Neighbor

Feb 15, 2022

"Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."

- Yahweh, Leviticus 19:18

"You cannot succeed at life if you fail at love;

You cannot fail at life if you succeed at love...

‘Cause Love is what Life is all about!"

- An old pastor

"Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the Law of Moses? Jesus replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

- Matthew 22:36-39

...And with those words, Jesus literally sucked every ounce of oxygen out of that room. What Jesus was saying that was so revolutionary, so radical, is that loving our neighbor is the same as loving God. Friends, this was brand new! Nobody had ever said that before! And the people in that crowd that day were like… “What? Really? You're kidding right?! I mean, Jesus, you don't mean my actual neighbors? You're not talking about the guy whose dog always barks and who leaves a daily deposit on my front lawn or the family whose kids always play their music way too loud and always park their cars in front of my house? Not them?”

Anybody ever have a neighbor who was hard to get along with? Someone who was kinda cranky? Hey, every neighborhood has at least one difficult neighbor. So… if you can't identify one… I'm just sayin (Smile)! I remember talking with a friend who had this ongoing feud with a particularly unpleasable neighbor. In utter frustration, he asked me, "What does God expect me to do?" I said, "Pray for him." He's like, "Pray what? That the lightning only singes him?"

Years ago, in our old neighborhood, we had our entire home and front yard, including the trees, tee-pee’d. I mean… big-time. And then it rained! What a mess! I heard that it was a neighborhood kid… a sinful child… whose family also attended our church. What could I do? He was only eleven or twelve years old! So I had him put in jail! Ha! The truth is, I immediately realized that I was going to need some help beyond myself to bear with… to forgive… to give grace… to give mercy… and to want to reconcile.

When was the last time you discovered that you did not have the capacity to forgive someone who really hurt you, let alone even WANT the capacity to let them off the hook for what they did to you?

That's precisely why Jesus tied these two commands together. ‘Cause we cannot give what we do not have! The only way you can love people is if you truly love God! Our love cannot go horizontal unless it first goes vertical! That's why there's two dimensions to the cross: the vertical love of God comes down into us in Jesus, then goes out horizontally from us to our neighbors. What comes down… if it's real… has got to go out!

One time, a fella said to me, "You know, I would've loved to have followed Jesus back in the Bible days." I said, "Really? You sure? ‘Cause I'm telling you… following Jesus would've cost you something huge!" I think a lot of people, when they saw Jesus coming were like, "Oh-Oh! It's Jesus! Hide!" You see, for Jesus, love was not a value! Love is at the core of the God who created the universe. In the ancient world nobody said, "Zeus is god, therefore, love your neighbor!" or "Osiris is god, therefore, love your neighbor!" No!

Your neighbor is cherished by God because God is Love… and that is the only foundation for human value, for human dignity, that has ever stuck.

Listen… the arrival of Jesus signaled the Beginning of Something Brand New:

...If you feel guiltier about missing church than holding a grudge against your neighbor… That's not Jesus!

...If you feel worse about missing your morning devotional than not praying for a neighbor who drives you up a wall… That's not Jesus!

...If you think there's a magic prayer you can pray that will make you right with God when you're wrong with a neighbor… That's not Jesus!

Every human being matters equally, not because they're equally smart or equally attractive or equally gifted or equally whatever, but because we are all equally and immeasurably loved and cherished by God the Father!

And that's why, when you see your neighbor… no matter what their I.Q… no matter what their race or ethnicity… no matter what their lifestyle choice… no matter what their politics… because we live in a Jesus-shaped, Jesus-breathed world, we know that to love them is to love God. So… pray for your neighbors. Practice calling them by name.