Chuck Swindoll tells the story of an actual court case in Massachusetts back in the late 1920’s:  It concerned a man who had been walking along a pier when suddenly he tripped over a rope & fell into the deep waters of that ocean bay.  He came up sputtering screaming for help, then sank beneath the surface.  For some reason he was unable to swim or stay afloat.  His friends heard his faint cries in the distance, but were too far away to rescue him.  But within only a few yards was a young man lounging on a deck chair, sunbathing.  Not only could the sunbather hear the drowning man plead, “Help, I can’t swim” he was also an excellent swimmer.  But the tragedy is that he did nothing.  He only turned his head to watch indifferently as the man finally sank & drowned.  The family of the victim was so upset by that display of extreme indifference, that they sued the sunbather.  The result?  They lost the case.  With a measure of reluctance the court ruled that the man on the dock had no legal responsibility whatsoever to try to save the drowning man’s life.  Swindoll goes on to say, “You & I have a legal right to mind our own business – to turn a deaf ear to anyone in need, to continue sunbathing while someone is drowning.  We are not obligated to respond.  Indifference may not be illegal, but it is certainly immoral!”

Matthew 9:36-38 “Jesus was moved with compassion…”