If You Love God, You Love People

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

It was an ordinary day of commuting for Cameron Hollopeter, a 20-year-old film student. He made his way down the steps into a New York City subway station to wait for the train. All of a sudden, something went horribly wrong in Cameron’s brain, sending him into a violent seizure. He fell to the ground, got back up again, and then stumbled along the edge of the subway platform. Moments later, he tumbled down into the railway bed, just as the rumbling of an approaching train began to shake the station.

No one captured the moment on video, but we know how the people in the station probably reacted. Some turned away, eyes clenched against the horror of what was happening. Others froze in a sense of helplessness. Some were in such a hurry to get to where they needed to go that they totally missed it. In mere seconds, a young man with dreams of becoming a Hollywood producer would meet an unthinkably violent end, and no one could stop it. No one would stop it. Except the one man who did stop it!

50-year-old construction worker, Wesley Autrey did the unthinkable. Autrey crossed the boundary of horror that withered all the others in the subway. Autrey pulled his feet from the concrete shoes of helplessness that froze others. He stepped over the high curb of hurry despite being busy taking his two daughters home before he went to work. This middle-aged black man from Harlem who had little in common with a white Harvard student, chose to do what no one else at that horrifying scene chose to do. Wesley Autrey chose to cross over to the other side.

He strode across that subway platform, jumped down into the ditch, and covered Hollopeter’s bloodied, writhing body with his own. He held Hollopeter against the ground while the train thundered over them.

Later, when interviewed, Autrey said when he saw the headlights of the No. 1 train appear, he knew he had to make a split-second decision. “I don’t feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help, I did what I felt was right…You’re supposed to come to people’s rescue.”

“I did what was right.” In Luke 10, a lawyer, asked Jesus, “What does it mean to do what is right for my fellow human beings?” 

What’s right? Luke 10:27 says, “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.” Our theme for 2025 is Love God…Love People. That simply means If you love God, you love people…and as our passage resounds with – not just your kind of people.

It’s what we want to talk about today – love. Do we agree that we should be a loving church? Absolutely. Do we agree that God has called us to love people, all people? Absolutely. That’s as basic as it gets. Love is so foundational that you can’t miss its importance in the Bible. Jesus said, So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other (John 13:34).

The bottom line is that you can’t claim to follow Christ if love doesn’t characterize your life. Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples” (John 13:35).

In the early years of the church, the church was known for its love. People couldn’t figure out why these people from different social situations, ethnic backgrounds, and economic levels loved one another. In its early years the church was known for its love for those inside and outside the church.

This morning, we want to look at what a loving church looks like. Love is not some warm feeling you get when you go to church. Love is so much more than that. Let me start with a sentence I want to teach you today.

1. Love is meeting the need…

That’s what love is. It’s meeting a need. Most of us think the opposite of love is hatred. Biblically, the opposite of love is not hatred. It’s inaction. Love is when you meet someone’s needs. The opposite is when you fail to meet someone’s need when you could.

  Where do I get that? 1 John 3:17 says, If anyone has enough money to live well, and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help-how can God’s love be in that person? Love is when you see someone has a need and you do something to meet that need. The opposite of love is when you see someone has a need and you do nothing. So, the opposite of love isn’t hatred; it’s inaction.

  The parable of the Good Samaritan came after someone asked Jesus about our obligation to love other people. A guy is lying on the side of the road half dead, and a priest and a temple assistant walk by. We have no idea why they didn’t stop, but they didn’t. The people that you’d expect to get it, don’t. They showed the very opposite of love: inaction. John wrote, “Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions” (1 John 3:18). Let’s add a little to the sentence.  

2. Love is meeting the need of any person…  

I’m all for meeting needs. If you’re like me, you’re wondering where this could lead. What needs? Whose? How many people? I’m overwhelmed by the needs I see around me. There’s no possible way that I can meet everyone’s needs, so I’d really like to know what the lines are.

But this isn’t a new question. When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, He told it in response to a question from an expert in the religious law. The expert, this lawyer, understood that we’re obligated to love our neighbors. He wanted to know how widely the term neighbor had to be applied. Some taught that you only had to love the righteous. That really cuts the list down, doesn’t it? We could disqualify virtually anyone based on that requirement. It’s a good question though. We can’t meet everyone’s needs. Whose needs should we meet?

It’s noteworthy that Jesus never answers the question. The expert asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered that question. Instead, He turned the question on its head, asking a different one. Speaking of the three characters – the two that ignored the need, and the Samaritan who stopped to help – Jesus asked, Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits? (Luke 10:36)

Instead of asking, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus says, Let the neighbor be you. Rather than worrying if someone else is a neighbor, you be the neighbor. Don’t assess the other person. You be the kind of person who makes neighbors out of those who aren’t currently your neighbors.

This week, the world rolled over and flattened some people. I know, because I’ve talked to some of them. Some of you here today who look like you have it all together are dying for someone to look into their eyes and ask, “How are you?” and really listen for an answer. There are people who are dying for a simple act of kindness.

There are some people who live next to you or work with you. They look all together, but they too are dying for someone to look into their eyes and ask, “How are you?” and really listen for an answer. You live by, you work with, you interact with, people who are dying for a simple act of kindness. 

  Jesus taught that we’re not to ask who our neighbor is. Let the neighbor be you. Go out of your way to become the neighbor of those in need. Don’t limit your involvement. Help anyone who is in need. God brought them across your path. Do you even see them?

3. Love is meeting the need of any person at any time… 

Here’s where it gets even scarier. Meet needs, not selectively, but with anyone. Don’t just do it when it’s convenient or when you have time…because you never will. Become available when it’s not convenient. Love others, not just part time. Love them all the time.

The two religious leaders didn’t help the half-beaten guy. We don’t know why, but I know that I sometimes don’t want to help because it’s simply not convenient. I don’t mind helping 9 to 5, but there are times when it’s not convenient to pitch in and do something to meet someone’s needs.

This Samaritan was different. He was on his way somewhere, but he didn’t stop and hire the next person who came along to look after the victim. He stopped; he helped. He took a number of specific actions to meet the needs of this person. He didn’t walk away. In fact, he even came back later to settle the bill if there were any outstanding charges.

He gave the two things that we struggle most to give – time and money. Depending on our values, they’re the most difficult and yet the most vital ones you can give. It may be the very thing that you feel that you have the least of, and yet one of the things that people need most.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t have boundaries. Of course you should have boundaries. Jesus had boundaries. He didn’t meet every need, and He took time away. There are times we need to get away and recharge, but this shouldn’t be a permanent condition.

Most of us are so far on the side of keeping good boundaries that we need to be stretched…a lot. We’re so in to “Me Time,” that it’s become an idol. So, allow yourself to be interrupted. Allow yourself to give. Love others when it’s not convenient. Give until it pinches.

The Samaritan gave financially out of his livelihood. Most Christians give out of their surplus. Are entertainment and eating out necessities? Is cable a necessity? How many streaming accounts do we need? Netflix, HBO, Showtime, Hulu, Roku, Amazon Prime, YouTube…. Americans think that eating out is an inalienable right.

Splurging on food and drinks is a common way we spend money. $6 designer coffees, $20 lunches, happy hour drinks, takeout…it eats up a chunk of change. I’m not telling you to cut cable or stop going out to eat. I am saying that most of us aren’t as tight financially as we think we are.

You have people in your life to whom you can say, “Call any time day or night if you need to.” They could, too, and you wouldn’t mind. Why? You love them so much that they’re not an interruption.

You have people in our life to whom you can say, “If you need anything, let me know.” They could and you’d cut a check faster than a New York minute. Why? You love them so much that they’re not a cost or a hassle.

What am I saying? Expand that list. Become a neighbor to more people so you don’t mind being interrupted or giving. Love when it’s not convenient.

Pastor and Conference speaker, Gordon MacDonald had flown into Minneapolis to give a speech at a conference. His taxi was stopped at a red light, four cars back from the crosswalk. He noticed a homeless man lurching between the cars in the middle of the street. When he got in front of MacDonald’s taxi, he fell and landed on his chin. You could hear the thud. His chin split open, and there was blood all over the place. Gordon got out of the taxi and looked at the man six feet away, and the following thoughts went through his head: “I have a brand-new suit on that Gail just bought me. I can’t afford to get it messed up. I have to get to the Minneapolis Convention Center to speak in 15 minutes. I’m in a strange city, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t have any medical training. I wouldn’t know how to help this guy. He shares, “I wonder if underneath there wasn’t a fifth thought: If you’re dumb enough to get yourself that drunk, why should busy people stop and help you?” While Gordon was debating what to do, other people came to this man’s aid.

Gordon was able to get back into the taxi and go to the convention center, to speak on sensitivity and caring for the needs of other human beings.

Love is not meeting someone’s needs when it’s convenient. Love is meeting the needs of any person at any time, even when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s an interruption, even when it costs you time and money. Let’s complete the sentence.

4. Love is meeting the needs of any person at any time at any cost. 

I want to make you a promise. If I win twenty million dollars, I am going to give everyone here today $10,000. Not bad, eh? This is being recorded. You might want to order the recording just for this promise.

I’m not afraid at all to make this promise. Why? I’m never going to win twenty million dollars. It’s easy to make extravagant promises when we probably won’t have to keep them.

The standard for love has been set by Jesus Christ. He set it when He died for us. Here’s the standard: “We know what real love is because Christ gave up His life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). There’s the standard.

I can pretty easily say that I will give up my life for each of you, because chances are I’ll never have to do that. It’s easy to make big promises when nobody will collect on them. John knew this, so he described what this might look like in ordinary circumstances. The limit: give up your life for your neighbor. What this looks like in ordinary life: But if anyone has enough money to live well, and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help-how can God’s love be in that person? (1 John 3:17).

That’s what love looks like. It sometimes looks extravagant, with huge gestures of unlimited commitment. It sometimes looks a lot humbler – noticing someone has a need and filling it. It means that if you have two of something and someone has none, maybe you give your second one to them. It means that their problems are your problems, and that you live sacrificially to share with anyone who comes into your life with a need.

So, there it is, one simple sentence, yet if we lived it out it would revolutionize our church and change our community. Love is meeting the needs of any person at any time at any cost. That is what we’re called to do as a church. That’s what each of us is called to do as a Christ-follower.

If all of this is overwhelming, then join the club. Nobody can love like this by themselves. We need God to produce this type of love within us. He does and can. How do you get this type of love? Just start. Start meeting needs, any time, any place. Do it when it’s inconvenient.

We can’t meet everyone’s needs. We can, though, meet the needs in front of us. We can be a piece in the puzzle, actively becoming neighbors of the people around us.

One of the ways we can meet needs is to get involved in the ministries that we have going on here at Grace. If we really love as a church like Jesus commands us to, we should never have to ask for volunteers or encourage folk to give money.

At Grace, we evaluate every ministry. We have these ministries to show love to people, to meet the needs of people. There are needs that you can only meet together with others, better than anyone else.

5. Jesus is the Good Samaritan who in love will meet the needs of any person at any time at any cost. 

Today I want us to think about one other aspect of this story, one we often miss.

Mark Allen Powell is a seminary professor who shares an interesting story about teaching this parable. Dr. Powell said that he was surprised, when he taught this parable in Africa, to discover that people there didn’t identify with the priest, the Levite, or the Good Samaritan.  

They identified, instead, with the man who was beaten and robbed and left for dead on the side of the road. The way that they understand this parable is that when we need help, we don’t always get to choose who helps us. We don’t get to choose our neighbor. This victim was forced to receive help from the Samaritan, because the priest and Levite ignored him.

When we’re desperate enough, we don’t worry about who our neighbor is. We’re just grateful to be helped. That’s a hard lesson for us as Americans. We don’t like to think that we need help. And we never want to admit it. We like to think we’re the helper, not the helpless. But we’re all helpless.

It’s why Jesus came. Each of us is such a mess that we can never fix it ourselves. We’ve been robbed, beaten up by our own sin. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. He came to rescue us. The difference between us and the victim in this story is we must let him help us. We must choose to let him help us.

Have you ever admitted you’re one big mess and that you need Jesus to rescue you, to be your Savior, to forgive your sin and heal your heart and life? That’s why He came. It’s why He died. He died for you, and He died for me. We’re all victims of our sin. The big question: Is Jesus your Savior? If He isn’t, He wants to be…but you must ask Him to be. You must tell Him that you know that you’re a sinner and that you’re trusting in His death as the payment for all of your sins. Jesus wants to be your Good Samaritan. It’s why He came!

Conclusion

Years ago, I saw the movie Black Hawk Down. 123 elite soldiers were dropped into Somalia. Then, a Black Hawk helicopter went down. Soldiers were captured or killed. But that band of men had a motto: Nobody gets left behind. They kept going back, even for soldiers who were killed. More were then captured or killed.

What if we lived that way? What if everyone at Grace Church lived this way, so that nobody gets left behind? What if you lived that way? What if each of us loved so much that we’re committed to meeting the needs of any person, at any time, at any cost?

That’s what it means to love. If you love God, you love people. So, will you partner with us in being Good Samaritans and living out that love?