Heaven Comes to Earth, pt2
Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 115
Heaven Comes to Earth: What do the Parables Really Mean?
[The Parable of the Good Samaritan]
Jesus answers the question: Who is my neighbor?
Luke 10:30
Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
They were going to Jerusalem, the place where priests and Levites go to do their religious service. DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE IN A RELIGIOUS CONTEXT TO SERVE GOD. Love your neighbor where you are, where you are going, and while you are on your way.
Luke 10:31-32
And by coincidence 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.
The Levite was doing what the priest taught him to do. Maybe they were traveling together and talked each other out of serving this person. YOU DON’T WANT TO GIVE INTO PEER PRESSURE AND NOT DO WHAT YOU SHOULD DO.
According to Leviticus 21, if the priest touched anything dead, he would have to purify himself for 7 days. This guy was left for dead and possibly appeared dead, and that could be why they didn’t even check to see if he was alive. That’s easy for us to fall into. We are on our way and we don’t want to get interrupted, get dirty, open a can of worms that could cost us 7 days. LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR LOOKS LIKE MINISTERING ON THE WAY TO MINISTER.
Social justice is understanding who your neighbor is. It’s not having a politically correct view of someone, starting a new ministry, or making a political statement. It’s saying: Kingdom come to earth. It’s saying: When I’m on my way somewhere, I’m an ambassador of the Kingdom of God, and when I see someone in need, I’m going to go ahead and touch them. There is peer pressure in the Church, just like in the world. You might be walking with a priest and a Levite and they may choose to do nothing, but what are you going to do?
This is more than acknowledging a need or contributing to a ministry. This is touching people. This is keeping our eyes open as we go on our way.
Luke 10:33-35
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 animal, 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.’
The one who showed himself as a neighbor is the one who showed mercy, the Samaritan. MERCY IS GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY DON’T DESERVE. Yes, we need to teach people to fish, but in that, there should be room for mercy where we give them a fish. To be a good neighbor, there has to be an abundance of mercy that we are willing to share.
Luke 10:36-37
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 compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
