A Sermon On Doing The Things That Bring Life

A lot of people are afraid of dogs. It is a common fear. The great scientist, Louis Pasteur, was far more frightened of dogs than most people. Even a distant bark would terrify him. In his mind he could still see a mad wolf which raged through his boyhood village bringing agony and death to many of his neighbors. "I have always been haunted by the cries of those victims," he said. Yet in 1882, past the age of 60, Pasteur gave up all his other studies in an intense search for a cure for rabies.

For three long years, in spite of his deep-seated fears, he risked his life living with mad dogs. At last he came through with a vaccine to cure the victims of rabies. On a July night in 1885 he tried the first injection on a little boy whose life seemed doomed. The boy lived. The remembered agony of this neighbors spurred Louis Pasteur to find a cure for the dread disease.

Now, let’s move from the sublime to the ridiculous: Like me, some of you are fans of America’s best-known FAT CAT, Garfield. In one Garfield comic strip, Garfield, seated in a comfortable chair, sees his friend, Odie, at the window peering eagerly. Garfield says to himself, "Poor Odie, outside in the cold. I just can’t bear to see him like this. I gotta do something." At this point Garfield closed his curtains.

Two responses to need: Pasteur sought a cure, Garfield closed his curtains.

A lawyer put Jesus to the test with this question, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus replied: "What is written in the law? How do you read?" The lawyer said, "You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself." Then Jesus said, "You have answered right: Do this and live."

There it is! The simplest formula for the good life ever given and from the lips of the Master himself: Love God and love your neighbor and you will live. Doctors know it! It is the healthiest thing you can do. Men and women who keep to themselves, even those in good physical health, are more likely to die prematurely than those whose lives are linked to others. Even more impressive: studies show that we benefit physically and emotionally from helping those less fortunate than ourselves.

Dr. Hans Selye, in a book entitled Self-Serving Altruism, writes that the pleasure one receives from serving others often adds more to the inner quality of the helper than it does the person who is helped.

I have used this illustration before because it is so relevant. Dr. Charles Allen, the great Methodist preacher, has a story he tells as a parable of this truth: A man went in search of a flower called hearts ease. But upon every road he took, he found an obstacle blocking his progress. That obstacle was his brother’s burden. At last, in desperation, he decided to lift that unwelcome obstacle, so that he would be able to continue his search. Then, to his utter amazement, he found the lovely flower of heart’s ease blooming under the burden he lifted.

There is the great secret of life. Help others and we ultimately help ourselves. Do this and live!

Surely, everyone in this sanctuary this morning know that! We know how much joy we received when we have gone out of our way to help someone in need. Many of us who know how much Rachel Coats and Harry Greer give of themselves to make a difference in the lives of the boys and girls in the Binghampton neighborhood. Some of us look at them and say, "What a great sacrifice they are making for those kids" At that great Wednesday Night Church Family Dinner two weeks ago, Harry Greer said something that I shall always remember. Harry said, "We traded the good life for the great life."

Several years ago we had a member of this church who looked after our shut-ins. Though she had a responsible job, she visited every one of our shut-ins at least once a month and delivered clever little gifts to them. I commended her on her ministry to the shut-ins and told her how much joy it brought them and how much they appreciated her visits. "I’m glad they do," she said. "But I do it because of the joy it brings me."

We know that! Why, then, don’t we live out our love of God and our neighbors on a daily basis? "Do this and live" -- why don’t we do it? Is it not true that there is something within us that rebels against doing the very thing that would bring us the most joy? It’s as old as the Garden of Eden. Even when we know the key to life, we resist it.

Let me share with you again my favorite story that illustrates this truth: A young woman made a commitment to Christ, but still found her life depressing and boring. She went to a psychotherapist for help, but after several sessions with him, felt that the effort was futile. Then one day she came into her therapist’s office with her face radiant with excitement. "I’ve had the most wonderful day," she said. "This morning I could not get my car started, so I called the pastor and asked him if he could drive me to my appointment with you. He said he would, but on the way he had to stop by the hospital and make a few calls. I went with him and while I was in the hospital I visited some elderly people in one of the wards. I read from the Bible and prayed with them. By the time the morning was over, I was higher than a kite. I haven’t felt this good in years." The psychotherapist quickly responded, "Now we know how to may you happy! Our problem is solved! Now we know how to keep you out of the doldrums!" Much to his surprise, the young woman answered, "You don’t expect me to do this sort of thing every day, do you?"She knew the solution to her problem -- but she resisted.

HER STORY IS OUR STORY All around us are people in need. Not just physical needs. Emotional needs can be even more devastating. The most serious disease in America today according to many experts is loneliness. Many of us hear the cries for help right in our own community, right in our own family. Why do we not listen? Do this and live.

But one more thing needs to be said: We love our neighbor because Christ first loved us. In our text that Kathy read the lawyer who asked Jesus about the great commandment wanted clarification. "And who is my neighbor?" he asked.

And Jesus told him the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The man was beaten and robbed and left for dead on the side of the road, the priest and the Levite saw him in need of help but hurried past on the other side of the road. But a Samaritan (a person who was looked down on as inferior, a person of a different religion, a person of a different nationality) a Samaritan -- a good Samaritan -- cared for him. He bound up his wounds, put him in the back seat of his Chevrolet and took him to the Holiday Inn and called 911.

I have shared with you before one of the rules for interpreting the Bible -- the big word for it is hermeneutics. This is an important rule of hermeneutics: "Be careful with whom you identify." There are times when we have identified with the priest or the Levite. We have "passed by on the other side." Most of the time we identify with the Good Samaritan.

But we will never have the power to be a loving man or woman God means for us to be until we identify with the man who is lying bruised and beaten beside the road! ...until we discover that it is Christ himself who has been the Samaritan binding up our broken hearts and lives.

V.P. Menon was a powerful political figure in India during its struggle for independence from Britain after World War II. Menon had a splendid reputation for personal charity. His daughter explained the background of this trait after he died. When Menon arrived in Delhi to seek a job in government, all his possessions, including his money and I.D., were stolen at the railroad station. He would have to return home on foot, defeated. In desperation he turned to an elderly Sikh, explaining his troubles, and asked for a temporary loan of 15 rupees to tide him over until he could get a job. The Sikh gave him the money. When Menon asked for his address so that he could repay the man, the Sikh said that Menon owed the debt not to him but to any stranger who came to him in need, as long as he lived. The help came from a stranger and was to be repaid to a stranger.

Menon never forgot that debt. His daughter said that the day before Menon died, a beggar came to the family home in Bangalore asking for help to buy new sandals, for his feet were covered with sores. Menon asked his daughter to take 15 rupees out of his wallet to give the man. It was Menon’s last conscious act. Menon ministered to strangers because a stranger had ministered to him.

You see, we get it all backwards. We say, I will love my neighbor...if I feel there is a chance he will love me back ... if he is worthy of my love ... if he earns my love. I will love my neighbor ... after he shows some concern for me.

What we fail to see is that we were unloving and unlovable when Christ died for us. If we are Good Samaritans, it is because we were once beaten and robbed and left for dead. We -- every one of us -- owes a debt to Christ that we can never repay. We can only attempt to repay our debt by finding others who are unloving -- and perhaps unlovable -- and passing on to them what we have received.

I have traveled much and I have seen many things. But do you know what I have never seen in all my travels? I have never seen a single Atheist’s Home for Orphans. I have not seen even one Agnostic Hospital for the Poor. But, dear friends, I have never been in a country yet that I have failed to see the Christians there, even in unexpected places, who were reaching out with comfort and encouragement.

Why have Christians -- through all history and in every land -- why have Christians been so charitable, so caring? It is because once we were lying beside the road broken and bleeding. And then nail-scarred hands reached down to us and ministered to our need.

Now we seek to do the same thing.

And when we have done that, we discover that such concern for others is the source of unlimited joy.

DO THIS AND LIVE!