens by chance, but by chance a priest shows up. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.919 Sure, the lawyer was thinking, perfect! The religious guy's here, like me. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:33.600 He's gonna save the day. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.919 He'll surely help this poor man. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:43.519 But no, Jesus gives us a brilliant flip, tells this lawyer that the priest, the one he would have expected to save the day, he doesn't. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:45.600 He offers no mercy. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:52.240 In fact, the priest actually goes to the other side of the road because the disruption is just too much for him, the love too costly. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.919 Surely our lawyer friend would have been discouraged to hear this. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:01.039 Maybe a little red-faced, a little shameful, probably frustrated. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:06.720 And then Jesus continues, a Levite shows up, and to this lawyer, this would have been another great news for him. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:11.519 Ah, yes, the tribe of Israel from the Old Testament was set apart to be the priestly tribe. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:15.039 Another great option, because he's a lot like me, religious. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:19.759 Yeah, I know the, I know the priest dropped the ball at Jesus, but surely the Levite's gonna come through. 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:24.240 But again, no, this man, this Levite, the one who knows God and his word, passes by. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:25.919 Doesn't help the man in need. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.919 The love is too costly again. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:31.039 And then Jesus continues, but a Samaritan. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:40.080 We live in a culture, in a world of buzzwords, where even a word or a phrase can trigger you into anxiety or anger of us versus them. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:47.360 And whoever the most extreme version of them is to you is exactly who the Samaritan is to this man. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:48.639 Samaritan. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:51.200 This word has become to us something of a positive. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.039 The good Samaritan story, the one we're reading. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:55.919 Samaritan's Purse, Samaritan Medical Center. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:00.240 To us, the word Samaritan has become associated with this story in Luke 10. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:06.559 But to the Jews, the Samaritans were half-breed religious sellouts who don't really care about God. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:14.240 In this time, Jews would literally pray in the temple for God to not forgive the prayers of the Samaritans, forgive the sins of the Samaritans. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:16.720 So to this lawyer, Jesus hits the bullseye. 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:21.279 This is exactly who he had in mind when he asked Jesus, who was my neighbor? 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.240 This was the assumed non-neighbor for him. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.440 And this is exactly who Jesus pointed to as the hero. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:39.839 Not only did the Samaritan help him and give him grace and help, he actually pays for a hotel room and gives the innkeeper two days' wages, and then he says, Hey, if you spend more to take care of him, just Venma request me, I'll pay it. 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:42.240 Whatever the cost is, I'll cover it. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:45.839 Not only that, he anointed the wounds with oil and wine. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:47.839 And Jesus ends the story. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:50.720 Hey, lawyer, who proved to be the neighbor? 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:52.720 And the lawyer, he's a smart man. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:54.319 He knows the answer. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:56.160 Certainly sad about it though. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:57.759 The one who showed mercy. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:03.680 And then Jesus says the most frustrating thing to this lawyer, hey, you go and do likewise. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:08.079 Jesus' brother James would say that faith without works or action is no faith at all. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.759 And so this lawyer, hey, it's one thing for me to tell you the story so you know it in your head. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:14.480 It's another thing, lawyer, for you to go do it. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:16.319 Knowledge is one thing. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:19.759 Another thing is to take this knowledge and go as a changed man. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.400 Now, what does the story about the Good Samaritan have to do with the kingdom of God and us? 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:26.880 Our fruit of the week, again, is love. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:34.000 And what the story of the Good Samaritan, one that's familiar to you, shows us is that love has no bounds. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:40.319 Gospel love does not measure before it's given, it doesn't count the cost before it's poured out. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:46.079 Gospel love does not ask if someone is a neighbor, it assumes that all people made in God's image are a neighbor. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:48.880 The most important mark of a Christian is love. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:53.759 A kingdom person, a kingdom citizen is one who will overflow with compassion. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:58.960 Jesus in John 13 says this by this all people will know that you are my disciples. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:18:59.599 By what? 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:01.279 If you have love for one another. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:07.039 He doesn't say that people will know you follow Jesus by your church attendance or by how good of a religious person you are. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:09.920 He says people will know because you love one another. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.440 And in order to do that, you have to receive Jesus' love for you. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:15.920 You have to see yourself as one beloved. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:21.920 You have to see that you were the person in the story that was left alone, far on the side of the road, far from God. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:32.799 Much like the story of the prodigal son, just five chapters later in Luke, squandered the wealth, abused the privileges, and maybe you're finding yourself this morning seeing an impossible task before you. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:34.960 God, how can I love people? 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:37.599 How can I pour out love to people? 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:42.160 I can hardly believe sometimes that you love me, God, so how can I give that to others? 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:44.880 I love that part of the prodigal son story. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:46.640 He's so far gone. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:50.960 Perhaps to the religious folk, he would have been defined as a non-neighbor. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:54.559 He's so far away from his father that he's forgotten what his father is like. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:58.000 He begins rehearsing this little monologue, Father, I've sinned against you. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:02.400 Maybe, maybe if I come back and I earn it enough, you'll love me again. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:04.559 And yet, you know what the love of God looks like. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:06.480 It's like when the son returns home. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:08.000 What does the father do? 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:12.160 He sprints down his driveway, collapses into his son's arms. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:13.599 Boundless love. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:16.160 And beloved, that's how he feels about you. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:21.920 I want to close by sharing just a few gospel applications for us as a people as we think about this fruit of gospel love. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:23.359 So two points here. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:30.880 The more secure we are in our identity as those beloved by God, the freer we will become to love people, especially those who are hard. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:39.359 And then number two, the more we see ourselves as being lavishly forgiven and loved by God, the more lavishly we will be able to love and forgive others. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:45.359 It begins with our own identities growing radically secure as those beloved by God. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:47.119 That's where it begins. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:50.559 And lastly, there's just a couple gospel contemplations for us this week. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.960 I was thinking about from the story we just read. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:58.559 Number one, where am I tempted to create a non-neighbor and thus qualify them as unlovable? 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:05.839 Number two, where can I let the love of God invade my own heart in deeper ways, freeing me to love others more lavishly? 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:11.279 And then number three, what insecurity is keeping me from loving certain people? 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:17.759 The prodigal son's story is the perfect explanation of what the love of God is like for you. 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:19.119 It's lavish. 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:20.799 It forgives all wrongs. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:26.240 As far as the East is from the West, so are your sins forgiven in God. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:30.240 And Jesus, you are always welcome and invited into this love, into this embrace. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:33.759 I would invite you this morning to collapse into it once again. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:35.440 I don't know what your week looks like. 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:37.359 I don't know what your months have looked like. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:42.079 Maybe you haven't been in church in months or years and you're finding yourself exhausted this morning. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:43.920 Maybe you wandered this week. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:47.920 Maybe you gave no thought to the things of God, or maybe you stumbled in that big sin again. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:49.680 You just are tired of fighting. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:54.960 Let this love fill your cup. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.559 Let it astonish you. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.880 Let it empower you to love like he does. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:05.839 And the reality of this series that we want to hit on is that kingdom people aren't perfect, they're messy, they're not sinless. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:09.680 But kingdom people are a people enamored by this love that they've received. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:14.640 God invite us as a people to lavish that love on others. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:16.000 Let's pray together. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:21.519 Lord, I thank you that you have shown us that you love us. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:27.759 Lord, thank you that for us this morning as an exhausted and weary and messed up people. 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:31.759 Lord, you show compassion to the very ones like us. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:47.119 We find ourselves this morning, Lord, just tired, maybe of ourselves, maybe of the ways that we continue stumbling, maybe of the doubts that keep wrestling and pouring through our minds, maybe work, maybe relationship. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:52.640 Lord, in all of it, I'm grateful that you meet us exactly in the state that we're in. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:57.920 Lord, I just pray that for each of us today, uh, that your word would have spoken clearly. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:02.880 I pray that we would continue to be enamored by this love that we've received in Jesus. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:09.119 I pray that it would free us as we go into our world and our workplaces and our schools and our jobs. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:13.839 I pray that we would be a people that are enamored by the love that we've received. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:15.599 Show us that you love us. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.319 Show us that we're safe and secure and beloved by you. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:19.599 Pray this in Jesus' name. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:20.160 Amen.