A Parable By Numbers
Luke 10:25-37
Read
Luke 10:25-29
-that’s a good question—“Who is
my neighbor?”
--in other words, “Who is my
responsibility?”
---we’ll come back to
that in a moment
-you’ve heard of
paint-by-numbers? —this is a parable-by-numbers
Seven—the number of
weeks that have passed since this happened
Six-thousand,
nine-hundred, thirty-five—the elevation, in feet, of
Twenty-five—the number of
students and adults from FBC Chilli who were serving
at the Student Life Missions Camp
One-thousand,
five-hundred—the attendance in worship that fateful Wednesday evening
Thirty-two—the approximate
age of the guy whose stomach had had enough dorm food and had decided to launch
a rather violent revolt
Sixty-four—the approximate
area covered, in square feet, on the floor where the results of that revolution
were spewed, splashed, and sprayed (and that is, by the way, a rather
conservative estimate)
Forty-seven—the approximate
number of people who saw, heard, and smelled that revolution...who became
nauseated, and then gave serious consideration of starting their own, personal
revolution
Five—the number of
camp staffers who quickly cordoned off the area with bright yellow caution tape
One—the number of
professionals who cleaned up the aftermath of the revolution
Twenty-three and
fourteen—the agonizing amount of time, in minutes and seconds, that passed
before the cleaning professional arrived on the scene
One-thousand,
four-hundred, fifty-three—the number of students, adults, and camp staff who
were oblivious to what was happening
Two—the number who
criticized the camp staff for not doing more... and who then went on to question
the staffers’ commitment, their maturity, and pretty much their love for Jesus
I’ve been able to forget the sight, sound, and smell...but I’ve not been
able to
shake the parallels between the events of that night and how
the
Church often responds to sinners, their sin, and its effects
-I usually don’t draw analogies
from vomit, but it does kinda’ sound
like
a parable—although, admittedly, a rather disgusting one
It begins with one guy who is struggling
-it could be sin, could be
disease, could be a series of life crises
--he tries to hide it at first,
to keep it to himself...but eventually the
consequences make
it impossible to keep quiet—he’s caught,
fired,
evicted, arrested, divorced, humiliated, on the front page,
bankrupt,
whatever—so that everyone in town knows the ugly
truth...well,
that’s when things get complicated...and interesting
1453 students, adults,
and staff remain oblivious to what is going on
-we continue singing...wrapped up in the
moment...enveloped by
our
warm, cozy, Christian cocoon
-it’s not necessarily that we
don’t care about sinners
--we just don’t know any
--and because we insulate
ourselves inside Baptist bowling
leagues
and church softball leagues and Christian motorcycle
clubs...and
because we try to patronize only Christian-owned
businesses...and
because we only invite other believers over
for
dinner or to watch the game or to take a walk in the park
---well, let’s just
say that the odds aren’t real good that many
of us would even rub shoulders with an unbeliever—much
less build a meaningful friendship with one
-and it’s not only sinners who
tend to fade from our vision...we are
pretty
good about avoiding those in the Church who have “issues”
--and our intentional
blindness results in far too many people
suffering
alone
--we’re busy—I know...we
have our own problems—I know
-but since we are the Church, the Body of Christ, Paul
tells us in
1 Corinthians 12 à If one part suffers, every part suffers with
it...
and
in Romans 12 à Be
devoted to one another in brotherly love.
...Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn
with those who mourn.
--to do that, we must be aware...and involved...and willing to act
Of course there are 47 who do know exactly what’s going on
-but we do nothing, either...perhaps
because we are repulsed by the
messiness
of the whole situation—c’mon, I don’t want to get his
vomit
all over my new jeans...or perhaps we simply assume that
it’s
someone else’s job to take of
it—after all, it’s not our
responsibility
to clean up all of the world’s vomit
--sure, we may feel just a tad
guilty...but we try not to think about
sin and sinners...we’re
too busy trying to keep our own little
corner
of the Church as sterile as possible
Then there are those 5 efficient
super-staffers who are quick to whip
out the
caution tape
-it’s a dramatic reminder that
sin and its effects are evil...so we
must
stay away, stay far away...and be
afraid, be very afraid
--they, of course, do
absolutely nothing to clean up the vomit...
they
just make sure they and we aren’t contaminated...but all
the while
this vile odor hangs over us like some cesspool fog
-and we Baptists are good at
doing the same—we tend to stick to
the
same, inward-focused programs
--and we leave the
outreach, evangelism, and missions to the
professionals—it
is, after all, what they get paid to do
--and we abandon the homeless
and the hungry...figuring it’s
the
responsibility of the government...and the liberal churches
...and the inner-city
churches
--the problem is that Jesus
never tries to separate the two
---yes, He is primarily concerned with spiritual
matters, but
never does He ignore
anyone’s physical needs—the
paralyzed man in Mark 2 is the classic example of both
Fortunately, also on the scene that night are 2 adults from Chilli
FBC
-and we are really good about
pointing out the faults of the staff
--what? do they think they
too good to clean up vomit?
--I even said to the other
adult, “Man if they would have given me a
mop, I would
have cleaned it up.”
-don’t I sound so
spiritual? so
humble? so
servant-like?
--but I never left the
comfort of my seat to do anything...and my
words were meaningless
James 2:15-16 à Suppose a brother or sister is without
clothes and
daily food.
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?
Of course, we thank God for the professional—he’s like a
superhero
-he swoops down with
his latex gloves, his mop, his disinfectant, his
industrial
strength deodorizer...and within moments, there are no
signs of the
sickness whatsoever—it’s like it never happened
-we can dump our
“problem people” off on him...and erase our guilt
Funny, isn’t it? All
my analysis has left out the most important person
What about the guy who was sick?
-here’s another number to add to our sick
little story: zero—that’s
the number who actually help the poor guy
--many are too grossed out
even to think of doing something
--most are too involved
with church stuff even to notice him
--some are too busy standing
around waiting for the trained
professional to show up
--a few are trying to ignore their personal
responsibility by acting
like fault-finding
Pharisees
--and no one loves enough
to risk enough to make any real
difference to the one
who is hurting
-the problem is none of my critiques, none of
my good intentions
motivated me to do anything
--here’s an unpleasant
paraphrase of James 2 à Suppose
a
brother or sister vomits. If one of you says, “Good luck with
that. I hope you get to feeling better.” What good is that?
South African photojournalist Kevin Carter won his profession’s
highest award in 1994: the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography
-the photo depicted an
emaciated Sudanese child crawling toward
a feeding center—under the
hard stare of a nearby vulture
-naturally, people wanted to
know what happened to the child
--was Carter able to get him
food? medical attention? did he live?
Through hollow eyes and a pained voice, Kevin Carter admitted that,
after spending about 20 minutes
framing the photo, he had simply
walked away.
-some will argue that
Carter did enough—his work and the image
powerfully captured the horror of the famine-stricken
nation and
drew international attention to the
unthinkable suffering in
A few weeks after accepting the honor, however, the 33-year-old
Pulitzer Prize winner committed
suicide.
-he simply couldn’t live with
himself after shirking his responsibility
--how can we?
Isn’t it ironic that a religious
leader needs even to ask the question,
“Who is my
neighbor? Who is my responsibility?”
Read Luke 10:30-37
Where is our love for the lost—real love—love that moves us to act?
-when is the last time you shed tears for someone who is lost?
-when have you devoted significant time to praying for the lost?
-when is the last time you invited someone to church?
--who are you going to invite to our revival services (and someone
who is active in other church doesn’t count)?
-when is the last time you had a spiritual conversation with someone
who is not part of the church?
--when is the last time you obeyed the prompting of the Holy
Spirit and shared the gospel with someone?
Perhaps part of the problem is that we look at the lost and see
nothing of redeeming value
-we stereotype them as hopeless, as a lost cause...and frankly, we
either see ourselves as better than they are, or we reckon they
are so bad that Jesus can’t save them
--God destroys both of those fallacies à Read 1 Cor. 6:9-11
Most nights at our house,
-as we clear the table after supper, each food is scrutinized
--its fate—whether it is kept as leftovers or whether it meets the
impellors of our In-Sink-er-ator—is determined by one simple
question: “Is this worth saving?”
The Church has been asking that same question about the lost: “Is
trying to reach them worth our time, our effort, our resources?
-and from the throne of heaven, the Father is crying...and from the
cross and from the empty tomb, the Son is crying...and from the
depths
of our hearts, the Holy Spirit is crying à YES!
They are
valuable enough to give all we have to try to reach.
Here’s the harsh reality: whether or not we love the lost...whether or
not we deem them worthy of our attention...whether or not we’ve
been ignoring their needs...from the beginning of time itself, God
Himself has loved them...and He has demonstrated His love...He
has made them worthy of His attention and His sacrifice...and
therefore they are worthy of ours
Bill Easum à The
problem with too many Christians is that they no longer see ministry as a
life-and-death issue.
You might ask: but how can we make that much of an impact?
-gee whiz, this is
center of the universe when it comes to our potential to initiate a
worldwide spiritual revival
-and we have lost the Simpsons
to
the Henrys...not to mention all the saints who’ve gone home
-and look at me—I don’t exactly have that flashy kinda’ style and
draws a big crowd...so perhaps we should just close the doors
now and save ourselves the embarrassment of dying a slow,
agonizing death
We could—it’s just that the Bible says those excuses are ridiculous!
-Acts 1:8 à You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you shall be My witnesses...
--is Jesus’ power limited to churches located in major,
metropolitan
areas? of course not!
-Great Commission begins with Jesus saying à All
authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to
Me. Therefore go and
make disciples of all the nations...and it ends with Jesus saying à
And surely I am with you always, even to the
very end of the age.
--is Jesus’ authority restricted to churches pastored by Rick
Warren or
Bill Hybels or Charles Stanley?
--is His promise to be with us only good if we baptize more than
100 each year?
-toward the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says à
You are the light of the world...let your
light shine before men, that
they may see you good deeds and praise you
Father in heaven.
--how much light are we shining? what difference are we
making? if FBC disappeared tomorrow, would anyone outside
these walls
even notice?
In his classic book, Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific By Raft, Thor
Hyerdohl chronicles his three-month journey with 5 others on a
crude raft made of logs and rope
-with little control of the raft and with no way to stop it, the 6 made
made their way
from South America to the
--one thing they learned early on in their voyage is that
anything dropped overboard was impossible to recover once
it passed beyond the rear of the raft
-two months into the trip, and thousands of miles from land,
Herman Watzinger lost his footing and plunged into the Pacific
--the raft, driven by strong easterly winds in heavy seas, moved
ahead faster than he could swim
The others were horrified—they tried throwing him a life belt on a
rope, but the wind blew it back at them
-within a matter of seconds, Watzinger was gone...lost
--without saying a word, Knute Haugland grabbed the life belt
and dove into the water
---he swam to his friend and wrapped his arm around him
---he managed to hold onto the belt and an exhausted
Watzinger while the four men on the raft pulled them both
back on board
What would have happened if Haugland figured that Watzinger’s life
wasn’t worth the effort or the risk?
What would have happened if Haugland rationalized that getting 5 out
6 safely across the Pacific would itself be quite a feat, and he
decided that losing one was an acceptable casualty?
What would have happened if Haugland concluded, “Watzinger’s not
my responsibility. It’s not my fault he fell—he’s to blame. Plus,
there are 4 other guys who are just standing around and watching.”
What would have happened if the 5 still on the raft formed a search
and rescue committee...so they could lay out some parameters for
any rescue attempts...so they could choose who would take which
duties...so they could draw up some guidelines for actual rescue
procedures—like what equipment would be used under certain
wind and wave conditions...and then, of course, they had to develop
a chain of command and a line of succession—but because they
couldn’t agree who was in charge, they tabled everything until the
next search and rescue committee meeting in December?
Carl Henry à The
gospel is good news only if it arrives in time.
-we are running out of time
God speaks a sobering warning à Read
Ezekiel 33:1-6
-we can’t pass the responsibility to someone else like a child’s game
of hot potato
--when God tells Ezekiel about the watchman’s duty, I wonder if
Ezekiel is like, “You go, God. You tell ‘im straight. You put
the fear of You into that watchman.”
--we tend to try to pass off that responsibility to someone else,
don’t we?
---the
problem we run into is that God has
other ideas
Read Ezekiel 33:7-10
There’s a cartoon of two turtles. One of them says, "Sometimes I'd
like to ask God why He allows poverty,
famine, and injustice when
He could do something about it. I’d like to ask Him why He doesn’t
do something about the millions upon millions
of lost people?"
The
other turtle replies, "Yeah...I'm just afraid He might ask me the
same question."