2023.11.19 Who Is My Neighbor?
Notes
Transcript
Who Is My Neighbor?
Who Is My Neighbor?
Leviticus 19:9–18 • Mark 12:28-34
28 One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”
29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘hear, israel! the lord is our God, the lord is one;
30 and you shall love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this: ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
32 And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that he is one, and there is no other besides him;
33 and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.
You know I like to point out the context of a passage we’re using. Well, today’s gospel story actually begins BEFORE we started reading. If you noticed, our reading started with one of the Scribes hearing Jesus arguing with other Jewish leaders. And he approaches Jesus because “He had answered them well.”
When you’re in the middle of an argument, are you at your best? Would you appreciate another person joining the discussion in the middle, asking you questions?
Jesus pivots to this scribe, and doesn’t miss a beat.
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When I was a kid, Mr. Rogers asked if you would be HIS neighbor. How does Jesus deal with neighbors?
Jesus taught two commands as the most important, and neither of them are new to Christianity. In fact, they come directly from the Old Testament Law. The Jewish Law is contained in the first 5 books of the Bible (The Torah), but most of it is found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
“Love the Lord Your God” – 7 times in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Shema - considered the most important Jewish prayer. It is to be recited twice daily by command!
Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NASB 2020)
4 “Hear, Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!
5 And you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
The second command also comes as a direct quote, this time from Leviticus:
“Love Your Neighbor” –
Leviticus 19:18 Love Neighbor
Leviticus 19:18 (NLT)
18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
Jesus tells us to love our neighbor 6 times in the Gospels.
“Love your neighbor as yourself!”
In a story similar to today’s, Jesus is approached by a wealthy young leader. The man asks about inheriting eternal life, and Jesus asks about the Law. And the rich young leader quotes these two commands. And after Jesus says, “You’ve answered correctly...” the man asks:
Who is my neighbor?
Do you remember Jesus’ answer to that question?
He doesn’t answer the question. He tells the story of the Good Samaritan, and then he asks, “Which person proved to be a neighbor?”
“The one who showed compassion to him.”
“Go and do the same.”
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Who is our neighbor and how do we love them?
Those outside the Kingdom • Members of other churches • Members of this church
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Mercy/compassion - ἔλεος eleos {el'-eh-os}
mercy: kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them
How do we show compassion to our neighbors?
Outside the Kingdom … service and evangelism …
How does the Church make itself available to serve and love the lost?
How do we serve those outside the Kingdom:
We serve our next-door neighbors when we offer vegetables or tacos.
We serve our neighbors in the West End of the county when we go serve meals to them, and provide blankets.
But we don’t just serve for the sake of serving. Admittedly, serving others changes US! It only provides a brief relief for the people we’re serving, but it gives us a different perspective on the world. Serving people softens our hearts, and it changes how we think about the needs of other people.
But that’s just a side benefit.
We serve others in an effort to win the opportunity to show and tell them about the love of Jesus Christ. If I give someone a sandwich, they eat one meal, but they’re no better off in the long run. If I give them a sandwich and help them find Jesus, they can step on a path that leads to eternal food.
We serve those outside the Kingdom, by serving them and telling them about the love of Christ.
How do we serve people from other churches:
We work with people from other churches to support anyone who wants to grow but don’t have the resources.
Several years ago, our Conference made every church join a ‘cluster’. And it worked about as well as any other “forced effort” works. Most churches gave lip service to the concept, worked together on a minor project or two … and then forgot the effort as soon as the Conference moved onto the next flavor of the month.
But I know there have been ideas thrown around in brainstorming sessions that are way bigger than we could tackle. Why not go after some of those ideas in coordination with other churches? Working with other churches is hard at times.
“Well, our church did most of the work, and we shared the credit equally.” So what?
“Well, it was our idea, and their people came in and kind of took over.” Okay.
Like many churches post-pandemic, Temple has become a smaller congregation than we were in years past. So, we don’t do a lot of the things that would’ve been considered essential back in the day. We don’t have Vacation Bible School because we don’t have enough people to run it properly.
Why can’t we join another church’s effort and partner together to help kids discover Jesus?
Why can’t we join a group of smaller church’s who don’t have the resources together to pull off a VBS. If we put together our buildings, our people, and our resources … we could put together something for kids that would win the opportunity to tell them about Jesus … our mission.
And as we partner together, we have the opportunity to see people from other churches as co-laborers in the harvest field, instead of competitors for Sunday morning attendance.
I’m not suggesting we do this particular thing. I am suggesting we may be able to think differently about working with other churches to accomplish our shared Mission.
How do we serve the people of Temple:
What does disunity do to the Body, and how do we capture Unity. We’ve all seen people as their brain stops working in unity with their body. We call it dementia or Alzheimer’s, but it’s the body working in disunity. Imagine a person whose legs refused to hold the body’s weight. We’ve all seen people in wheelchairs, right? Part of their body has rebelled against the rest of the body, and no longer works in unity.
These things may be cause by physical ailments that the person can’t control … but often, the ailments in the Church body are chosen ones.
One of the first ways we can serve each other is holding each other accountable to defending and preserving the Unity of the Body of Christ. Remember, Jesus didn’t say to just do these things to the neighbors you know and like. He said we should go sho compassion … no parameters.
You want to show compassion and mercy to each other in the church?
Challenge gossip when you hear it. (Silence is not enough because it doesn’t STOP the errant behavior.) Gossip destroys unity in many groups … but most of the time, we either join in, or just back away quietly. Not confronting gossip threatens the unity of the Church, which threatens our ability to accomplish the Mission.
Acknowledge the gifts you see in Temple people, and TELL THEM! Encourage them to use their gifts in service to and through the Church. It’s really more simple than you think:
“I really like your speaking voice. Have you ever considered reading Scripture on Sundays?”
“You always look so nice. Do you have an eye for decorating? You could really help the Church plan out decorations for seasons throughout the year.”
“You sing so well. I would love to hear you helping lead singing on Sunday, or maybe singing a special sometime.”
[Talk about Susie asking Caroline to use her gifts to help decorate for Advent/Christmas.]
Stopping negative talk in its tracks is a great starting point, but replacing it with positive truly builds up the Church.
1 Corinthians 8:1
1 Corinthians 8:1b (NLT)
While knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.
You get to talk to the same people every week when you sit in the same place. Is there someone here you don’t know? Even sitting near someone you don’t know so you can introduce yourself is a way to serve each other. And an invitation to join your lunch plans might be pretty cool, too!
Who Is My Neighbor?
Who Is My Neighbor?
While Mr. Rogers asks if you will be his neighbor, Jesus tells us to show compassion and mercy to others. Rather than defining our neighbor, He tells us to be a neighbor to everyone!
I’ve often looked for my neighbor instead of just being a neighbor. Maybe you can relate to that.
When you hear, “Love your neighbor,” do you wonder who is your neighbor, or do you move to the question, “How can I be a neighbor to everyone?”
Well, now you have some practical advice for showing compassion to your neighbor:
your neighbor outside the Church
your neighbor in other churches
and your neighbor right here at Temple
What will you do with that advice?