Loving Your Neighbor
Good Morning,
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 ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27
The above verse is the response of Jesus to a question by an “expert in the law” who was trying to test him. I love the simplicity and life changing implications of Jesus’s response. First, he says, love God with all you’ve got. Everything will flow first from this. It is the starting point for a changed life and a life of impact. Secondly, he says love your neighbor like you would yourself.
As we wrap up this month’s focus on love it is the second of Jesus’ commands we want look at - loving our neighbor. The question I’d like to pose this morning is, “Who is our neighbor?” Jesus provides us an answer to that question, or perhaps an example of what the answer looks like, as he goes on to tell the story of the Good Samaritan.
A man encounters someone in need. In that moment the hurting man didn’t need Scripture quoted to him, he needed love in action. The Samaritan saw the man, stopped, and helped in practical ways. Two things go together there. First, he noticed the man. He was observant and when he observed him, he stopped (the second thing).
We cannot share the love of God with people we don’t even notice. Jesus was so good at that. Whether it was Zacchaeus in a tree, children along the way, or a sick woman touching his robe, he was on the lookout for people who needed a touch from him. When he saw them, he responded in ways that helped meet their needs. What a great model for implementing the second greatest commandment.
We see love to “neighbors” throughout the bible. We read about Jonathan protecting and serving David even though David was going to be king, a position that was rightfully his. We learn how Paul was supported by people from the church in Philippi while ministering at the church in Corinth. We discover in Acts chapter 4 that there were no needy persons among the early church because when a need arose people sold assets for the church leaders to distribute to those in need. In Romans 16 we read of a litany of people who helped Paul advance the gospel in a myriad of ways.
If we are loving God with all our hearts it will naturally change the way we notice and love others. The love of God will capture our free time, our wallets, our willingness to leave our comfort zones, and our outlook on the future. It will change how we love others under our own roof, others next door, others at work, others at the gym, others on the street corner, and others around the world.
When my wife and I were volunteer youth workers we had T-shirts we all wore with the phrase, “Love God, Love People, Don’t Mess with the Rest” printed on them. I’d suggest that those are truly words to live by.
Questions to ponder:
1. Who are the people I might not even be noticing?
2. What is one practical way I could love my neighbor this week?
Live on purpose, Ron Klopfenstein, CPLC
