Long Way Here

Have you ever come to the end of a conversation and all you could say was “Wow?” I do not mean out of excitement. I am talking about sadness or bewilderment. You find that it is the only response you can muster. Lately, I have experienced many of these conversations with Christ-followers living all over these United States. But before I take this any further, please allow me to hang a little backdrop.

As a Jesus-follower, I am called by the Jesus I follow to, well, follow Him. As one of the wonderful senior ladies from our church explained, “I am not called to be impressed by Jesus. I am called to imitate Him.” To say it a different way, I must learn to listen, trust, obey and enjoy Him. Now on to the backdrop.

One day Jesus was asked by a religious expert (ironically), “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” Jesus said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. (But for Jesus that wasn’t it. There was something inextricably connected to “loving God.”) Jesus said, “The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (And here is perhaps the most controversial, mind-boggling, worldview-challenging statement of all) “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” All the Law and Prophets? All 613 commands in the Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy), plus the rest of the Old Testament? All of it hangs–rests or places their weight–on these two simple commands? Sure, I could see the “love God” part. But the “love your neighbor” piece? Back to my post.

As a Christ-follower I have been called to embrace both. As a “preacher” I have to teach both. I cannot escape one without the other in my life, much less as a preacher/teacher/pastor in King Jesus’ church. But here is what I find to be true and often leaves me saying “Wow.” Church-folk (that includes me) are almost always fine with conversations that center around loving God. We expect it. It makes sense. But conversations that center around “loving neighbor,” well, lets just say that can cause a bit of trouble.

Love your neighbor. Neighbor. This isn’t about proximity. This is about mercy extended to any fellow human being created in the image of God. So Jesus says, “love your neighbor.” Your loud neighbor. Your rude neighbor. Your enemy neighbor. Your muslim neighbor. Your gay neighbor. Your straight neighbor. Your partying hard neighbor.Your democrat neighbor. Your republican neighbor. Your doesn’t-look-like-me-or-act-like-me neighbor. Your neighbor with a different skin color. Your neighbor who lives half a world away. Your rich neighbor. Your poor neighbor. Your. Neighbor. My neighbor. Remember the story behind the all famous good Samaritan? Remember what made him “good.” He was a good neighbor who loved his neighbor.

But what does “love your neighbor” look like? It can take on many forms. Regardless of how you or I decide what loving our neighbor looks like, one thing is sure: love is a verb. It requires action. It requires me to put skin on the compassion I feel in my heart. It requires me to be a good neighbor by doing good for and to my neighbor, even if they didn’t merit or “deserve” it. It is exactly what God Himself did in the Incarnation (God becoming man in Jesus). Nonetheless many often balk at this whole “love your neighbor” idea. Not at the command itself, but rather when we begin talking about specifics.

Proverbs 3:28-29 “Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later. I’ll give it tomorrow”—when it is there with you. Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor, for he trusts you and lives near you.”

Proverbs 14:31 “The one who oppresses the poor insults their Maker, but one who is kind to the needy honors Him.”

Proverbs 25:18 “A man giving false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.”

This blog does not have the space to list all the Proverbs, Psalms and other Hebrew Scriptures (especially Deuteronomy and the “minor” Prophets) that speak to this idea. And for those of us who need New Testament references I cannot forget Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:31-46 (just to give one of many discourses). Or Paul’s words in Romans 13:8-10 or Galatians 6:10 (just to give a couple of his many thoughts on the subject). Then there is James’ understanding of what true “religion” is in James 1:26-27.

So this is what I have (re)learned: everyone is okay to talk about what it means to “love God.” But when it comes to talking about what it means to “love your neighbor,” sometimes people’s responses just leave you saying, “Wow.” Sometimes it even gets you in trouble. But when I think about Jesus, its worth it. I hope you find it worth it too.

Christmas day? One week away? Already? For some this is a season of joy that celebrates family, giving and receiving. For others this is a special time to celebrate the birth of the Savior and God’s ultimate expression of love for the world (though it is still debated as to the exact date that Jesus the Christ was born which most scholars believe was late fall or early spring). Still, for others Christmas is a celebration of both. Either way, what begins with joyful anticipation somehow turns into a season of stress, good cooking (which I am not complaining about) and shopping lists. I get both excited and tired just thinking about it. Sadly though, on December 26 many of us are left with the stark reality of presents to return, decorations to pack, and more credit card bills. Is this what we really want out of Christmas? What if it could be about something more joyful and lasting?

Almost 2000 years ago the God of heaven and earth changed both human history and future when he subtly crashed into the present. He changed the world with a revolutionary love full of promise and hope. But this revolutionary love wasn’t in the form of a word or statement. It was in the form of a baby — a fully human, fully God, newborn baby. It was the Advent (the coming or arrival) of a new world; a world where sin, brokeness, pain, and death would no longer reign and dictate the human heart. It was the Advent of a new order of life; one of love, grace, justice, compassion and generosity. This Advent was a divine move that fully proclaimed His divine mission of redemption and restoration. It was God’s subtle way of putting skin on love, grace, compassion and generosity that offers salvation to all of humanity. He was beginning His work of redeeming and restoring all of creation. It was Jesus the Lord, Savior and King. It is good news. It is the Gospel: that through King Jesus, the One who fulfill’s Israel’s promises found in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), God is inviting all of humanity to receive His redemptive salvation and new life of hope, love, mercy and grace. In King Jesus, God is inviting humanity to join in His mission to become His creative influence for redemption and restoration by declaring and demonstrating this Gospel. This means both proclaiming and practicing God’s way of life as modeled and taught by Jesus and New Testament Scripture. Or to put it another way, it looks like doing whatever it takes to deal out hope to the hopeless, love to the loveless, mercy to the merciless, and compassionate generosity to those in need.

If you really want the greatest gift you could ever receive, the Creator of heaven and earth offers it to you in Jesus Christ, the reconciling, redeeming and restoring King. Really. Consider Him. Lay aside what the preachers say and who other christians claim Him to be (even this one). Jesus will always be Jesus, and though He will come to live inside our “hearts,” He will never live inside our preferences. He is Jesus. So I invite you to read the book of John in the bible and see Him for yourself. If you don’t have a bible (or one that reads in language similar to the way we actually speak in 2011), then email me and I will send you one.

If you want to give the greatest gift you can ever afford, find meaningful ways to give others hope, love and compassion. These gifts can make a lasting difference and point to the greatest Gift of all.

During Thanksgiving I find it difficult to forget that we live in a world full of people who need something to be thankful about. This week almost all of us are going to celebrate a holiday with people we love, just like we have done every year. Except I would guess that someone you know is preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time without that someone they love.

Now they may need something to be thankful about.

This week almost all of us are going to sit around the table full of more food than we could ever eat. While I would guess that someone you know is preparing to look into an empty pantry just to find something to eat. Some will even have to rustle through the same old dumpsters and trash cans just so they can find another meal.

Now they may need something to be thankful about.

So, once again this year I got to thinking about how many of us have so much to be thankful about that we shouldn’t know what to do with it all. Then I got to thinking: we should give others something to be thankful about. And once again this year my mind went back to a story that Jesus told in the chapter 10 of Gospel according to Luke. If you are not a Christ-follower, I think you will appreciate this story.

“Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘What is written in the law?’ He asked him. ‘How do you read it?’ 
He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
 ‘You’ve answered correctly,’ He told him. ‘Do this and you will live.’ 
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ 
Jesus took up the question and said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 
A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 
In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 
But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. 
He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 
The next day as he was leaving he took out two silver coins gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’ 
“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ ‘The one who showed mercy to him,’ he said. Then Jesus told him, ‘Go and do the same.'” (Luke 10:25-37)

Many Christ-followers I know have often interpreted the point of this story to be that every one is our neighbor so we should love everybody. Though this is true I don’t think it is what Jesus is teaching the religious “expert.” I think the point is found in Jesus’ question in verse 36 which is answered in verse 37:

“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 
“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

Jesus is trying to help this religious “expert” understand that he was asking the wrong question. Instead of asking “who is my neighbor,” Jesus is suggesting that we should ask ourselves, “will I choose to be a good neighbor?” The point is not, everyone is my neighbor. The point is, I am everyone else’s good neighbor.

So this Thanksgiving what would happen if we resolved to be a thankful, good neighbor? What would happen if we stopped looking for reasons to help people and just started helping? What would happen if we stopped putting people through a sort of mental application process? You know, asking questions like, will they really use this money to buy a meal or will they just buy more liquor? Or, did they lose their job because they are lazy or did they really lose their job because of what they said? Or, if I do good for this person will they be willing to listen to me share the Gospel? Or, if I keep doing good for this person will they just take advantage of my help and never learn to do for their self? I know some of you will disagree with my logic here. I can appreciate that. But all I can think about is how thankful I am that Jesus was concerned with being a good neighbor and that He doesn’t ask those questions about me before He does good for me. If he did, well, I wouldn’t have received a thing from Him and I would be in desperate need for something to be thankful about.

I must admit that I am not very convinced that people who were taught by Jesus to concern themselves with simply being good neighbors to everyone, even strangers, should get so distracted by asking these kinds of questions. Personally, I do not feel I have a right to do so. Truth is I am no better than “them” (whoever “them” is). Truth is I have often been careless with some of the gifts God has given me. Yes, we need to be wise. Wasn’t Jesus wise? And wasn’t it Jesus who gave us this parable of what it looks like to be a good neighbor? Didn’t He write the script that included the Samaritan doing what many of us would consider unwise when he told the Innkeeper: Take care of him (a total stranger!). When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend?” Perhaps we should just concern ourselves with being good neighbors and let the Lord sort out the other details.

Well, regardless of whether you or I come to full agreement as to exactly how we should go about being a good neighbor, maybe we can agree on one thing: we should. If so and you aren’t sure where to begin, how about this:

Instead of buying one turkey buy two, and give one away. I bet there is someone in your daily path who needs a turkey. There might be someone at your office where you work. Or just drop it off at the local Fire Station. I bet they will know someone in need. Just give one away. And if you are a Christ-follower, do it in Jesus’ name.

Instead of cooking one casserole, cook two; instead of one desert, cook two. And give one away. And if you are a Christ-follower, do it in Jesus’ name. Even if you do not know whether your next door neighbor can afford their own, I bet they would enjoy the gift of your homemade apple pie.

Instead of only having your family over invite someone else who doesn’t have their family this year. I bet they would enjoy your family’s company and everybody’s good cookin’.

So once again I got to thinking that if we thankful and abundantly blessed folks decided this Thanksgiving that we were going to give more attention to being a good neighbor, we might give someone else something to be thankful about.

Now I don’t know what you think, but I think that’s something to be thankful about.