Every week I work with some great students at Skyview. It has been fun to get to know them. There are several types of students with whom I work in the program. My favorite two types are: 1) the student who actually wanted to learn the material, and 2) the students who ask: “What do I need to do to pass? What’s the minimum requirement?”

In looking at Luke 10: 25-42, we read about two seemingly disconnected stories. However, upon closer examination, we see that both stories are the expression of the same principle. Our relationship with God communicates the strength of our relationship with others and vice versa. Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. His disciples have gone ahead of him proclaiming the kingdom of God. The announcement of God’s kingdom is met with both intrigue and backlash. One such interaction comes with a lawyer who would have thoroughly understood the law of God. Initially, the lawyer seems to understand the core of the Jewish faith. The lawyer then adds a question t his interaction with Jesus. At the heart of this lawyer’s question is: “What’s the minimum requirement?”

Jesus knows that’s its all too common for us to look over people, look past people, or pretend not to see them at all.

This series “Give Over Get” is about living generously the first part is in our relationships. The question “What’s the minimum requirement?” undermines “looking” and “generous living” in our Generations Church value. Surely this (generous living) doesn’t mean this person.

Jesus’ encounter with this lawyer reveals how he does not allow distinctions to be made when it comes to the treatment of people. There are no easy escapes for failing to serve and be a neighbor. The are no boundaries or defining lines that prevent us from applying generosity and subsequent grace to our interaction.

Jesus decides to tell the story of the “Good” Samaritan.

Jesus picks the treacherous road from Jericho to Jerusalem as the site of the incident. This seventeen-mile journey was well known for its danger. The road was hazardous, as the man who falls among robbers finds out. Thieves took advantage of the caves that lined the road as it wound through the desert, jumping travelers as they passed through. So this man is stripped of his clothing, beaten, and robbed. He is left for dead, cast off at the side of the road.” Serves him right”

The idea of a good Samaritan was an oxymoron to a Jew. So he says, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus tells the man to “go and do likewise.” The point is obvious. The lawyer wants to know if he can be a neighbor to a select, elite few. Jesus tells him through the Samaritan’s example, “Let the neighbor be you.”

Rather than worrying if someone else is a neighbor, Jesus’ call is to be a neighbor to those who have need. By reversing the perspective Jesus changes both the question and the answer. He makes the call no longer one of assessing other people, but of being a certain kind of person in one’s activity.

Here we see the priority and character come together in expressing Give over Get.

One additional point emerges. By making the Samaritain the example, Jesus points out that neighbors may come in surprising places. The lawyer’s attempt to limit his neighbors may actually be limiting where his “family” might come from. Those who run people through a sieve limit their capacity for meaningful friendships.

Growing up, Jimmy developed a reputation for being emotionally distant. This posture helped protect him from all the emotional shrapnel he was exposed to in his home life. Everyone else might be quick to fly off the handle, but not Jimmy. He’d be rational to a fault.

But after years on his own, Jimmy changed. He began to see the value of acknowledging and sharing his emotions and doing so with friends and colleagues added to the richness of his life. He wanted to reveal this change to his family but was afraid. The patterns of who he was with them were deeply etched and, though far from perfect, were comfortable and predictable. His detachment had cost, but they were familiar costs.

He discussed his fears with a friend, who asked Jimmy some hard questions: “what are you really afraid of? How does following Jesus adjust your fears?” Jimmy’s first response was that he was acting out of obligation to his family: “Someone in my family has to be the rational one. Otherwise, it will be chaos. The way things are now, everything more or less works.”

All true, but Jimmy probed further. Eventually, he discovered that fear that at some level he knew was present all along: “What if they reject me? What if they laugh? What if they think, “What’s gotten not him?” Jimmy knew he’d be in for a serious identity shake-up if his parents responded badly, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to risk it.

Jimmy’s increased awareness of his identity concerns wasn’t the end of the story. His friend persisted with Scriptural reminders about his identity in Christ. Jimmy determined he would show greater emotion around his family, and at first, the going was not smooth. There were awkward moments, and some members of his family wondered why he was acting differently. But Jimmy persisted because of a friend who encouraged him to Give Over Get, and in time a more genuine set of relationships replaced the old ones. – A modified excerpt from Difficult Conversations

Image management can cripple our ability to live generously. When we always look to get our of relationships we withhold a portion of ourselves and never experience growth.

In the example of the Samaritan, we see the personal compassionate meeting of basic needs, not the mere throwing of money at a problem in the hopes it will fix itself. The Samaritan not only provides resources but personally undertakes to make sure that others who become a part of the process are aware that he wants the victim brought back to health. It takes eyes and ears to be a neighbor, a compassionate heart, and a willingness to be vulnerable.

Sometimes we can think there is so much suffering in the world that we do not know where to start. Such thinking can become an excuse for inaction. If I cannot know where to begin, I will not even start to help, because if I do, I will be overwhelmed.

We distract ourselves. We fill up our time so that we can have the justification to limit our relational connection with others.

It comes in a series of three passages, each of which treats a different key aspect of our relationship to God: how we relate to neighbors, how we engage in dialogue with God, and how we view one another and our time with the Lord. We will cover the first two of the three stories. Go read the last one.

Martha’s consumption with assessing others as she performs what she is called to do, and Mary’s wisdom in seeking some time at the feet of Jesus. Both qualities, one negative and the other positive are at the heart of following Jesus. A community suffocates when all its energy is spent being an assessment agency for one another while distracting oneself from true relationships. Generous living chooses grace in our relationships.

How do we move past the “what’s the minimum requirement mindset?”

[ONE] In order to live a give over get lifestyle in our relationships, it takes margin. Margin is the space between our load and our limits. Planning for margin means planning for the unplannable. It means we understand what’s possible for us as finite creatures and we schedule for less than that. This is why Jesus approves of Mary’s posture.

Your busyness limits your ability to be present with God. Your busyness is crippling your ability to be a good neighbor.

[TWO] It takes separating choices from identity.

• Am I competent?
• Am I a good person?
• Am I worthy of love?

You have to get your eyes off yourself. You don’t expect to struggle. You will suffer if you are committed to people. We will move from distracted living to directed living.

“Starting each day with eternity makes our petty problems and long to-do lists seem less significant. By sitting at the feet of Jesus, we will grow more like him—more patient, more loving, more thoughtful. We’ll see that our screen does not satisfy our Savior. We’ll see that wisdom was not born yesterday, or thirty-four seconds ago on social media. We’ll learn to keep our complaints to a minimum and our eyes not he cross. And we’ll become more helpful to those around us.” Kevin Deyoung, Crazy Busy

Carla was tired. Every week she showed up to the food pantry to help serve. She had been a constant recruiter to the cause. She had been doing it weekly for several years. She had gone through all the phases of serving. The initial excitement gave way to constant frustration. Eventually, adjustment to a better picture of reality set in. That still didn’t change her tiredness. She had been trying to get others to join her but to no avail. She wasn’t sure what to do now. Was it worth it to keep showing up?

James was proud. He was seen around the office as the go-to guy.  Everyone knew it. Anytime someone needed something he was there. Oil change. Loan someone a few extra bucks. He got such happiness from knowing people would turn to him. Recently, some of the asks from others seemed odd. James wasn’t so sure about his continued response. He couldn’t pick and choose who he would help. He had an image to maintain. Why had he been so open to others if the first place?

Lloyd just tried to stay out of people’s way. Because he  didn’t speak much people thought he listened well. So they shared. He would hear hurts and frustrations. He would even hear of an opportunity. However, he was so nervous about how someone would react that he often did nothing. It was better to pass the buck to someone else than face the awkwardness of trying to help. How would people react?

Image management is choosing certain actions so that others will perceive us in a certain way. A life fueled by image management is like putting diesel in your gas-powered car. It appears to be the same thing but won’t get you anywhere.

Maybe you find a connection with one of these stories. As the wheel of life keeps rolling, our ultimate motivation comes to the surface.

After Jesus’ initial years of ministry, He gathers the disciples who have now been appointed as apostles and teaches a sermon. This section of the book of Matthew and the sermon is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. It was delivered to the disciples of Jesus on the mountainside there above the Sea of Galilee. “Seeing the multitudes, he went into a mountain: and he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth and he taught them, saying,” (Mat 5:1-2).

This Sermon on the Mount is not for general world consumption. It is not a system of laws and all that the world should inaugurate or even can inaugurate. The Sermon on the Mount is to the disciples of Jesus Christ, and it is only those who have been described in the first part of the sermon that can really put these things into practice and that only through the power of the Holy Spirit. Others do hear Jesus talk to these disciples.

Today as we talk about give over get, some of you may want to try to put this into practice however as we talk about generosity at some point you will become exhausted or fed up because there is no internal transformation that makes generous living sustainable. That’s the point. Jesus is now going to address the right actions but the wrong motives.

The opening line of Matthew six succinctly summarizes the central theme of the paragraphs to follow. Jesus warns his followers to not do their acts of righteousness for the purpose of being seen by others. “Acts of righteousness” are defined as pious acts motivated by one’s devotion and relationship with God. There are things such as the right actions.

Last week, we established the priority of giving. This week is the character. Values shape not just actions, but also attitudes.

“Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what is was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.” – C.S. Lewis

Our goal is to become a person who eternally receives and reflects God’s love. The risk is that people may choose to become the antithesis of this. Giving shapes not just one area of our life but all areas. A choice to not give hardens in us a resistance to giving.

So here Jesus addressed the danger of cultivating an image of righteousness. It is almost impossible to do spiritual things in front of others without thinking what their opinion is of us as we do those things, and how they are thinking better or worse of us as we do what we do.

There are some who say, “All that is important is the doing of the deed. How I do it is much less important than the doing of it.” It is true that in some cases it would be better to do the right thing in the wrong way or out of the wrong motive than to do the wrong thing, but Jesus’ point is clear: God cares about how we do our good works, and with what motive we do them.

This does not contradict His previous command to let your light so shine before men (Matthew 5:16). Although Christians are to be seen doing good works, they must not do good works simply to be seen. If our desires reflect our destination, and our destination is eternity, don’t we want others to see our good works? Yes – but others seeing your faithfulness, discipline, dutifulness – will not sustain you.

Jesus thus begins to deal with three spiritual disciplines: giving, prayer, and fasting. “These three were (and are) the most prominent practical requirements for personal piety in mainstream Judaism…These same three activities, together with the specifically Islamic requirements of the Hajj and recitation of the creed, constitute also the Five Pillars of Islam.” What makes Christianity unique…If you have a Catholic or Mormon background…you are taught works contribute to your salvation.

Give over get directly counters other worldviews. People give to get.

Moving on to verse two, a fundamental expression of Jewish piety involved a charitable and benevolent response to the poor and needy. Jesus assumes an ongoing benevolent concern for the needy. He is emphatic that his followers refrain from actions calculated to shift attention to oneself.

The usage of “trumpet” is illustrative of the extreme measures to which some will go in pursuit of public acclaim. Therefore, if charitable acts are performed for worldly acclaim the performer will be well compensated by the world’s temporary applause. 

The word “hypocrite” needs to be defined. The term was used for an actor. By the time of the NT the term came to have a metaphorical usage describing one who through pretense, either consciously or unconsciously, assumes a role that conceals an inner reality. There is inherent duplicity attached to the term.

We aren’t good evaluators of other’s motives. We can only evaluate our own. “Oh, let us rather seek to be good than seem to be so.

I assure you: They have their reward: Jesus tells the one who gives so he can hear the applause of others that he should enjoy the applause because that will be all the reward that he will receive. There will be no reward in heaven for the one who did it for the motive of an earthly reward. It is all they will receive. ‘They have received payment in full.’

Getting our reward here can come in many forms. I’m less inclined to think it shows up in the form of actual awards. It likely manifests itself in put-downs so that others can lift us up.

As a Church, we have to be very careful that we aren’t doing good things so that we grow. Rather we do good things out of a response to who Jesus is.

From this sermon, I will…..Give over Get

• • Identify your intention:
  • Identify your reluctance

Our intent is determined by what we want and expects from our actions. When we do good deeds to be seen by human beings, that is because what we are looking for is something that comes from human beings.

Jesus gives us “Now What?” in verses three and four. The figurative expression of not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing graphically illustrates the unpretentious and unassuming manner of true piety. Charitable acts are so fundamentally inherent to the character of those in the kingdom that they are performed even without self-conscious recognition or appraisal.

We serve a God who looks upon the heart, not mere outward appearance, therefore religious devotion begins with the heart and inner motivations behind the external act.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you: Jesus pointed out the great value of doing good deeds for the glory of God. It is much better to receive our return from God, who rewards much more generously and much more openly than men do.

God does see in secret. “We should ever remember that the eye of the Lord is upon us, and that he sees not only the act, but also every motive that led to it.”

We should not miss the strength of the promise – these things done the right way will certainly be rewarded. We can be sure of that, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

I had shared that these values aren’t just values that we think you should live out, but they are values that we as a church want to embody—collectively.

The church is called to embody Jesus. Jesus gave. He lived selflessly. When we pattern our character and priorities after Him and not some image we feel that we need to maintain we will become more human and testify to our eternal reward.