“In the Face of Human Suffering”

Luke 10:25-10:37

We know the story of the good Samaritan. It’s about being in the face of human suffering and how we respond.

The Living Sermon

I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day,
I’d rather one would walk with me than merely tell the way,
The eye’s a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but example’s always clear.
The best of all the preachers are the people who live their creeds,
For to see good put in action is what everybody needs.

I admit that this is very true. But if it’s true for me, it’s also true for you! Why? Because if we all claim to follow Christ
and want to do good, then why don’t we do that good?

Saying and doing are sometimes two different things.

A preacher by the name of Vance Havner used to tell this story: Years ago a convention met in Indianapolis to discuss
“How to Reach the Masses.” One day during that convention a young man stood on a box on a corner and began to
preach. A crowd gathered, mostly working men going home to dinner. They were electrified by the sermon. They
forgot that they were tired and hungry.

The crowd became so large that it had to move. The preacher announced that he would preach again at the Academy
of Music. They followed him down the street, singing as they went, and they filled the main floor of the building, while
he preached again with such power that many were moved to tears.

But he had only a few minutes to preach because the convention on “How to Reach the Masses” was gathering in the
same auditorium. While the convention was discussing how to reach the masses, Preacher D.L. Moody was doing it!

It’s one thing to talk about preaching Christ and it’s another to actually preach Christ to people! And that’s what
Moody was doing. We talk about Jesus in the church but what about outside?

And it’s one thing to talk about human suffering and another thing to do something about it.

Bishop Tucker of Uganda was an artist, but how did he become a bishop? One day he was painting a picture of a poor
woman, holding a baby wandering homeless on a stormy night on a dark, deserted street.

As the picture grew, the artist suddenly threw down his brush, exclaiming, “Instead of merely painting a picture of a
lost soul, I will go out and save them.” And he went to Africa.

Obviously, not everyone can drop what they’re doing and go to Africa or India or Haiti and serve.

In the story of the good Samaritan only one out of three people stopped to help the man who was robbed.

Someone has said that this story reveals three basic attitudes toward human need or human suffering:
1- The attitude of the robbers: What’s yours is mine and I’m going to get it.
2- The attitude of the Priest and Levite: What’s mine is mine and I’m going to keep it. I’m not sure that was their
attitude but they certainly didn’t stop to help or do anything about human suffering.
3- The attitude of the Samaritan: What’s mine is yours and I’m going to give it.
Actually, the true attitude is: What’s mine belongs to God and I’m going to share it.

I believe we’ve all been blessed by God with material goods. Many of us in great abundance. And truthfully, everything
belongs to God and we are merely stewards or managers of these possessions.

We are not only managers of our material possessions but also our lives, our time, our talents, our energy, etc.
Everything we have is a gift of God and we should use them to minister to others.

Are we so caught up in our lives that we have no time to help anyone else? A friend? A neighbor? An elderly person? A
shut-in person? A suffering person?

God put us here to serve, to minister to others, not just to take care of our own needs.

James 2:14-18 “14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save
him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you
well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by
itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me
your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

Gal. 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."

Gal. 6:9-10 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of
believers.”

Jesus came to earth for several reasons, which we should imitate.

- He came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)
- He also came not to be served but to serve. (Matthew 20:28)
- He went about doing good. (Acts 10:38)

WE MUST GO AND DO LIKEWISE

John Wesley had this for his rule of life:

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

We must do as Jesus would do. We must serve as Jesus served. We must love as Jesus loved.

Edward Everett Hale is quoted as saying, “I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something.
And what I can do, that I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God I shall do.” 