The Church That God Blesses

Luke 10: 25 - 37

About six years ago, one Sunday evening, I was on my way from our then-home on Wood Street in Bristol, down to church for the evening service. I was the second car back from the stop sign for the turn onto State Street, when I witnessed a horrible accident.

The driver of the pickup truck in front of me must not have seen the elderly lady. As he moved through the intersection, his truck struck the lady crossing the street, and she fell to the pavement. I was too numb to do anything but follow instinct, which led me to pull my car over to the side of the road, grab a folded blanket from the back seat of my car, and run over to see if I could help the lady who was by now bleeding profusely. I noticed that she had hit her head on the pavement, and that she was unconscious and bleeding profusely.

I knelt down next to her, and put the blanket over her, and then I placed my right hand at the crown of her head… it was covered with blood. I was relieved to hear the sirens of the ambulance which was on its way to the scene of the accident, and I stayed with her until the paramedics had stabilized her and were taking her to the Trauma Unit in Providence.

I must have looked frightful later that evening as I walked into the church… My shirt and hands were stained with blood, and I was incoherent for a while… Needless to say, I did not preach the sermon that night. Ironically, my scripture passage for that Sunday evening was the same passage which we just read this morning… and God was giving me a first-hand, point-blank-range life application of the Good Samaritan parable.

Last week, we talked about recognizing the Body of Christ, and we focused on Paul’s words “For you are the Body of Christ, and members in particular…” Today I would like to take that a step further, and focus on the question “Who is my neighbor?”

In our text, we see a man walking along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho… “there I was, just walking along, minding my own business…” When suddenly, and without provocation, he is robbed… the robbers beat him to a pulp… they strip him naked, and they leave him to die… laying in the road… moaning… bleeding profusely…
Along comes one of the Religious Leaders… a priest… it is obvious from the story that he is in a hurry to get somewhere… maybe to the temple for a board meeting… or maybe, more likely, it’s the Shabbat… and he is on his way to the temple to lead the worship service… He spots the man laying in the road… and he scurries on past… frightened that he might get some blood, or some dirt, on his hands… after all, he had to get up in front of the congregation and look his best…

And the man lays in the road… moaning… bleeding…

Next we see a Pharisee – someone who is devoted to keeping and observing the letter of the law – our resident legalist – and he looks down at the man… he shakes his head… gotta run… after all… it’s the Shabbat, and you can’t work on the Shabbat… Besides’ I’ve got to talk to the Rabbi about the candles on the Altar… they should have been lit for the service last Shabbat… what was that meshuggah Rabbi thinking anyway? He scurries past…

Meanwhile, the man is still laying in the road… moaning… bleeding…

Finally, we see Sammy the Samaritan walking along the road… minding his own business. ((Historically, the Jews and the Samaritans were two peoples who did not get along, and the very idea of a Samaritan having anything to do with a Jew was entirely unheard of!)) He rushes over and takes stock of the situation… here is a man who has obviously been attacked viciously… he is obviously in a lot of pain… and he is bleeding profusely… If I don’t help him, he’s going to die…

This Samaritan did not check to see if the injured man was a Jew, or a Hittite, or an Egyptian. The man’s nationality or city of origin did not matter… his label must have fallen off…

Sammy felt a deep emotional response when he saw the injured man, laying helplessly in the road… He knelt next to him and gave him first aid… he bound up his wounds, and poured antiseptic on him (in that day oil and wine were considered an antiseptic, and were often used to clean wounds.) Then he put the man on his horse and took him to an inn just a short way down the road. He checked the man into the inn (try saying THAT three times, really fast…) and gave the innkeeper some money to look after the injured man. I can imagine Sammy putting his hand on the shoulder of the innkeeper and saying “please take care of him, and if you incur any more expenses taking care of him, I will be back in a few days, and I will settle up the bill with you.”

We do not know how the story ends… whether the man recovered… what his name was… or the name of the kindly Samaritan… we do know, however, that the Good Samaritan is known and remembered to this very day for his act of mercy.

The church today is a church that has to have an outward look… The church today is a church that needs to stay focused on serving God by serving His people… The church today is a church that touches the lives and the hearts of the people in the community, and make a difference in the lives of our Friends, Relatives, Associates, Neighbors and their Kids.

Our mission… should we decide to accept it, is threefold… In the book of Micah, we read these words, and they are our marching orders from the Throne of Grace… “He has shown you, O Man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you… but to do justly… to love mercy… and to walk humbly with God.”

That is exactly what the Church that God blesses looks like.

I have a dream…
It is a dream of the church militant, and the church triumphant…
It is of a church in which people from all walks of life can come together in one accord and make a difference in the lives of those around them…
It is of a church in which nobody is wanting, because everybody gives out of love, and holds nothing back…
It is of a church that sees Miracles, Signs and Wonders because the Holy Spirit is allowed to flow freely…
It is of a church that is growing because we are accepting one another the way that Christ accepted us to the Glory of God the Father…
It is of a church which does not concentrate on the glories of the past, but stays sharply focused on the bright and beautiful future we have in Jesus Christ…
It is of a church which is engaged in extravagant acts of charity, not counting the cost, because Christ Jesus himself bought the church with the ultimate sacrifice…

I have seen the promised land… I have seen the church, the mighty army of Jesus, rise up and stand boldly for the Lord. The saints which have gone before… our parents, and our parents’ parents join in the chorus of the ages encouraging us, our children, and our childrens’ children to

Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, you soldiers of the Cross
Lift high his royal banner, it will not suffer Loss…
From Victory unto victory HIS army shall HE lead…
Till every foe…
Every foe… hunger… poverty… disease… hatred… jealousy… strife… prejudice…
Till every foe is vanquished…
And Christ is Lord indeed!

I Bid You Peace...
Dr. Ken+