Seeing Ourselves in the Good Samaritan Story.

Luke 10:30-36

KJV 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. KJV

NAS 30 The Good Samaritan Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.

31 "And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

33 "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

35 "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.'

36 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"

37 And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same." NAS

Introduction:

For years 20 percent of the regular givers to the church have given 80% of the total offerings. A recent study indicates now 12 to 16 percent give 80% of the money. Also new indicators show those over 55 give over 50% of the money.

What is your attitude concerning giving? In the text I want you to note 3 kinds of persons all of us may see ourselves in this story.

1.       WE CAN BE SEEN AS TAKERS.

2.       WE CAN BE SEE AS KEEPERS.

3.       WE CAN BE SEE AS GIVERS.

1. WE CAN BE SEEN AS TAKERS. v 30

CSB 30 Jesus took up the question and said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead.

A.       Takers think only of their wants and needs.

          1. You can spot them at the restaurant.

          2. You can spot them at the golf course.

B. Takers are almost always negative people. I guess 80% of them

          1. Nothing positive about always thinking of self.

          2. They never enjoy anyone else getting something nicer than them.

                    a. Nobody ever did that for me.

C. Takers are thieves. (Or free loaders)

          1. In the story they robbed this man of what he had.

          2. Read Malachi 3:10

ILLUSTRATION:
The lottery and gambling people are takers. Your chance of winning is 1 in 55,000,000 or equal to drowning in your own bath water.

ILLUSTRATION:
A church went to buy a sound system and they were told we are Christians and we will give you a special deal. Someone checked the price in another store and got a much better price. Some people are takers even in the name of Christ.

ILLUSTRATION:
Let me tell you about one of my cousins. I am not close to her, and did not see her from early childhood until she was 30 something. Recently following her mother’s funeral, I wanted to quiz her about salvation, so I asked her and a sister to come in a room with only me. She told me this story, about her early life.

She was born to a mother (my aunt) who really did not want to be pregnant. Her father died when she was six. Her mother started drinking heavily. Many times while only 12 years of age she would help her mother get home from the tavern and then have to get her drunken mother ready for bed. Because her mother was having a hangover she would not let her daughter go to school the next day.

When this girl was only 14 years old her brother in law beat and raped her. Her mother threatened the brother in law with police action if he ever beat up on his pregnant wife like he beat up on this 14 year old. She did not complain about what her son in law did to this daughter.

She never showed any remorse or sympathy for the 14 year old daughter.

At sixteen this cousin joined a hippie style commune. She was told you must bring in some money every night or you don't get a bed to sleep on. She begs etc. to get money. She told me she even stole from little ladies as she would run by them and steal their pocketbooks. SHE WAS A TAKER. She did not give any money for any good purpose.

I am pleased to say she has recently been saved. She is learning from Christ to be a giver rather than a taker.

APPLICATION:

It does not finally matter how a person became a taker they need to move away from that perspective.

2. WE CAN BE SEEN AS KEEPERS. v 31-32

31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, pass by on the other side.

A.      Keepers think primarily of their wants and needs.

          1. Generally give to emotional Pleas.

          2. Give by inspiration rather than Loves obligation.

B. Keepers are usually Negative people. I would say more than 50%

          1. I don't see any need for a new building.

          2. We don't have as many today as we had last year.

                    a. If church growth were up to them few churches would ever grow.

Illustration:          I have a pastor friend who tells this story about a man who used to carry a $100.00 bill and always tries to pay for his coffee with the $100.00 bill. Regularly they just told him to pay double on his next cup of coffee. He rarely ever went back to that coffee shop.

A couple of the ministers told the waitress about this guy and for them to have $ 100.00 in small change later that night; and they would make sure he came back in, and they knew he would try to get by with the same $100.00 bill.

They came back that night and sure enough he tried to pay with the $100.00 bill, and they gave him his change in nickels and quarters. He never did that again.

C. Keepers are more interested in Religion than Christianity.

          1. They have rituals to keep and little rules to obey.

          2. They do not defile themselves with someone in need.

ILLUSTRATION: Let me sight a Biblical Illustration.
Do you remember the "Parable of the Talents"?

One person received 5 Talents of money and gained 5 more.

One person received 2 Talents of money and gained 2 more.

One person received 1 Talents of money and gained no more.

Matthew 25:24-28

The man with one talent wanted to keep it. He was afraid to invest and by faith trust the Lord.

APPLICATION:

We Can Be Seen as Keepers, and be like the Levites and Priest in the story.

3. WE CAN BE SEEN AS GIVERS. v 33-35

33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him. When I come back I'll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.' 36 "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37 "The one who showed mercy to him," he said. Then Jesus told him, "Go and do the same." CSB

A.      Givers always want to share with others.

1.  There is a need and they want to help.

          2.       They give of their means to help someone else.

B.      Givers are almost always positive people.

          1.       Present and Future needs.

          2.       We need a new building. There are people to reach.

C.      This position represents trust. "give now and latter"

ILLUSTRATION:

Thursday we had to go over to Mtn. View, and Christa went to lunch with a friend, and I went by myself. In the restaurant I sat with Carletta Abbey, whose husband recently died. She comment as to what a positive man Don was, and how giving he was. She said she just listened to Don’s ordination service, and I asked him about the three phases of salvation: Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification, and Don answered Glorification is when I get my new heart. Carletta got tears in her eyes and she said, “I believe he is getting that new heart. Don Abbey was a giver.

ILLUSTRATION:
My aunt (who I refer to earlier) became a Christian and became a giver. In recent years she went out of her way to help her children, and also my mother and her children.

ILLUSTRATION:
Mr. Jarman of Jarman Shoe Company, gave $100,000 for a church building in every large city of Mission Field.

APPLICATION:

1. WE CAN BE SEEN AS TAKERS.

2. WE CAN BE SEE AS KEEPERS.

3. WE CAN BE SEE AS GIVERS.