The Road of Courageous Compassion

``He did not cross a road to avoid us. He crossed heaven to reach us. The Samaritan paid 2 denarii. Jesus paid with his body and blood. You see, communion is not a ritual of sentiment. It's a declaration of courageous compassion. We come to this table in front of me not as heroes of the story, but it is the wounded ones that he stopped for. [00:34:28] (37 seconds)  #HeCrossedForUs

But here's the problem. The lawyer says that he wanted to justify himself, and he asked, who is my neighbor? When we see the real question is really underneath. Here's what he's really asking. How far does my responsibility go? That's really what he's asking. He isn't asking how to love, he's asking how to limit love. Catch that? He's trying to put parameters on like, I I wanna help, but just just tell me how far do I really have to go. He's limiting his love. And you see, this is where courage begins. When we stop asking how little we can do and start asking what obedience requires, we start forming ourselves into Christ. [00:08:46] (66 seconds)  #LoveWithoutLimits

The question is not whether there is a need. There is always a need in this world. The question is whether you will walk toward that need. Jesus ended that parable with a statement, go and do likewise. And if we're honest, that command, by the way, exposes us because we've all been the priest, haven't we? We've all been the Levite. We've all stepped around something we should have stepped towards. We have. But before Jesus tells us to go and do, he shows us what he has done. [00:33:27] (50 seconds)  #WalkTowardNeed

He didn't just cross the road. He crossed heaven's boundary to connect with us. He didn't just leave to Denari. He took on the cost, and he stayed until the debt was paid. You see the road of courageous compassion always leads to the cross. Jesus didn't just walk around us. He walked towards us. [00:27:48] (43 seconds)  #RoadToTheCross

I love how Jesus always lands on simple words. Go and do. It's not complicated, ladies and gentlemen. We're called to go and do. Jesus doesn't say, hey, admire this teaching. This is really great parable. You you should really love this. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, hey, take this lesson back. Discuss it with your peeps. Does anybody say peeps anymore? Discuss it with your people, and then if you all think it's right, go ahead and apply it. He doesn't do any of that. He says, go and do likewise. You see, courageous compassion, it's not inspiration, it's obedience. [00:24:39] (56 seconds)  #GoAndDoLikewise

But look at the Samaritan. Says that he had compassion. In other words, he stops. He stops. And what happens when he stops? He makes himself vulnerable. He risked everything that the priest and Levite are afraid of. He risked himself being attacked. Where did the people that attacked this guy go? You don't know. Maybe they're still there. He risked exposure. He risked a lot. But you see, courage will move forward. When fear tells you to avoid something, you have to ignore that. If you simply allow fear to tell you what you can and cannot do, you will never experience courage. [00:14:52] (56 seconds)  #CourageToStop

And yet, he stops. The Samaritan, the guy that's supposed to hate the Jew, is the one who's stopping and rendering aid. You see, courage crosses boundaries that pride wants to protect. Our compassion will require upon us humility, emotional exposure, maybe overcoming our own fears and biases along the way. Compassion without courage simply stays theoretical. Right? We can think, oh, that that looks like a really bad situation. I hope somebody helps. Hey, that's great that that's in your head. Not gonna help anybody though. Courageous compassion is engaging a situation in which people need help. [00:17:41] (62 seconds)  #CompassionCrossesBoundaries

He doesn't do the minimum. He doesn't delegate the inconvenience of the situation to anybody. Instead, he shows compassion to his neighbor. You see, courage doesn't just respond, it commits. Courage commits to something. For the Samaritan, he risked financial loss in a long term obligation to this guy. He does. He doesn't know when he returns how big that bill is gonna be. He doesn't know what state this Jew is gonna be in when the Samaritan returns. He was risking a lot. If you stop to help somebody on the road to life, You're responsible to love them faithfully. [00:22:28] (58 seconds)  #CommitToCare