“When Love Takes a Detour”

Luke 10:25-37

How do you feel when you see a road sign that says: DETOUR AHEAD  ???

You probably aren’t saying to yourself, “Oh, good! I get to take a detour.” Instead you might feel a little anxious because you’re not sure where this detour will take you. Or you might feel frustrated because you are pressed for time and this detour will mess up your schedule.

But what if you were driving and saw two road signs – one said “Detour Ahead” but the other said, “Take Your Usual Route.” It was completely your choice. Which would you take? If you knew that the detour would cost you time, money, and personal frustration – you’d probably take your usual route … right?

Well, this morning we are going to talk about detours -- Life Detours. Some detours in life come at you, and you can’t choose to take your normal route – an illness, a layoff from your job, a spouse that walks out of your marriage.

But there are other times in our lives when we have a choice to get off our normal path and take a detour – a detour that can help someone.

Today, we are going to look at a person in the Bible who decided to take a detour on his road of life. I’ve talked about him before. From this pulpit. But his story bears repeating.  It is a story we should never forget. He is known as the “Good Samaritan.”

First, let’s go look at the context of this story. It is found in Luke, Chapter 10 and found in your insert. As I read verses 25-28, I want you to notice the motive behind the question that is asked to Jesus. 

²⁵On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶”What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

The motive was to test Jesus, wasn’t it?

Jesus didn’t go for it though; and since He was the teacher, He turns the table back on the supposed expert.

Jesus asks him in verse 26, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

The lawyer can’t resist the temptation to show off his theological sophistication. He answers: “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.”

His answer actually shows a lot of insight.  To which Jesus replies, in effect, “You’re right. You get an A+ for that answer.”  But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He adds: “Do this and you will live.”

Unfortunately, this man was an expert in knowing, but not in doing. Jesus is saying that it isn’t enough to know the right answer, you must do it.

Now let’s read verse 29. This is an important verse, and I want you again to notice the motive behind the question.

²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In characteristic lawyer fashion, he wants to defend himself by narrowly defining a word. What is your definition of “neighbor,” he asks Jesus.

The classic interpretation for “neighbor” by the Jews at that time meant “one who is near,” near in terms of race and religion.

To the lawyer “love your neighbor” meant, love those of your own race and religion, and you have fulfilled the law.  If the person doesn’t fit these qualifications, then they aren’t a neighbor, and the law doesn’t apply.

His motive was to justify himself.

He was looking for a loophole. He wanted to know how little he could do. He was trying to justify his inaction.

This isn’t just the lawyer’s problem. It’s our problem too. We often justify ourselves from not helping others. We tell ourselves that we can’t help someone because it’s too dangerous, or it’s too involved, or we don’t have enough time, or we don’t have enough money.

Now let’s read verses 30-33:

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. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

Before I read the rest of the story, I want you to notice the cast of characters:

We have a group of robbers. We have a man who gets robbed and beaten so badly that he is apparently left for dead. Then we have the three main characters. The first character is a priest. The office of priest in Israel was of supreme importance and of high rank.

The second character is a Levite - a privileged group in society, and responsible for the liturgy and protecting the Temple.

Okay, so far Jesus has mentioned a priest and a Levite. Who would you expect to be mentioned next? The original hearers would have expected to hear that a Jew came down the road. But the third character is a big surprise. Jesus said a Samaritan came. It’s like saying, there’s Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and a skunk.

Samaritans were despised by Jews. They were considered to be half-breeds and heretics by the Jews. The racial and religious contempt between these two groups was intense and at times even violent.

By using a Samaritan as the hero, Jesus is pointing out that it doesn’t matter what you call yourself – it’s your actions that count. It’s the same today. Lots of people call themselves Christians who don’t much act like it.

A recent poll conducted by the Barna Group fond that 84% of people in the United States identify themselves as Christians. You be the judge—do more than 8 out of 10 people in the U.S. live their faith as followers of Christ? Sometimes it’s the two out of ten who aren’t Christians that are living a more Christ like life!

But let’s finish reading the passage … I’m starting at verse 33: 

³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on 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.

 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.’

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.”

Jesus uses the example of the “Good Samaritan” to show us a person who looked past excuses to stop and help.

The Good Samaritan chose to get off his usual route and decided to take a divine detour on his highway of life.

As I read it … it was a detour that involved at least four elements.

First, it was a detour that involved a Risk

The 17-mile road from Jerusalem to Jericho had a bad reputation. Because of the number of robbers along this road, it was known as “The Way of Blood.”

This road descends some 3,300 feet through desert and rocky country that could easily hide bandits. The robbers on this road were dangerous.

Even if a person didn’t have much, they would rob him just for his clothing. That’s what happened to this man in the story that Jesus told. But they didn’t just rob him; they beat him, leaving him half dead.

When the Samaritan stopped to help, he knew he was on a dangerous road. Maybe he even thought that the bandits might be nearby and that he might be next. But the Good Samaritan didn’t use risk as a justification not to act.

Sometimes we justify ourselves not helping someone in need because we are afraid of the risk to us. Now, I’ll admit there are times when taking a risk may be just plain stupid.

For example, if you are driving past a penitentiary and you see a sign that says, “Don’t Pick Up Hitchhikers,” then you see a man in an orange jumpsuit with his thumb out, stopping to pick him up isn’t just risky; it’s stupid.

But most of the time our problem isn’t that we take too many risks; it’s that we don’t take any.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The first question the priest and the Levite asked was: If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me? But … the good Samaritan reversed the question: If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

If you are going to love your neighbor, you can’t use risk as an excuse.

Second, it was a detour that required Personal Involvement

When the Samaritan sees the wounded man, he doesn’t cross over to the other side of the road. Instead, he has sincere compassion for him.  He bandages up the man’s wounds. The traveling Samaritan wasn’t afraid to get personally involved.

Some people use the excuse of not wanting to get personally involved in helping someone in need. But the Samaritan did not use that excuse. He didn’t wait for someone else.  He didn’t just call 911 or phone his pastor for help. He didn’t just write a check.

He got involved. He was moved with compassion toward action. He got in the ditch with the man. He got close and bandaged the man’s wounds. He probably came out of the ditch looking dirty and bloody too.

If you are going to love your neighbor, you can’t use personal involvement as an excuse not to.

Third, it was a detour that took Time

The Samaritan didn’t use a time schedule as an excuse not to help. He took the time to stop, and then he slowed his progress by putting the man on his donkey.

Clearly, there wasn’t an emergency room where the Samaritan could take the man. Instead, he took him to a motel and cared for the man himself that night.

Sometimes we use our schedules to justify not helping people in need. In fact this may be the most common excuse of them all. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” he tells of a fascinating experiment:

Some years ago two Princeton University psychologists, John Darley and Daniel Batson, decided to conduct a study inspired by the biblical story of the Good Samaritan.

They decided to replicate that study at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Darley and Batson met with a group of seminarians, individually, and asked each one to prepare a short, extemporaneous talk on a given biblical theme, then walk over to a nearby building to present it.

Along the way to the presentation, each student ran into a man slumped in an alley, head down, eyes closed, coughing and groaning. The question was, who would stop and help?

Darley and Batson introduced three variables into the experiment, to make its results more meaningful.

First, before the experiment even started, they gave the students a questionnaire about why they had chosen to study theology. Did they see religion as a means for personal and spiritual fulfillment? Or were they looking for a practical tool for finding meaning in everyday life?

Then they varied the subject of the theme the students were asked to talk about. Some were asked to speak on the relevance of the professional clergy to the religious vocation. Others were given the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Finally, the instructions given by the experimenters to each student varied as well. In some of the cases, as he sent the students on their way, the experimenter would look at his watch and say, ‘Oh, you’re late. They were expecting you a few minutes ago. We’d better get moving.’ In other cases, he would say, ‘It will be a few minutes before they’re ready for you, but you might as well head over now.’

If you ask people to predict which seminarians played the Good Samaritan (and subsequent studies have done just this) their answers are highly consistent. They almost all say that the students who entered ministry to help people and those reminded of the importance of compassion by having just read the parable of the Good Samaritan will be the most likely to stop. Most of us, I think, would agree with those conclusions.

In fact, neither of those factors made any difference. Indeed, on several occasions, a seminary student going to give his talk on the parable of the Good Samaritan literally stepped over the victim as he hurried on his way.

The only thing that really mattered was whether the student was in a rush.

Of the group that was rushed, only 10 percent stopped to help. Of the group who knew they had a few minutes to spare, 63 percent stopped.

What this study is suggesting, in other words, is that the convictions of our heart and the actual contents of our thoughts are less important, in the end, in guiding our actions than the immediate context of our behavior.

The words ‘Oh, you’re late’ had the effect of making someone who was ordinarily compassionate into someone who was indifferent to suffering – of turning someone, in that particular moment, into a different person.”

When it comes to helping those in need and loving our neighbors, the greatest ability is avail-abilty!  And each of us decide how available we are, don’t we?

And finally, this was a detour that took Money

If you read between the lines in the story, it seems that the Samaritan was a merchant who regularly traveled this road and had stayed at this inn before. He gives the innkeeper money to take care of the man for a while.

Then he promises the innkeeper, who apparently knows he can trust the Samaritan, that he will reimburse him for any additional costs when he returns from his trip. The Samaritan didn’t use money as an excuse not to act.

Sometimes we justify not helping those in need because it is going to hit our pocketbook.  The Samaritan did not use this as an excuse.

Two silver coins in that day represented two days’ wages. Even more, the Samaritan said that he would take care of any extra expenses too when he returned from his trip.

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of England, once said, “No one would have remembered the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions. He had money as well.” Many times it may take money to help your neighbor in need.

Now, let’s look at the passage as a whole again.

Did Jesus answer the question “who is our neighbor?”  Yes, He did. Your neighbor isn’t necessarily someone who lives next to you. Your neighbor is anyone in need, anyone you can help.

But notice that Jesus did more than answer that question. At the end of the story He asked the 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.”

In other words, Jesus changed the focus of the question from “who is my neighbor?” to “how are you as a neighbor?”

Let me ask you, would you want yourself as a neighbor? Would you want yourself to show up on the scene? Would you take a divine detour or stay on your normal route because you didn’t want to take a risk, get involved, take the time, or give financially?

The Good Samaritan disadvantaged himself to advantage someone else. As Christ followers, we have the privilege to disadvantage ourselves to advantage others.

Our spiritual journey calls us beyond managing our to-do lists and into a faith-in-action lifestyle that welcomes divine detours—those opportunities to demonstrate God’s love to people in need.

This week I challenge each of us to get off our normal beaten path of life. It doesn’t have to even be anything big.

Visit someone in the hospital. Take a plate of spaghetti to a widow or widower in your neighborhood. Volunteer to baby-sit for a single mom. Write a letter to a soldier oversees. Sponsor a child in an impoverished country.

Decide to take a divine detour. Do something, and love your neighbor.

Amen.