OTHERS: Who Is My Neighbor?

Part 1 of 3
Danny Davis

(INTRODUCTION)

It is so good to be in church this morning. I am Pastor Dan Davis, lead pastor of this wonderful
assembly called Turning Point. If you are here with us for the first time today we want to thank
you for coming and we pray your experience with us is memorable. Most importantly if you do
not know Jesus Christ then our prayer is that by the end of this service you will know him.

This morning we are going to begin a 3 part series of messages called, “OTHERS” where we
are going to look at what God has to say about our responsibility to serve and evangelize the
people around us and today we are going to ask ourselves the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
So, I want us to open our Bibles this morning and look at Luke 10:25-37 – if you don’t have a
Bible just direct your attention toward the screen behind me. Let’s read…

(BIBLE READING)

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?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was
going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers.
They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the
man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the
place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 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.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who
fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who
had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:25)
(PRAYER)

(ME)

Typically this section of scripture is called, “The Parable of the Good Samaritan.” A parable is a
OTHERS: Who Is My Neighbor?
Part 1 of 3
Danny Davis
story that is told to illustrate a moral point. Or as someone else has defined it, “An earthly story
with a heavenly meaning!” Jesus often taught people by telling them simple stories about
natural things that could be seen but the stories had much deeper meaning. Most of the time
people didn’t get the point of what Jesus was saying because they had allowed their hearts and
ears to become calloused to the spiritual things of life (see Matthew 13).

Sometimes I feel a lot like these people because there are some things in the Word that I just
don’t get. I have struggled with this parable all week. I have asked myself over and over the
question, “Who is my neighbor and why does it matter?

(TRANSITION) Have you ever thought about this question before?

(YOU)

When you think of a “neighbor” what do you think of? Like most people in Johannesburg you
and I live surrounded by walls and razor wire but all of us have someone who lives next door.

Who is you neighbor? What are their names?

But when you think about your neighbor do ever ask your self the question, “Is the person who
lives next door too me my only neighbor?”

(TRANSITION) Well, that is exactly the point of this parable. It answers the question, “Who is
my neighbor but more importantly it explains to us how we as Christians should treat our
neighbor! Let’s look at this parable closely and see what the Lord is telling us through His Word.

(GOD)

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." (Luke 10:25-28)

Let’s notice a few things about this passage.

1. There is some occasion Jesus was at (we don’t know it but only it was an occasion).
OTHERS: Who Is My Neighbor?
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Danny Davis
2. We know that other people were at this occasion and one of them was “an expert in the
law” who is called a “teacher” and we know that he is a Jew. (This doesn’t mean the law
like we think of today but the Law of Moses or what is called the Pentateuch.)

3. This “teacher” wanted to put Jesus to the “test.” The KJV Bible uses the word “tempted.”
Either way this “teacher” was trying to get Jesus to prove something but I think the real
reason for the test was so the “teacher” could try to prove how superior he was to this
Jesus who was becoming famous. Imagine the scene. There is probably a crowd of
people gathered together and then this whole event takes center stage. Jesus and this
teacher begin talking and the whole crowd goes quiet and begins listening to their
conversation.

4. The “teacher” asks a question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

5. Jesus answers, “What is written in the law?” Again, Jesus is not asking this man to quote
a legal statute from the courts. No, Jesus is really saying, “What does the Law of Moses
say about inheriting eternal life?” After all, this man was supposed to be an “expert in the
law” so why was he asking Jesus about something he should have already known the
answer too? Again, I think the “teacher” is just trying to make Jesus prove something
and at the same time the “teacher” wants to prove to the crowd how smart he is.

6. So in an effort to sound really smart the “teacher” answers Jesus question, “" '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.'”

a. The teacher is quoting from the Law: specifically Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus
19:18.

7. Jesus then says, “"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will
live."

Now if the “teacher” was really smart he would have stopped right there and not said another
word but he reveals his arrogance and the fact that he is not loving God or loving his neighbor.
Instead of shutting up and walking away sounding as if he knew what he was talking about he
goes on and says, "And who is my neighbor?"

Notice the scripture tells us he asked this next question out of selfishness * But he wanted to
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Danny Davis
justify himself). He could have cared less about God or the neighbor he just wanted to try and
make him self seem important in the eyes of those around him.

Jesus uses this man’s arrogance to speak to all who were listening; he used this moment to
help all these people understand who their neighbor is by telling this parable…

30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when
he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and
went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the
same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So
too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other
side. 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.'
Now if you look at this parable closely you will see five human characters: the traveling man, the
robbers, the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan. All of these people play a certain part in this
story to help illustrate who our neighbor is and our responsibility to him or her. Let’s look at it…

1. There was this “no-name” man (kind of like the no-name products at Shoprite or Pic-n-
Pay). Jesus then begins to set the scene in everyone’s mind using images everyone
would have understood.

If I may this morning I want to try and put this parable into words and places we could
understand. Let me tell you an “Mzansi…”

“The man” was walking from Thokoza to Alberton and while he was walking he fell into
the hands of the “Tsotsi.” The “Tsotsi” gives the man a “lekker klop”, steals his cell
phone, breaks his arm and takes all his money. The “skollie’s” leave the man on the side
of the road half dead.

A while later the “fundisi” comes walking down the same road and sees the man but
quickly runs to the others side. Then the “ward councilor” comes by and sees the man
and runs to the other side of the road. Both of these men were important members of the
community but could not be bothered with the poor and injured.

But then a “dust bin boy” man comes by and sees the man. Instead of running away he
OTHERS: Who Is My Neighbor?
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Danny Davis
goes to the man, gets out a first aid kit and treats the man’s wounds. Then he puts him
on his bicycle and takes him to a “private hospital” and tells the desk clerk, “Here is
enough money to help this injured man. If more money is needed I will come by “just
now” to pay the bill.”

Then Jesus asks the “teacher,” the “expert n the law” a very straightforward question, "Which of
these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers” (v. 36)?

The “teacher” replied to Jesus, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do
likewise."

Let me explain just a few things about this parable:

• The “teacher” was a Jew and so were the priest and the Levite. The Jews absolutely
hated the Samaritans. They considered Samaritans to be dogs and worthless. The Jews
believed that even walking on the same road as a Samaritan, would cause them to be
defiled and unclean. It was not uncommon for Jewish priests to curse Samaritans while
teaching the Word of God.

• So when Jesus tells this “expert” that a Samaritan completely fulfilled the Law that the
“expert” himself had never been able to do it was like knocking the wind out of him. His
questions were meant to “test” Jesus and make himself look good. Jesus turns the
tables on him and says, “Even this dog of a Samaritan showed mercy and love for the
injured man but the priest and the Levite – who know better – walked away and sinned
against God!”

(WE)

You know what folks – we all have prejudices against people…

• Blacks don’t like whites. Whites don’t like blacks,

• The rich hate the poor and the poor hate the rich.
• Skinny people don’t like fat people and fat people don’t like skinny people.
• Christians don’t like Muslims and Muslims don’t like Christians.
• The list could go on and on and on…
We try to justify our prejudice by pointing fingers at other people and by comparing ourselves.
But we cannot blame our lack of love on what happened 50 years ago – we are Christians and
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Danny Davis
we are called to love and love will require trying to meet the needs of our neighbors. Jesus was
telling this man that his neighbor is anyone of any race, of any creed of any social background.
In other words, we all have neighbors and our neighbor is the world! It is the person who lives
next door but it also the poor man who has never heard about Jesus in some slum in India.

Our neighbor is the single parent struggling to balance everything. Our neighbor is the rich man
who seems like he has it all but struggles with loneliness. Our neighbor is the grandmother who
is trying to make ends meet on her pension. OUR NEIGHBOR IS ANYONE IN NEED AND
EVERYONE HAS A NEED! EVERYONE IS IN NEED OF A FRIEND, SOMEONE TO LISTEN,
SOMEONE TO SHOW KINDNESS, SOMEONE TO SHOW MERCY – AND IN THE END
EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW THE LOVE OF JESUS!

(TRANSITION) So what does that mean for you personally.

(YOU)

Everyday we have a choice to make. Everyday we see those who are in need and we have to
decide whether or not we will show mercy. Let’s face it none of us have enough money to feed
every hungry person or to clothe every needy child. But that is not really the point.

The Good Samaritan was willing to help just one man in need. The Samaritan saw the need and
he responded as best he could. He committed himself to the well being of this one man. This
parable is telling us a simple message: when we see a need and we have the means to help we
should do what we can to help.

Often we do not help because we are afraid that the one we help will expect more and more
from us. Well, you may be right but that should not prevent us from doing something.
Sometimes we don’t help others because we think everyone should be helping us! That is called
– selfishness.

Ultimately, we love our neighbor by sharing the Gospel with them – telling them about Jesus.
But I have learned that people will be more able to listen too us when we have somehow shown
them that we are the real deal and that we love them.

Challenge: what can you do this week to show someone the love of Christ? What can you do
this week to help someone who is in need? What small act of kindness can you show…

• Take an elderly man or woman a meal or invite them to your home for dinner.
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Danny Davis
• Go through your closet and find something you no longer where and share it with
someone in need.