I. Honoring our mothers, near and far. Those still with us and those with the Lord.
A. The family was created by God and motherhood was His invention.
1. Genesis says “…male and female He created them.”
2. Eve: taken from Adam’s side. Not his head to rule him, not his feet to be underneath him.
But from his side to be equal with him.
3. The only part of creation that God was ‘not good’ was Adam’s loneliness. And so God
created Eve, a woman, to be his helper and companion. The Hebrew language implies “a helper that is
suitable for him”.
a. ‘Suitable’ doesn’t mean adequate, it means perfect.
4. But God didn’t just make women to be the perfect helpers and companions for men, He
made them to be the perfect mothers for children.
5. God created us to be social creatures and mothers are one of the only two pillars of the
most basic unit of human community, the family.
6. Motherhood is a unique calling that takes a special grace from God. Motherhood is an
honor and a calling, but it is also a work of sacrificial love.
7. Paul acknowledged that Timothy’s faith was part of the legacy of his grandmother and
mother. He instructed Timothy to treat all older women as mothers and younger women as sisters.
8. The Kingdom of God has often advanced quietly through the prayers, sacrifices, wisdom,
and endurance of faithful mothers.
B. Today we celebrate and honor motherhood as a gift from God.
1. Blessing of the mothers.
May the blessing of the God of life be upon you. May He strengthen the work of your hands and give peace to your heart. May your home be filled with light, your table with provision, and your soul with joy.
May the Lord who formed life within you refresh you, sustain you, and reward every hidden act of love. May He give you grace for weary days, wisdom for every season, and the deep assurance that your labor in the Lord is never in vain.
May the peace of Christ guard your heart, and may your children rise and call you blessed. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. Prayer.
Father God, Giver of Life, we thank you for the mothers that have given us life according to your holy pattern. We ask that you reward them for every sacrifice, answer every prayer they offer that is according to your will and refresh them as they continue in the calling of motherhood.
Do not let them grow weary in their doing good, to their own children and the children of the heart that You send them. Grant them wisdom and Lord, would You care for them as they have cared for so many others? May You strengthen, encourage and nurture them, Lord, today and for all time.
We pray for those who cannot celebrate this day with their mothers because they never knew their mother, they are estranged from their mother or their mother has gone to be with you in glory. Lord, comfort their hearts as only You can, with the comfort that You have placed in the hearts of mothers.
Amen.
II. The Good Samaritan. (Please turn to Luke 10: 25-37)
A. The Parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates the sacrificial love of a mother.
1. What we see is someone who doesn’t turn away from a person in need. Someone who sacrifices at great cost to themselves to nurture, care and restore a person to health.
B. The text.
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’
36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” 37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
C. Breakdown.
1. Vs 25 “A certain lawyer” an expert in the Jewish religious law.
a. Was he insecure? If he was an expert in the law, why ask Jesus?
2. Vs 26 Jesus answers his question with a question. Why? To see what was in this man’s heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
3. Vs 27-29 He answers correctly, citing the truth of God’s Word, God’s Law.
a. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
b. But he wasn’t satisfied with this confirmation from Jesus.
c. “Who is my neighbor?”
4. It sounds like he’s looking for a loophole. And we do this with God all the time without realizing it.
a. We’re happy to love those who love us, who we like, etc.
b. But we look for justification to not love those we don’t like, etc.
5. He had the right information but the wrong motivation. He had education but no transformation.
6. And so Jesus tells him a parable to illustrate the heart of God in His law.
a. Road from Jerusalem to Jericho: 18 miles of rocky, desert terrain. Known for robbers who attack pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.
b. The Priest, represents religion, he passed by on the other side. (Dead works, ritual, lip service to God but no faith shown by works)
c. The Levite, represents legalism, he passed by on the other side. (Self-righteousness, this guy must have done something to deserve this…)
d. But the Samaritan, the enemy of the Jews at the time, is the one who shows how to live the law of God by loving our neighbor as ourself.
C. Our private values must have a public expression.
1. This is the big takeaway for me. If the Law of Love is written on our hearts than it will
have an outward expression. But if the Law of Love is only written on our mind, we may never see it.
2. If the Law of Love is written on our hearts it will transform us, not just inform us. The
Law of Love is meant to motivate us, not just to educate us.
III. The Lord is calling us to engage the hurting with His love.
A. This is a parable about engagement.
1. Two people failed to engage their own countryman in his time of need despite their religious upbringing and education.
2. But one man who came from the other side, the other people, the enemy, engaged the man who was in need because he was moved with compassion.
3. Which one had the Law of Love written on his heart?
a. The Priest & the Levite knew the law, but they were not motivated by it.
b. The Samaritan was moved with compassion and engaged.
B. Is the love of God just knowledge in our mind? Or has it become our motivation?
1. There will always be other obligations, burdens, busyness, etc. We won’t always feel like engaging, but that is what we have been called to.
2. Engaging people with God’s love is going to cost us something. The Samaritan cared for the wounded man at his own expense.
3. And this is what God has called us to do.
C. Don’t be fooled, there is a cost either way.
1. It will cost us to engage the hurting, lost and wounded. But it will cost us more if we do not engage.
2. There is a connection between our lack of engagement and the increase of brokenness around us. When we choose not to engage, it leaves a vacuum… and the spirit realm abhors a vacuum, the evil one will fill it.
3. The condition of the world is not just a reflection of sin, it’s a reflection of a disengaged
church.
4. When we choose to disengage and abandon our role as priests before God, the world does
not stay neutral, it grows darker. If we hide the light, the darkness increases.
5. Fasting growing religion in NC? Islam. Plans for a 30k sg ft Mormon Temple.
6. So the next time the Lord places a wounded person on your path and you don’t feel like
engaging, ask your self “Do I feel like being woken up by the Muslim call to prayer in the morning?”
IV. What does Engagement look like?
A. From the Parable.
1. When God places someone on your path, don’t cross over to the other side. (Don’t ignore
them.)
2. Stop what you’re doing and help. The Samaritan helped by:
a. Getting the wounded man to someone who could care for him. (He made a
connection.)
b. Covered the expense for his care.
c. Came back to check on him.
B. Testimonies of Engagement.
1. Motherhood is one long story of engagement.
2. Shuenesu is here because he has answered the call of God to engage the youth in Southern Africa and make disciples. He’s come a long way to ask for help. (Fastest growing religion in Southern Africa is Protestant Christianity.)
3. Liam has answered the call to engage the lost in Belgium.
4. Ralph and Erin are a walking testimony of what this looks like.
a. His dad fell of a ladder and was severely injured.
b. It cost the Amsden’s for Ralph to care for his dad, but they engaged.
c. Their private values had a public expression.
5. We engaged on Thursday night. Many wanted prayer, only a few didn’t. Those that didn’t, I didn’t push it. I asked 2x but we let their no be no.
6. We have to engage with Father’s love. We can tell them the truth, ie, if you want to follow God you will have to leave drugs, stop living with your boyfriend or girlfriend, etc. But it has to be done in love. And we can’t overwhelm them with teaching. For them it’s line upon line, precept upon precept.
C. Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?
1. Isa 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
2. Ez 22:30 “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”
3. Isa 39:8 “So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”
D. An Alternate Interpretation of the Parable.
1. The wounded man is someone who is injured because of sin.
2. The robbers are demons attacking the man to torment him in his spiritually powerless state. Trying to destroy any hope he has of a relationship with God.
3. The Lawyer who asked the question is the person without any understanding of God’s love, and tries to understand the world by humanistic moral applications.
4. The Priest represents church leadership that have strayed from the Great Commission.
5. The Levite represents legalistic and self-righteous Christians who are only concerned with their own righteousness and won’t dirty themselves by dealing with the lost.
6. And the Good Samaritan, represents Jesus.
a. But wasn’t Jesus a Jew? Yes, but as God, He became like us, God’s enemies.
b. He became the other and had compassion on us.
c. Bandaged our wounds, poured out the oil and wine (Spirit & Covenant)
d. Bore the burden of our salvation
e. Brought us to a place where we receive care, paid for it and monitors it.
7. We are here today because Jesus has engaged us with Father’s love. He asks us to do the same.
V. Closing Call to Action.
A. Don’t let this be information only, let it transform and motivate you.
1. Let your private values have a public expression and engage the lost with God’s love.
2. Objection: I’m too tired, too busy, etc. Engaging people with Father’s love is an energy giver, you will notice an increase in joy and zeal when you do it. It’s like working out.
3. Acts 17:26