1. Indifference or Compassionate Action? Luke 10:25-37
Questions Jesus Asked
Indifference or Compassionate Action? Luke 10:25-37

2. Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs
What is your normal reaction when you see a homeless person standing on the street with a cardboard sign?
What is the normal reaction of most people? On a scale of 1 (complete indifference) to 10 (compassionate action), how do most people respond? How do you respond?

3. Responding to People in Need
We tend to ask, “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?”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
What effect, if any, would reading “I used to be your neighbor” on a cardboard sign have on you?
How does “reversing the question,” change the way we respond to people in need?
Agree or disagree: love is primarily expressed in actions.

4. Indifference or Compassionate Action?
While Jesus did not specifically tell a parable about homelessness to His audiences, the imagery of homelessness stirs deep emotional responses in most of us.
These emotions and feelings help provide a backdrop as we move into a familiar parable—the parable of the Good Samaritan.

5. Ask the Right Questions
Luke 10:25-29 (HCSB)
Are you surprised at Jesus’ response?
If someone asked you what must be done to inherit eternal life, how would you respond?
The man asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” How would you answer that question?
25 Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. 28 “You’ve answered correctly,” He told him. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

6. Who Are Your Neighbors? How would you answer this question?
Do you wish you knew your neighbors better?
In our world today, what keeps us from knowing our neighbors as well as people might have a generation ago?

7. Communicating Spiritual Truth
Jesus taught with parables as a way to communicate spiritual truth by using everyday object lessons tied to things people would naturally understand.
The expert of the law was well versed in the Mosaic Law so Jesus put him to the test with a parable story that also revealed a deeper spiritual truth.

8. Don’t Make Excuses Luke 10:30-33 (HCSB)
Why didn’t the priest or the Levite stop to help?
Was the Samaritan a “neighbor” of the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, the way we commonly use the word?
How do some of our excuses communicate the same unexpressed feelings of the priest and Levite that we don't want to love our neighbor as ourselves?
30 Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion.

9. Lame or Legit?
Which of the following statements offer legitimate reasons for not helping someone in need?
I don’t have time
I don’t have any cash
I don’t feel called to that
That makes me uncomfortable
That is really out of my way
That seems kind of dangerous
Social programs are for that
What will my friends think?
That is really inconvenient
All my giving goes to the church
How will I get tax credit?
They’ll just spend it on alcohol
Mercy isn’t my spiritual gift

10. How Should We Respond?
Some of the excuses we make in those situations seem very reasonable. And there are situations in which offering help could put us in real danger.
But as we will see in the third point, if we are truly to love our neighbor as ourselves, our own well-being should not be our highest priority.

11. Respond in the Right Way
Luke 10:33-37 (HCSB)
What does having compassion on someone mean? Is it just feeling sorry for someone, or is there more to it than that?
Based on this parable, how would you define the "right way" to respond to those in need?
33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw ⌊the man⌋, he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

12. Indifference or Compassionate Action?
Jesus calls on all of His disciples to show compassion to those in need, regardless of race, gender, economic status, political persuasion, religion, or any other factors that can separate people.
Like the Samaritan, we must be willing to alter our plans to help someone and sometimes that means we need to stop what we are doing and show the love of Christ to those in need, even if they hate Him and us.
The purpose of this parable is to challenge us to respond to situations in the right way—in a way that reflects the love of Christ and brings honor to God.

13. Putting It Into Action
Review this Scripture with your family and discuss the important teachings of Jesus in this story.
Pray:
for others in need of God’s help,
for the ability to demonstrate compassion to others, and
for God to tune our hearts to be people who demonstrate compassionate action rather than indifference when faced with needs around us.

14. Luke 10:37 Band-aid Challenge Go and Do the Same!
Remove the band-aid from the package.
Write Luke 10:37 on the band-aid with a permanent marker.
Apply the band-aid around one of your fingers as a visual reminder of the challenge of this session to demonstrate love and compassion to all people.
Luke 10:37

15. Indifference or Compassionate Action? Luke 10:25-37
Questions Jesus Asked
Indifference or Compassionate Action? Luke 10:25-37