Compassion and the Great Commission

Devotional

Day 1: Oil, Wine, and Open Hands

A man lay bleeding on the Jericho road. Robbers left him naked. A priest crossed to the far side. A Levite averted his eyes. But a Samaritan stopped. He poured oil and wine on the wounds—precious supplies meant for his journey. He lifted the stranger onto his donkey, walked beside him, paid for his care. Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”[36:08]

This Samaritan didn’t debate theology. He interrupted his plans. Oil and wine cost money. Time spent at the inn meant delayed business. Compassion requires surrender—not just sentiment, but sacrifice. Jesus elevates the heretic Samaritan as the model neighbor because love defies categories.

Where is your “Jericho road” this week? What resource have you hoarded—time, money, comfort—that could heal a wound nearby? When you hear a cry for help, do you calculate cost or kneel in the dirt?

“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)

Prayer: Ask God to show you one practical sacrifice—oil, wine, or coins—He wants you to pour out today.

Challenge: Buy bandages, antiseptic, or snacks. Keep them in your car or bag to give to the next person you see in need.

Day 2: Wrapping Sandwiches in Gospel

William Haas didn’t want to go to Africa. After burying his wife and daughters, he sailed to the Central African Republic. He translated Scripture, healed bodies, and adopted orphans. His legacy birthed churches—and a boy named Cyrus who now preaches the Gospel. Haas lived Spurgeon’s charge: “Wrap the Gospel in a sandwich.”[46:44]

Jesus commands more than declarations. He demands disciples who do “all I have commanded” (Matthew 28:20). Every meal shared, wound bandaged, and child sponsored becomes a parable of the Kingdom. Your ordinary acts—backpacks filled, water wells dug—soften hearts to hear eternal truths.

What “sandwich” has God placed in your hands—a skill, resource, or story? How could you wrap it in Gospel hope this week?

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
(Colossians 3:17, ESV)

Prayer: Confess areas where you’ve separated “sacred” and “secular.” Ask God to make your daily work a proclamation.

Challenge: Write “Colossians 3:17” on a sticky note. Place it where you’ll see it hourly as a reminder to sanctify mundane tasks.

Day 3: Not on My Watch

May Allen, a missionary nurse, refused to let a malnourished baby die. She defied cultural norms, adopting the child and raising her as her own. That orphan became Julie—Cyrus’s wife. May’s defiance of despair still echoes: “Not on my watch.”[58:03]

James says faith without works is dead (James 1:22). The priest and Levite saw pain but chose passivity. The Samaritan—and May—saw pain and intervened. God doesn’t call you to fix every problem, but to obey the nudge to act where you are. Someone’s survival may depend on your courage to say, “Not today.”

What broken situation have you avoided because it feels too messy or costly? What’s one step you can take to say, “Not on my watch”?

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
(James 1:22, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God for boldness to interrupt your schedule for the sake of someone He loves.

Challenge: Text one person facing a crisis today. Say, “I’m here. How can I help?”

Day 4: The Road to Bongasu

William Haas died reciting Psalm 23 in a Central African village. Decades later, Cyrus—born in that same village—stands preaching because Haas obeyed. The shepherd’s staff passed: Haas to May, May to Julie, Julie to Cyrus. Goodness and mercy still follow.[52:42]

Psalm 23 isn’t poetry for gravesides. It’s a marching anthem for those walking shadowed valleys with others. Haas’s “valley of death” became a highway for Gospel hope. Your trials—loss, grief, uncertainty—aren’t endpoints. They’re preparation to lead others toward green pastures.

What valley has God brought you through that equips you to guide someone else?

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
(Psalm 23:6, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for someone who showed you goodness in a dark valley. Ask to pay it forward.

Challenge: Share a story of God’s faithfulness during hardship with a younger believer or child.

Day 5: Burying Seeds, Raising Legacy

Irene’s drowning could have ended Cyrus’s faith. Instead, her death deepened his resolve: “Jesus is worthy.” Like Job and William Haas, he chose blessing over bitterness. Every surrendered grief plants seeds for another’s deliverance.[01:03:54]

Philippians 2 says every knee will bow to Jesus. Your surrender—whether sponsoring a child, adopting a baby, or enduring loss—declares His worth. Legacy isn’t about length of days, but depth of obedience. What you bury in faith, God raises to change nations.

What area of loss or longing do you need to surrender today to declare, “Jesus is worthy”?

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.”
(Philippians 2:9, ESV)

Prayer: Name one pain or dream you’re clutching. Release it aloud: “Jesus, You’re worthy of this.”

Challenge: Write “Philippians 2:9–11” on a rock. Place it where you’ll see it daily as a surrender reminder.

Sermon Summary

Jesus grounds the call in his own authority. Matthew 28 announces that all authority belongs to him, so the charge to make disciples is not a suggestion but a summons to live what he has commanded. Acts 1:8 then clarifies the shape of that obedience. The Spirit gives power so that witnesses do not simply declare Christ but display Christ, in Jerusalem and all the way to the ends of the earth.

Luke lets the parable of the Good Samaritan do heart surgery. A lawyer recites the Shema and Leviticus 19 without blinking, but Jesus presses past memory verses into a life shaped by love. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho becomes the road of life, where thieves do not discriminate and trouble does not send a calendar invite. Three sets of eyes see the same man. A priest and a Levite step around him. A Samaritan stops, feels, acts. Compassion binds wounds, lifts dead weight onto his own animal, pays for a bed, stays the night, and leaves an open tab. Love proves itself by what it pays.

Luke’s story asks a simple, searching question: who becomes a neighbor? Jesus refuses definitions that make love safe or small, then ends with a command that will not let the hearer hide: go and do likewise. Compassion is costly, inconvenient, and interruptive. It sees that the thieves on that road could have taken anyone, and it says, not on my watch.

John 3:16 widens the horizon. God so loved the world that the gospel must travel in the language people hear, through hands willing to serve and feet willing to go. The Spirit writes that story through ordinary obedience. A missionary who once prayed, any land but Africa, carried a Bible into a village and died there; a translation of Scripture kindled a lineage of faith; a single adoption in a clinic became a marriage, a pastorate, a church revived. Acts 1:8 keeps proving true.

Job’s confession steadies the suffering witness. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Grief can turn a heart hard, or it can become a lived testimony that Christ is worthy. The cross before, the world behind, no turning back. The charge remains the same: teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded, then hit the pavement of life. Pray, give, go. Wrap the gospel in a sandwich, and wrap the sandwich in the gospel. Let love be more than a bumper sticker. Let the watching world meet Christ in both proclamation and practice.

Key Takeaways

1. Witness declares and displays Christ [32:16] A true witness is not content with statements alone. Acts 1:8 ties Spirit-given power to lives that embody what they confess. When words and works agree, credibility accumulates and doors open that slogans never reach. Obedience becomes its own apologetic in a cynical age. [32:16]
2. Compassion chooses costly inconvenience [44:43] Love that will not pay is a speech, not a neighbor. The Samaritan spends time, money, and energy because mercy bears weight. Interruption becomes vocation when the wounded are in the road, and budgets become liturgy when hospitality keeps an open tab. [44:43]
3. The neighbor is whoever is near need [36:08] Jesus refuses to let love be fenced by categories. The command go and do likewise reframes the question from who qualifies to whom will love become. Proximity to pain is providence, not accident, and compassion answers before it asks for credentials. [36:08]
4. God’s global love fuels mission [12:54] John 3:16 makes the world the field, so pray, give, go becomes a normal Christian rhythm. Sponsorships, medical trips, and local mercy are not extras; they are how the body carries Christ’s heart into places words alone cannot reach. Small obediences compound into legacies no one could have scripted. [12:54]
5. Suffering can become a lived testimony [01:04:35] Job’s blessing in loss is not sentiment; it is defiance against despair. Grief can hollow out cynicism and make room for a deeper yes to God’s worth. When pain is carried with open hands, the name of the Lord is magnified and others find courage to trust him in their own valleys. [64:35]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[09:19] - Mercy earns a hearing for Christ
[10:50] - Sponsorship and intergenerational service
[12:54] - Pray, give, go invitation
[21:55] - Congregational worship and prayer
[31:01] - Empty vessel prayer and aim
[32:16] - Great Commission and Acts 1:8
[33:59] - Why call me Lord and not do
[34:27] - Reading Luke 10:25-37
[35:14] - Priest and Levite pass by
[35:38] - Samaritan’s compassionate action
[44:43] - Compassion is costly and inconvenient
[50:49] - For God so loved the world
[62:33] - A father’s grief and Job’s confession
[69:34] - No turning back and call to surrender
[70:58] - Small churches, big obedience

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 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.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 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. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 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. 35 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.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Observation Questions

In the parable, what specific actions did the Samaritan take to help the wounded man, and how did they differ from the priest and Levite?
How does Jesus redefine the lawyer’s question from “Who is my neighbor?” to a different focus in His answer? [36:08]
What examples from the sermon illustrate how small acts of obedience can lead to lasting spiritual legacies? [53:12]

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Jesus chose a Samaritan—a cultural outsider—as the hero of this story, and what does this reveal about God’s view of “neighbor”?
The sermon emphasizes that “compassion is costly and inconvenient” [44:43]. How does the Samaritan’s response model this truth, and why might this challenge modern definitions of love?
How does the story of William Haas (a missionary who initially resisted going to Africa) demonstrate the relationship between obedience and God’s global mission? [48:48]

Application Questions

The Samaritan’s compassion required time, money, and personal sacrifice. What is one practical way you could “interrupt” your routine this week to meet a need you’ve been avoiding?
“The neighbor is whoever is near need” [36:08]. Who in your daily life (work, neighborhood, family) is currently “near need,” and how could you tangibly display Christ’s love to them?
The sermon shared stories of ordinary people (like May Allen adopting a child [57:07]). What “small obedience” (prayer, giving, serving) could you commit to that might plant seeds for future generations?
Job’s confession in suffering—“The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord”—was called a “defiance against despair” [01:04:35]. How could you prepare your heart now to honor God’s worthiness before hardship strikes?
The sermon challenged, “Let love be more than a bumper sticker.” What habits or attitudes in your life might reduce faith to mere statements, and how could you align your actions more closely with your beliefs?

Sermon Clips

My mother Eugenie says, Iris, do you realize that William Hasas buried two children in The United States before he came to Africa? So as he was proclaiming the gospel to us, he had his display of his personal testimony. That's why acts one a is so important. But you will receive power when all his spirits that come upon you. You will be my witnesses. You declare, but you display. William Huss has left our legacy for us. [01:03:38] (30 seconds)

When I spoke to her later, she said, when you look at the biblical data in these 66 books you and I hold in our hands, you're not the first known. Will you be the last father to outlive your child, Cyrus? Hang on to god with everything, son. Two of my children died, and I have given my life to Jesus. It is who that saw me through this. You can be bitter, or you're gonna need him for the very breath in your lungs. [01:03:08] (24 seconds)

It is Charles Spurgeon that said, you wanna give the gospel to a man, wrap it in a sandwich. Conversely, if you wanna give a man a sandwich, wrap it in a gospel. Meaning, everything about you and me, brothers and sisters. This nonsense of sacred and secular, it does not exist when you are sold out to Jesus Christ. So we just sang this song on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. [00:46:19] (26 seconds)

Compassion is inconvenient. This man was traveling like the priest and the Levite. When he got to the spot where the man was in trouble, he didn't just look at him and said, this neighborhood has gotten so bad. The thief would have done the same thing to those three people. That's why the Samaritan man said, wait a minute. That could have been me in the hands of those thieves. Knowing that the pattern of behavior of thieves is that they don't discriminate. [00:44:30] (28 seconds)

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