Thank you OLDBIKER for being our speaker today!

Luke 10: 25-37
"And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" And he answered, "YOU SHALL 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 YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 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. And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 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. 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.' Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands? And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

Most of us are familiar with this parable. What's a parable? A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly principle or purpose. Even though Jesus told this parable over 2000 years ago, it is still relevant today.

When we hear the word 'sin' we immediately think of 'doing' bad or wrong things. This is known as the sin of commission. Seldom do we think of failing to do things we should do as sin but it is and this is known as sins of omission. In this message we will look at the sin of omission.

Some background circumstances that lead up to the telling of this Parable:

Jesus Ministry was in full swing and the scribes, pharisee's (organized religion) hated him. They didn't like the teaching of 'love for all of mankind' because they had set themselves up as judges of society and they did not like any competition from anyone. Organized Religionists hated Jesus and these type people are still around (and still causing problems!) today. In Jesus time on earth these people couldn't stand that He associated with Sinners and down and outers of society. He demonstrated mercy, love, and he "worked" on the Sabbath day.

In this parable the first thing that happens is the Lawyer tempted Jesus and asked Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what the law said and when he quoted it to Jesus, Jesus said "do this and you will live".

Then he asked Jesus who his neighbor was, trying to justify his lack of response to the needs he saw around him. The same thing goes on today.

Isn't if funny how we still today try to rationalize ourselves the same way saying that we do our part by mentioning Jesus to a few co-workers or family members or even by dropping a dollar or two in the offering plate. Sometimes we justify our lack of response to others needs by saying to ourselves, we don't want to be considered or labeled fanatics.

Churches still prefer a set of religious made up rules to suit their comfort. An example of this would be the churches that place limits on their Pastors. They tell them what they can preach, and how long they can preach. In some churches if a preacher even preaches over 15 minutes he gets himself into trouble with a church board or a committee of some kind.

Jesus instructs the religious people in that day how to act (and us as well) with this parable we call the Good Samaritan.

This parable is about a man who was going to a city and robbers jumped him. They stole his clothes, money, and then beat him up and left him for dead.

First a Priest comes by:

He is a busy man. He has to hurry to the temple, he can't be bothered with this guy laying alongside the road. He might soil his priestly robe and not look so dignified when he stood before the people. Some preachers and church members are so caught up in appearances that they look on people with disdain who come to church in attire they deem improper and/or not good enough. I'm sorry folks but, I read in my Bible where people walked for miles to hear Jesus preach. They sat on the grass on hillsides and I may be just a simple preacher but, I don't believe all these people wore tuxedos or Botany 500 suits.

Listen folks, there are a lot of beat up, wounded people along the highway of life today. Among those wounded and beat up are those victims of child abuse, sexual abuse, spiritual abuse-false teachings-deception. Some are made to feel like an outcast by huffed up, puffed up preachers or from church members who put their made up religious requirements on those who are in need and hurting.

We have a lot of preachers today who don't want to get involved with time consuming, messy people because they lack the compassion and love for the lost and wounded casualties of this world. Many preachers expect others to go and do what they preach but don't want to lead their people by example.

Next we see the Levite in this story:

He comes by but he showed no compassion either. Where was his love for this wounded man. He is just another organized religionist wanting to just do his own thing not wanting to be bothered by someone in need. Another word for those who attend church is Laypersons. Like this Levite, how many regular church attenders will not put themselves out to meet the needs of others?

When we neglect to show concern and compassion for our hurting brethren and the unsaved, we are just like this priest and Levite. We are passing by on the other side. When we live and talk like the world instead of living and witnessing for Christ, we are passing by on the other side. When we neglect the service to God or to others, we are passing by on the other side. And if we do this we are committing the sin of omission.

We need to see and understand the difference between seeing a need but not acting on it and seeing a need but doing something about it.

Now let's notice the Samaritan's response:

He saw the same man with the same need as the others saw, but he had a compassionate heart and he had the willingness to do something about it. He put aside himself and became a Servant by serving the needs of this fellow human being. This Samaritan made some choices that we as Christians could learn from. He had to spend a little time and money, he had to be trouble a little off his "schedule, and he was glad to be able to help this poor man. He had a heart to be a blessing to this wounded man. He wanted to be a blessing to him.

So, where does this place us a Christians today in our own realm? I believe we should pattern our lives after this Samaritan. He didn't chose the easy route, the less expensive route but, he chose the best route. Listen folks, if you want to be blessed, be a blessing to someone else. If we pattern our Christian walk after this Samaritan, we will have happiness, joy, and rewards farther down the road.