Fully Devoted to Our Neighbors

Introduction

We are fully devoted to Christ, our neighbors, and the nations.

We are fully devoted to Christ. . .

We are fully devoted to our neighbors. . .

A priest, minister and rabbi were playing their usual Wednesday round of golf, and started discussing their weekly collections. Specifically, they started to compare how they decided what portion of the collection to keep for themselves and what portion to give to the Lord. The priest explains, "I draw a circle around myself and toss the money in the air. Whatever lands in the circle I keep for myself. What ever lands outside the circle, I give to God." The minister says, "Yes, I use a similar method, except that whatever lands inside the circle I give to God, and whatever lands outside the circle I keep for my personal needs." The rabbi then proclaims, "Brothers we are in agreement! I use the same method, as well. Except, that when I toss the money in the air, and I figure that whatever God wants He can keep..."

Luke 10:25–37

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Lawyer - expert in the Law of Moses - first five Books of the OT (esp Ex and Lev)

Teacher - views Jesus as a religious teacher not as Lord

He asks the right question. . . sort of.

He wants to know about eternal life — we all do.

He asks what he must DO - therein lies the problem. He assumes he can earn salvation.

Attaining eternal life — having a right relationship with God — is not about what you can DO for God, but what your heart believes about God — the gospel

This is expressed by what you do (or in this case don’t do).

26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 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 neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

First and second greatest commandment.

Matthew 22:35–40

35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Perhaps this is happening at the same exchange, or perhaps the lawyer was there to hear this.

1 John 4:20–21

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Whatever the case, Jesus acknowledges he answered correctly.

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

*Right answer with the wrong heart is wrong.*

In God’s economy, the gospel economy, it is not about the right answer, it’s about a right heart.

The lawyer is not asking the question to clarify but to justify. In asking the question he is trying to figure out who he can exclude, because, more than likely, he is already excluding some.

ILLUST - anyone else have one of those children — will follow ONLY the items you list when doing chores or cleaning the house?

If the lawyer was already loving God with his whole being and exhibiting it by treating and loving everyone equally, he would not have needed to justify, or attempt to make himself seem righteous, by asking Jesus to clarify who his neighbor is.

*Right answer with no action is wrong.*

Jesus doesn’t say “Know this and you will live.” He says “Do this.”

30 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. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

Jericho to Jerusalem - 17 mi.

Rocky road lined with caves — perfect for robbers to hide in

Ancient equivalent to the inner city at night.

Josephus (they don’t take anything with them but their weapons)

Interesting that the ‘religious’ do not help the man.

33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

Samaritan - hated by Jews - hero is the bad guy!

34 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. 35 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.’

Doesn’t just have compassion but lives it out with six actions.

Jesus then does what is typical for him. He doesn’t answer the question with a statement. Instead, he answers the lawyer’s question about who his neighbor is by asking the lawyer a question and forcing him to answer his own heart.

36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

For the lawyer this story is a lot deeper than it seems at first. The lawyer must ponder, as an expert in the Law, about the priest and the Levite — as they are being meticulous about keeping the ceremonial requirements of the Law — are they truly keeping the Law as the lawyer described it? Love God with everything you are and love your neighbor as yourself.

The giving of the Law was never as much about keeping the letter of the law as it was about discovering the heart of the Lawgiver.

In fact, in carrying out their perceived religious duty, they were actually being hindered from acting out the heart of the Lawgiver.

**I’m sure we wouldn’t do that today!

Deeper still, because of the story Jesus gave, the lawyer must move from asking the question “Who is my neighbor?” to “Am I acting as a loving neighbor?”

To truly love your neighbor you must first fully love God.

Notice I didn’t say “You can’t love your neighbor at all without first loving God.”

Loving neighbor withOUT first loving God = social justice campaign.

Loving God withOUT loving neighbor = empty religion.

What did Jesus affirm was the key to eternal life?

26“What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 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 neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

These two are inextricably linked. In fact, one flows from the other.

Loving others flows from loving God.

1 John 4:11 (ESV)

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

When we understand what Christ has done for US, we are then able, motivated, and empowered to love others.

When you understand that God loves you simply because you are made in his image, you are able to love others simply because they are made in God’s image.

When you understand that you don’t need to earn God’s love, your are able to truly love someone in a way that doesn’t require their payment.

When you understand that (while we were still sinners) Jesus move towards you in your mess, you will be able to move toward others even when it is messy.

Fully Devoted to Christ precedes Fully Devoted to our neighbors.

Everyone is your neighbor — Everyone.

G. K. Chesterton once quipped, "We make our friends; we make our enemies, but God makes our next door neighbor. … We have to love our neighbor because he is there." The nearness of our neighbor is providential, as God never gets the address wrong.

God placed you where you are because of the neighbors around you.

*If you were to disappear, would your neighbors be affected?

Co-workers, next door, etc.

*If GMC disappeared, would Granger even care?

If the answer is NO, then are we even loving our neighbors?

Now, like then, we tend to have those we label our ‘nonneighbor.’

What if we asked - we want you to invite everyone on your street to your Life Group — Them? But they are. . .

- Who are the “them” for you?

- It is not White men who are the issue, it is not black men who are the issue, it is not gay men or lesbian women or Republicans or Democrats who are the issue. The issue is SIN and we all need a Savior because the fix is not in social programs or economic stimulus or affirmative action -- the answer is Jesus through the gospel. Then with gospel-centered lives we view our neighbor and with compassion we recognize the pain he has felt, we listen to the prejudices she endured. We don’t avoid the conversations, but we look to find ways to right wrongs, fix relationships,

Jonathan Sprinkle, People to Be Loved, says something like this:

“If we are to be like Jesus we are to move closer to them not further away.”

Your feet won’t move in a direction your heart is not aimed. - Compassion is key.

33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

The Gospels describe compassion as the way Jesus viewed the lost.

Matt 14:14 - Jesus lands on the shore of Galilee after a full day of ministry — sees the crowds of sick people and has compassion

Matt 15:32 — Jesus has compassion on the people because they are hungry

Luke 7:13 — When the widow’s son dies, Jesus has compassion on her

Compassion is the ability to see someone’s plight and have a heartfelt desire to see something change. To do all that you can to make that change.

Jesus heals the sick, feeds the crowd, raises the widows son, and the Samaritan cares for his neighbor the Jewish man who had been robbed and beaten.

Your feet won’t move in a direction your heart is not aimed.

What is the plight of our neighbors right here in Granger?

What is the plight of your neighbors in Granger, Edwardsburg, Elkhart, Mishawaka, South Bend?

What is the plight of the person sitting next to you?

Within 15 min driving radius of GMC:

approx 130,000 people

56% Occasionally or Rarely attend church

about 73,000 disconnected from a church

That’s about the same amount of people if you filled every seat in Notre Dame’s stadium

about 80,000 people in our area who are like sheep without a shepherd

ILLUST - just yesterday received call about person who died but had no connection with church - can I do the funeral?

What if we could connect just 1% of them?

What if we stopped walking right past our neighbor?

What if we started caring about them and praying for them?

What if we moved towards them, learned about where they are hurting, and took them to a place where they can heal?

Wouldn’t we be doing EXACTLY what Jesus is describing in this story?

Maybe you’re hear today and you’re our neighbor — We love you. You might be hurting — that’s ok. We hurt, too. You might be in a mess — That’s ok. Some of us are pretty messy, too.

“The Gospel Blimp (AndOther Parables)” by Joseph Bayly

Group of evangelicals attempt to evangelize their neighbors by flying a blimp over their suburban homes with a gospel message.

Form a committee then a company — Begin to drop gospel tracts from blimp, then blast music from loudspeakers.

Eventually, the neighbors become Christians and the Gospel Blimp Christians are ecstatic then disappointed to learn it was not the blimp that led them to Christ but the love of another Christian couple who had spent time with them and showed them the love ofJesus.

We will end with Jesus’ words.

“You go, and do likewise.”

You - not the church, not your other neighbor YOU

Go - not wait until your neighbor comes to you - intentional. To not go is to pass by.

Do likewise - What does that look like for you? What does your neighbor need? Where is your neighbor hurting? Maybe that’s the first step.

Pray

Loving your neighbor begins with praying for your neighbor

*www.blesseveryhome.com*

Send card

Invite to home, LG, or church

“You go, and do likewise.”