Who Of The Suffering Millions Am I Responsible To Help?

Common Sense Commentary: There is a best way of doing everything.

As Jesus healed the sick and preached salvation by grace through faith, so convincingly, the religious Pharisees were feeling their power with the people slipping away. So in Luke 10:25-37, one of their conniving lawyers asked Jesus a loaded question to cast Him in a bad light with the people. Jesus often responded to such questions with a question. He asked this expert on the Law  how he understood God's Law's primary meaning. The Lawyer answered that the deeper meaning of the Law was, "to love God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves." Jesus told him he was right and to go do it. But, to justify himself for not already doing so, he said, "But who is my neighbor". That's when Jesus gave the "Good Samaritan Example" and concluded it by showing the Samaritan as a "good neighbor" rather than the religious Priest or Levite who passed the robbed and wounded man by without helping him. Actually where Jesus' story took place was between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is all rocky desert and nowhere near Samaria, where the Samaritan was from. So how then was the Samaritan a neighbor to the wounded man?  Obviously, Jesus' definition of a neighbor was whoever happens to be around you or in your path as you or they pass by. That is exactly what the Greek word ho   plesion, here translated  "neighbor",  means ... "One close by or near you".  So it isn't just the neighbor down the street but whoever God brings you in contact with in your daily life. Since nothing is unknown to God, I don't see these crossings of paths as co-incidental considering the fact of God's omniscience and Great Commission to "Go into all the world" with the good news of Jesus. Opportunities to help those who cannot help themselves are no accident of fate or co-incidence, but "personal, destined appointments" .... in my opinion. Notice that the robbed and wounded man was not in the ditch as a result of his drunkenness or carelessness. He was not without funds due to his laziness or wastefulness. He was a true victim of someone else's cruelty and greed. Notice also that he had done no wrong to put himself in harms way, but was minding his own business. I think this class of "innocent" helpless people should have first priority on our list of those we try to help, who have great need. Another aspect of this is, if you, as the Good Samaritan, proceeded on with your journey and came across the thief who had robbed and beaten the first man, and he too had been robbed and beaten, you have a very different decision to make. The difference to be considered is that you cannot bail anyone out from under the judgment of God, no matter how much you spend on them or give them. I say that because I have tried it many times over the years, before I realized the cause of their adversity, and it never worked. Of course you have to do as God leads you.

 If you are healthy, strong and happy, how are you investing those blessings? Are you simply enjoying them for yourself and being thankful you don't have the problems of others you know or hear about? Let me challenge you to spend a few minutes of thought outside of your own little world. Let your mind look out beyond your comfort zone to the millions of old people, little children, sick, in constant pain, horribly lonely, deeply afraid or broken hearted. Yes, I know one person cannot solve or help all those millions out there who cannot help themselves; but Jesus doesn't expect any one of us to do that. He did, however, give us the "good neighbor" plan which brings the problem right down to our door in a size we can deal with.  If I give out invitations to all who need help to come to me, the line would be blocks long and I would quickly run our of funds to help anyone.  I prefer to pick those I feel are most worthy to help, though they don't ask, rather than whoever happens to ask me. Those who are doing their best to help themselves, working, skimping, being thrifty and trying to serve our Lord are on top of my list. I'm not too interested in helping those who eat out a lot, drive nice cars and waste what resources they do have, but can't pay their bills. They have too many lessons to learn. RB