Serving One Another — Devern Fromke

Serving One Another and the Good Samaritan

I believe this morning we will begin by looking into chapter 10 of the Gospel of Luke. If you will turn there, please. When I chose the particular aspect of our theme, serving one another, immediately my mind went to this portion we know as the story of the Good Samaritan.

Serving one another is a tremendous privilege, but it is sometimes very, very difficult. We've discovered, for example, Dana, would you give me some of the pens out of my briefcase there, please, or hand it to me, thank you.

That's being served, you understand. I was really contrived. Thank you, brother. I've come to recognize this whole problem of really learning to serve one another, to do it by love, to do it with discernment.

And I felt that probably the best way I could describe this morning is to tell you about 12 years ago, we moved into a community in the north part of Indianapolis. We lived out in the country for many, many years.

But now we moved into a new situation. I had faced a very critical issue when I turned 65, which was 15 years ago. And I felt like the Lord was saying to me, I've been talking about fellowshipping with Him, being open day by day and honest in the mornings with Him, and finally He said to me, when are you going to begin to do that?

Well, I've always spent time with the Lord. I've always been diligent in the Word. I've always felt like I was really in fellowship. But He seemed to say to me, if you don't begin right now, you never will.

That is getting up early enough to be able to wait before Him and hear His voice, have Him speak to me early. And so I began. I began to share this in the little book, Life's Ultimate Privilege, the opening of the book, you may have read it, in which we quite candidly tell about having to be honest and saying that we've been telling everybody else, preaching to everybody else, but God was saying, it's time for you to begin.

I want to lay that as background because it's a very wonderful thing that began to happen. In a new way, I began to sense God speaking as I had not heard Him speak before. He speaks all day long, but He just wanted me to obey Him in getting up early.

And so when we moved into the city, I began to look into the area where I lived. We have one street that has a dead end, and there are 18 homes along on the two sides of that street. We're in the middle on one side.

And suddenly the Lord said, this is your new neighborhood. I'd like for you to claim them. And as I began to walk those early mornings up and down the street, not knowing a lot of the individuals, but recognizing that God had planted us there, began to say, Lord, will you open doors?

Will you give me wisdom and discernment? Will you help me to understand my neighbors? What is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? In a very interesting time, a new chapter has come. This last month, actually the last couple of months, I moved out of that neighborhood to another place about a mile or two away and into a new neighborhood.

But my heart has still been back with those 18 homes. As I would walk in the morning and stand before certain places and say, Lord, I don't know what's behind those four walls. Only you know the deep needs of hearts.

But I claim somehow you will deal and you will work in their lives. Be very interesting. I'm going to get away from teaching, just, you know, share my heart with you this morning, but be very interesting to give you some of the insights.

Through the last 12 years that we've lived there and when we moved, it was not easy because I'd learned to love and appreciate some very wonderful people on that block. I say that because my theme this morning basically is who is my neighbor?

How do I minister to my neighbor? I think it's important for us to recognize in serving one another that there are several, several spheres that we go through. Let's just get our title down here. Serving one another.

If I understand, we have areas of responsibility. First, my own home or my household. Those I live with. The immediacy of my family. Then, my household of believers. Let's just call it my church family.

Then, I think you have immediately after that, my neighbor. And if I understand, as we will read a little bit further on, pretty soon you'll find my enemies. How do I respond, become accountable unto God in their behalf?

When we look into the 10th chapter of Luke, we begin to discover some things. Would you bow for a moment now? And we ask the Lord himself to open the verses, the words, and make them living and real to our hearts.

Because Father, apart from your ministry, we just have ideas and thoughts and concepts. But we want you to speak to us this morning. And we pray that you will do this. And we give you thanks for what you're going to do.

We ask it in Jesus' name. One of the things that has always amazed me, and I think you've discovered this already. When God works, we want to systematize his working and his theology. One, two, three, four, five.

I believe in systematic theology. The sequence of thoughts and the way doctrine unfolds and progresses. But I'm utterly amazed at the fact that you can't bring revelation into that realm. You can't say one, two, three, four, five up to 10.

When revelation works, God goes two, six, one, seven. You cannot predict it. I wish, because I've tried to groove him. I've tried to get him into pattern. But the struggle that I go through so often is, when I systematize, we get theology.

When the Holy Spirit reveals, and he's constantly picking here and there, three, two, six. It is his prerogative to open as he will. I have to be honest, I'm still waiting for five on one occasion and seven on the other.

He just doesn't bow to my desire. Anybody understand what I'm talking about? The unpredictability of the Lord. Well, let's just read this portion, and then we'll begin to ask the Lord to give some unveiling.

The Lawyer’s Question and the Command to Love

In chapter 10 of Luke, beginning with verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, tempted Jesus saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, what is written in the law?

How readest thou? And he answering said, thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, thou hast answered right.

This do, and thou shalt live. But the man willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Now we're introduced to this very familiar story we know as the Good Samaritan. It's interesting how this lawyer was probably under the fire, sensing God had been speaking to him, trying to justify and explain.

Let me just stop for a moment and say there will always be some tension and struggle between certain pulls. For example, here is my home, my first privilege, obligation, my family, those who are immediate.

Then there's the pull of the church out here. Every servant of the Lord that I know go through this struggle between the immediate family, those outside in the church family. We all go through it. We're back to square one again.

God alone can give us the wisdom and discernment to know the balance between the two tensions. I remember being in Yakima a number of years ago. A brother that I had come to know and appreciate very much had a radio broadcast, and we often were with him.

And one day he got a call from a local pastor in the city. And it said, I'd like for you to stop by. I have a need that you can pray about and you can help and counsel. So my pastor friend Bill stopped by, visited with the man a few moments and said, there's a lady in your neighborhood that really needs some help.

Here's the address. I'll just let you have the address and you can go from there. He took the little slip of paper, looked at the address, and suddenly was stunned by the fact that it was his own address.

He looked back at the pastor and he said, pastor, I don't quite understand. This is my address. And the pastor said, yes, your wife has been to me several times pleading for help. Now, the immediate response is, oh, that fellow.

But I knew Bill very well. I'd lived in the home. I knew the situation. I knew the struggle of seven children. A lot of details that are involved. And I was glad I was there because you may be surprised, but I looked and I said, I think this just might be a very jealous pastor who listens on the radio.

Maybe God speaking to his heart. Just forget about it and ask the Lord. He alone can give you the discernment as to whether this is a real issue or somebody who's jealous of what you're in. Well, I only mention that because everyone I know will go through the struggle between serving, fulfilling the need in my own home, in my church family, and so forth.

And Bill has had tremendous ministry in the Yakima Valley for many years. I watched him dunk apples with the kids. I watched him through the years way back and I knew that he was a good father. But I also know the accusations of the enemy.

And so I just said to him, be very careful. You do not allow the enemy to accuse you. You're accountable to God. And it brought back to my own remembrance a verse over in the Song of Solomon. You might just turn there for a moment since we're wandering around.

Balancing Home, Church, and Other Responsibilities

Let's let's pick up a little principle here in the Song of Solomon. Very interesting verse that God spoke to my own heart. Number of years ago, chapter one of the Song of Solomon, verse six, the latter part of it says.

They made me keeper of the vineyard, but my own vineyard have I not kept. Made me keeper of the vineyard, but my own vineyard have I not kept. Here I think you get a little bit of a struggle between the vineyard out here that represented his responsibility.

Then he says, but my own vineyard have I not kept. And I tell you, I've preached on the balance that's needed between that vineyard and my own vineyard for a number of years. And then one day the Holy Spirit whispered and said, you missed a key word.

Starts with the phrase, they made me keeper of the vineyard, but my own vineyard have I not kept. Somehow I'd missed it all. They made me the keeper. And the Lord said, I didn't, but they did. They gave you a job.

They imposed it. They. And I said, oh, thank you, Lord. From now on, I will recognize all the ways out there who want to impose. And I choose to let you speak to my heart to know how to meet the needs of my own home and vineyard out here.

So I just give you that in passing. Remember, you'll always have the tension between those who are giving you the burden and the thing that they think you ought to do. And the Lord himself gives you the vision of the burden for your own home.

So we're saying this morning, there'll always be this tension that goes on. All tensions find their solution in the one himself who meets our needs. So I began to recognize through the years that as we progress and go on with the Lord, there are all of these pulls and needs and situations all around us.

The Good Samaritan’s Mercy in Daily Life

Now we look at the story of the Good Samaritan, chapter 20, chapter 10, verse 30. It says, And a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, wounded him.

And departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way. When he saw him, he passed by the other side. And likewise, a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. When he saw him, he had compassion on him and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, took care of him.

And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three thinkest thou was a neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?

And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise. Now, in all my preparation for the Good Samaritan and all of this, I just really felt like so many things that I'd like to just tell you.

First of all, the principle in Scripture is going up to Jerusalem, is going up to worship, be occupied with the Lord. Coming down from Jerusalem to Jericho is coming back to practice out here in the daily life, in the circumstances.

I had never really been aware before of all that was involved in this 18-mile journey down from Jerusalem. So I studied a little bit. I was quite amazed at certain things that I had not discovered before.

The circumstances that surround this descent coming down. It was a dangerous, precipitous coming down. They say that at that time there were probably 12 ,000 priests, Levites, living in Jericho. They were going up continually and coming down.

This was their profession. This was their occupation, the thing that they were doing. And I pondered so often, why Jesus so goes out of the way in dealing in this story with a Samaritan. And he picks this individual.

I knew that the Samaritans were a half-breed. When people of Israel had been taken into captivity, there were those who were left in the land. And others coming in. And so there was a mixture of the Jewish people with these others coming in.

And that became the Samaritans, as it were. Other things that I was really interested in as I began to research a little bit. The Samaritans not only were a mixed breed, pagans, they'd settled in the land.

They were in clear violation of the thing that God was wanting. Discovered also that they had a mixture in their religion of Judaism and paganism. They adopted the Pentateuch as the sole sacred book. And had established on Mount Gerizim the only place that it was proper to worship.

It's interesting when the exiles finally came back from Babylonian captivity. They started to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. These Samaritans wanted to help them in the rebuilding. But the Jewish people refused to have any help from this mixture, this half-breed group.

And it widened the breach, the gulf between them. And by the time that Jesus came on the scene, it was a wide breach. In fact, those who would go through Samaria avoided, they would go clear around. They would do everything they could to avoid that particular area, Samaria.

It's also interesting that the Samaritans taught that Messiah was no greater than Moses. And would appear 6 ,000 years after creation. This Messiah would live 110 years and would lead them through the true faith.

Now, if you ever have a corruption and a mixed up people, it's the Samaritans. And isn't it interesting, isn't it interesting that on three occasions, Jesus seems to delight to choose a Samaritan. You remember the woman at the well? Samaritan.

Remember the ten who were healed? One came back to give thanks. He was a Samaritan. And here in our lesson today, all the Jewish religious system going up and down, this poor fellow falls into difficulty.

And it seems like the Lord says, guess who this fellow was that stopped to help? A Samaritan. Now, I'm not just sure why he's doing this. I have lots of problems with the Lord. I don't think he's condoning the whole system, the mixture of the Samaritan.

I don't believe he's condoning that. I know he's exposing that religious system that was coming and going, was insensitive to the needs of others. Going up to worship, coming down to practice. Like early this morning, the Lord was saying, we've all been in Jerusalem for a while, last couple of days.

Not very long before we're going to go back to some very real situations to practice. The ideal is wonderful. The actual is something else. And, you know, I look back over many, many years, knowing dozens of you.

So, we sit in fellowship at the table and we respond to one another. I know some of the actual situations that some of you are in. You share them. But here we are enjoying the fellowship, the wonderful privilege of Jerusalem, as it were, and ministering to the Lord.

But now we go back down to Jericho and we have to face the actuality of things. And I keep saying, oh God, how can I help them be prepared in the actuality of some of their circumstances? What do you mean?

My wife told me yesterday of one of the families living in a rather difficult area, having their windows shot out by a BB gun, trying to protect the children around them. My heart cried out, oh God, that's Indianapolis.

The actuality, going back and wanting to get them out of that situation for quite a while. Into a better community. But they deliberately chose to move there to be a testimony, or go into all the struggle of it.

The actuality of things. The actuality of circumstances. What do you do? Well, we face it. And I think about all I can say to you this morning is, God alone knows how to break in to situations that are totally impossible, and to put his own way upon it.

Moving from Knowledge to Practical Ministry

Can I just read some stories to you this morning for a little bit? Somebody says that's always better than when you preach anyway. I'm noted for that all over Indiana, so let's fit our pattern. What I'd like to do is just explain to you what I think is my real burden.

How do we take, how do we take all that we know, all that God has given to us in a conceptual way, and bring it to the practical reality of ministering to our neighbor, ministering to the needs around us.

I look back at my immediate neighbors on that particular block. Next on the south side of me was a Baptist deacon. First moved there, he was moving about the community. A lovely Christian brother in his electric wheelchair.

He could really get around. He was in our yard often, and I learned to love him, appreciate him. Even though his vision was limited, he really loved the Lord. And I remember the day when he had a stroke.

Finally was in the hospital. We had ministered to him on many occasions before, giving stories and had fellowship. And one day it was as though the Holy Spirit said, you need to go to the hospital. It's time.

I knew he'd been in a coma for at least 10 days. And as I waited before the Lord that particular morning, I felt the Lord saying, tell the wife, lovely Christian, she needs to release her husband and let him go.

He's ready. How do you, how do you tell somebody that? And I stood at the bedside for a little bit, and I looked over at Carol, and I said, I don't know, but through the years on a number of occasions, I've had to encourage the one who was an authority in the home, and you now are actually the authority in the home, that you have the privilege of releasing your husband to the Lord.

She said, never heard of that. Said, well, let's pray about it. Let's consider it for just a few moments this morning. And I went on to speak of how many situations back through the years. I don't believe that Christians need to let death come to meet them.

We go out to meet death. Sounds brilliant, but I still believe it. We go out to meet. We're the test, we're above it. And so after we prayed a little bit, she said, she said, yes, I can do that. There's some deep longings in his heart that are not fulfilled, but I believe I can do that.

And so we stood at the bedside, and she opened her heart, released her husband to the Lord. And when we got through, there was just a real sense of peace, as though the Lord had responded by saying, that's good.

We left the room. 30 minutes later, two sons walked in. Rebellious of a previous marriage. They walked in and stood there looking over their dad in a coma. And suddenly he looked up and he said, oh, you come.

I'm so glad I need to tell you something. And he warned both of them. He exhorted both of them, just explaining to them. He said, God wants you to meet me up there, because I'll be going very shortly.

One hour after he'd been released to the Lord, he went to be with the Lord. Nothing in me. I'm just simply saying that here was my neighbor to one side. I prayed for that family, the sons who were away from home, and suddenly God brought them.

What I'm trying to say this morning, we need to expect and believe that God will order our steps in dealing with our neighbor. Who is the neighbor? Well, it's not just people living next to you. But it seems from the context of this story, it's the individual who's gotten into a situation, a problem, a circumstance, and you can minister mercy.

Anything ahead of time, out of order. You can't push. You can't make a way. You can only wait God's timing to have the availability to minister mercy. Well, I'd go around the whole block. They were in the back of us, across the fence.

Unusual situation. They had more trouble with my wife than I. You know, he couldn't understand why I didn't get a job. Why I was always going out on the plane someplace. Not a preacher. You know, I just couldn't understand.

Well, I rototilled his garden. I did all these things and he never appreciated it. Said the soil got so worked up it got harder. And anyway, I just had to say, well, thank you, Lord. It's all right. But we kept loving and ministering and attempting to demonstrate the reality of the Lord.

He finally went off to nursing home and his wife was left there. She finally was taken to the hospital. I remember the day when the relatives called and said, she wants you to come. And I went into isolation ward, all in plastic and gloves and all the rest.

And she said, God wants you to pray for me. I need the Lord. He'd been a good Methodist all through the years. But she'd never really been quickened and made alive. And I stood there in all this plastic, trying to, trying to somehow explain.

And her daughter next there, weeping, saying, mother keeps saying, you have through the years demonstrated. I said, oh, God, we didn't do much demonstrating. We complained too sometimes. But the Holy Spirit has a way to minister life in spite of you.

Do you know that? Getting into subjectivity this morning, but I wanted to say to you, when I left this last couple of months, that area, I thought of all the people across the street and the other side, Laotian boat people came with three suitcases and three children.

Lovely Christians. God has worked in our neighborhood. A couple of doors down, a black deacon moved in. Loves God in spite of his cigar. When Ben opened up the Kroger bread route, going to Kroger every weekend and bringing in boxes and boxes of sweets.

Why, we delivered it through the neighborhood. He took it down to his church downtown and finally getting off the story. Anyway, God has peculiar ways of ministering in situations. If we're available.

Ministering grace. Third door over. President of the Neighborhood Society. Retired president of a big corporation. Catholic brother. I walk up and down the street in the mornings praying and usually meet him coming back from early mass.

An ungodly man and yet sensitive. And I remember the day he's been taking care of his wife now for eight years. In a wheelchair. Completely. Out of touch. And I looked over at Bill and I said, Bill. Would you let me pray for you?

I'd given him books, which he never read. I don't think. Bill. Would you let me pray for you? I'm amazed at the way you minister to your dear wife. In her helpless condition and in your own physical need.

Here he is in his 80s. And as we as we looked at one another, he wept. And he said, if you pray for me, it'd be wonderful. How do you pray? Oh, God, awake and open. Because I'm trying to say to this morning.

I believe that with the ear sensitive being available, God will begin to give us the distinction between responsibility in my own home, then in my church family, and finally, my neighbors around about I.

I'm asking the question now, how do we move from all the information? All the knowledge we have to bring it into practical reality and doing well, I blame Ben for this story. I think I ought to read it to you because it'll shorten it if I read it.

Love One Another as Practical Obedience

Let me just tell you about an Argentine pastor. He arrived at the church service on Sunday morning with a well thought out message. Which he knew the people would appreciate. He discovered the various Greek words for love and context in which each was used in scripture and excellent illustrations to explain them.

However, during the early part of the service, he became convinced that he should not deliver the message when the time came to preach. He stood in the pulpit and simply announced, my text this morning is love one another.

That was all he said. Then he turned and went to his seat. There were a few moments of embarrassed confusion as the song leader gestured to him. Are we supposed to have another song? But he simply sat there and ignored all of this for two or three minutes.

A long time when no one knows what's happening. Then he stood up and returned to the pulpit and announced, brothers and sisters, my text this morning is love one another. And he sat down as before. His wife observed and began to think something was wrong.

Yet after a few more minutes of embarrassed silence, he announced again. My text this morning is love one another with a loud stress on the word love. This was repeated again. And when he sat down this fourth time, someone in the crowd of over a thousand people turned to someone seated next to him and said, how can I love you?

Strangely, someone else turned to another and said, is there any way I can show love to you this morning? In a few moments, the church was alive with people talking about how they could express love to each other.

The pastor discovered later there were 28 people in the church that morning who were unemployed. Every one of them had the promise of a job before they left for home. There were single parent families having genuine difficulty in making ends meet.

Many of those needs began to be met that day. Many, many other needs began to surface, and they were met that morning before before people left for home. In the weeks that followed, that pastor explained that had he given his original message as planned, the congregation would have probably agreed with it, been challenged by his exhortation to love, but the unemployed, the poverty stricken, would have gone out without any practical meeting of their deep needs.

Amazing. For the next three months, when the time came in the morning service for him to preach, he would announce, brothers and sisters, my text today is love one another. Then he would sit down and immediately people would turn to those near them, asking how they could show love to them.

And the church would be abuzz with people helping meet the needs of each other. Not everyone was happy with this. Some people got angry. Some said he wasn't paid to do this and even left the church. I mean, you know, that's kind of simple.

Every Sunday morning, getting up saying my text is after three months, the pastor stood to announce, brothers and sisters, the Lord has given me a new text this morning. The congregation burst out in applause.

He simply explained my text this morning is love your neighbor as yourself. And he sat down. There was silence throughout the church as people began to think to themselves, my neighbor. I wonder how I can show love to them.

As one or two people got up to leave, others followed and the return to their home, went next door to the neighbors and asked, how can I love you? How can I serve you? It was a few days before Christmas.

A number of families found themselves agreeing to give away and so on. I was tempted this morning to get up and announce my text is. What are you trying to say, Brother Vern? Brother Sparks said to me through the years more than a dozen times, I know.

Oh, if we could live in the good of what we know, if we could live in the good of what we know. Now, I know you're responding, your heart saying, oh, Lord, I, I really, I really need to know how to meet the needs of my family, the church family and my neighbors and even those out there who do not like me, my enemies.

The Inner Anointing and God’s Unpredictable Use of People

Well, let me read one more story to you. Because I think it sums up what I'm trying to say. I'm convinced that there's the indwelling anointing that teaches us, says in John, you have an anointing that abideth within you.

And I can tell as I look out over a group, the anointing within so often is registering. And there's that. I know that. I used to think that when people were doing that, they were getting something new.

And then I realized that it's the teacher who is explaining within. And there's something within every one of our hearts this morning that's saying, oh, Lord, I know so much. I've been privileged to receive up in Jerusalem so much.

But when I go down from Jericho to practice it, I run into all of the struggles and the difficulties. Well, let me read another story to you. I've always loved Tony Campala and his stories. When my daughter-in-law and my son went to a praise gathering this last year in Indianapolis, someone gave them money to go to the hotel and spend the whole time there.

And they were looking forward to it because it would be a time to be together and to just respond to the Lord. Tony was there speaking and he was explaining a book that had, I believe, just come out called The Call or The Calling.

That particular morning, first one to speak, he shared his heart and the burden of the Lord and God calling individuals and their responding. Later that day, my daughter-in-law phoned and she said, we got so convicted this morning after the first session.

We went to our room and spent the rest of the morning praying and opening our heart to the Lord. They're very busy for God, very occupied, but God broke through because not only was the anointing within that teaches, but the anointing that comes upon and settles upon like it did in this Argentine church when the Holy Spirit came in and the anointing broke the rigidity of knowing and brought it into practice.

Well, this is the story that Tony tells. I read it to you because it illustrates the same thing again. And I want you to get, he says, I was asked to be a counselor in a junior high camp. Everybody ought to be a counselor at a junior high camp at least once.

A junior high kid's concept of a good time is picking on people. And in this particular case, at this particular camp, there was a little boy who was suffering from cerebral palsy. His name was Billy, and they picked on him.

Oh, how they picked on him as he walked across the camp with his uncoordinated body. They would line up and imitate his grotesque movements. I watched him one day as he was asking for direction which way to the craft shop.

He stammered, his mouth contorting, and the boys mimicked in that same awful stammer. It's over their belly. Then they laughed at him. Tony says I was irate, but my furor reached its highest pitch, which on Thursday morning, when on Thursday morning, it was Billy's cabin to give devotions.

I wondered what would happen because they in the cabin had appointed Billy to be the speaker. I knew they just wanted to get him up there to make fun of him. As he dragged his way to the front, you could hear the giggles rolling over the crowd.

It took little Billy minutes to say seven words. Jesus loves me and I love Jesus. Only seven words. When he finished, there was dead silence. I looked over my shoulder and I saw junior high boys bawling all over the place.

Spirit of revival broke out in that camp after Billy's short testimony. Tony goes on, as I travel all over the world, I find missionaries and preachers who say, remember me? I was converted in that junior high camp that morning.

We counselors had tried everything to get these kids interested in Jesus. We even imported baseball players whose batting averages had gone up since they had started praying. But God chose not to use the superstars.

He chose a kid with cerebral palsy to teach the message and speak to our hearts. I'm only trying to say one thing this morning. It's this. There's an anointing that works within and teaches us, but there's an anointing that settles in sometimes.

God delights to use the unlikely. Does that encourage you? Let me repeat it again. God delights to use the unlikely. Oh, God, that really encourages me. It's the anointing that settles in. Now, somebody's going to say, we will get some cerebral palsy, people.