Say, Neighbour, Your House is on Fire

Luke 10:25-37

Say, Neighbour, Your House is on Fire!

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  He said to him, “What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?”  And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.”  And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”  Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.  He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.  Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.  And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’  Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?”  He said, “The one who showed him mercy.”  And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”[1]

The Scripture reading for this day will be read from the Cotton Patch Version of the Bible.  Listen to the account of the Good Samaritan as it is presented in the powerful language of the American South, circa 1963.

“One day a teacher of an adult Bible class got up and tested him with this question: ‘Doctor, what does one do to be saved?’

“Jesus replied, ‘What does the Bible say?  How do you interpret it?’

“The teacher answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your physical strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself.’

“‘That is correct,’ answered Jesus.  ‘Make a habit of this and you’ll be saved.’

“But the Sunday school teacher, trying to save face, asked, ‘But … er … but … just who is my neighbour?’

“Then Jesus laid into him and said, ‘A man was going from Atlanta to Albany and some gangsters held him up.  When they had robbed him of his wallet and brand-new suit, they beat him up and drove off in his car, leaving him unconscious on the shoulder of the highway.’

“‘Now it just so happened that a white preacher was going down that same highway.  When he saw the fellow, he stepped on the gas and went scooting by.’a

“‘Shortly afterwards a white Gospel song leader came down the road, and when he saw what had happened, he too stepped on the gas.’b

“‘Then a black man travelling that way came upon the fellow, and what he saw moved him to tears.  He stopped and bound up his wounds as best he could, drew some water from his water-jug to wipe away the blood and then laid him on the back seat.c  He drove on to Albany and took him to the hospital and said to the nurse, “You all take good care of this white man I found on the highway.  Here’s the only two dollars I got, but you all keep account of what he owes, and if he can’t pay it, I’ll settle up with you when I make a pay-day.”’

“‘Now if you had been the man beat up by the gangsters, which of these three—the white preacher, the white song leader, or the black man—would you consider to have been your neighbour?’

“The teacher of the adult Bible class said, ‘Why, of course, the nig—I mean … er … the one who treated me kindly.’

“Jesus said, ‘Well, then you get going and start living like that!’”[2]

he title for this message was suggested by a sermon which I read some years past.  I regret that I am unable to cite the source, but I do recall the illustration with which the preacher initiated the message.  He spoke of being awakened in the middle of the night by the glow of flames which were shooting from the upper windows of a neighbour’s house.  He told how he rushed next door, urgently beat on the front door and yelled until he had the attention of all within the house so they could escape.

The pastor continued his account.  He compared his concern for the danger his neighbour faced to the concern many Christians exhibit for lost friends.  Seeing the flames and smoke, he was convinced that anyone in that burning house was in danger of death.  He speculated that according to the practise of the average Christian, he might have sauntered next door, casually rang the doorbell, and if anyone answered calmly said, “Say, neighbour, your house is on fire.”

According to our plan for the recognition of our FRANs, we have arrived at Neighbour Sunday.  Perhaps we should have designated this Good Neighbour Sunday, but then, I would hope that each of us who are Christian prove to be Good Neighbours.  Our actions do ultimately reveal what we believe concerning the call of Christ.

Paul admonishes those who profess the Faith in unmistakable terms.  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.  Never be conceited.  Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” [Romans 12:14-19].

These instructions are still to be learned by some among us; but that is the challenge of the Christian Faith, isn’t it?  The reason we who are believers have received these particular truths is because we are convinced of the veracity of 1 Corinthians 12:26.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together.

Especially within the Body of Christ are we called to be Good Neighbours.  However, if we fail to reveal the presence of Christ to the world about us, we will have revealed that there really isn’t much to this business of spiritual transformation which we speak of as the result of being born from above.  If we are not Good Neighbours, we will fail in delivery of the message of life to those about us.  If we have no message for those about us, whatever we may be called, we are not Good Neighbours.

Who Is My Neighbour?  At the heart of the message planned for this day is the question, “Who is my neighbour?”  Since I am in the main addressing professing Christians, we realise that to discover who is our neighbour requires that we think far differently than we once thought.  As Christians, we must be cautious lest we transform thinking christianly into thinking denominationally, thinking racially, or thinking socially.

I read the “Cotton Patch Version” of the account of the Good Samaritan because it speaks quite forcefully to my own spirit and from my own experience.  I have paid a price because of my belief that the church must be open to all peoples who seek to worship the Lord Christ.  As many as He shall send to us, we are obligated to welcome, regardless of race, culture, nationality, economic standing, or even political persuasion.

I have felt the sting resulting from being the member of a minority race.  I confronted racist attitudes of professing Christians within the Asian community in Vancouver.  Too many whites were attending the services, I was told.  I was disfellowshipped from the church in which I was saved because God blessed my ministry by permitting me to see blacks saved.  The charge which resulted in my leaving one church in New Westminster was that too many people of the wrong colour were coming to faith.  When I first arrived here, some whispered in my ear that we didn’t want a native presence among the membership of this congregation.  “They wouldn’t be comfortable here,” I was admonished.  “Then, make them comfortable,” I responded.  Let us determine that anyone and each one will be welcomed as a fellow worshipper here.

In Burnaby, we lived at one point next door to a woman who constantly expressed hatred toward our family.  She was at least forthright in stating why she did not like us.  First, we were not Catholic.  To complicate this particular issue, I was a Baptist minister.  Second, we were not Canadian.  She was rabidly anti-American.  Today, I would suppose her political party to be the Liberal Party of Canada—they seem to be quite deliberate and inventive in finding ways to express their hatred of the United States.  In any case, Mrs. Weaver was quite outspoken in her disgust with Americans.  Finally, our family rented the house in which we lived.  I suppose that renting reduced us to the level of white trash in her eyes.  She clearly discriminated on an economic basis.  Three strikes and we were out.  I relate these incidents to state that I have experienced discrimination.

Within this particular denomination, I know of one former denominational leader who openly ridicules my faith, referring to me as the token “fundamentalist.”  A few of my fellow ministers feel comfortable deriding my doctrinal positions, though they have never quite had the courage to do so to my face.  Discrimination in all its varied expressions is not a white problem; it is a human problem.

“The issue of racial prejudice and snubbing and suspicion and mistreatment is not a social issue; it is a blood-of-Jesus issue.”[3]  What is practised in society at large, what is permitted even within our denomination in general, must not be embraced within this congregation.  Here, we must determine that we will without exception point all people to Jesus as Lord, calling them to repentance and faith; and we will insist that they must demonstrate that transformation which attends the new birth through love for others.

Jesus, responding to a provocative question, elicited the appropriate answer from a man who knew what was written in the Word of God.  If you will be saved, you need but love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.  Additionally, you will love your neighbour as yourself.  Of course, you realise that Jesus identified these two commands as the most important of all commands [Mark 12:29-31].  Their ranking is of primary importance in the eyes of God.

Jesus commended the learned man for his answer and encouraged him to put into practise the truth he had stated.  However, this particular man wanted an exclusion clause inserted into his own answer.  As you read the Gospels, you will discover repeatedly, not occasionally, that those who knew what was right thought they could be excepted.  Perhaps the Pharisees could justify their excess [see Luke 16:15], but God knew their hearts.  Similarly, you may think your case is exceptional, but God knows your heart.  With God, there is no exemption.

Campbell Morgan observes that Jesus never actually answered the lawyer’s question.  Instead, Jesus told a story.  In relating the story, Jesus “changed the whole emphasis of the man’s question.  The man said, ‘I am, according to law, to love my neighbour; who is my neighbour?’  Christ’s answer did not tell him who was his neighbour.  The whole point of Christ’s answer is this: the question is not who your neighbour is, but are you a neighbour?”[4]

My beloved people, when Christ enters our hearts, we will love God.  Loving God, we will love others.  The essence of Jesus’ words is that we are to be neighbourly, and when we are neighbourly, we will find a neighbour in those who need a neighbour.  The problem with us who are Christians in this day is that we are permitted to situate ourselves so that we are ministered to instead of seeking to minister.  Consequently, we have convinced ourselves that the world revolves around us … and the church suffers.

I need to speak plainly, because some Christians have so become hard-hearted.  The lack of love demonstrated among those professing the Christian Faith testifies to our failure to know Christ as Lord.  When a Christian is offended, she is to seek reconciliation.  What we witness is that instead of seeking reconciliation, those professing the Faith speak ill of one another or gossip about one another or attack one another.

Should a Christian not get his way, he is taught to graciously submit to the will of the Spirit as expressed through the mind of the congregation.  Instead, we witness those who profess love for one another making threats to quit attending services.  If their threats fail to coerce leaders into doing their will, we see them withdrawing fellowship in a strange ritual designed to hurt others.  These paragons of righteousness begin to attend another congregation, taking their hostility with them and thus cursing those to whom they go.  I wonder, how can they worship when their spirit is so hard that they refuse to love those to whom they previously professed God had joined them?

Is the church a social club that we can join and quit at will?  Is the Body of Christ a convenience to be used as we see fit and for our own selfish purposes?  I am not suggesting that we who are Christians must like everybody within the Body, but I am insisting that we must love all whom God places in the Body.

How Should I Treat My Neighbour?  Your neighbour is the one with whom you worship.  Your neighbour is the one who shares this service with you.  Your neighbour is that woman whom you consider to be a sinner, and against whom you seethe inwardly because nothing seems to be done about her sin.  Your neighbour is that man whom you detest because he is recognised and promoted above you.  Your neighbour is that one who was convicted of heinous crime, but now seeks to worship God.  Your neighbour is the individual who disgusts you because she smells bad, being unable to afford the pricey shampoos and aromatic deodorants with which you lavish your own body.

A dear friend sent me a story some weeks back.  She is dying, I suppose.  Then, again, aren’t we all?  She suffers from multiple sclerosis.  We, her many friends and family members, together with her dear husband, have watched the relentless advance of the disease, with concomitant loss of strength and mobility throughout the years.  Her body no longer works as it once did, but her mind is as sharp as ever and her heart is as great as all outdoors.  The story I am about to relate was first forwarded to Lynda, who shared it with me.  The story provoked me to think.  I hope it also provokes you to think.  This is the story.

A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package.  What food might it contain?  The little creature was aghast to discover that it was a mousetrap.  Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning, “There is a mousetrap in the house!  There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and solemnly intoned, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me.  I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and urgently informed him, “There is a mousetrap in the house.”

“I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse,” sympathised the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.  Be assured that you are in my prayers.”

The mouse, in desperation, turned to the cow.  She said, “Like, wow, Mr. Mouse.  A mousetrap.  I am in grave danger.  Duh?”

So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.  That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.  The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught.

In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail was caught in the trap.  The snake bit the farmer’s wife.  The farmer rushed her to the hospital.  She returned home with a fever.  Now, everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup.  So, the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock.  To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.  The farmer’s wife did not get well.  She died, and so many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.

So, the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.  We are all involved in spiritual warfare.  We must all have a keen eye as we watch for one another and we must be willing to take extra care for one another.  We must be neighbourly, loving those whom God brings into our lives and marvelling at the goodness of God because He entrusts to us those whom He considers precious.

We would do well to hear again the words of the Apostle.  Why do you pass judgement on your brother?  Or you, why do you despise your brother?  For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God; for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Therefore let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother [Romans 14:10-13].

Here is that same passage in the powerful paraphrase known as “The Message.”  Where does that leave you when you criticise a brother?  And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister?  I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse.  Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgement, facing God.  Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit.  Read it for yourself in Scripture:

“As I live and breathe,” God says,

“every knee will bow before me;

Every tongue will tell the honest truth

that I and only I am God.”

So tend to your knitting.  You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.

Forget about deciding what’s right for each other.  So Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is [Romans 14:10-13].[5]

Paul continues, according to “The Message,” Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others.  You’re fortunate if your behaviour and your belief are coherent.  But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line.  If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us.  Strength is for service, not status.  Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”

That’s exactly what Jesus did.  He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out.  “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it.  Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us.  God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterise us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.  May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all.  Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus [Romans 14:18, 19; 15:1-7]![6]

What Is the Basis for Being a Neighbour?  Please focus with me on the encyclical which we have received as the letter to the Ephesian Christians.  Notice Ephesians 2:11, 12.  Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Jews and Gentiles did not mix in that ancient world.  They don’t do a great job in this contemporary world.  The Jews had for centuries erected barriers which had excluded Gentiles.  I discovered the exclusivity of Judaism when I attended the Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.  On one occasion, Lynda and I were invited to a barbecue at the home of one of the professors.  We received separate plates and separate silverware.  Our meat was grilled on a separate grill.  We weren’t kosher!  We were Gentiles, and to eat off the koshered plates would offend orthodox and conservative Jews.  Gentiles were excluded from the hope that resided in the Word of God.

The gap between Jew and Gentile was religious, to be certain.  At the time Paul wrote, the Jews worshipped the One True God, and save for a few proselytes and the Christians themselves, Gentiles were polytheists or animists or utter atheists.

As Lynda and I discovered, however, the gap was also cultural.  The Jews had ceremonies to distinguish them from the Gentiles.  I recall on one occasion when I had first arrived at the school being urgently invited to help make minyan for recitation of the Kaddish on behalf of a man’s father who had died prior to my arrival.  They soon discovered that I was not Jewish.  On another occasion, during a rally for Israel, I was actually asked to show my scar!  Those at the door were prepared to check to ensure that I was circumcised.  There were dietary laws and various ablutions and regulations for cleansing and actions such as circumcision to segregate Jews and Gentiles.

There was also a racial divide.  Jewish bloodlines went back to Abraham through Jacob instead of Esau, and through Isaac instead of through Ishmael.  The Jews prided themselves that they were of pure blood, not mixed like the Samaritans.  They could lay claim without exception to being descendants of Abraham.  They had Moses and the law.

However, take careful note of the way the passage concludes in Ephesians 2:19-22.  You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Between verse twelve and verse nineteen, something marvellous has happened.  The Apostle transports us from alienation to reconciliation.  How was this accomplished?  Listen as I read those intervening verses.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father [Ephesians 2:13-18].

Do you understand why Piper called this a “blood-of-Jesus” issue?  It was the deliberate, sacrificial death of Jesus, God the Son, that has changed everything so that no longer within the church are we permitted to divide racially, or culturally, or linguistically, or economically, or along any other arbitrary line of division.

Once, I was separated from Christ and alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.  I had no hope and I was without God in the world.  I was brought near by the blood of Christ [v. 13].  The dividing wall of hostility has been broken down in His flesh [v. 14].  Whatever else this passage may mean, it powerfully teaches that God desires that His church be a home where His people can dwell—regardless of race, without regard to culture or social standing, without favouritism toward a particular educational status.  Through the cross, hostility has been slain and each Christian alike has access in one Spirit to the Father.

If this church will make a difference in our community, we must individually and collectively welcome all people.  If one person is excluded—however reasonable the rationale advanced—then all people will be at risk and none will be welcome.  If we fail to demonstrate that every ethnic group is welcome, if we restrict any economic or social strata, if we permit any distinction among the saints or discrimination toward others, we will have rejected all society, and none of our neighbours will be welcome to worship.

Look forward with me to a day which is coming soon.  They sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood

you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

[Revelations 5:9, 10]

Listen again to John Piper.  “The implications here for racial and ethnic harmony in the church are staggering…  The price of God’s securing ethnic diversity in the ‘priesthood,’ and the ‘kingdom’ is the death of His Son.  The design of the atonement is racial diversity in the company of the redeemed.  Applying and pursuing this is not merely a ‘social issue.’  It is a blood-of-Jesus issue.  That is what it cost.  And that is how important it is.”[7]

John Piper is assuredly correct in stating that it is not a racial issue.  Neither is this a cultural issue, nor a linguistic issue, according to what is written in the Word.  Appealing to other portions of this same inspired Word, I will contend that neither can this be an economic issue nor an educational issue.  It is a blood-of-Jesus issue.

I was only sixteen when Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed the greatest freedom rally of history.  He spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.  I did not fully understand the importance of his words at that time.  Only later would I discover the power of what he advocated.  I do know that I thrilled at the power of his words when I first heard them, and I can recall them to this day.

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood…  I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.  I have a dream today…  I have a dream that … little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.  I have a dream today.”[8]

Scant months before that speech, the great leader wrote a powerful letter to eight white clergymen and rabbis who had rebuked him for disturbing the peace.  They had taken the occasion of his arrest as result of non-violent protests against segregation laws.  We would do well to hear his words today and apply them to our own particular situation.  Two paragraphs in particular draw my attention today.

“There was a time when the church was very powerful—in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed.  In those days, the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.  Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being ‘disturbers of the peace’ and ‘outside agitators.’  But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were ‘a colony of heaven,’ called to obey God rather than man.  Small in number, they were big in commitment.  They were too God-intoxicated to be ‘astronomically intimidated.’  By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.

“Things are different now.  So often, the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound.  So often, it is an archdefender of the status quo.  Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent—and often even vocal—sanction of things as they are.  But the judgement of God is upon the church as never before.  If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”[9]

I am pleading today for spiritual relevance for this church.  I am pleading today for heavenly relevance for this church.  I am pleading today for this congregation to make a difference in this society by being the church instead of being just another religious organisation where people go to church and then live as they wish.  We will be the church so long as we remember that it is through Jesus… through His blood… through His sacrifice… and in one Spirit that we each have access to the Father.  We will be the church so long as we are the neighbours this dying world needs and so long as the fallen of this world know that we will receive them and offer to them the grace of Christ.

If you receive but one message today, I pray that it is this message that we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, because we are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone.  If we are truly equal in the eyes of Holy God, we will cease snubbing, quit thinking quite so highly of ourselves, cease looking down on anyone else.  Perhaps we need to hear again the apostolic words of Philippians 2:1-4.

If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Listen to this same passage from “The Message.”  I trust that this translation will speak to your heart in a way which proves to be beneficial for each one among us today.  If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favour: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.  Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top.  Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.  Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage.  Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.[10]

Among us are teens who practise a dreadful form of segregation in which other teens are excluded and rejected as “dweebs” or as being “uncool.”  Stop it.  Some members of long standing think they can pick and choose whom they will love; and if confronted on the issue, they will simply leave.  One cannot continue as a member of this Body and think to punish us through absenting yourself from the assembly.  Smarten up.  Such people are acting like nine-year-old children.  Others have already decided that they will segregate the members of the church according to years of membership.  Do we really need to again hear that what matters is not how long one has been on the journey, but what matters is how far one has come?  There is still racism embedded in the thinking of some.  Such thinking must be renounced; you must kill it.

May God make us Christian.  May He break our hearts and make us tender toward one another.  May He remove the stony heart and replace it with a heart of love.  That is the result of receiving Him as Master of life.  If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved…  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10, 13].  Make us the church, Oh, God.  Amen.

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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

a His homiletical mind probably made the following outline: 1. I do not know the man.  2. I do not wish to get involved in any court proceedings.  3. I don’t want to get blood on my new upholstering.  4. The man’s lack of proper clothing would embarrass me upon my arrival in town.  5. And finally, brethren, a minister must never be late for worship services.

b What his thoughts were we’ll never know, but as he whizzed past, he may have been whistling, “Brighten the corner, where you are.”

c All the while his thoughts may have been along this line: “Somebody’s robbed you; yeah, I know about that, I been robbed, too.  And they done beat you up bad; I know, I been beat up, too.  And everybody just go right on by and leave you laying here hurting.  Yeah, I know.  They pass me by, too.”

[2] Clarence Jordan, The Cotton Patch Version of Luke and Acts: Jesus’ Doings and the Happenings (New Win Publishing, Inc., Clinton, NJ 1969) 46-7 (including the original footnotes Jordan penned)

[3] John Piper, Brothers, We are Not Professionals (Broadman & Holman, Nashville, TN 2002) 197

[4] G. Campbell Morgan, The God Who Cares (Fleming H. Revell Co., Old Tappan, NJ 1931, 1959, 1987) 200

[5] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message : New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO:, 1995)

[6] Peterson, op. cit.

[7] Piper, op. cit., 208

[8] Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream (http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/speeches/address_at_march_on_washington.pdf) [this speech can be found on many web sites by entering any of the key phrases]

[9] Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963 (http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/frequentdocs/birmingham.pdf) 9 [this letter can be found on many web sites by entering the key words]

[10]Peterson, op. cit.