SAVE THE SUMMER

SAVE THE SUMMER - 5.31.09
• Matt spoke on the topic of being a good Samaritan over the summer.
• This is a one part sermon, the last one for Matt until July.
• He has the month of June off as vacation time.
• Does he deserve a whole month off? Let me know what you think! I vote yes.
• Anyway, here is a sermon outline and at the end, my take.

What do you plan on doing this summer?
• Vacations, projects, fun stuff, relaxing, events, weddings
• Cash in on our extra time and money

We look forward to summer because we have a lot of extra!
• Time, money, vacation

There is nothing wrong with that. We can use some of that extra time and money for us. But, everything revolves around us. We think the summer is ours. Our time to have fun. What if we just take a portion of the extra time and money we have this summer to help someone else have a great summer. Make not only memories this summer, but make a mark!

How can we make a lasting difference in the lives of others this summer?

For us to be able to take the next 2-3 months to serve other people, that will not require us to change a lot of our plans and time (some but not a lot), but it will require us to change our perspective.

The Good Samaritan
• Some religious folks who didn’t care a lot for Jesus hired a lawyer to follow Jesus around to try to catch Jesus saying something that they could use to discredit Him.
Luke 10:25-37 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
• The lawyer thinks that he has heard Jesus say something that they can use to bring Him down.
• A lawyer never asks a question he doesn’t already know the answer to.
• Jesus turns it around on him.

26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
• Jesus knows the expert in the law already knows the answer.
• The lawyer quotes back to Jesus what Jesus had already replied in the past

27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
• The lawyer quoted this out of Deuteronomy and Leviticus
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
• Jesus is like OK you got it. So Jesus is ready to go back to what he was previously doing before the lawyer spoke to Him, but…..
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
• The lawyer thought he had Jesus with this one. He thought he would get Jesus to give a narrow answer that would narrow down specific people, or a group of people. But Jesus replies with a story instead of directly answering his question.
30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
• A priest was at the top of the food chain in that culture.
• A priest was powerful, wealthy, and educated.
• A very religious guy who, if anyone, should know what it means to love God and love people.
• Closer to God than anyone, but when he sees the man, he walks to the other side and goes on.
• The priest found a way in his mind to convince himself and justify to himself that he didn’t need to stop and help this guy.
• He came up with excuses in his head.
32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
• A Levite was right next to the priest: educated, religious
• He did the same thing as the priest: justified and convinced himself not to stop.
• The priest and the Levite were good guys who figured out how to play the mental games that that was not a need that they needed to meet. It was better for someone else to do it. This is kind of what we do.
33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
• The Jewish people Jesus was talking to hated Samaritans. They couldn’t stand them; they wouldn’t talk to them, interact with them, or even be with them.
• The Samaritan put himself in that man’s shoes and helped him.
34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.
• This was dangerous for the Samaritan to do.
• It was expensive. Oil and wine weren’t cheap.
35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
• The Samaritan went to great lengths, spend a lot of money, and put himself at risk to help this poor, beaten man.
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
• Quit talking about it, just go love God and love people. When there is a need that needs met, meet it. Don’t worry about the formalities of who is my neighbor, just help and meet needs that need met.
• We are masters at being like the priest and the Levite. We see situations like this and do the exact thing. We make excuses and justifications in our heads to not help.
• Just be a good neighbor. Don’t worry about expectations. If there is a need, just be a good neighbor. The Samaritan didn’t worry that since he was giving money to take care of the beaten man, that the man would later come back and want more money from him. He just met the need, no questions asked.
• Just helping one person will make a big difference for that person.
• As we are having our fun this summer, we are going to have a lot of opportunities to meet the needs of others.
• Say “I am going to take some of what God has blessed me with and use it to serve others.” Just a little slice of our time and money to not only make memories but make a mark in the lives of others.
• Challenge to the church: Don’t spend the entire summer focused on us, but to spend this summer focused on other people. Don’t just chase after fun but to save this summer by serving somebody.
• What does that look like: Take some money and give it to a friend who needs it more than you do. Put it in their mailbox. Do it week after week. Use your time to volunteer in the community. Help some mom with her kids a couple times a week. Help with the church.
• GIVE, GIVE, GIVE instead of TAKE, TAKE, TAKE.
• Quit being selfish with your time and money and give some of it to meet others needs.
• Invite a friend to church!
• So, are we going to be the Levite/priest or the Samaritan this summer?
• Don’t just chase fun, SAVE THIS SUMMER BY SERVING SOMEONE!

Listen to the sermon:
http://tinyurl.com/m9purr

My Take:
Well, this reminds me so much of seeing a guy broke down on the road and just driving on by. We say “oh, someone else will stop. I probably couldn’t help anyway. What if it is a setup. I could get hurt or killed. I don’t have time. If I stop, this will mess up my schedule.” What we are doing is the exact thing that the priest and Levite did. We are justifying and convincing ourselves that we don’t need to stop. I did it just the other day. Drove right by a guy with his hood up. I’m no mechanic, but I could have at least stopped and offered him a phone call, a ride, a few bucks. I could have met a need instead of meeting my own needs and passing on by and going on with my day. I never thought to put myself in his shoes. What if I was broke down. I can barely change a flat tire, let alone fix anything. What if I forgot my cell phone that day. What if I ran out of gas. I would love for a ‘good Samaritan’ to stop by and help. Don’t over analyze the situation. Stop and serve and meet a need and the Lord will take care of the rest.