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9/12/10
Kindness without Borders
Openers
1. *Discussion* Do rapists, murders and child molesters deserve our kindness, why or
why not?
2. *Discussion* What qualities of a person make treating them with kindness easier and
what qualities make it harder?
3. *Discussion* Is showing kindness to ALL people an essential or non-essential part of
living out our faith? Does a poor demonstration of kindness reflect a poorly exercised
faith?
Main Points (Choose ONE)
1. Showing kindness is not about determining if someone deserves it. (v. 27, 36, 37)
2. Nothing should keep us from showing kindness. (v. 31, 32)
3. Kindness is more than just acting „nice.‟ It costs us something. (v. 33-35)
Foundations
Luke 10:30-37 (NIV): In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes,
beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down
the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a
Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a
Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity
on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he
put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day
he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. „Look after him,‟ he said,
„and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.‟ 36 “Which
of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of
robbers?” 37The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told
him, “Go and do likewise.”
Context/Back Story
The story of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus as an answer to a question from
an “expert in the Law” (that is, someone who was considered an expert in the
laws that God gave to Moses that all Jews were expected to follow) regarding
who his neighbor might be (10:25-29). The „expert‟ was seeking to justify his
behavior by getting Jesus to affirm that he (the expert) was a “good neighbor” to
everyone he needed to be. The story of the Good Samaritan demonstrates that
anyone we encounter is our neighbor and consequently someone we should show
kindness.
1. We should show kindness whether we think someone deserves it or not.
a. No details are given about the man‟s „worthiness‟ (v. 30).
i. We know nothing about his politics, job title, good deeds or bad
deeds.
Jonathan Miller
9/12/10
1. These details are not given because none of them matter
ii. The closest thing we get to an assessment of his worthiness is a
tidbit about the person who actually ended up helping the victim:
1. There were all sorts of ethnic and religious tensions
between Samaritans and Jews.
2. There would be a lot of social pressure on a Samaritan to
ignore the needs of a Jew—and vice versa.
b. The only condition that matters was clearly listed
i. He was in need.
ii. Our kindness should be viewed similarly: give help to those who
are in need, not to those who we somehow judge to be deserving.
c. No details are necessary to qualify people as recipients of kindness
i. It is our opportunity be blind to people‟s personality flaws, poor
decisions, shady pasts and show them all kindness without reserve
ii. The fact that the people (Jews) listening to Jesus‟ story probably
would have refused to help the victim if he were a Samaritan make
it all the more obvious that Jesus is bashing this sort of prejudice in
who we help.
2. Nothing should keep us from showing kindness.
a. The priest and Levite allowed false religious piety to be their excuse for
not showing kindness (v. 31,32)
i. What was their excuse?
1. See Lev. 22:1-9
2. They didn‟t want to become ceremonially unclean, and thus
unable to perform their duties at work.
ii. These religious men valued their work responsibilities (which
could be covered by someone else) above a human life.
1. People make a lot of excuses for not showing kindness and
kid themselves into believing that they‟re good excuses.
2. It should be obvious, though, that their excuses were
LAME.
b. Christ uses such a dramatic example, a man‟s life hanging in the balance,
to show the ridiculousness of allowing “things” to keep us from
demonstrating kindness:
i. Prejudice
ii. Selfishness
iii. Personal hurts
iv. Insecurity
v. Busyness
3. Kindness is more than just acting ‘nice.’ It costs us something.
a. The Samaritan showed kindness in 9 ways (v. 33-35)
i. He had compassion
1. He allowed himself to be concerned about someone who
had nothing to offer or benefit him
Jonathan Miller
9/12/10
ii. He went to where the victim was
1. He stopped his plans and made time for a detour
iii. He bandaged his wounds
1. He cared for the immediate physical needs of the victim
iv. He poured on oil and wine
1. He was as thorough as possible and made use of what he
had
2. These were simple first aid tools
a. Wine to clean the wound
b. Oil to mollify the wound and seal it
v. He put him on his donkey
1. He agreed to be uncomfortable in order to ease the victim‟s
pain
vi. Took him to an inn
1. He didn‟t leave the deed incomplete
2. He was willing to see it through, even though some people
might have gone on their way and congratulated themselves
on having done something
vii. He took care of the victim
1. He gave of himself, and then gave more
2. He committed to making a real solution, even though he
knew it would be inconvenient.
viii. He paid the victim‟s way
1. Two silver coins = 2 days wages = the ransom for a life
ix. He offered to cover additional costs if needed
1. He made an open-ended commitment—which isn‟t
„playing it safe‟
2. He didn‟t treat the victim as a stranger, but as a brother
Human Struggles
1. Too often we show kindness only when the recipient is likely to return the kindness
or has shown it to us in the past.
2. We let how someone looks or his/her status in life determine whether we will show
kindness or not.
3. Selfishness is often our motivation for not showing kindness.
4. Overcoming our laziness or our prejudices is hard work and requires constant
attention.
Application Helps
1. What things, if we are honest, keep us from showing kindness to „those people?‟
2. Why might it be hard to show kindness to someone that has been hurtful to us in the
past? Should those reasons really disqualify them from our kindness?
3. What people are in need of our kindness that we may ordinarily overlook?
4. Is it really an excuse to refuse to help people because “Well, they got themselves into
that mess! I warned them! They should have known better!”? If there is a place for
Jonathan Miller
9/12/10
making boundaries or ground rules, how can we tell the difference between doing that
and being like the priest and Levite?
Jonathan Miller
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