How Can Christians Be Good Neighbors? Thinking through the Good Samaritan

The world is becoming increasingly proficient at telling stories that deny God. As such, we need Thinking Christian to become as natural as breathing. Welcome to the Thinking Christian podcast. I'm Dr. James Spencer. Through calm, thoughtful, theological discussions, Thinking Christian highlights the ways God is working in the world and questions the underlying social, cultural, and political assumptions that hinder Christians from becoming more like Christ. Now, on to today's episode of Thinking Christian. Hey everyone, welcome to this episode of Thinking Christian. I'm Dr. James Spencer and we are going to do our weekly devotional today on Luke 10 and particularly on the parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable of the Good Samaritan is actually unique to Luke's gospel and it does emphasize Luke's theme on reaching out to the marginalized or vulnerable among us. Before we get into the actual parable, though, I thought it would be good to have just a brief discussion on how Jesus uses his parables. So Jesus utilizes parables in each of the gospels and in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus actually includes a discussion regarding the purpose of those parables. In Luke, the discussion occurs in chapter 8, verses 9 through 15, and he tells the disciples that they may know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but that many of those who are hearing the parables won't discern the meaning. These disciples are given a unique ability, and Jesus is going to teach them what these parables mean, but they've been given a unique ability to understand exactly how these parables work and understand them with the appropriate depth and theological perspective, whereas the parables are going to conceal the secrets of the kingdom of God from those who have no interest in listening. And that's really rooted in Isaiah 6, 9, if you wanted to take a look at that passage as well. Now Jesus uses a parable to express how the parables work. So this can be a little confusing, but ultimately, when we look at something like the parable of the sower, this is where Jesus is going to help his disciples to understand how these parables are going to work. And he describes these four locations onto which seeds fall in the parable of the sower. The first falls by the path, the second on the rock, the third among the thorns, and the fourth in good soil. And each seed represents a different way in which the word of God is heard and received by someone. Some are robbed of God's truth by the devil. Others receive the word with joy initially, but have no root and can't survive testing in this life. Still others fall among the thorns and have their faith choked by life's challenges and blessing. And it's only the seed that falls on good soil that hears the word of God, holds it fast, and produces fruit. And so this section explains the parable of the sower in Luke 8, 4-9. True to his word, Jesus explains the parable to the disciples, thus giving them the secrets of God's kingdom. The parable, however, reveals that only some will hear and respond to the word of God in a manner that produces an enduring faith. And as Jesus continues to utilize parables, particularly in the gospel of Luke, we can expect a range of different responses with some individuals embracing God's word and others rejecting it. And faith comes through a particular sort of hearing, and one must be willing... Let me ask you a serious question. If something triggered a major market drop in the coming months, would your retirement be ready or exposed? With inflation, market volatility, and ongoing global uncertainty, more families are taking a closer look at whether their retirement plan is truly built to hold up. And many are finding that adding a layer of protection makes a lot of sense. Sanctuary Metals is a Christian-owned company that helps families strengthen their retirement savings with physical gold and silver through a gold IRA. During uncertain times, many people look to precious metals as a way to add stability when other assets may be under pressure. If you'd like to explore whether a gold IRA is a good fit for your situation, Sanctuary Metals makes it easy to get started. Text GUIDE to 94878 to receive your free Retirement Defense Guide or call 888-958-6579 to speak with one of their knowledgeable team members. Again, Text GUIDE to 94878 or call 888-958-6579. to be confronted with one's own sinfulness and repent. And the parables are not enigmas that only some can understand. They are stories that challenge those who hear to see God, themselves, others, and the world through the teachings of the Son of God. And so it's not so much that the words don't make any sense to people who don't, quote, understand the parables. It's more that they are unwilling to adopt the perspective conveyed by the parables. They want it some other way. They want to live life on their own terms as opposed to on the terms that God has set. And so they don't believe, they don't hear in the sense that they don't adopt, take in, change their lives based on the parables that Jesus is telling. Now, when we look at the parable of the Good Samaritan, it actually begins, like many of these narratives in the Gospels, he's going to be put to the test by a lawyer. Now, this lawyer is not a lawyer like we see on Law & Order, not a lawyer like we see on billboards driving down the highway who urge you to call them if you get in a car accident. This is someone who would have been an expert in the law of Moses. And so he's going to test Jesus. He's watching Jesus' ministry. He's hearing him teach. He's hearing all these different things about him. And he's going to say, well, I'm an expert in the law. Maybe I should, you know, give this guy the sniff test and figure out whether he's the real deal or not. And so what does he do? He asks Jesus a fairly simple question. Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus, in true Jesus fashion, doesn't really answer him. A lot of times Jesus just doesn't answer the question that folks ask or he doesn't provide an answer at all. In this case, he's going to answer this or respond with a question. And he says, what is written in the law? How do you read it? So he's turning it back on the expert of the law. And he's saying, listen, you're the expert in the law. You tell me. You don't need me to answer this question. And so the teacher of the law answers him and he says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus said to him, you've answered correctly. Do this and you will live. So that seems to, you know, pretty much encapsulate what's going on now. By now, we might look at that and we might say, well, I thought you achieved eternal life through faith. Yes, you do. What we need to understand here is that Jesus isn't calling for a works righteousness of some sort, but that love in the Old Testament, particularly in Deuteronomy, specifically in Deuteronomy at the very least, what you have is love expressed in loyalty. And so this love, this call to love God with all we are and with all we have is really an act of loyalty. It's about an unreserved and unrestrained giving of ourselves over to God and trusting him with all we are and have. And so that is, in essence, an act of faith. So this isn't contradictory to what we would normally say justified by faith to achieve eternal life, you know, faith in Christ by grace. That's going to lead to salvation. That this is not a contradiction in terms, but we need to understand is that in context, this love is not some sort of rom-com that we're watching. This is actually us committing to be loyal to God and trusting him with all we are and all we have. And that in itself is the act of faith. It's constitutive of the act of faith. It is not something that we do in order to earn eternal life. It is the expression of a previous act of faith, a previous faith commitment, we could say, that then issues forth in this ongoing love for God and love for neighbor. Now the lawyer isn't quite done. And so, and I think here he's going to ask this follow-up question. And I think this is rooted very much in Leviticus 19. But he says this, but he desired he, the lawyer, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Now, what we have to understand in this is that the lawyer, again, I think, is sort of channeling Leviticus 19. When we look at Leviticus 19, there's a couple of passages where we see that people are to love a neighbor as themselves. The first is in Leviticus 19.18. And that text reads, do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people. Probably referring specifically to Israelites or the people who are already joined to Israel. It's important not to think of Israel just as a, or the Israelite community at the very least, as just Jews. When we see even them coming out of Exodus in Exodus 14, we see that a mixed multitude of people came with them. And so it's this group of people. Let me ask you a serious question. If something triggered a major market drop in the coming months, would your retirement be ready or exposed? 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for your retirement defense guide, or call 888-958-6579 to speak with one of their knowledgeable team members. Again, text GUIDE to 94878 or call 888-958-6579. who are living in community, one with another, the Jews are certainly set apart and distinct. But it wouldn't have just been ethnically Jewish people. It would have been people who've been joined to the covenant, and that could involve some people coming in through different means. Regardless, what we're seeing here is that this is a community of people, probably predominantly Jewish, that constitute Israel. And the command is that they not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone who are a part of that group, but they are to love their neighbors as themselves. That's Leviticus 19.18. And that's the sort of thing that we normally would think of. So Leviticus 19.18, it forms a background to these various times when Jesus tells people not only to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, which is Deuteronomy 6.5, but you're also to love your neighbor as yourself. That language of loving your neighbor as yourself comes out of Leviticus 19. The first text is Leviticus 19.18. The second is Leviticus 19.33. So you actually have to read the end of the chapter to figure out the rest of it. And verse 33 reads, When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. Okay, so you have now, you have this community, those who are part of that Israelite, probably covenant community, and have joined themselves to that covenant. And then you've got the foreigner who just happens to be living among you. So how do I treat them? Well, you don't mistreat them, but the foreigner residing among you, this is verse 34, must be treated as your native born. So don't act like they're foreigners, treat them as if they aren't foreigners. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. So Leviticus 19.18 and Leviticus 33 and 34 really do form, I think, the background of what the lawyer is trying to get at here. He's trying to say, when you say love my neighbor, are you talking about my Israelite neighbor? Or are we talking about this expansion of neighborliness? What does that look like? Who is the neighbor? That, I think, is what prompts not only his question, but then ultimately Jesus' response. And so Jesus is going to reply with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Now, we may know, think we know the parable of the Good Samaritan, and we probably do. There's a man who's going to go down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he is robbed, and these robbers strip him and beat him, and then they leave him on the side of the road for dead. And then a few people pass by. A priest who's going down that road, when he passed him, he passes by on the other side. Similarly, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. So the priest and the Levite are sort of symbols of Israelites, probably the religious elite of Israel. In this, we find, I think, part of the Lucan theme of caring for the marginalized and the vulnerable. In other words, by having the first two people who pass by this gentleman who's laying by the side of the road beaten and bloody, be very prominent members of the Jewish society, I think Jesus is making a certain point and highlighting this idea that these two aren't neighbors, but the guy who's going to come by next really was. And so we pivot from those two to the Samaritan. A Samaritan, this is verse 33, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper saying, take care of him, and whatever more you may spend, I will repay you when I come back. Then Jesus asked, which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robber? And so this parable is constructed to be fairly clear. There's really only one person who even comes close to being a neighbor, and that's the Good Samaritan. That's the Samaritan who passes by, who binds his wounds, who pays for his care, all of these different things. And so the lawyer responds and he says, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus says, you go and do likewise. What we're finding here is a picture. And notice, I think, again, the parable doesn't exactly answer the lawyer's question. Who is my neighbor? Jesus reframes the question and says, what does it mean? What does it look like to be a neighbor? It doesn't look like, you know, just choosing who you're going to care for, creating a subset of people that you're going to say, well, I'll be a neighbor to them, but the rest of these people, there's no way I'm being a neighbor to them. What he does is he says, characteristic to neighborliness is mercy. Characteristic to neighborliness is mercy. And so if we're going to be good neighbors, we're going to emulate the good Samaritan. If we're going to love God with all we are and all we have and love our neighbors as ourselves, we have to have mercy. Let me ask you a serious question. If something triggered a major market drop in the coming months, would your retirement be ready or exposed? With inflation, market volatility, and ongoing global uncertainty, more families are taking a closer look at whether their retirement plan is truly built to hold up. And many are finding that adding a layer of protection makes a lot of sense. Sanctuary Metals is a Christian-owned company that helps families strengthen their retirement savings with physical gold and silver through a gold IRA. During uncertain times, many people look to precious metals as a way to add stability when other assets may be under pressure. If you'd like to explore whether a gold IRA is a good fit for your situation, Sanctuary Metals makes it easy to get started. Text GUIDE to 94878 to receive your free retirement defense guide or call 888-958-6579 to speak with one of their knowledgeable team members. Again, text GUIDE to 94878 or call 888-958-6579. I don't think that's the whole answer. I don't think that mercy and love for neighbor, mercy doesn't exhaust love for neighbor. There are many other things that we could look at. But in this instance, I think what Jesus is trying to emphasize is just this, is that you're asking the wrong question. You're asking, who is my neighbor? When you should be asking, how do I be a neighbor? What does it look like to be a neighbor? And in this instance, it involves mercy. And so as we go out into the world today, as we look at what's going on in the world, there are ample opportunities for Christians to show mercy. Ample. There are people, I drive by in my hometown, I see people who are living on the streets. An opportunity for me to show mercy. Do I take it or do I not? Do I decide to be a neighbor or do I not decide to be a neighbor? There are just so many places we can choose to be a good neighbor, that we can choose to act like a neighbor in a way that Jesus is encouraging us to. And so my encouragement to you today is, look for people who need your help and show them mercy. Reach out in alignment with the broader theme of Luke's gospel, which is to care for those who are vulnerable within society. Reach out to them, not because you pitied them, not because they won't make it without you, but because we have a deep abiding love for God that issues forth in a love for neighbor. And part of that love involves us showing mercy to those who need it. This week, try to be merciful, try to show mercy. And it doesn't have to be that drastic form of mercy. You know, I mentioned people who are living out on the street. It doesn't have to be that. It can be the person in front of you who doesn't really need to get honked at when you're driving a little bit frustrated. Maybe they don't need that as part of their day. It could be the kiddo that's getting on your last nerve, but you realize that they don't really understand what they're doing and you calm yourself down and you care for them. It can be a number of little ways that you can show mercy to other people and be a good neighbor, because that's what it means. That's part of what it means to love God with all we are, is that now we have the time, the patience, the resources to show mercy to others, knowing that we have been shown mercy. Let's pray and we'll call it a day for this episode. Lord, we are thankful that you define what it means for us to be a neighbor. We're thankful that we don't have to guess at it. And we're thankful that you have told us exactly what it looks like for us to live out our faith in relation to you, loving you with all we are and have, being unrestrained and unqualified, uncompromising in our loyalty to you, but also, Lord, to love others, to love our neighbors, and understanding what it means to love as a neighbor, to be a good neighbor.

And we just pray, Lord, that you would cultivate in our hearts right now a desire to show mercy to others, that we may show your glory to the world as we point to and magnify you in our daily lives. Amen. Thanks, everybody, for being a part of this weekly devotional. And we will catch you on the next episode of Thinking Christian. Just want to take a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the Thinking Christian podcast. If you go to LifeAudio.com, you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more. Looking for inspiration and uplifting stories of faith? Welcome to the Jesus Calling Stories of Faith podcast, now available on Life Audio. Join us each week for heartfelt conversations and personal stories from people from all walks of life that will inspire you and lift your spirit. Whether you're seeking comfort, motivation, or just a moment of peace, the Jesus Calling Stories of Faith podcast offers a beautiful reminder of faith and hope. Listen to the Jesus Calling Stories of Faith podcast on LifeAudio.com or wherever you find your podcasts.