We’re Failing God’s Great Desire but We Still Have Time

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

God’s desire has not been hidden from us as Jesus made it clear. The question God’s children must answer is are we moving in a manner that fulfills God’s desire.

Introduction

Are we failing to keep to the word of God?  Honestly, I feel like many are living in a manner that mocks the Word.  Just take a look at how we are treating our neighbors.  Is this what God desires from us?  How can we say that we are living by the Word when we aren’t aligned with God?  In this week’s sermon, I will focus on being aligned with God’s desire so that we will not only live by the Word, but will also please the Lord.

Aligning With God’s Desire

To be aligned with God’s desire, one must understand what His desire is.  Do you know what the Lord desires from us?

Luke 10 does a really good job of making what God desires clear.  It is within this chapter where Jesus had sent out seventy followers to minister to the people.  When they returned with joy, after ministering and tending to the people, Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit.

The great command

In Luke 10:25, we are told about a certain lawyer who tested Jesus by asking Him a question.  The lawyer asked Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  Although the question was asked in a malicious manner, the sincere believer should desire to know what pleases the Lord.

Instead of giving the lawyer the answer, Jesus asked the man what was in the law. Jesus asked what his interpretation of the law was (Luke 10:26).  Jesus asking the man for his interpretation speaks to how important our understanding of the word is.  Our understanding of the word can either help us inherit the kingdom or it can mislead us away from the kingdom.

So, the lawyer answered that the law said one must love the Lord with their whole heart, and also love their neighbor as themselves (Luke 10:27).  To all of us who are familiar with scripture, we will recognize this answer as Jesus’ answer about the great commandment, as shown in Matthew 22:36-40.

After the lawyer had given the correct answer, Jesus responded, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live (Luke 10:28).”  Jesus’ response to the man’s answer makes it clear what the Lord desires from us.  

Let’s be clear about what God’s desire is for us.  God desires for us to love Him.  As we love Him, God desires for us to also love our neighbor.

The importance of love and unity

So, why is love and unity so important to God, and why does scripture often remind us to love?  

Scripture has to remind to love each other because man fails to meet God’s desires of love.  Again, just take a look around and see how people are being treated today.  Would you say that society is together in love and on one accord?

Love and unity are so important to God because love and unity is what brought forth mankind.  In Genesis 1:26, the Lord said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all had a part in the making of man.

Love and unity are what saved mankind from the eternal condemnation of sin.  The Father gave His only begotten Son, who lived and then gave His life to atone for the sins of man.  After He ascended, Christ sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with true believers, to lead and guide us into all truth.  Again, it is the love and unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that lifts us to salvation when we were once dead in our trespasses.

God’s great desire is for us to love each other and unite together so that we can overcome and flourish together.  The true believers are to be as a city on a hill whose lights aren’t hidden (Matt. 5:14).  In other words, we are to be the shining examples of love and unity, bringing hope of its endless possibilities in a dark world.

Are we being examples of love and unity?  Are we bringing hope of the endless possibilities of what love and unity can do?  Individually, I do believe there are wonderful examples of what love can accomplish.  However, as I said in last week’s sermon, the name and promise of God are being tarnished by vile bad faith actors who divide rather than love and unite.

The Wrong Idea About Love

The lawyer serves as an example of a kind of believer present today. A kind who thinks they know the Word and are pleasing the Lord, but truthfully, they are failing.

Luke 10:29 shows us that the lawyer sought to justify himself by asking Jesus,  “Who is my neighbor?”  Let’s keep in mind that the questions of the lawyer are insincere.  The lawyer is asking this question from a mindset where he thinks he knows who his neighbors are and who he is supposed to love.  The lawyer doesn’t want the answer for himself, but rather to see if Jesus knew who He was supposed to love. 

The Jews believed it was lawful for them to only love other Jews as their neighbor.  So, in essence, the lawyer is admitting that he loves his brothers and sisters, those who were Jews.  The lawyer believed he was living in obedience to the law.  

Yet, in his admission, he is making an admission to not loving (despising) everyone who wasn’t a Jew.  Does this sound like something that the Lord would desire for him to do?  Has God commanded us to only love Christians and despise everyone else?

Many Christians share the same notion as this lawyer and the Jews.  Yes, there are many Christians who believe they have been to love Christians only.  However, I must ask how one would be able to determine who was or was not a Christian if they were a stranger?  If we moved with such a mindset, then we would only love those who we personally knew were a Christian.

In the past, many who claimed to be of Christ chose to move in such a manner.  Because they couldn’t tell if a stranger was or was not a Christian, they assumed those who looked or acted like them must have been a Christian.  This kind of mindset led one race to think they were superior to other races.  In fact, many hate groups, like the KKK, was filled with people thinking they were righteous in their works.

So, again, I ask, do we really think that God desires for us to move in such a manner of “love”?  Has God truly called on us to love in a manner where only a few will receive love while many will be despised?

Failing God’s Great Command

The two questions that the lawyer asked led Jesus to teach the great lesson that all of us must learn today, so that we can fulfill God’s desire.  

The failure of religious men

Jesus spoke a parable of a certain man who had left Jerusalem and was making his way to Jericho (Luke 10:30-37).  As this man was making his way to Jericho, Jesus shared that the man was beaten up, robbed, stripped of his clothing, and left for dead. 

Now, a couple of interesting points that I want to point out at this juncture of Jesus’ parable.  Jesus does not provide this man’s identity.  So, we have don’t know the man’s race, nor do we know his nationality.  One could safely assume that this man was from Jericho and was returning back home from visiting Jerusalem.  Or, what is more likely is that this man was a Jew who was going to Jericho on business.

Jesus then spoke of a priest who, by happenstance, came down the same road.  When he approached the wounded man, the priest chose to pass by on the other side.  The priest didn’t even stop to check on the wounded man!

Then, Jesus spoke of a Levite, who by happenstance, also came down the same road.  When the Levite approached the wounded man, he chose to do the same thing as the priest.  The Levite, likewise, chose to pass by on the other side, not even stopping to check on the wounded man.

Now, I want to note that it wasn’t a coincidence that Jesus used the priest and the Levite.  You see, the role of the priest was a role of serving the people.  The people would bring their offerings to the priest and the priest would make the offering on behalf of the people.  So, not only did the priest serve the people, but they also served the Lord as well.

The Levites were assistants to the priests.  This meant that the Levites were also servants of the people.  The Levites spent their time serving in the temple, living in devotion to the people, the temple, the law, and God.

Jesus used the priest and the Levite to represent religious people.  If anyone should have stopped to help the wounded man, surely, it should have been them, right?  So, why didn’t they stop to help the wounded man?  Why did they choose to pass by on the other side?  Jesus doesn’t give us the reason as to why those two men didn’t stop to help the wounded man.

Why don’t we help?

As I think of the wounded man lying there in the road, I think of our world.  There are many who are being beaten up and robbed today.  There are many who are being left for dead today.  Yes, there are many who are crying out in their pain and suffering today, pleading for help.  Yet, many of us are choosing to pass by on the other side.

So, why aren’t we helping those who are being left for dead today?  For some, it’s not “their people” in trouble, so they don’t consider helping.  For some, it’s not their problem to deal with, and again, they don’t consider helping.  Some may won’t to help, but they choose to put it off with the idea that someone else will come along the way to help those who are crying out by the wayside.

The results of failure

Does this sound right?  Do we think that this is what God would want from us?  The selfish, inconsiderate, and uncaring route is a route that fails to be in alignment with God’s desire.  How could we ever think that not caring for others is a route that would please the Lord?

Just take a look around in our land and we can see the results of choosing to move with such a mindset.  As Paul said, spiritual hosts of wickedness now occupy heavenly places, preaching and sharing their messages of hate.  Many are being trodden on, beaten up, robbed of happiness, and left for dead.  Because the lowest aren’t being uplifted, society (mankind) continues to flounder in unhappiness.

In no way should the true believer ever move in such a manner when we are supposed to be lights of the world.  Frankly, the true believer should know better than to rejoice in the divisive bitterness shaping today’s world.  Again, we are crisis today because we, the true believers, aren’t being lights in this dark world.

Learning the Great Lesson

So, Jesus then turned to an unlikely source to teach the lawyer the great lesson that we all must learn today.  

The Good Samaritan’s demonstration of compassion

Jesus spoke of a Samaritan who, by happenstance, also came down the same road as the priest and Levite.  Jesus pointed out that when the Samaritan saw the wounded man, he had compassion (sympathy).

Again, it is not a coincidence that Jesus a Samaritan in the telling of this parable.  The reason why Jesus used the Samaritan was because the Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along.  You see, the Jews looked down on the Samaritans becuase of who they were.  The Samaritans were born of the coming together of Israelites and Gentiles.  

So, to the Jews, the Samaritans were as a filthy rag that you wouldn’t bother to use.  Their feelings towards the Samaritans created a shared animosity between both peoples.  If you remember the story of Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman, then you would remember that she didn’t want to help Jesus because He was a Jew.

So, if there was anyone who likely wouldn’t have helped the wounded man, it would have been the Samaritan.  Yet, in the parable He’s sharing with us, Jesus said that the Samaritan not only stopped to check on the man, but he bandaged and cleaned out the man’s wounds.  Then he put the man on his own animal and took the man to town to care for him even more

Do you think God would be pleased more with the Samaritan or the “religious men”?  This was a question that Jesus asked the lawyer.  

The Samaritan has to be the answer to the question because of the great compassion he had for a stranger.  God, we should understand, has not commanded us to despise anyone!  The command is for us to love everyone, to esteem others better than ourselves!  The command of love even includes those whom you may consider enemies.

Have love and compassion for all

In Matthew 5:43-44, Jesus had to bring correction to the teaching that many had received about loving a neighbor and hating an enemy.  Again, keep in mind, the Jews believed their neighbors were only other Jews.  The Jews saw Gentiles as their enemies and did treat them with the same manner of love.

So, Jesus taught that one is supposed to love everyone, including their enemies.  Jesus said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who use you (Matt. 5:44).”

There are three lessons we ought to take away from the teaching of the Good Samaritan.  First lesson:  Everybody is our neighbor, not just those who live next to us or share the same race or nationality.  Second lesson:  Don’t be so self-righteous that you look down on others and fail to fulfill God’s great desire.

Third lesson:  God desires for us to show compassion to everyone, including sinners.  With all I see the professed believers doing today, I believe these lessons have been lost on them.  The idea that we should despise others because of what they worship, where they are from, or who they choose to love is ridiculous.  If you’re one who despises sin, then yes, despise sin, but remember God’s compassion towards us.

You see, God had compassion for us when we were once His adversaries.  As Paul wrote, God demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were sinners, He gave His only begotten Son to sacrifice Himself for us!  And again, He gave His only begotten Son to reconcile the relationship between God and mankind.

We will only progress when we get into alignment with God’s desire by loving all people, not just some.  This, to me, is the most important lesson that must be learned in Christianity, especially American Christianity.  Moving to love only a few is filled with much wrath, and as James said, wrath will never produce the righteousness of God.

The false concept of love that is present in our world today has created a useless religion that benefits nobody.  What’s most sad about this is that we’ve let such a useless religion block us from any progress.  Socially and spiritually, we’re still in the same place as ancient times!

Thankfully, we have time to do things right and fulfill God’s great desire.  We have time to stop letting hate hold us back from lifting each other up.  So, let’s come together and take advantage of the time and flourish together.