If you are at all like most of us, you have read this story and had it taught to you many, many times.  You might even remember the flannel graph from your childhood Sunday School days.  It is the story of the Good Samaritan.  If you have your Bible, I would encourage you to open it to Luke 10:25-37 and take a couple of minutes to read it right now.

When I read the story I took the time to write down on a sheet of paper all of the people who are mentioned or participated in the story.  Check out the following list:
-Jesus
-The Lawyer
-The man who was beaten
-The robbers
-The priest
-The Levite
-The Samaritan
-The innkeeper

Do you see them?  If the Bible specifically mentions each one of them, then I thought that it might be a good idea for us to give a little attention to each of them as well.  To give you a little bit of background, Jesus has just received a report from the 72 that He had earlier sent out two-by-two to the countryside to share the Good News.  The 72 come back rejoicing and praising God for all that He had done through them and v.21 tells us that Jesus was full of joy because it was these simple, uneducated men that God was using.  Things are on a high and this lawyer comes along.  If you want to bring someone down from a high, tell him that a lawyer is on the phone.  This lawyer comes to Jesus and seemingly asks a pretty good question;  “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus asks him “what is written in the law” and the lawyer gives Jesus a very clear and concise answer that Jesus says is correct.   He tells him to “Do this and you will live.”  The lawyer goes on to ask Jesus “Who is my neighbor?” which reveals his true heart.  The Bible tells us that he was wanting to justify himself.  How?  The lawyer was looking to exclude himself from responsibility for others by making some people “non-neighbors.”  The lawyer did not see a victim to exploit, or a nuisance to avoid, but to him, this was a problem to discuss.  The best way to do nothing is to talk about it. The thing we like to do is to have meetings to talk about the problems and the remedies rather than do something.  The lawyer said, “Let’s talk about neighboring” but Jesus said “Let’s talk about this one man.”  There are lots of people in the church today who know how to point out the problems and discuss potential remedies, but they do nothing.  They even have the right answers to the questions but that is where it stops.  Do you see him?

Perhaps you might identify with the man who was beaten?  You did not deserve what you got.  You were just walking along the road and this happens.  You have no idea why people treat you the way that they do.  “What didI do to deserve this?”  Perhaps you statement is something like “I don’t know why I was born the way I was born.”  Maybe life is hard and unfair for you and you just cannot get ahead.  You do not have what others have so you are always working seemingly from behind.  Notice that we hear nothing from the man who was beaten.  His situation was dire and he was on the verge of dying.  There was nothing that he could do to save himself.  He needed help and there were people who were traveling that same road who could have helped him but they chose to pass him by.  As unkind and wrong as that is, we hear this man say nothing.  “That’s not right!”  “That’s not fair!”  “something should be done!”  “I want justice!”  “Someone needs to pay for this!”  Not a word!  Do you see him?

 Let’s take a look at the robbers.  They saw an opportunity to exploit and take advantage of someone.  Our world is not much different today.  People have gotten bold enough to break into other people’s homes and businesses and feel as though they have the right to take whatever they want.  Their thinking is something like this:  “I don’t have it, and yet I want it.  You have it, so I am going to take it from you.”  Where does that kind of thinking come from?  What has happened that we seem to think that we can justify people beating up and robbing other people just so they can have what they want?  Some end up in the court system for months to determine if they are guilty or not.  Why?  Jesus calls people like that robbers.  We all know that you do not need to break into someone’s home or business to be considered a robber.  There is all kinds of corruption in business and government and non-profits and even churches where people are robbing one another.  Robbery comes in all shapes and forms.  If you think about it, based on Malachi 3, the church is full of robbers today.  God tells His people in that passage that they are under a curse because they are robbers.  They rob God of His tithes and offerings.  We really do not know much about the robbers in this story, but we do know from Isaiah 61:8 that God hates robbers, and Jesus calls these men robbers.  What more needs to be said?  Do you see him? 

Maybe you might identify with the priest?  He passed by on the other side of the road.  You say, “not me” but consider this:  he did not want to get involved.  Maybe he was late for a leadership meeting or maybe the Sunday service was about to start and he could not be late.  The priest did not see and individual.  In fact, he probably saw something that he had seen many times before.  This road from Jerusalem to Jericho was about 30 miles long and it was known for all kinds of shady activity.  It was the “bad neighborhood” and this kind of thing was common place.  Maybe it was a drug deal that had gone bad.  Maybe this guy was messing around with another guy’s girl and he got what was coming to him.  The priest did not know what the situation was, nor did he seem to care, because he did not even stop.  Why didn’t the priest consider that maybe, just maybe, God might have known what was going on and thee was a divine appointment scheduled for the priest and this man, but he missed it.  This man was in need and the priest was able to help him, but something else was more important.  He was a man on the verge of dying and the “priest” or “pastor” or “elder” or “evangelist” just passed him by.  Do you see him?

Maybe it is the Levite who you can relate to.  He was a really busy guy.  He was the one who did most of the work in the church and it was the priest who usually got all of the praise.  The Levite was the assistant to the priest.  He was the worship leader.  His responsibility was to be sure that the services went smoothly and on this particular day he might have had the responsibility to lead the worship service.  Maybe he was responsible for the special music, or he had to setup the meeting place, or he had to get things ready in the kitchen for the fellowship to follow the services.  He was more like the “behind the scenes worker” who rarely was ever recognized.  The work that they do is very important and is very much needed in the church, but today he missed it.  For whatever reason, Jesus describes him as the one who came to him, saw him, and passed by on the other side.  Do you see him?

Thank God that a Samaritan came along.  Why a Samaritan?  Why did Jesus have to say a Samaritan?  Anyone but a Samaritan!  Samaritans were despised and rejected by the Jews and yet it was the Jews who Jesus was talking to.  Jesus was a Jew!  Samaritans were “half-breeds” and they were good for very little in the eyes of the Jews, and yet Jesus says that it was the Samaritan who helped this man.  The Pharisees who were listening were furious!  The thought that a Samaritan could show more love and compassion than a Jew was scandalous.  Jesus tells us that the Samaritan came to where the man was.  He pulled back the covers and saw a human being in need, serious need.  We are not sure if the injured man was a Jew or Samaritan, but that did not matter to the Samaritan.  The man was bleeding so the Samaritan treats his wounds with oil, binds them up, puts him on his donkey, and then he walks while this total stranger rides.  We don’t know where they are on this road, but remember that it was 30 miles long and it could have been a 15 mile walk in either direction.  He might have continued on to where he was going or he might have had to back-track, but it did not matter because this was a man in serious need.  The Samaritan takes him to the inn, took care of him after getting him a room, got him settled, and then made financial and medical arrangements to have him cared for.  He did not stop there.  He came back a couple of days later to check not he man and pay any additional costs for his care.  Some of us will do what the Samaritan did and some of you have, but often times we stop somewhere in the middle.  Maybe we stay at the accident scene until the paramedics arrive.  Maybe we even follow the ambulance to the hospital.  Some of you might start a “Go-Fund-Me” page to help with expenses.  All of that is awesome!  The Samaritan privately told the innkeeper that he would take care of all of this.  He saw a person in need of help and he took care of it without anyone else knowing about it except for the innkeeper.  It made no difference to him if he wa a Jew, Samaritan, Caucasian, Arab, Black, Indian, Asian, or Hispanice man.  It did not matter if he was filthy dirty or filthy rich, blue collar or white collar, gang member or politician, drug addict or doctor, dropout or professor.  It did not matter!  As long as we continue to put people into categories, it will make it easier for us to pass them by when they are in need.  Do you see him?

Maybe you are the innkeeper.  He provided the place for the injured man.  He had the space available.  He was probably a nice guy as he opened his inn to these two men.  What did he have to lose?  The Samaritan was footing the bill for the room as well as any additional expenses.  If the room was messed up or the sheets had to be tossed, it did not matter because the Samaritan was going to cover the costs,  Some people are happy to do anything as long as they are paid for it.  After all, this was a paying customer and I have nothing to lose.  Do you see him? 

Most of the tragedies in people’s lives are not physical.  Most do not require you to what the Samaritan did.  Most of the people around us who are hurting do not have wounds that are bleeding out.  But if you have the eyes of the Samaritan, and if you are looking, you will find people that are hurting.  You will not be remembered for making all of the meetings on time or how full your schedule is doing good stuff.  Jesus turned to the lawyer and asked him “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man in need?”  The answer was obvious; it was the man who took mercy on him, the Samaritan.  The Samaritan probably could not preach a sermon or even teach a SS lesson to kids or sing in the choir.  But he knew enough to have a sympathetic heart to reach out and help this man in need.  The real question is not “who is my neighbor” but rather “to whom can I be a neighbor?”  Jesus said “Go and do likewise.”

Do you see them?