And Who is my Neighbor?

This was a great marketing move by Statefarm, because it helped all of us associate the idea of a good neighbor with them, but I think this idea of what it means to be a good neighbor has been around a little longer than an insurance company

What’s going on?

So I assumed I’m not the only one who has been upset by the division going on in our world

There is so much hate filled rhetoric going on on both sides

instead of conversations we have facebook posts

instead of presentations we have rallies

instead of civil debates we have protests

Think about it, when is the last time you had a calm conversation (not a facebook debate) with someone who thinks differently than you?

When is the last time you honestly tried to have a completely open mind while listening to an opposing idea?

not saying you have to accept it, but just that you listened to understand, rather than to respond

When is the last time you feel like someone listened to you in that manner?

God

Neighbors

I think that the Bible has a lot to say about how we should approach these questions as Christians, and it comes from a story most of y’all probably heard in Sunday School growing up

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

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 neighbor 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 neighbor?” 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 neighbor 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.”

This is not as much about the lawyer (likely pharisee) actually wanting to learn as is it about him wanting to see how “this Galilean Teacher” holds up

Jesus, as always, answers a question with a question, and makes it about the law since he is talking to an expert in the law

27-28

The guy knows the law

The lawyer asked this to try and get himself out of difficulty, for the original Jewish definition excluded Samaritans and Gentiles

This question is what this whole sermon is about, who is our neighbor?

Let’s see how Jesus replies

A priest just walked on by

This was the height of their religious personnel! He was the religious expert

but he had no mercy

A Levite just walked on by as well

The Levites were the tribe selected by God to run the temple

This wasn’t just a random guy, this was another religious leader for the Jews

Both of these men were those that everyone listening would have automatically assumed was there neighbor

33-35

Jews HATED Samaritans

The crazy thing is, Samaritans actually worshipped the same God!

This Samaritan went out of his way to help, he didn’t just call the police or whatever their equivalent was

He used his own money, he used his own supplies, all to help a man who most likely would have been extremely racist toward him in other circumstances

36-37

The lawyer does figure it out

Then Jesus gives the call “go, and do likewise”

You

So now that we’ve looked at what the Bible says, what should we do about it?

First lets look again at how Jesus handles the question

he replies with a question that is within the lawyers field of expertise

When we are reaching out to someone, we should meet them where they are! Not demand that they come over to our side first

God will do the changing that he needs done, our job isn’t to change, it is to share

Next, let’s look at the central question the lawyer asks, “and who is my neighbor?”

How often do we ask God that with the way that we live?

How often do we avoid certain conversations or even just people completely because they make us uncomfortable?

God calls us to be a neighbor to those who are in trouble, to those who are in pain, to those who are lost, no matter how they may feel about us or treat us in return

We don’t know how this story ends, but there’s a chance that even after all that the Samaritan did for the beat up Jew, the Jew would still hate him when he woke up simply because they were different

However, that doesn’t change the fact that the Samaritan was a good neighbor

If we start writing people off because we assume they won’t change, we are belittling the power of God, and that is unacceptable

God never says that being a good neighbor is going to make everyone like you (although it will probably help with most people), but he does call us to be one, without other conditions

Finally, we must remember that we can’t be like the Levite or the Priest in this story

On the surface, everything they were doing was great

If they had lived in today’s world, they would’ve been the deacons, the members who showed up to church every single Sunday, all of the other Christians would look up to them as leaders

I’m not saying that being any of those people is a bad thing, I love seeing all of y’all here every Sunday, I love talking with our deacons and other leaders, what I am saying is that if you focus on performing in front of us here at church and ignore the pain of others outside of these doors, you’re missing the heart of the gospel, just like those two men did

So focus on those three areas of application this week

remember that your neighbor is everyone you come in contact with (in person or online), regardless of how much you agree or disagree with them on any issue

remember that Jesus calls us to meet them where they are and share his love, not demand change from them upfront and worry about the gospel after that

and remember that our call as Christians is not to perform in front of other Christians, it is to go out and be a neighbor to everyone inside and outside of our door

Now imagine with me for a second what would happen to our community if our church actually did that?

Imagine what would happen to the world if the whole church did that?

Do you think people on the outside would still view the church as a place of judgement?

Do you think our world would still be so dramatically polarized?

I’m not saying those are even close to accurate all of the time, but lets focus on being good neighbors to all of those who God has put in our lives, so that they might see Jesus in us and have no reason to view Christians in a negative light

I don’t know exactly what God would do if we all started acting a little more like this good samaritan to those who have been beaten down around us, but I do know that he would do something, and he would do something big

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