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Go around the room and have people give their name and answer.
Q: Name a time you did a good deed for someone and what did you do?
Q: Who are some famous people with a reputation for doing good deeds? Mother Theresa, Jerry Lewis, Albert Schwietzer, Dale Carnegie. Etc.
Let’s look at story in the Bible about a do-gooder!
Luke 10:25-37
25 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."
Let’s look at three kinds of people
1. The robbers
Q: What kind of people were they?Vicious, mean, do deliberate harm, ruthless, violent
Q: How do you feel about this type of person?
Q: What percentage of people are like this? Small, but growing!
2. The priest and the Levite
Q: What kind of people were they? Religious
Q: What kind of reputation did they have before this incident?Nice, kind, helpful, do-gooder, giving etc.
Q: What is the problem that Jesus is pointing out in this parable?The were indifferent, didn’t want to get involved
In Japan, ‘Confucious’ has a golden rule:
“Do unto others as you wouldn’t want them do unto you”.
Jesus had a golden rule (Matthew 7)
“Do unto others as you would have them dounto you”.
Q: What is the difference? One is passive and one is active
Confusions rule pales to silver next to Jesus’ golden rule
Q: What kind of behavior does the silver rule promote?
Isolation, indifference putting up walls, not knowing other, etc.
Not helping, not getting involved, DOING NOTHING!
Your neighbor could be really hurting and you’d never know it
Q: What kind of behavior does the golden rule promote?
Actively doing good, helping getting involved, DOING GOOD!
The Priest and the Levite didn’t hurt anybody. They weren’t violent or mean.
But, they didn’t help anybody either. They just helped themselves.
They didn’t love people, they loved themselves, their comfort / convenience.
3. Good Samaritan
Q: What kind of person was he?
Q: What did he do for the hurt man?
Q: What is the big difference between the Priest / Levite and the Samaritan?
Humility! Pride is being self-focused, self-centered, selfish, self-aware, etc.
Humility is being others focused, outward focused, meeting needs of others
Q: How did the Samaritan demonstrate humility?
- He overlooked the difference in race and religion
- He sacrificed his own schedule and convenience
- He went out of his way to help the health of the hurt man
Q: Which or the 4 (robber, Priest / Levite, or Samaritan) is average Christian most like? Why?
Q: What impact does religion/religious leaders have on our society?
NOTE! Most religious groups don’t do any harm but they don’t have any impact.
They are of no account no change in size, in commitment, in faith in lives
Q: Do you think the Pries/Levite had ever done any good deeds?
Of course the had done SOME good deeds. Everyone can point to SOME deeds.
The question is, are you making any difference in the lives of people?
Are you the kind of person that:
- .... goes to church, but never has helped anyone to get right with God?
- .... is known as a “nice” person, but doesn’t impact anyone
- .... is religious, but doesn’t risk, doesn’t make a difference
Challenge
Are you more the Priest / Levite or like the good Samaritan?
What impact are you having on people? (Who will be in heaven because of you?)
Be like the Samaritan... make a difference!
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