Caring Everywhere We Go: Seeing Christ in Others

Devotional

Day 1: The Shock of Mercy in Unlikely Hands

Jesus’ story of the Samaritan upends assumptions about who embodies God’s care. The hero isn’t the religious professional but the cultural outsider—the one deemed unworthy, even dangerous. True care defies social hierarchies and personal biases, choosing compassion over convenience. It demands we see dignity in those we’ve been trained to ignore or distrust. The Samaritan’s actions reveal that mercy isn’t a theoretical ideal but a costly, hands-on interruption. Holiness hides in the act of stopping. [36:28]

“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.”
(Luke 10:33-34, ESV)

Reflection: Who have you been conditioned to view as “unlikely” to reflect God’s love? How might the Spirit be nudging you to receive—or offer—care across such boundaries this week?

Day 2: Care as Spontaneous Interruption

The Samaritan’s care wasn’t scheduled or strategic. He let the crisis of a stranger reroute his day, his resources, his plans. Modern life prizes efficiency and productivity, but Jesus’ story suggests holy disruptions are the curriculum of love. Care thrives not in our calendars but in our willingness to be derailed. It asks, “What if my greatest purpose today isn’t on my to-do list?” [39:04]

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
(1 Peter 4:10, ESV)

Reflection: When has an unexpected interruption become a sacred moment? What practical margin (time, energy, funds) could you create to welcome such “unplanned” opportunities?

Day 3: Kinship Before Fixing

Henri Nouwen learned to bathe Adam not as a project but a brother. Care begins not with solutions but solidarity—the recognition that helper and helped share the same divine parentage. Judgment dissolves when we see the person, not the problem. The iPhone critique at the food pantry reveals our addiction to assessing worthiness. True care whispers, “You’re family before you’re a case file.” [47:47]

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
(Galatians 3:28, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you subtly assess “deservingness” in those you serve? How might kinship reshape your next act of care?

Day 4: The Sacred Limitation of Presence

Care often feels futile because we cannot cure. Nouwen distinguishes fixing (which demands outcomes) from being-with (which offers companionship). To hold a grieving hand, sit in addiction’s aftermath, or listen to chronic pain—these seem small. Yet Jesus, who could heal all, often chose presence: weeping at Lazarus’ tomb, staying with the troubled, eating with the shamed. [46:56]

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
(Romans 12:15, ESV)

Reflection: When have you resisted caring because you couldn’t “fix” the problem? Who needs your unproductive but holy presence right now?

Day 5: Blessings in the Toast

The caregiver receives as much as they give. Nouwen insists those we serve bless us when we see Christ in them—not in abstract theology but in grubby, particular faces. The “Jesus in the toast” phenomenon becomes ordinary wonder: every act of care is a chance to glimpse the divine. Burnout fades when we realize service isn’t charity but mutual exchange. [53:59]

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
(Matthew 25:40, ESV)

Reflection: When has serving someone felt like receiving a gift? How might seeking Christ’s face in those you care for change your motivation?

Sermon Summary

Care begins with the church’s mission to “live out God’s love everywhere that we go.” God’s love cannot stay bottled up as doctrine in people’s heads or as something said correctly about Jesus. God’s love has to get lived out with hands and feet, in work, school, neighborhoods, families, and all the places that fill the rest of the week.

Care also names one of the holy things that never really shows up as a line item in a church budget. A changed life, a person finding where they belong, or somebody learning in the middle of an incredible struggle that God is with them cannot be measured by a building, a renovation, or average worship attendance. The church’s staff can help set up ministry, but God’s love calls the whole body of Christ to be the ministry everywhere it goes.

Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan gives care a face. The legal expert wants to know exactly who counts as a neighbor, and Jesus makes the shocking enemy figure, the Samaritan, the one who stops. The Samaritan sees the beaten man, is moved with compassion, goes to him, pays for his care, and promises to return. Care refuses to walk by what it sees.

The Samaritan’s care also happens spontaneously. Care does not wait for an Outlook calendar appointment or a perfectly planned moment to be available. Busyness, fear, and the assumption that nothing can be done can all move people to the other side of the road. Compassion moves toward the need that is right in front of it.

Henri Nouwen’s picture of care deepens that call. Care means to lament with, to cry with, and to share in another person’s pain. Care means being with someone even when there is no fix and no cure. The difference between care and cure matters, because Christ’s people are not the saviors who arrive with all the answers.

Kinship also has to come before caregiving. Every person is first a beloved child of God, before being unhoused, divorced, addicted, wounded, or labeled by any other part of life. Judgment creates distance, but compassion sees a neighbor, family, and someone precious in God’s sight. The blessing then comes back through the person receiving care, because the face of Jesus meets those who truly see and stay present.

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Key Takeaways

1. Care refuses to walk by Care begins when compassion sees a need and moves toward it rather than finding a reason to pass on the other side. The Samaritan does not first decide whether the wounded man deserves help. Care makes room for interruption because another person’s pain has become real. [40:39]
2. Being with is not fixing Care does not require a cure before it can be faithful. Presence beside grief, loss, illness, or struggle can say, “You are not alone,” even when nothing can be reversed. The need to fix everything can keep people from offering the quieter and holier gift of staying. [46:37]
3. Kinship comes before caregiving Caregiver and care receiver belong to one another as beloved children of God. Judgment turns people into categories and keeps compassion at a safe distance. Kinship sees the person before the label, the need, the mistake, or the circumstance. [49:44]
4. Those in need can bless Care becomes exhausting when it is built on the idea that one person has everything and another has nothing. The face of Jesus meets those who serve when they receive the dignity, gifts, and humanity of the person before them. Blessing is not earned through service but received through holy connection.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[27:48] - Living Out God’s Love Everywhere
[28:28] - What a Church Budget Cannot Measure
[30:22] - Stewardship Beyond Financial Giving
[31:44] - Love Beyond Sunday Morning
[33:22] - What Does Care Mean?
[33:59] - The Good Samaritan’s Shock
[38:37] - Care That Is Ready and Available
[40:39] - Refusing to Walk By
[42:44] - Henri Nouwen and the Spirituality of Caregiving
[45:32] - Care Is Being With
[47:14] - Kinship Without Judgment
[51:20] - Receiving Blessing Through Care
[54:19] - Living Out God’s Love Through Care

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Luke 10:25-37
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” [34:04]

Luke 6:37-38
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” [54:23]

Matthew 25:40
“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” [51:38]

Observation questions

In Jesus’ story, what do the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan each do when they encounter the wounded man, and what does the Samaritan do beyond the first moment of help? [38:37]
What question does the legal expert ask Jesus, and how does Jesus’ story shift the focus from defining “neighbor” to showing mercy?
What reasons were named that can lead people to pass by a need rather than move toward it? [39:33]
According to Luke 6:37–38, what attitudes and actions are contrasted with judging and condemning?

Interpretation questions

Why is it significant that Jesus makes a Samaritan—the person his audience would have considered an outsider or enemy—the example of neighborly love? How might this reshape the way a Christian thinks about people they find difficult to understand or respect? [36:54]
The Samaritan’s care was unplanned and interruptible. What does this suggest about the kind of availability love requires in everyday life? [38:57]
Why is “being with” someone in grief, illness, or struggle a meaningful form of care even when there is no solution or cure? [46:37]
Matthew 25:40 connects care for people in need with encountering Christ. How does seeing another person as a beloved child of God change the relationship between the one offering help and the one receiving it? [51:38]

Application questions

Think about your normal week—home, work, school, errands, or online spaces. Where are you most likely to notice a need and be tempted to pass by because you are busy, uncomfortable, or unsure what to do? What could moving toward that need look like? [40:39]
Is there someone in your life who is carrying grief, stress, illness, or another burden that cannot simply be fixed? What is one simple way you could be present with them this week without trying to solve everything? [46:48]
When have labels or assumptions made it harder for you to see someone as your neighbor—whether related to politics, housing, addiction, family circumstances, or another difference? What might it look like to choose compassion over judgment in that situation? [49:27]
Caring can become unhealthy when it assumes, “I have what they need, and they have nothing to offer.” How can you approach a person in need with humility, expecting that God may also bless you through them? [51:47]
What is one form of care that may never appear on a church budget but has made a real difference in your life or in someone else’s life—such as a visit, a meal, a listening ear, prayer, or welcome? How might you offer that kind of care more intentionally? [29:17]
Jesus calls his followers to live out God’s love everywhere they go. What is one specific place or relationship where you sense God inviting you to practice care this week? [32:06]

Sermon Clips

61s

#CareNotCure

“We usually go out and we care, and you you and I usually have more money. And and so we're kinda going in this idea that we're the savior that you've needed, the savior you've been waiting for. Here we come. Just do what we say, and we'll fix you. We've got the cure. But, friends, there's a difference between care and cure. There's work for curing. There's work that we can do to to really help, but that's not what caring is. Caring is going and being with someone. You know, if someone loses a loved one, we can't reverse that situation. We can't fix that problem. But what we can do is we can be with them. We can let them know that they're not alone to be with, which is different than curing, which unfortunately is how we're all wired.”

50s

#WeAreFamily

“So we've got to reconsider what caring really means. The second thing he offers is that between the caregiver and the care receiver, there has to be and there is a kinship, a a kinship, meaning that that we belong to one another, meaning that we're family. We're not strangers divided into helpers and those who need help. That the first step before you can be with, before you can help, before you can do any kind of caring, there has to be this realization that we're kin, that we're family, that we're both children of God. We're both equally loved by God.”

59s

#BeAvailable

“But what does it mean then for you and I to just be available in our every day, to be ready to to care. Maybe what is it that keeps us from caring? Being too busy maybe? Being afraid, not thinking we can do anything. So it was spontaneous. So Jesus finishes the story and goes back to this legal expert and says, okay, so who is the neighbor? And this guy is so shocked by who the real answer is that he can't even say the guy's name. So so the the legal expert doesn't say, oh, it's the samaritan. He's unable to even bring himself to say that. He says, what was the one that showed mercy? Or in our context today, he said, it was the one that cared.”

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First United Methodist Church Georgetown Texas This sermon · AI assistant

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