LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

by Ronnie Mutina

I had the privilege to go to an estate sale that just happened to be next door to my house. I did not know the lady that past away and left all the things that were being sold, and this is to my shame. I know this lady came over to our house and presented Becky and I with some hot cinnamon rolls and welcomed us to her neighborhood. We did not have an opportunity to meet her and become friends with her. She came in while we were unpacking and she just said, "I want to give you these, and welcome you to our neighborhood." Becky asked her to come in, but she politely refused and who could blame her. After all, our house was full of boxes that needed to be unpacked. She quietly left, and we never saw her again.

If you’ve ever been to an estate sale, you can learn a lot about them, by looking at the objects they have for sale. For instance, she liked to cross – stitch and obviously made quilts at one time. She loved gospel music, as there was evidence of it with tapes and she even had an organ. I did not see a lot of books, which I usually look for, but I was thinking as I went through her house of how we collect things that are usually left for someone else to collect after we leave this world. This brings me to my thought for the day.

I was thinking how, though we live next door, to neighbors today, they are not what neighbors used to be when I was a youngster. In the Bible there is a sentence used 8 times that should make all of us think. "Love thy neighbor as thyself." The first time it is used is in Leviticus 19:18, but the passage I’m thinking about is in the book of Matthew. In chapter 22:33 – 40, we find that Jesus is dealing with a large group of people, which included a large number of Sadducees and the Pharisees among a lot of other people. In the previous verses, the Sadducees, who did not believe in a resurrection, asked Jesus about a woman marrying a man, who had died, and she married the brother, who had also died and this went on all the way down to the seventh and final brother. They wanted to know at the resurrection, which one would be her husband. After Jesus showed them that they had erred, His attention was then turned to a group of Pharisees who were always trying to trap Jesus in HIS Word.

In verse 35, we see one of the Pharisees, which was a lawyer, asked HIM a question, which was tempting Him, and said, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And they second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." If you do any studying of God’s Word and read the context that this is taken in you see that Jesus not only shut up the Sadducees, but he shut the Pharisees up quickly. Whether they liked it or not, Jesus showed them that they were so focused on themselves and how good they thought they were that they looked down upon people who they called neighbors. Nobody, but them, was even worthy to serve God.

Here is something to chew on for a little while and let us think on it; IF YOU DON’T LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, HOW CAN YOU LOVE GOD? The answer is simple. You cannot love God you have not seen, if you don’t love your neighbor. What would that love entail? In my mind, if you love your neighbor the way God instructed man too, you would not only meet them, but you would share the love of God with them. You would make sure that they knew that they needed Christ as their personal Savior, and you would be willing to do whatever it takes to testify daily unto them. Now, what we need to understand is simply. We need to walk or talk to be a good testimony to the world. I’ve not always walked my talk; another shame unto me. It’s easy to talk about Christ and about how much we love HIM, but what does our actions tell the world. Are we walking our talk? There are a lot of church members who believe that they are living for Christ daily, and there are a few that do. However, the majority of the church – goers only sees Christ in their life on Sundays and maybe an occasional Wednesday night. I have a theory that if God is not part of your life every day, then HE is probably not part of your life at all. Think about it.

Loving our neighbors extends farther away than just the hand full of people who live next door to each of us. It extends all over the world. Now, you may not love a person’s ways, but the fact is that person has a soul, just as you and I do, that needs Jesus Christ. If we love our neighbor as thyself, then we would be willing to testify to them and tell them Jesus loves them and wants to be their LORD. Granted, lots of them will turn HIM away, but the fact is, we still have an obligation. That is what Jesus meant when HE said, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). If we truly love our neighbors then we, as children of God, will want them to go with us to heaven, when we are called home.

Second thought – As I was telling you about the items that I saw in this estate sale, I told you that you could learn a great deal about a person, when you looked at the items they kept as a possession in their life. I’ve preached a message before, entitled, "What About the Dash In Your Life?" We all look at monuments, I still call them tombstones, and we can see the beginning date of their life and the ending date of their life on this earth. However, as important as the beginning and ending is, what’s in the middle is more important. So, when you die, and we are guaranteed that this will happen, one day, what will people be able to say about your dash? What does our life stand for? Does it stand for the truths of God or the ways of this world? Will people be talking about how Godly you lived and how much you loved your neighbors or will they talk about all the things you did that did not honor and glorify God in your life? These are very important things to ponder on?

I remember when I was a teenager, there was a slogan that went like this: Sex, Drug, and Rock and Roll baby. Well, I listened to rock music and obviously the sex thing happened, because I have 3 great boys, whom I love very much, but I chose not to do the drug thing. However, there where things in my life I did do that I’ve grown to regret. The lists would be to long to even mention, and, anyway, the blood of the LAMB has washed them away. Today’s world is even worse. People are focused more on partying and sex and drugs and anything they can do, rather than seeking God in their life. It is our responsibility to lead these people toward Christ. The fact of the matter is simple. When Paul points out we

"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), he is only being truthful with us. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t drink, do drugs, smoke cigarettes, or any of the things that are sin in that aspect; I was still in need of Christ. Paul also gave the answer in Romans 6:23, when he said, "For the wages of sin is death; but he gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." If it had not been for the testimony of my Grandmother, mom, uncle, and neighbors among other people in my life, I may have never found Christ for my life. Thank God for good neighbors who loved me enough to show me toward Christ. They did this by allowing Christ to use them to get my attention. So, the challenge before us today is, "love your neighbors and thyself." I believe this is part of proving what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God in our lives that Paul talks about.

May God helps us all to love our neighbors enough to show them HE loves them. If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, why not accept HIM today?