The Lutheran Hour
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"Inconvenient Compassion"
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Text: Luke 10:25-37
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Christ is risen, He is risen, indeed, Hallelujah, and He is here for you and me with a compassion that is always right on time, in our time of need. Amen.
What a question? Who is my neighbor? When we’re talking about love, love to God, to neighbor, that’s the wrong question, isn’t it? When you’re in the middle of living, of sharing your heart with those in your life, that’s the wrong question, right?
Have you heard of the amazing Steven Curtis Chapman song called “One Heartbeat at a Time”? It’s written to a young mom. The first verse and refrain go something like this:
You’re up all night with a screaming baby;
You’ve run all day at the speed of life;
And every day you feel a little bit less
Like the beautiful woman you are.
So you fall into bed when you run out of hours
And you wonder if anything worth doing got done
Oh, maybe you just don’t know
Or maybe you’ve forgotten.You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch
And every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time.That’s love in action, isn’t it? When you’re striving to live a life full of mercy and grace, you’re not focused on climbing some mythical corporate ladder, or earning brownie points, or doing it so that you can keep ahead of the Jones. You’re sacrificing yourself to help someone else grow and experience a life that is blessed. It’s not about you. It’s not about me.
But the temptation, today as it has always been, is to make life about you, about me, right?
Sometimes you want to chuck it all and say, “Enough of this looking out for everyone else!What about me?
Well, that can be the deep cry of even a weary servant. And it’s true all of us; we can feel that way sometimes. But you know that the self-centered life, that’s not the way to live either. You have a calling as a parent or a caregiver. You have a calling to compassionately serve others. You don’t want to live an ugly life–a life like the expert in the law in Luke chapter ten, one who didn’t even know the right questions to ask, let alone the life to live.
Think about it. Here’s a guy who makes it look like he really wants to know the secret of life, the power to live it to its fullest extent. He hears Jesus talking about sacrifice and the blessing of life in heaven; and he approaches Jesus and aggressively says:
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus says, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength and your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus says, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, wanted to justify himself, and so he said, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-29)The lawyer knew the correct answer, but he didn’t like it. The word for love in this reading is agape. You may have heard that word before. It’s a word that means “self-sacrificial love.” It’s not an easy word. It’s an ‘in-the-trenches, give-it-all-you’ve-got for others word. When the Bible says that “God is love,” this is the word that it uses. But this expert in the law wanted no part of that, he wanted to put Jesus in His place, so that he, himself, could direct his own life, his way, as he saw fit.
This inward, self-focused attitude can pervade any heart. In fact, the world around us actually encourages you to be all about yourself. Such a selfish love kills our relationship to God and to each other. Faced with such false affection, Jesus pointed the man in the text, and you and me, to real love, to self-sacrificial compassion and care.
If you don’t have love, the Bible says, you have nothing. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 says:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).If you are doing all the right things but harboring bitterness and resentment in your heart, you don’t need merely God’s help; you need a transplant of God’s heart. You need to hear how God loved you so much that He gave His only Son to die in your place, to pay for your bitterness and bad attitude, to rescue you from a dark and depressed valley that leads to death. You need to hear that He has a whole new way of life for you to live, one of repentance and faith, of love received for love to share!
God is love, and we need His love to live more than we need food and water. And God Himself wants this love to be in our lives, overflowing in us to others.
God’s love in action, in and through our lives, that’s what life is about. And you can’t be a person who loves without getting involved in others’ struggles and pain, joys and sorrows. That’s why Jesus changed the focus of the lawyer’s questions from, “Who is my neighbor” to the issue of “How can I be a neighbor to another?” Listen to the story that Jesus tells:
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to that place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return” (Luke 10:30-35).The interesting thing about the priest and the Levite is that they were technically right, but lovingly wrong. They were obeying their laws that told them not to touch a dead body–at least they thought they were. They stayed far away from him because that injured man looked dead. But, they missed the real point of the law which was to ultimately be people who cared for one another as God cares for us. They missed the whole point by avoiding the man in need!
But we can miss the point too, can’t we? Like when we assume a person different from us isn’t someone that we could ever approach or befriend; or like when we avoid a coworker who looks sad, convincing ourselves that he or she probably doesn’t really have time to talk; or we can miss the whole point when we think that our parents or grandparents or grandchildren are probably too busy to talk on the phone, so we don’t call. Or, we miss the whole point, when we are disobedient to God because our friends have convinced us that we’re uncool if we don’t indulge in drugs or alcohol or premarital sex.
It’s easy to assume the wrong things about life, to stick to our self-driven, self-created schedules, doing what you and everyone else, but God, think you’re supposed to do, to walk on the other side when we see people in need. It’s comfortable to keep things convenient, in order and predictable. But it may not be the way of showing love.
On January 13, 1982, the people of Air Florida flight 90 experienced the worst they could ever imagine. After taking off with icy wings in wintry weather, the airplane plunged into the icy Potomac River. Nearly every passenger died. But as shocked onlookers gaped at the tail of the plane jutting out of the broken ice, they also saw some people floating in the freezing water. After vain attempts to get to reach them, a rescue helicopter appeared. It dropped a line and began towing the soaked, freezing, and dazed survivors to the shore. Civilians and military personnel waited at the shoreline to pull the survivors out of the water. As television crews filmed the odyssey, they captured an act of unmatched compassion. Arland D. Williams, one of the victims in the water, caught the line from the helicopter. Instead of wrapping it around himself, he passed it to a surviving crewmember, Kelly Duncan. The helicopter returned. Arland Williams caught the line and, again, passed it to another passenger: the severely injured Joe Stiley. By the time the helicopter returned, Arland Williams was gone. He sacrificed his life so that fellow passengers, strangers, so that they could live.
That’s inconvenient compassion, that’s love that is right on time; bringing real blessings right in the middle of struggle and hopelessness.
Inconvenient compassion, compassion in action when the person really needed it. Jesus described that Samaritan who similarly stopped everything and came close to the wounded man on the road. The Samaritan had things to do. He wasn’t on that road because it was his scenic vacation route. No, he had business to take care of. But instead of keeping to the clock, he walked in love. Samaritans weren’t well regarded by Jesus’ listeners. This was a shocking story. A Samaritan obeyed God’s command to love! But the point came through loudly and clearly. The Samaritan took his time, spent his money, went the extra distance, and took a big risk. This was the way life was supposed to be, Jesus said. So He asked the expert in the law: “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell upon the robbers?” (Luke 10:36). The man could only answer one way: “The one who showed him mercy.” But Jesus had one response to His challenge, and to all of our excuses, He said, “You go, and you do likewise” (Luke 10:37). Live a life of mercy, compassion, and grace, right on time for others!
In the midst of Flight 90’s tragedy, not all rescuers were from the helicopters. A Congressional Budget Office Assistant, Lenny Skutnik, was watching the horrible events on the shores of the Potomac, when he saw a woman fall back into the water as the helicopter tried to tow her out. Priscilla Tirado was helpless, going under for the last time. Her husband and baby were already lost in the crash. She was panicked, grief-stricken, weak, and cold. Skutnik, sprung into action, he peeled off his winter coat and boots, and he jumped into the freezing water and he swam out to bring her to shore. It was inconvenient compassion in action to save a precious life.
That’s the way right on time compassion is, dear friend, and we, like Priscilla, have all needed it at times, haven’t we? You may not be in the Potomac, but you know how it feels to linger in the icy waters of this broken world. You know what those times feel like when it appears that you’re going under for the final time.
You also know how sin’s icy grip feels in your own life. You may be suffering from the cold heart of criticism and gossip that make you angry and bitter. You know how jealousy and lust dehumanizes yourself and others. Self-centeredness shuts down our relationships. Secret sins freeze you and me in hypocrisy. And a helplessness that seems to shut down any efforts to change or to escape.
But that’s why the message of the Gospel is so powerful, my friend. It clearly says there are some icy waters too deadly for you and for me to escape. In the face of such real need, even our best seems to always give way. So we need more than glimpses of compassion; we need more than our best efforts at compassion, we need God’s love and compassion in our lives in all of its fullness to come to our rescue. And that is the Good News that the Bible is offering to you in the Person and work of Jesus.
Into life’s eternally icy waters someone had to jump in for you; and Someone did. The Bible declares: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:2-3).
Jesus Christ, our Savior, jumped in to save you and me. He lifted you out of the icy depths of sin and despair. Sacrificing His own life on the cross, Jesus’ compassion was the most inconvenient there could ever be! His grace poured out upon you involved complete self-sacrifice. But He showed you mercy to forgive you, to bind up your wounds, to care for you, and to walk with you all the way to heaven.
You see, the focus of the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke ten is not only that you should be like the Samaritan. It is also told that you might picture yourself in the story as the man beat up and left for dead, helpless and mortally wounded. And Jesus, the Good Samaritan, stopped for you.
Jesus stopped everything to save you. He sacrificed everything to restore you. Get to know this Jesus as your Savior and see in Him compassion in action for you. His is inconvenient compassion, a selfless love that is right on time for you and me, one that gives life and even creates a new pattern for the way to live your life too.
So, why not flex your faith muscles in Jesus and dedicate yourself to living the inconvenient life in Him for others!
Life is love in action and you and I are busy with all kinds of life things today, aren’t we? We’re on the road as it were. If you’re like me, you’re probably not on a road from Jerusalem to Jericho at the moment, but you may be rushing to get to church–or to get to lunch after church! Tomorrow it might be rushing to work or school. Well, on that road, what inconvenient compassion are you being called to? Holding your temper while your kids don’t cooperate? Or, could it be as simple as getting your work done with a different attitude so that others might be blessed by your efforts? What is it?
Or you may be on the road of married life. What inconvenient compassion are you being called to? Is it a gentle and nurturing spirit with your husband and wife that you need to give or to share? Is it about faithfulness and integrity? What is it?
You may be on the road of aging. What inconvenient compassion are you being called to? Be kind to your caregivers? Or is it fending off bitterness and the sadness of all that you’ve lost so that you can shine the light of Jesus? What is it?
Or you may be on the road of a great personal challenge. What inconvenient compassion are you being called to? Trusting God as you break a destructive habit? Believing that God has a plan for you when everything seems to be crashing down at the moment? Walking in faith and obedience when you feel like straying? What is it?
Rising up to meet the challenge of living lives of inconvenient compassion, sharing God’s love in Christ when others need it most, that’s a life of purpose, of passion, realized potential; but even more, it’s a life that gets a glimpse of how the true Good Samaritan Jesus, already loves you and me! Thank God for that compassion received, one that we get to pour out to others, right on time. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for July 14, 2013
Topic: Where Are Missionaries These Days?ANNOUNCER: Where are all the missionaries these days? Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions. I’m Mark Eischer. The idea of foreign mission work; I haven’t heard too much about that recently. Where are all the missionaries nowadays?
SELTZ: I always had heard about the international mission work when I was a kid in church. That was a great time. How about you, Mark?
ANNOUNCER: Well, growing up we always had the annual mission festival every August. And our kids adopted mission projects in Vacation Bible School.
SELTZ: So, missionary days haven’t disappeared! In fact, in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, there are still more than 740 full-time and part-time missionaries in nearly 90 countries. In addition, Lutheran Hour Ministries has ministry centers in more than 30 countries around the world. So, the day of the missionary is still alive and well!
ANNOUNCER: And Lutheran Hour Ministries is also now broadcasting to areas of the Middle East; bringing the Good News of Jesus to people who otherwise would have no access to that message.
SELTZ: So, there still is a great need for prayer and for support of all our missionaries around the world. You can find out details at the international ministry page here at www.lhm.org or at the world mission page at www.lcms.org.
ANNOUNCER: But international missions aren’t the only ones carrying this out, right?
SELTZ: You were reading my mind, Mark. While world missions continue to expand the reach of the Gospel from Afghanistan to Zambia; from Argentina to Vietnam, a mission field is growing right here in the United States. On one hand, the world is coming to our doorstep. Our Lutheran Church is reaching dozens of people groups and language groups right here in the United States. Dedicated missionaries in our own country have remarkable outreach opportunities. Think about it. From the boroughs of New York City to the barrios of border towns around the Rio Grande, mission work is alive and well.
ANNOUNCER: With the changing culture in our country, we’re a ripe mission field as well.
SELTZ: We sure are. And you’re right about the culture. We no longer live in a churched nation. Only 20-30% of people in our country attend church regularly. Young people have been drifting away from the Christian faith. We can’t take for granted that people know what the Bible says. And that leads to my second mission point. Each one of us is a missionary! Jesus said to the seventy-two in Luke chapter ten: “I am sending you!” These people weren’t professional missionaries; they were regular believers. Throughout the Bible we hear of God’s desire for us to share the love of Christ with the world. Each of us is called to be a witness of Jesus to others!
ANNOUNCER: So, in addition to hearing these missionary stories from all around the world and the stories of professional missionaries, each believer can share a missionary story of their own.
SELTZ: Yeah, wouldn’t it be great to share those stories? Can you imagine a grandmother sharing how, through prayer and conversation, her grandchild came to know Jesus? Or a young person who stood her ground to let her friends know about Jesus and His love? Or a coworker who reached out to a person in the next cubicle or started a Bible study and prayer group at work?
ANNOUNCER: What I’m hearing you say is that we’re all missionaries right where we’re at.
SELTZ: We sure can be! I remember back at Concordia University in Irvine, we had a program where students from Asia came to study here in the United States. One day in chapel, there was a baptism of one of those students. Kids sharing their faith brought others to faith in Jesus, what a joy!
ANNOUNCER: That mission spirit grows out of thanks to God for the salvation we’ve received through Jesus Christ as well as love for those people that God brings into our midst.
SELTZ: Absolutely. It’s a mission heart that develops as we listen to God’s calling in the Scriptures. Jesus said in Mark 16: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15 ESV). What a wonderful mission calling that is for each of us! Of course, we can easily become distracted. There’s all kinds of busyness in our lives. We can become fearful, even lazy. But God will give each one of us missionary stories as we follow Him and reach out with His love to others.
ANNOUNCER: And you can support our mission work together here at Lutheran Hour Ministries through your prayers and with your contributions. You might even want to become equipped for mission yourself by participating in our online “Mission U” experience or by attending a “Regional Outreach Conference” in your area. For more information go to lhm.org. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“O God of Mercy, God of Might” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)