Love Your Neighbor

Our conversation this past Sunday took us to this important moment in the Gospels:
Mark 12:28-31
The Most Important Commandment

28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’[g] 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[h] No other commandment is greater than these.”

So we'll keep trying to figure out what that really means for us. I think a good place for us to look is in Luke 10:25-37, the story of the Good Samaritan:

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[d]"

28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

We'll talk about what all of this looks like for us.

Also, I wanted to post the prayer that Joe read at the end last week:
"The God We Would Rather Have" by Walter Brueggemann

We are your people and mostly we don't mind,
except that you do not fit any of our categories.
We keep pushing
and pulling
and twisting
and turning,
trying to make you fit the God we would rather have,
and ever time we distort you that way
we end up with an idol more congenial to us.
In our more honest moments of grief and pain
we are very glad you are who you are,
and that you are toward us in all of your freedom
what you have been toward us.
So be your faithful self
and by your very engagement in the suffering of the world,
transform the world even as you are being changed.
We pray in the name of Jesus,
who is the sign of your suffering love. Amen.

Why We Help Others -or- A Detailed Explanation of Why We Have Burning, Watery Eyes and Thumping Against Our Chests and What Those Things Might Mean

"When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do

Where there is pain
Let there be grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Help them be brave
Where there is misery
Bring expectancy
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Something"
(from “Surely We Can Change” by the David Crowder Band)

Why should we feel the need to be involved in the lives of four teenage girls in Nairobi, Kenya? What would move us so much that it would make us want to act and help people? Why is it that when we hear people’s stories, when we hear of situations that seem unjust and unfair, something moves inside of us?

There is something that happens in us when we are confronted with these things. When we see these faces and hear these stories, they make our eyes burn and fill up with water. They thump us in the back of the chest and hit us in the middle of the throat. What are these moments when we feel so compelled to be about something outside of ourselves? Because, when we are honest, we know that those moments of compassion conflict with some of our other moments where we lack compassion for family, friends, neighbors, customers, or co-workers. We know what we are capable of, both good and bad.

The story that we choose to believe in when we look at our world through Christ’s eyes offers us some explanation for our very human feelings and responses, both good and bad. Our story is this: There is a reason for the burn in our eyes and the thumps against our chest. These feelings and responses mean something, rather than nothing. Christ talked a lot about God’s “kingdom”. This was a powerful term to the people he was speaking to at the time; primarily Jewish common people in the 1st century, who were living as a conquered people under the oppressive reign of the Roman Empire (Kingdom). So when Christ talked about God’s kingdom, a kingdom of grace and compassion compared to a kingdom of oppression and greed, his listeners felt the impact. Doubtless, they too had burning eyes and thump-on-the-chest feelings about the things that Christ claimed were the ways in which humans were intended to live by their creator. He said that God’s kingdom was about love. That humans were here to be about that kingdom, and that is who they were created to be. His way was the way of justice where there was injustice, hope where there was hopelessness, full bellies where there was hunger, and health where there was sickness. He spoke very clearly about these things, and it is surprising that even many of our communities of faith forget, or turn these words into side projects to the Sunday morning services, programs, speakers, building of elaborate buildings, and the misguided methods of getting people “on the Christian team”. This is what Christ had to say about God’s Kingdom:

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25)

The Kingdom that Christ talks about is a kingdom about those things that make our eyes water and make us hold our breath with hopefulness. If we choose to believe that this is true, that those things mean something, that helping four teenage girls in Kenya is something worth doing, and good, then we know that we must do these things. We must help build that kingdom of love, grace, help, full bellies, quenched thirst, clothes on tired backs, befriending the friendless, and coming to the side of the down and out. This is what we are trying to be about.