“What Does the Lord Require”

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

When we hear the question “What does the Lord require?”, I suspect that we all immediately think of Micah 6:8. But as much as I like this passage, I wish that the prophet had been more specific. The verse leaves too much up to our interpretation, and, for most of us, we take a very cautious approach to these words. Justice is all too often seen as the legal type, and that isn’t even close to what God wants from us. Mercy can range from dropping a dollar in the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas time to participating in a year long mission project in Africa. And the word humility? For the majority of people, unfortunately, it isn’t even in their vocabulary.

So what is God “requiring” from His followers?

Read Luke 10:25-29

The Shema has been a beloved Hebrew commandment for ages – Deuteronomy 6:4-5 begins with an admonition to remember just who God is – “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”, and then goes on to call the people to love the Lord with their entire being. But this, too, falls short on the specifics of just what constitutes showing love to the Lord. And on the occasion when this Pharisee confronts Jesus with the question as to what is necessary to receive eternal life, he recites this passage from the Law, and then adds the passage from Leviticus 19:18 regarding Loving your neighbor as yourself. But this still raises another question for him - “And just who is my neighbor?” He is also looking for an example of what constitutes an act of loving God, and furthermore, what actions don’t show our love to Him.

The Torah is filled with countless examples of how to fulfill the commandments, but personally, it only lists the human understanding of what is required, and misses the very things that God desires. The Pharisee saw the answer to this question as being “A neighbor is one of us”, but Jesus takes the question to a whole new level.

Read Luke 10:30-32

These two men would normally be the epitome of what good neighbors are to any Jew. They were holy men, men who served in the temple, men who had been set aside by God for very special work. Why, how could they have done anything else but avoid the blood soaked man – they would have become unclean if they touched him and would have been barred from the temple until they had gone through the cleansing ritual. The beaten man would have understood, wouldn’t he? This doesn’t detract from their holiness, does it?
But as Jesus tells the parable to the crowd, it becomes obvious that something more should have been done for the victim. But what? Should they have called for others to come and help? Maybe shepherds or slaves – they were already unclean and the result of touching this poor unfortunate would have no significant impact on those lives. What could they possibly have done differently?

Read Luke 10:33-35

The point of Jesus’ parable seems to be this – be ready and willing to give everything that you have, and then you will be getting close to being a neighbor! The Samaritan was very possibly a merchant who was traveling on business, but he takes time out of his busy schedule to help a stranger in need. But this was no simple stranger – he was a Jew, a man who would never have even glanced toward the Samaritan if the roles had been reversed. Samaritans were worse than unclean – they were “mixed blood Jews”, and that was a sin! These people were worthless!

And what does this “worthless” man give to the other? He gives him life! He gives as much as was needed! And how much was that? He took pity – showed mercy – to the one would hate him. He cleansed and bandaged the severe wounds. He humbled himself, as this would normally be a servant’s job! He transported the man to the nearest inn, rented a room, stayed the night with him and cared for him in his weakened condition. He would have bought food for them both, and watched the wounds closely in case they began to bleed again. And there probably wasn’t a lot of sleep that night for the Samaritan. The next day, he paid all expenses for that night and for many more nights, and even guaranteed to pay for any additional costs that the inn keeper may incur in giving further care for the man.

How much did this “worthless” man give? More than anyone could expect, and certainly far more than the priest and Levite were willing to give. He gave it his all.

Zan Holmes writes
“If you don't put anything in, you won't get anything out. In terms of worship, that means you have to bring something to the service if you want to get something out of it.
He then goes on to tell the story of a young college student who returned home for the holidays and accompanied his mother to church one Sunday. Afterward the young man said, 'The preacher was not too good today.' His mother said, 'Well, maybe not.' He said, 'I noticed that the choir was not too good today.' His mother said, Well, maybe not.' Then she said to him, ‘But tell me, son, how good were you today?'”
-- Zan W. Holmes, Jr., Pastor Emeritus of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, Encountering Jesus (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992), 32.

The Samaritan gave all that he had. How good is that?

Read Luke 10:36-37

The Samaritan put everything in for the wounded man, even though he had never received a single thing from any Jew! He was a not only a great steward of all that the Lord had given him, but a neighbor extraordinaire who lived Micah 6:8.

First, he used his money for the benefit of one who was in need. The Good Samaritan gave 2 denarii, roughly the equivalent of the cost for a month's food and lodging, for the care of the wounded man. But he also, in essence, handed the innkeeper a blank check when he told him he would not hesitate to pay any additional debts the injured man incurred.

But the Samaritan knew that stewardship goes far beyond just our financial resources.

So he also gave his time - Today we rationalize away the initial cost of many things by focusing on the amount of time they are going to save us. Convenience stores are convenient, but they aren’t inexpensive, and yet we still go there to save time. Microwave meals cost a lot more and are generally less nutritious, but take only moments to prepare. They save us valuable time.
We don’t actually know where the Samaritan was going or what his time schedule was, but he obviously set it all aside in order to deal completely with the needs of the injured stranger. He also makes a future commitment to give more of his time, when he tells the innkeeper he will be coming back.

Third, he surrendered his lifestyle - The Samaritan was obviously a man of some means for he was traveling with ample supplies of oil and wine, possibly the very product that he was going to sell, and he was even riding on his own donkey. This refined method of travel was immediately surrendered in order to accommodate the needs of the stranger. His provisions are lavished on this man and he chooses to walk so that the injured man may ride. We don’t know whether the two denarii the Samaritan leaves with the innkeeper is all he had, but its loss certainly must have affected his own lifestyle, his own future.

What does the Lord require? Our willingness to use the gifts that He has blessed us with to care for the needs of others. Throughout scripture, we are told 2 very important things related to this story:
1. That God has blessed us so that we might be a blessing to others, and
2. That we can never out give God.

What does the Lord require? To live a life in His Justice. To love showing mercy to those who the Lord brings into our lives, regardless of who they are or what they have done. To follow wherever the Lord leads us, to do whatever must be done, to give all that we have, without thinking that we’re doing such a great job that others ought to follow our example!

We must remember how the Samaritan did all that the Lord required of him. And now, may each of us go and do likewise.