English Sermon (02/28/21) – Beneath the Surface: Growing into a Spiritually Mature Adult (Luke 10:25-37)

Unlike physically maturing into an adult, spiritual maturity doesn’t necessarily come with age. In fact, it is very possible for someone to have accepted Christ or attended church for a long time yet still be a spiritual infant. That is because the true mark of spiritual maturity is more than just discipline and even more than a vertical-only relationship with God; it is defined by how we interact with others (horizontal). In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells of a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan who all encounter a traveler that was beaten and stripped by robbers on the road yet only one of them stopped to help. Even though the priest and Levite were supposedly the more spiritually mature ones, it was the Samaritan who had compassion and showed love to the traveler. Spiritual maturity and loving God is intricately connected with loving others. We can grow and show love to others by 1) seeing the people around us and their unique needs 2) going towards those in need and meeting them on a personal level and 3) doing something for others and taking action.