Luke 10:25-37 … An expert in the law asked Jesus how to get to Heaven and Jesus asked him what he thought the answer was based on the law. The lawyer answered, to paraphrase, love God above all else and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says he is right. The lawyer, trying to make it easier, asks who is neighbor is. Jesus then tells a parable that explains who our neighbor is and how to love them. … There’s an injured Jewish man laying on a dangerous road. A priest sees him and walk by on the other side. Then a Levite does the same. Finally, a Samaritan sees the man. Now, Jews and Samaritans did not get along at the time. Jews considered the Samaritans to be unclean and were pretty racist towards them and Samaritans frequently robbed and harrased Jews. Yet, this Samaritan stopped and took the injured Jew to an inn. Then he paid for the injured man’s stay and told the innkeeper that he would also pay for anything else the man needs. Jesus asks the lawyer who the injured man’s neighbor was. The lawyer replied “the man who helped him.” He couldn’t even say, “the Samaritan” but he recognized that being a neighbor means helping your neighbors.

What does it mean to love our neighbors?

Who, when, and how much?

Who: anyone we see in need.

When: whenever you see a need.

In the 1700’s Jonathan Edwards listed out the most common excuses Christian people give for not helping those in need in His book The Duty of Charity.

Excuse #1: We only help people when they’re in dire need. … This violates the principle of loving them as ourselves.

Excuse #2: They brought on their trouble themselves. … So did we. We brought the trouble of sin on ourselves and Jesus helped us.

How much: in a way that takes their burden onto yourself.

Excuse #3: “I can’t afford to help the man in need.” … We are told to take each other’s burdens on ourselves.

Why should we love our neighbors? … When we read a parable, we should ask who we are in the story. One way to view this parable is that we are the injured man in need of help and Jesus is the Samaritan who rescued us. We have been shown love by Christ and should pass that on to others.  

The Story of Serve Coffee County … At some point we realized that we do all of these mission trips to other places but too often neglected our own city and county. This ministry is a way for us to help out in our home community. servecoffeecounty.com

Luke 17:10 -- So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ … There is only one response to this, and that is to be a servant of Christ and to do all we can to serve Him.