Living a Legacy of Compassion and Generosity
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"I want to tell you the story today of a man named Alfred. Alfred was the man responsible for inventing dynamite. He invented dynamite. Now, even though dynamite is now synonymous with destruction, but Alfred's original intent for the invention was that it would save lives. He didn't mean for it to be synonymous with destruction, but he was trying to create something so powerful that people would recoil from the thought of going to war with each other, thereby creating more peace. That was his intention." [00:00:00]
"And so things were going along in Alfred's life fine when one morning, this is in the late 19th century when he lived, so one morning in 1888, Alfred opened up the newspaper and he saw something that took his breath away. He saw his own obituary. And there it was. It was his name. And as it turned out, it was Alfred's brother who had died. Of course, Alfred knew this." [00:00:42]
"It was Alfred's brother who had died, but the local press accidentally wrote an obituary for Alfred instead. But that obituary, that mistake changed Alfred's life and legacy. Because when he saw that the obituary writer had summed up his life by giving him the name Merchant of Death, I mean, it just shook him. He was confronted with the reality of how his days on earth had been spent." [00:01:12]
"So Alfred, with that decision, drafted a will that directed that 90 % of his net worth would be used to establish financial awards or financial prizes that would be given to, in his words, would be given to those who during the preceding year have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. He wanted his net worth, his money to be used to give to those men and women who during the preceding year shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." [00:02:04]
"Last week we talked about the first two people who missed an opportunity to help. The first week we looked at it, took an overall view, bird's eye view of the story. But last week we talked about the first two people who missed an opportunity to help. They just passed by on the other side. They didn't want to get involved. So they just passed on by. But today we're going to look at the third person who came by. Jesus called him a Samaritan." [00:03:16]
"It's interesting that the New Living Translation calls him a despised Samaritan because that was implied. Samaritans were despised. So this Samaritan stopped by and he actually helped out the stranger. So let's read this portion of the story in Luke 10 beginning with verse 33. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him. Now this word pity can also be translated as compassion." [00:03:39]
"He went to him. He didn't just look at him from afar, but he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii 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." [00:04:15]
"Now notice the first thing that Jesus said about this man. He said that this man took pity on the injured man, the man who had been beat up by bandits and was left half dead, was left for dead. The Samaritan took pity on him. That is to say he had compassion. He was moved, and he was moved to action. That was a huge first step, something that the priest and the Levite didn't bother to do. They weren't moved, right? They shut themselves off." [00:04:54]
"So it was a huge first step for the Samaritan, but things were about to get even more interesting because he decided to put his compassion into action, and in doing so, his compassion cost him something. His compassion cost him something. So we're having couples garden in a couple of weeks. Make plans for that. Sign up for that. My wife told me to remind all of you men that providing a romantic evening includes flowers and chocolates, okay? So don't forget that." [00:05:26]
"God wants us to put compassion into action, and that will cost us something. There is a cost to compassion. And this is not the only time in Scripture where we learn this principle, that God looks beyond the act of service to the cost involved. Jesus looked beyond the act of service of the woman who wiped his feet, he cleaned his feet with her tears, of the woman who came and opened up the alabaster box. He looks beyond their act of service to the cost involved." [00:07:10]
"King David understood this principle. On occasion, David wanted to buy some land from a man to build an altar. David had sinned. He had sinned against God, and so he was judged by God. In fact, God gave him three choices, and the choice that he chose was to fall in the hands of God. He said, God, may He have mercy on me. And so God said, if you will offer this sacrifice, I will stop the plague that had come upon the land because of David's sin. David looked for some land to build an altar, and he found the land." [00:07:52]
"But the owner of this land wanted to just give the land to David. He knew what was going on. It was a terrible plague that had come upon the land because of David's sin. And 70 ,000 men had already died, 70 ,000 men. And so the man, the owner of the land was, I mean, you can have it, David. You're the king. The king. um You know, we serve you, you're our king, we serve the house of David. And so he wanted to give it to him." [00:08:22]
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"And so things were going along in Alfred's life fine when one morning, this is in the late 19th century when he lived, so one morning in 1888, Alfred opened up the newspaper and he saw something that took his breath away. He saw his own obituary. And there it was. It was his name. And as it turned out, it was Alfred's brother who had died. Of course, Alfred knew this." [00:00:42]
"It was Alfred's brother who had died, but the local press accidentally wrote an obituary for Alfred instead. But that obituary, that mistake changed Alfred's life and legacy. Because when he saw that the obituary writer had summed up his life by giving him the name Merchant of Death, I mean, it just shook him. He was confronted with the reality of how his days on earth had been spent." [00:01:12]
"So Alfred, with that decision, drafted a will that directed that 90 % of his net worth would be used to establish financial awards or financial prizes that would be given to, in his words, would be given to those who during the preceding year have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. He wanted his net worth, his money to be used to give to those men and women who during the preceding year shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." [00:02:04]
"Last week we talked about the first two people who missed an opportunity to help. The first week we looked at it, took an overall view, bird's eye view of the story. But last week we talked about the first two people who missed an opportunity to help. They just passed by on the other side. They didn't want to get involved. So they just passed on by. But today we're going to look at the third person who came by. Jesus called him a Samaritan." [00:03:16]
"It's interesting that the New Living Translation calls him a despised Samaritan because that was implied. Samaritans were despised. So this Samaritan stopped by and he actually helped out the stranger. So let's read this portion of the story in Luke 10 beginning with verse 33. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him. Now this word pity can also be translated as compassion." [00:03:39]
"He went to him. He didn't just look at him from afar, but he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii 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." [00:04:15]
"Now notice the first thing that Jesus said about this man. He said that this man took pity on the injured man, the man who had been beat up by bandits and was left half dead, was left for dead. The Samaritan took pity on him. That is to say he had compassion. He was moved, and he was moved to action. That was a huge first step, something that the priest and the Levite didn't bother to do. They weren't moved, right? They shut themselves off." [00:04:54]
"So it was a huge first step for the Samaritan, but things were about to get even more interesting because he decided to put his compassion into action, and in doing so, his compassion cost him something. His compassion cost him something. So we're having couples garden in a couple of weeks. Make plans for that. Sign up for that. My wife told me to remind all of you men that providing a romantic evening includes flowers and chocolates, okay? So don't forget that." [00:05:26]
"God wants us to put compassion into action, and that will cost us something. There is a cost to compassion. And this is not the only time in Scripture where we learn this principle, that God looks beyond the act of service to the cost involved. Jesus looked beyond the act of service of the woman who wiped his feet, he cleaned his feet with her tears, of the woman who came and opened up the alabaster box. He looks beyond their act of service to the cost involved." [00:07:10]
"King David understood this principle. On occasion, David wanted to buy some land from a man to build an altar. David had sinned. He had sinned against God, and so he was judged by God. In fact, God gave him three choices, and the choice that he chose was to fall in the hands of God. He said, God, may He have mercy on me. And so God said, if you will offer this sacrifice, I will stop the plague that had come upon the land because of David's sin. David looked for some land to build an altar, and he found the land." [00:07:52]
"But the owner of this land wanted to just give the land to David. He knew what was going on. It was a terrible plague that had come upon the land because of David's sin. And 70 ,000 men had already died, 70 ,000 men. And so the man, the owner of the land was, I mean, you can have it, David. You're the king. The king. um You know, we serve you, you're our king, we serve the house of David. And so he wanted to give it to him." [00:08:22]
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