Sunday, September 20, 2026

Scriptures: Luke 10:25-36

In this second sermon in our new series, Learning to Listen, Jeremy revisits the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 and explores how Jesus shifts the question from identifying our neighbours to becoming a neighbour. What Our Titles Tell Us: Jeremy looked at the setup between Jesus and an expert in the law, noting how official titles and religious categories can easily be used to frame debates around rules instead of relationships.
What We Missed in Our Quotes: When asked about the law, the lawyer quotes scripture but skips the opening line of the Shema, the most important prayer of the Hebrew religion, thus forgetting that loving God and neighbour must begin with listening.
Second Chance to Hear: Jesus responds with a parable of the Good Samaritan, inviting the lawyer to slow down and giving him a second chance to here the story that he thought he already understood.
The Priority Sequence of Becoming a Neighbour: Moving through the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus reframes the entire sequence of what it means to be a neighbour: we become a neighbour when we allow another person’s story to impact us, when we can respond with deep visceral compassion, and when we allow those stories to change us.
Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
Connect: Two options for you today:
1) Think of a time someone made you feel truly heard. Name one or two things they did that made the difference?
2) Alternatively, chat about what it means to be a "good neighbour" in the way it shows up in your daily life. When you hear the words “neighbour” what is the first image or memory that comes to mind?
Share: Share about your experience. Jeremy mentioned that it can often be easier to be "nice" to a complete stranger than to extend patience and grace to those close to us, to a neighbour or family member who gets on our nerves.

“I hear this all the time, the way you treat people you will never see again is the true reflection of your character. And there's something undoubtedly true about that—but at the same time— sometimes it's a lot easier to be “nice” to a stranger than it is to someone who lives with you. Maybe being kind when you're annoyed is the real measure of your character.”
How do you navigate those situations when you’re frustrated with those close to you? Do you find it hard to actively listen in a relationship that is already familiar and also complex? What helps you in those moments?
Reflect: Reflect on the way we love having clear categories and set rules in our relationships with others.
What do you think of Jeremy’s perspective on the Good Samaritan story?

“The best reading that I can come up with is buried in the way that Jesus reframes the question for this friend, because this whole encounter begins when the lawyer asks the questions, “who is my neighbour?”
But the problem with that is he’s asking the question preemptively, ahead of the encounter. As if he wants a metric by which he can walk INTO an occasion already holding an answer.
But Jesus replies with a question his own
He says “Which of these three WAS a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
And did you catch the difference there?
The lawyer in us all wants the answer before we meet the stranger.
Jesus says the answer is only available once you do.
You can’t know who your neighbour is.
Not until you meet that person.
Once you see them, really.
Once you listen to their story and allow it to become part of yours.”
What makes it comforting (and quite tempting) to want clear categories and definitions for who we owe our time and compassion to before we enter a situation?
How does Jesus' approach challenge the way you naturally categorize people?
Engage: Engage with how, towards the end of the sermon, Jeremy reframes the definition of ‘neighbour’:
"Neighbour is not a category... It is a post-hoc acknowledgement of all the stories we've allowed to change us... The challenge is to reimagine the priority sequence that defines a neighbour for us. Because it's not about someone near us, and it's not about someone like us. The person we learn to listen to, that we train ourselves to stay curious about... that's who we become a neighbour to."
Take away: Two options for you again.
1. Name one thought, idea or action you’re taking with you into the week from this conversation.
2. Is there a relationship, conversation, or book in your life right now that keeps popping up only to be brushed aside by you, and could it be an invitation from Jesus to slow down long enough to take a second look and to notice what it’s holding for you or for others?
Prayer from the sermon:
God of grace,
We come today with the faith we have
And with the faith we don’t,
With the questions we carry
And even with the questions that we hesitate to ask.
And we thank you for meeting us here anyway.
As we open a familiar story today
Help us make room again for new questions,
For something we perhaps missed before,
For an invitation that has been just waiting for us to notice.
So slow us down just enough
And grant us the humility and the beauty of surprise
And through it all teach us to listen,
To be curious about stories,
Attentive to the things we might assume too quickly,
And to grace that surround us, always.
In the strong name of the risen Christ
We pray
Amen.
CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 71
MUSIC Curated by Kevin B.
Hillsong Worship - Who You Say I Am
Commons Worship - Face to Face
Brandon Lake - Gratitude
Brooke Ligertwood - Looking
SERIES BUMPER
Learning to Listen

Loving Your Neighbour Starts with Listening

Sermon Summary

Discussion Guide

Service Songs & Prayers

Agnostic plus Jesus