Love Each Other and Follow Jesus

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In 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 Paul says this about the Word of God;

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Whenever I read the Bible I try to think of what it is that God is telling me or teaching me or correcting me. While at the same time - I try to think of what God is not telling me or teaching me. Just to make sure that my thoughts are clear and focused on what I hear in His words. 

As we come to the end of chapter nine in Luke - Jesus has finished his ministry time in and around Galilee and now his destiny and the salvation of all humanity waits for him in Jerusalem and on the cross. Luke tells us in 9:51; “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” No ambiguity – no hesitation – just go and willingly do what must be done to fulfill God’s plan to redeem us from the curse of sin. It is God’s ultimate expression of love for us.

In the proceeding chapters we read how Jesus calms a storm – heals a demon possessed man in a region called the Gerasenes - has a conversation with the legion of demons that possessed the man – heals a woman who had suffered from a bleeding disorder for twelve years - fed five thousand men plus woman and children and many other miraculous signs and wonders. 

And Peter and the disciples finally recognize Jesus’s divinity when Peter proclaims; “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)

Then Peter, James and John’s belief that Jesus truly is the Son of God was confirmed when they see Jesus meet with Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration in (Luke 9: 28-36). At v:35 they hear God say to them; “This is my Son, my Chosen One, listen to him.” Now there is no hint of doubt in their mind.

While on his way to Jerusalem – Jesus continues to teach his followers. One of the more serious but key parts of his teaching is - what it costs to follow him. 

I believe every Christian must seriously take these words into our heart – especially as the time gets short. This is how Jesus describes the cost to follow him as recorded in Mark 8: 34-35. Jesus says;

“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Last week Pastor Ed spoke of some who wanted to follow Jesus but did not and the 72 who did follow him. Those who didn’t follow - wanted to take care of their worldly issues first. While the 72 placed their faith and trust in Jesus first – worldly issues would come second or third or never at all.

When I seriously think about what Jesus is saying here – I find it a hard pill to swallow. Depending on life’s circumstances it could cost everything – family- friends – possessions – social rejection and even one’s life. I wonder – how much am I or any of us prepared to give up or suffer to proclaim that Jesus is LORD and Saviour. How strong is our faith that we would follow him no matter what the worldly do to us.

Today’s gospel reading is the well-known parable about the ‘Good Samaritan’. In this parable Jesus tells the story about a Jewish man traveling a road that went from Jerusalem down to Jericho. While traveling he is attached by some bad guys – robbed – beaten and left for dead. There are several Criminal Code offences here but that is not the point of the parable. 

In reading the parable there are some issues that - although interesting and add flavour to the story - they are not the main focus of what Jesus is trying to teach the expert in the law and all of us.

For example, Jesus is not specifically telling us about the historical bitterness between the Jews and Samaritans. Although – it points to the idea of doing something out side of our comfort zone.

Also Jesus is not telling us about the Jewish laws of cleanliness. Nor is he telling us about the Old Testament requirement to render assistance where and when required as we read in Leviticus 19:16 this morning; “Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord.” But again these issues would have an impact on those hearing the parable. 

And Jesus is not telling us about the dangers of traveling alone on this particular highway. Otherwise, he might suggest the best hand gun for self defence.

Let’s hear again the conversation between Jesus and the expert in the law.

The parable begins when; ”…an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

In Matthew and Mark they record the man saying; “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

Clearly this expert in the law doesn’t see Jesus as the long awaited Saviour because he calls him – Teacher not LORD. 

And he thinks like most people today when he says; “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”In other words - is there some good thing that I must do or just be like the nice guy I already am.

A simple enough question – even for people today. Most believe (except for atheists and agnostics) that all they have to do to get into heaven is to be the GOOD person they believe they are.

But how do you define good.

Wel – good has different meanings depending on where you live – your socio/economic views – or maybe which side of the bed you got out of this morning. Within a humanistic world view – good is subjective having very different meanings between very different individuals. A lot of people today think that abortion is good - but as Christians, we know it is wrong. We are obligated to apply God’s moral standard but most people apply a humanistic world view standard that changes with the Daily Scoop’s ice cream flavour of the day.

Now back to the conversation.

Since this man is an expert in the law – Jesus gets him to answer his own question; “Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The expert doesn’t hesitate he provides the answer from Deuteronomy 6: 4-5; “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” And from Leviticus 19:18 he adds; “…Love your neighbour as yourself.”

This expert used God’s Word to answer his own question and Jesus acknowledges his correct answer; “You have answered correctly, Jesus replied, Do this and you will live.” 

Now the expert in the law - and all of us are pretty clear on the first commandment. At least - we believe we are. We live lives full of issues going on in and all around us. As well as a world full of glittery distraction. These life issues and glittery things – taken to excess can distract us from loving the LORD our God. We need to be diligent and careful.

For example, during our worship service with hymn sing and praising – prayers – God’s Word and preaching or when I’m praying alone – some unrelate thought will pop into my mind. And I’m sure that we all have that problem. I’ve heard Christians complain about it. 

It’s not really a problem – it just how our brain works. Our attention span can be easily interrupted – although momentarily. It does not mean that we don’t love God but it reminds us that we have to consciously strive to focus on Jesus and not like Peter - on the world of storms raging around us. 

So even with the first commandment there are – for sure – some things we have to consciously work on. But like the expert we are not sure and sometime we are not keen on the second commandment; “…to love your neighbour as your self.” This is the question the expert in the law and all of us have to contend with. 

Do we love God enough to love our neighbour – any neighbour. Sometime I wonder. We have a fundamental problem within us – it’s the sin problem. In Paul’s letter to the Romans 3: 23 he says; “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” We are born sinful – we have sinful thoughts- say sinful things and do sinful things. Such wretched people we are - except --- and O LORD thank you for the exception. Except for faith in Jesus Christ and for the gifts of forgiveness and salvation and the Holy Spirit. 

This should have been the end of the conversation. Instead, the expert needs some clarification about what is a neighbour - and maybe - so do we. So he asks Jesus; “And who is my neighbor?” Now I would bet that in the back of his mind he realizes that “my neighbour” is not just the guy next door.

So Jesus proceeds to tells the story of the Good Samaritan and at the end askes the expert in the law;

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert answers; “The one who had mercy on him.”

And Jesus replied with: , “Yes, now go and do the same.” But will he – will we?

So what is Jesus teaching us in this parable? Well a after thinking about it and praying about it – it seems kind of obvious at least on the surface.

How to show mercy - how to be hospitable - how to show compassion and most clearly -how you show your love for another person -Christian or otherwise. Even - someone you might despise. Say for some President Donald Trump or Mark Carny. Jesus doesn’t make any distinctions as to who we must help. 

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount - about how we should treat our enemies – and there are lots of them; These are the words of Jesus from Matthew 5: 43-48.

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’[q] and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies![r] Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends,[s] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

I’ve read these verses about “loving your enemy” – and the verses to “love your neighbour” and the verses on the cost of following Jesus so many times they almost drift over my head. I can’t - and none of us can -any longer - afford to ignore them. There are serious issues in the world that we will have to face. In past centuries Christians have had to face difficult issues and persecution but with God’s help they overcame them. We’ve been lucky these past several hundred years living in relatively tolerant western societies but I think that luck and tolerance are fading away.

The times they are a changing.

In the 1960’s – during the time of the Jesus revivals – a folk singing trio called Peter Paul and Mary had a popular song called ‘If I had a Hammer”. Some (well maybe most of us) can remember these lyrics;

It’s the hammer of justice

It’s the bell of freedom

It’s a song about love between my brothers and my sisters 

All over this land

Are we willing to show God’s unrestricted love for us- to show the same love for our brothers and sisters – Christian or not?

Now - I noted how this parable teaches us about mercy – compassion and love. But there is something more. It also tells us about the cost to follow Jesus. To get us out of our comfort zone – our complacency – our don’t rock the boat part of our life. The Samaritan disregarded his issues with the Jews – to help this Jewish man. He didn’t care that the robbery victim was Jewish or Roman or socialist or conservative. It would not have made any difference. 

Certainly, the cost of following Jesus can mean that we might face persecution or worse. But it also means that we live by doing what Jesus says we should do.

The book of James talks about the issue of trials and persecution. It is worth hearing some of those God-breathed Words here;

1: 2-4

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

1: 12

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

And James talks about how we should show our love to others:

1: 22-25

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”

2: 14-17

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?”

And finally, the Great Commission:

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

To do as Jesus tells us to do we have to be prepared to move out of our box of contentment. And that requires daily prayr and commitment and maybe some fasting.

Because Jesus loves us and is with us we must show his love in us by loving others regardless of who they are. 

And we have no one to fear because Jesus is with us and this life in this world is not our eternal forever home. Our heart yearns for eternity with the LORD in paradise.

To obey the commands of Jesus – to love our neighbour as ourself and to follow Jesus requires steadfast commitment and unswerving faith in him.

God Bless us and keep us.

AMEN COME LORD JESUS

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https://standrewslutheran.ca

Watch this sermon presented live here: https://youtu.be/ug5XXGffI7Y