Lessons on Loving Your Neighbors

2 Kings 4:8–17 NASB95

Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat food. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. She said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. “Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.” One day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber and rested. Then he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” And when he had called her, she stood before him. He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the army?’ ” And she answered, “I live among my own people.” So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi answered, “Truly she has no son and her husband is old.” He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. Then he said, “At this season next year you will embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.” The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year, as Elisha had said to her.

INTRO: On a scale of 1-10, How well do you love your neighbor?

In the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus talking to a lawyer who is trying to make himself appear righteous. In this passage, the lawyer correctly identifies the two greatest commands of Scripture- to Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and to Love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27) But then he asks Jesus, “WHO is my neighbor?”

This led Jesus to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan - How many of you are familiar with this parable?

In this, Jesus turns the question around, and basically says that it’s not about who your neighbor is, but rather whose neighbor you are. IOW- we ought to love everyone as a neighbor. So what does it mean to love our neighbor?

I think this parable demonstrates that loving our neighbor means looking out for them, extending care or help to them, blessing them, etc. in all the ways that we might hope someone would do for us.

For instance, if your neighbor sees you struggling to get that weed-whacker started and offers to lend you his or to fix yours, that’d be a blessing, right? Or if they saw someone suspicious creeping around your place and they called the police or, depending on where you are - fired a warning shot to deter them- you’d probably appreciate that… unless that person was just your weird uncle.

Anyway, back to the question- How well do you love your neighbor?

For many of us, it’s not all that well. A 2020 poll conducted by Zebra research reports that 66% of Americans consider their neighbors strangers or acquaintances. That means that 2/3 of Americans can’t even tell you their neighbors’ names. But since Scripture goes beyond geography, so must we.

The heart of the matter forces us to consider our opportunities to love others. Sometimes loving others simply means being pleasant. Maybe one opportunity to love your neighbor is for you drive like you have sense and offer a smile to the poor checkout lady at the Walmart.

But in a real way, I think we have to be open to the opportunities that God has placed before us to extend love to others.

This is what we see in our passage today. Now, in the BIG picture of Elisha’s journey, these few verses allow us to see another evidence of his anointing as he pronounces a promise of a son to the Shunammite woman. The first several chapters in 2 Kings build upon one another so that we can be certain that Elisha truly is a prophet of God.

But, there is more going on here that I think will be beneficial for us. In fact, we are going to learn from the woman more so than the prophet.

Our topic and sermon title today is “Lessons on Loving Your Neighbors” and we are going to learn from the example of a Shunammite woman. While her name is not given, the lessons she models for us are significant and will hopefully instruct us as we seek to do the same. So, if you picked up a bulletin, I encourage you to make use of the sermon guide as we learn together.

Loving our neighbors can be thought of less like a checklist and more like a pattern of life. So, as we walk through our points today, I want to emphasize that each lesson is an ongoing practice that is wrought out of our very own love for God.

The first lesson the Shunammite woman models is that:

Love Develops a Habit of Hospitality (8)

Let me read v. 8 again (READ)

Now here we see that this lady lived in an area that was on one of Elisha’s regular routes. Shunem is located about 20 miles East of Mt. Carmel, just along the valley of Jezreel. This woman was evidently well-off- the text says she was ‘prominent’ or ‘great’ which meant that she was well taken care of. Her description stands in contrast to the poor, indebted widow of the first 7 verses in Ch. 4.

So it is that this woman approached Elisha, NOT to ask of anything from him, but to offer a meal to him. Now, I don’t think she knew who he was when she offered him food. In fact, it seems more likely she regularly took the opportunity to leverage her resources in order to bless those who might benefit.

Notice- Elisha did not ask for a meal. This was not like Elijah’s going to the poor widow and asking for food. No, the text says that this woman had to persuade Elisha to eat. Did you catch that? Do you know what that tells me?

It tells me that Elisha was probably not a Baptist… Joking!

This tells me that this woman was not acting upon a request from someone nor an obligation, but rather out of the kindness and generosity of her heart. She wanted to give him a meal and desired nothing from him. No strings attached!

One of the things I love about this example is that she offered a simple meal. Anyone can do this! Everyone eats! She didn’t make a big deal out of it or post on her Instagram account how she fed some bald dude.

Nope- but she opened a door to a relationship. And as often as he passed by, he would eat with her and her family.

This habit that she developed made way for her to love the neighbors that she would meet. Why’s that important for us?

Well, I think that this is exactly what Jesus expects from His church. We can see this reflected in

Matthew 25:34–40 NASB95

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

This is a habit of hospitality. And this habit reflects our love for Jesus Christ!

How might you develop a habit of hospitality? Consider your resources, gifts, etc.

For the Shunammite, this hospitality led to a relationship. She got to know a bit of who Elisha was, and this leads us to another lesson:

Love Serves Those Who Serve the Lord (9-13)

Let me read 9-10 again (READ)

This woman recognized that Elisha was a ‘holy man’ - IOW- that he was a minister of God. I don’t think Elisha told her that… it wasn’t like he wore a name badge or one of those white collar things, but I imagine she observed him praying, speaking, the way he treated others and surmised this truth.

When she perceived this, she had an even greater desire to demonstrate love of neighbor towards him. Perhaps she understood that the responsibility he bore was great or that the world was working against this man of God. Either way, she wanted to make an investment into Elisha’s ministry.

How’d she do that? By looking for practical ways to encourage him and build him up. In this passage, we see that this was an open invitation and designated space for Elisha to rest, study, pray,etc. She made a room that was just for him which enabled him to better serve the Lord.

Any time that he would be around, he could know that there was a place of respite there. What a blessing! And even as she took this step, she asked nothing of Elisha. In fact, Elisha wanted to thank her or repay her in some way. Look at 11-13 with me (READ)

He thought maybe he could do something- put in a good word with the army captain or king- maybe she needed some additional help on protection or land management… Nope! She had all she needed. She simply wanted to be a blessing to him.

So, how can you serve those who serve the Lord? That depends on your resources and who you are trying to bless. Today, we have a missionary from India here- you can serve him by giving financially, committing to praying for him, and by connecting with him on Facebook to encourage him regularly. You might even consider taking him to lunch!

You may want to serve one of the men going to Bible college by assisting them with tuition, offering childcare for them so they can have a date-night, or allowing them to use your lake house for a little R&R. Use your imagination!

Here is what you need to see- when you serve those who serve the Lord, you are investing in the Kingdom of God on earth. Your role in building up those God has called into ministry is much like the role of Aaron and Hur as they held the arms of Moses in Exodus 17.

Folks, do you realize that the rate of pastoral burn-out and ministry failure is at an all-time high? A 2022 Barna survey showed that 42% of pastors are thinking of leaving the ministry. 75% of pastors reported being “extremely stressed” and 90% feel worn out every week.

How might you love your neighbors who have surrendered to God’s call in ministry?

The Shunammite woman in our passage has modeled a habit of hospitality to others and a pattern of serving those who serve the Lord. But there is one final lesson on loving our neighbor that is modeled. That is:

Love Receives God’s Rewards (14-17)

This woman asked for nothing- in fact, she wanted for nothing that man could provide. But deep in her heart, she longed for the impossible- a son. A son would mean that she would definitely be taken care of - not just financially- I think she had that part taken care of, but physically - relationally. It meant a sense of fulfillment and purpose and maybe grand-babies one day.

Now, there is much we could unpack here, but I don’t want to chase a rabbit- It’s not Friday morning Bible study.

Elisha spoke a blessing that God honored in bringing about a child for this woman and her very old husband. This reveals the nature of God regarding His generosity. Let me read just a couple Scriptures that illustrate this:

Proverbs 19:17 NASB95

One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, And He will repay him for his good deed.

Hebrews 6:10 NASB95

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

Matthew 10:40–42 NASB95

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

You see, we will never be more generous than God. We will never out-give Him and we will always receive more blessings than we deserve.

The Shunammite woman was incredibly grateful for the son that God gave her, though she never asked for him. She received God’s blessing with joy! It’s like that for you and me also.

When we love our neighbor, we shine the light of Christ and lay up treasures in heaven. Listen to Paul’s words in

Ephesians 6:7–8 NASB95

With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

The thing is, church - We love because He first loved us. We can bless others because we have been blessed with immeasurable blessings.

We live in a world that desperately needs to see the Gospel and hear it from you and from me.

So let us love our neighbors - let’s love them all the way to the foot of the cross, and from there through the day of Christ’s return when we stand before our king.

[PRAY]

Discuss: What habit of hospitality can you begin to develop?

Discuss: What doors might love for neighbor open to you?

Reflect: How does your hospitality reflect your relationship and love for Christ?