Currently we’re going through a series on Sunday evenings at BC called “Following Christ”. We’re looking at the marks of a Christ follower and discovering these marks by asking ourselves, “What did Jesus say was important?”
The first week we looked at the first half of Mark 12:28-31 where a man asks Jesus what the most important commandment in the Jewish law was. Jesus’ response was essentially “to love God with our everything.” He didn’t stop there however. Jesus went on to say that there was a second commandment to note, “Love your neighbor as yourself” and that there were no commandments more important than these two. In the same story, but in a different book, we’re told that all the commandments (all 613) depend on these two! (see Matthew 22:40).
“But who is my neighbor?” asks a man in Luke 10:29. So Jesus tells them a parable, a story, that many of us may know as the Good Samaritan. The point of the story is your neighbor is not simply a fellow Jew or a good Jew. If a Samaritan, whom you hate with extreme racism, could love you as though he were part of your community (though you would not allow him to be) then you should love others the same way. Jesus turns the question from “who is my neighbor” to “who can I be neighborly to“. The answer is “everyone.”
That’s the skinny of it -we’re to love everyone. But that’s easier said than done and it doesn’t often sink in for us what that really means or looks like. So we examined a couple more passages to flesh out the following:
1. We’re to love everyone and be a neighbor to them (Luke 10:25-37)
a. We love them by doing good to them (Galatians 6:9-10)
b. We love them by speaking well to/about them (James 3:6, 9-10)
2. We’re to love even our enemies (Luke 6:32-36)
3. We’re to especially love the poor and marginalized (Luke 14:12-14; James 2:1-7)
Then I made this confession:
I stink at this.
I speak poorly of people. I write people off. I am not all that gracious to people with differing viewpoints from me, and I do not often serve those who cannot repay me.
As a church we’ve helped twice with loaves and fishes (a free meal program) and I was able to help once. On another occasion my wife and I sent a check to help poor, persecuted Christians in Asia. Once I helped a guy move aluminum cans and once I helped someone move who had no means to do it themselves. Then my wife and I donated diapers to Birthright (crisis pregnancy center) around Christmas, but that’s all! FIVE times in the past 2 plus years since we’ve been in Hannibal. There are 365 days in a year and I’ve done something to help others who cannot repay me, who need help, and where I don’t really have anything to gain five times out of 750 + days!!!
Loving people is important to Jesus. He said it, not me. Coupled with loving God, He said there were no greater commandments. So a love for people should be evident in the lives of those who love God, who love Jesus, and who are following Him. If it’s not evident, then maybe it’s time to do some soul searching or maybe it’s just time to get off our butts and do something.
