O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

ARE YOU A GOOD SAMARITAN?

          The term ‘Good Samaritan’ originated from a heart-warming story that Jesus told of a man who went out of his way to help an injured person. But there is actually a deeper message in this story – a message that will prick the conscience of anyone who reads it, no matter how good or virtuous he may be. It reveals how impossible it is for anyone to be good enough to deserve eternal life.

          This message can be understood from the question that prompted the telling of the story: “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted [Jesus], saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.  But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:25-29)

The One Who Heard the Story

          The term ‘lawyer’ here refers to an expert in the Old Testament Law. This is why when Jesus asked him, “What is written in the law?” he was able to answer correctly: All the laws of God can be boiled down to loving God with all of one’s heart, soul, strength and mind, and loving one’s neighbor as oneself.

          But the word ‘tempted’ shows that he was not interested in learning something from Jesus at all. He asked this question in order to see whether the answer Jesus gives conforms to His own expert knowledge of the Law or not. If it does not, He would use this to find fault with Jesus and condemn Him.

          Jesus knew that this expert was putting him to the test. And so He affirmed the text-book answer to the question, “What must I do to have eternal life?” The answer is: Do all that is written in the Law – keep loving God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind (Deuteronomy 6:5), and keep loving your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).

          Instead of humbling himself to admit that he still lacked something in his keeping of the Law, this expert tried to justify himself by asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” He thought that Jesus would answer that the word ‘neighbour’ in God’s command means any fellow Jew. Then he would be able to claim that he had obeyed God’s laws perfectly. He obviously loved his own people who are Jews. But Jesus wanted him to realise how greatly he had failed to do what is written in the Law which he knew so well. And that was His purpose for telling the story.

The Story that Jesus Told

          It begins with a very unfortunate incident: A Jew who travelled alone was ambushed by robbers. They beat him up, take everything he has, and leave him there half dead. As the injured man lies helpless at the side of the road, he looks up hoping that someone would come to help him. After some time, a Jewish priest appears. But the priest merely looks at him from afar and continues on his journey without doing anything to him. This priest knew the Law well but he did not do it. What a disappointment!

          The helpless man looks up and sees a Levite coming. He is better than the priest – he comes to the injured man and looks at him. But after looking at him, the Levite leaves and continues on his journey. Like the priest before him, the Levite also knew the Law but failed to do it. How terribly disappointed this poor man is – His own fellow countrymen whom he regarded as his own neighbours had failed him miserably! They had the opportunity to show love to a fellow Jew, but they left him to suffer and die alone at a road side.

          But when all hope was gone, the man sees a Samaritan riding on a donkey. This is the last person he wants to see traveling on that road now, because he knows that Samaritans hate Jews as much as he hates them. They had a long history of prejudice against each other.

          But when the Samaritan sees the plight of this Jew, he dismounts, runs towards him and starts tearing his own clothes to make bandages to bind up his wounds and to stop the bleeding. After rendering first aid, he gently carries the Jew on his back and places him on his donkey to bring him to the nearest inn. There the Samaritan stays up all night to nurse him. Just before he leaves the next morning, he gives the innkeeper some money to look after the Jew while he is away, promising to return to settle any outstanding debts for his care.

         The Samaritan may not know the Law as well as the Priest and the Levite, but he did exactly what the Law requires – he demonstrated selfless love for the injured Jew.

The Lesson from the Story

          The story that Jesus told ends here. Now comes the lesson that Jesus wanted the Law expert to learn. Jesus asks him, “Which of these three (the Priest, the Levite or the Samaritan) was neighbour unto him who fell among the thieves?”

          The answer to the question is obviously: “The Samaritan”. But the Law expert could not bring himself to utter the word, “Samaritan.” His answer was: “He that shewed mercy on him.” This answer exposed his deep prejudice against Samaritans and revealed his own failure to love his neighbor as himself. Like the priest and the Levite in the story, this Law expert knew the Law but could not do it.

          Then Jesus brought this point home to his heart by saying to him, “Go, and DO thou likewise.” Nothing is recorded in Luke chapter 10 about the expert’s reaction to those words. It should have humbled him to see his inability to keep the Law which he knew so well. It should have made him realise that he deserves condemnation rather than commendation from God. It should have made him turn to Jesus to ask for help: “Lord, what must I do to be saved? I am a sinner condemned by the Law. No matter how hard I try, I cannot keep it, and so I cannot inherit eternal life.”

          The Lord Jesus could easily have left him to languish in his sins of pride and prejudice. But He showed tremendous love to him by using the story to make him see his own sinfulness and inability to love his neighbor as himself.

How This Story Applies to You

          Dear friend, Jesus also loves you enough to bring His Word to you today. Perhaps you had always thought that you are a good person, and even like a Good Samaritan. You have helped others. You have been kind to many people. There were times when you even went out of your way to help them.

          But who were the ones you helped? They were most probably your friends and your loved ones. Have you ever helped someone you don’t know at all, someone who is a total stranger to you? Have you ever been kind to someone who can never repay your kindness? Have you ever loved someone you really don’t like? Or someone whom you feel is not worthy of your love? Or someone who hates you and treats you like trash?

          Even if you have shown kindness to someone like that, how much help did you give to him? Did you do everything you could possibly do to meet his need? Giving a little help is not good enough. If you truly want to be a Good Samaritan, you must go out of your way to help him – even to give up those things that are most precious to you, for his sake.

          Perhaps you may say, “If that is what it means to be a Good Samaritan, I don’t think there can ever be one, because nobody in the world can love like that.” Everyone’s love is naturally limited by his own fears and prejudices. And most of all, everyone’s love is limited by his own selfishness. Loving your neighbor as yourself is much easier said than done because you tend to love yourself more than others. So let us face this sobering truth – The only person you can ever love consistently to the same extent as the Good Samaritan is yourself.

          Perhaps as you read the story you may have wished in your heart that all the love and care that the injured man received could be received by you. “How nice it would be, if only everyone would do such good things for me whenever I am in trouble!” Can you see whom you really love, now? It is yourself. And if you love yourself more than people whom you can see, then how can you love God whom you cannot even see? Do you really love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Please be very honest with yourself. How many times a day do you ever think of God? How many times a day do you think about yourself?

          We should realise by now how far short we are of the required standard. We may know what is required of us very well – to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves at all times. But we can’t do it! How then can anyone inherit eternal life? Humanly speaking it is impossible, isn’t it?

The Good News

          The good news is that there is a Good Samaritan who has shown the greatest love for His enemies. He is the One mentioned in Romans 5:7-8 – “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus Christ loved us enough to save us from sin and eternal death. He was willing to give His precious life for us, even though by our sins we had caused His greatest agony when He suffered and died on the Cross.

          If Jesus is the only One who could love sinners so perfectly, then surely He alone deserves to inherit eternal life. The good news is that He is most willing to share it with you, if you put your trust in Him alone. Will you do that today? Will you now admit that you are a sinner, unable to meet God’s righteous requirements of love? Will you ask Jesus to save you now from your sins and give you the eternal life that He has inherited?

          May the Lord Jesus, our Good Samaritan, rescue someone who needs Him today.

– Pastor

Appointments for the Week

Monday, Jul 31

        7.30 pm     ERBL: OT Poetic Books (Rev Charles Seet)

Tuesday, Aug 1

        8.00 pm     Prayer Meeting (Jelly Lal Hup Lian)

Thursday, Aug 3

      10.00 am     Ladies’ Prayer Group

        7.30 pm     ERBL: The Theology of Prayer (Pastor Tan Soon Yong)

Saturday, Aug 5

        3.00 pm     LTF / YLM

Sunday, Aug 6

        8.00 am     Shine Your Light Romans 13:1-7 (Rev Quek Keng Khwang)

        8.00 am     Choir Practice

        9.15 am Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

        9.40 am Sunday School / Catechism Class

        10.15 am Coffee Corner

        11.00 am Shine Your Light Romans 13:1-7 (Rev Quek Keng Khwang, with Holy Communion)

        11.00 am Children’s Ministry

        11.00 am Chinese Service (MPH)

        12.15 pm Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

          2.30 pm Thai Service (LMH)

          4.00 pm Indonesian Service (Rm 1-6)

Announcements

LIFE B-P CHURCH SURVEY 2023

In order to better understand the spiritual life of our congregation, our church pastoral staff is conducting an online survey of the Pulpit Ministry and the Prayer Meeting. Kindly click on the following URL to participate in this survey. Deadline: Wednesday, 9 August 2023. https://lifebpc.com/survey/index.php/313662?lang=en

Door to Door Evangelism 6 Aug 2023 (next Sunday)

Meet in Beulah Room 2-11, 12.30 pm Contact: Desmond or Amos  

Traffic Wardens

Lifers are invited to serve our Lord as Traffic Wardens on Sunday. Kindly contact Bro Yeo HS if you are available.

Birth

Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Loh WL on the birth of a baby girl, K Loh, on 16 July 2023.

WITH ONE VOICE (Evening of Praise 2023)

Date:  7 Oct 2023 (Sat)

Time:  7pm to 9pm

Venue:          Church Sanctuary

Form your groups to present item of praise unto the Lord!

Gospel Tracts

Three new Gospel tracts in English and Chinese are now available: 

- God and Science

- Is There Any Good News?

- God, I Can’t Reach You

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