We Are The Champions: Over Our Communities

INTRODUCTION

Penny Brown and Kevin Stephan both owe their lives to the other. Kevin was an 11-year-old batboy in July of 1999 when a player accidentally dealt him a severe blow to the chest with a bat while warming up. Kevin passed out, and his heart stopped beating.

Penny (a nurse) was at the game to watch her son play when she saw this transpire. She rushed down to Kevin and performed CPR, which brought him back. Kevin’s mother said he was very fortunate because Penny was scheduled to work that day and had been given the day off at the last minute.

Fast-forward seven years. Penny Brown is eating in a restaurant at Depew, New York when she begins to choke on her food and cannot breathe. Kevin worked as a dishwasher in that restaurant and was immediately called to help Penny because he was a volunteer firefighter.

Kevin performed the Heimlich maneuver and dislodged the food that was suffocating Penny. After saving her life he realized that she was the lady that had saved his life seven years earlier.

Penny summed it up by saying, “This is an experience neither of us will ever forget.”

CPR has been a tool that has saved many lives through the years. It's one of those things that you want to know but hope that you never have to use it.

As we conclude our series entitled "We Are The Champions," I would like to look at how Christ has made us champions over our communities. Our text for this series has been Romans 8:37, which says, "… in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us."

Our community is the place where we do life. It is an important part of life as it can shape a person greatly. As we look around at our communities, it is easy to see that things are not what they once were. You can read the papers or watch the news and get very depressed at the state of our communities.

This should not be the case though. Because of what Christ has done in us as Christians, He has given us the victory over the darkness that looms over our communities. He has also given the church the responsibility to be a lighthouse in the community that we find ourselves. It is important to remember that the church is not a building, but us… the Christians. We are to be the lighthouses in our communities allowing the light of Christ to shine through us and impact our communities for good.

I would like to look at a portion of Scripture this morning that will help us know how to be champions over our communities. It is found in Luke 10:25-37. I believe that these Scriptures will show us the CPR that our communities need from us as the church.

LUKE 10:25-37

Jesus shares this parable as an answer to a question that was posed to Him by an expert in the law. This man had come trying to trap Jesus by asking what one had to do to inherit eternal life. The fact is that we cannot do anything to inherit eternal life. You inherit something because of a relationship. Eternal life comes from having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus shares a parable about the Good Samaritan. In this parable, the CPR that our communities need from the church (us) is shown. The first part is compassion. It is found in verses 30-33.

Some thieves had robbed, beaten, and left for dead the man in the parable. Jesus shared that two people, a priest and a Levite, passed him by. These are people who you would think would stop and help the victim here, but they didn't. They saw the man and kept on going their way. They even went so far to distance themselves from the man so that they would not become "dirty."

Jesus then mentions the Samaritan. Here is a man that would have every right to pass by and pay no attention to the victim. Jews hated Samaritans because they were only "half Jewish." The Samaritan was probably the butt of a lot of jokes. But we see that compassion moved this Samaritan to stop and help.

We live in a very fast-paced society. We always have something going or somewhere to be. Could it be that, in living life in the fast lane that we are like the priest and Levite? Are we passing by people who are broken, beaten, and abused because we do not want to get "dirty" ourselves?

If we have experienced the compassion of Christ and had it change our lives, then Christ's compassion is within us and should stop us when we see people along the path that our lives are taking. Sometimes in order to go where God wants us to go we have to stop. God's plans might not be the agenda we had planned.

We may think, "Someone else will help them." Who will that be? The government? No, we are the ones that Christ called the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). We are the ones who have the answer to a broken person's true need: Jesus. The government, action groups, programs cannot give a person Jesus. Only someone who knows the Savior can truly share the Savior with those in need.

As we continue on with the parable, we see the second part: provision. Look at verse 34. We see that the Samaritan went over to the man and bandaged his wounds. He took time to truly assess the situation. He didn't just throw out cliché answers to the man's problems. He took the time to see what had happened and what was exactly needed.

The Samaritan applied oil and wine to the man's wounds. This was a common but specific cure to a specific problem. We need to get into people's lives and see exactly what they are going through before we are quick to throw out answers and solutions. There is one Gospel message, but there are many ways in which it can be shared. We need to listen to people so that we know how to provide the life-saving message of Christ to them.

Sometimes in providing the necessary medicine it will cost us. We see the Samaritan provided lodging and care for this man. This course of action cost him not only money but time. He had to put his plans on hold. What is the value of a person? Is someone that the Lord allows us to cross paths with worth it? Jesus thought they were or He would not have gone to the cross to provide for their needs. As the body of Christ, the church should share in seeing the value of people.

The final part of this CPR that will aide us in being champions of our communities is responsibility. In verse 35, Jesus shows that this Samaritan agreed to pay for all the man's expenses during his stay, even those that were to come. He was taking responsibility for the man's well being. This is one of the clearest ways that a person can show love for another.

It was Cain after killing his brother, Abel, said, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The mindset of not caring enough for others to see the best for them has plagued the human race ever since that day.

If we are going to be a lighthouse in our communities, we have to be willing to pay the price of getting in their world. It will take time. It might take money. Once again, we are faced with the question of "Do we value other people as Christ does?"

Responsibility is a tough road. Just ask any parent. It can be scary and heartbreaking at times. Just because it is tough… just because it costs something… just because we might get a little dirty ourselves… these cannot be deal breakers for us. We are the church. We are the body and representation of Christ to a lost, broken, and dying world.

CONCLUSION

As the body of Christ, we have been made victorious and champions over our communities. We do not live, work, and worship where we do by chance. God has placed us here for a purpose. He has called us to be lighthouses to the communities that He has planted us in. Our communities are in desperate need of some CPR: compassion, provision, and responsibility. Our communities will not find it anywhere else. Will we be that lighthouse?