This is a sermon that is based on Matthew 22:39 in which Jesus describes the 2nd greatest commandment as "love your neighbor as yourself." The sermon attempts to explain what it means to love others as ourselves, and how love for God is inevitably linked to our love for others.
Written Excerpts:
Matthew
22:39 (NKJV) And the
second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
Introduction:
I
remember reading a joke many years ago that went something like this:
The new pastor in town was walking down the street and
happened to meet up with a young boy.
Pastor: “Are you afraid of the devil?”
Boy: “I wouldn’t be afraid of a little devil like me, but
I’d be afraid of a big devil like you!”
When
it comes to “loving our neighbor,” most of us, if we’re honest, would admit
that it is pretty easy to love a neighbor like me, but not necessarily a
neighbor like you!
Last
Sunday I spoke to you from a previous verse in Matt. 22, regarding the
“greatest commandment” – love God with all your heart, your soul, and your
mind. That
statement was the answer Jesus gave to the question, “What is the greatest
commandment of all?” Jesus
did not stop after giving the greatest commandment, however. He continues to
give the inquirers the 2nd greatest commandment – love your neighbor
as yourself.
(Lenski NT Commentary) – The point in
quoting this commandment in addition to the other is in this instance not the
fact that love to God includes love to our neighbor, which is true enough; but
that the quality and the high character of both commandments are
"alike."
Lit.
– “like to this;” in quality it is like the love we have toward God. (Lenski)
The
Scripture reading provided a short time ago was taken from the Gospel of Luke
and it addresses the same question, but from a little different perspective. In
this account in Luke, Jesus gives the story of the “Good Samaritan” in order to
answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The
story has many excellent teaching points in it, but overall, Jesus uses the
illustration to show that being a true neighbor means helping out anyone that
is in need.
There
have various times over the past several years that I’ve come to this
conclusion: There really isn’t a difficult answer to the question, “How does
God want me to reach others for him?” The
simple answer is: “Show them the love of Christ.”
That
is not always easy for a couple of reasons:
1)
People are often not very likeable and therefore it’s not easy to offer them
love.
2)
Sometimes it is not easy to determine what course of action is the best way to
demonstrate genuine love.
This
morning I want to speak to you about the Lord’s expectation of His children to
“love their neighbors.”
I. Our love for others should match our love
for self.
Jesus is quoting the OT passage and reminds us that we
must give the same love, respect, care and concern for others as we would give
ourselves. This was readily understood by many Jews to be fitting
for those who were your friends or those who did the same for you, but…
Jesus, expands the meaning in other passages by saying:
“Love your enemies.” Why? Well, partly because your enemy still qualifies
as your “neighbor.”
Self-centeredness is an obstacle to loving your neighbor, but…
Self-interest is necessary in order to love your neighbor.
When we are
instructed to love our neighbor as ourselves, it is understood and assumed that
we actually do love ourselves.
Ephesians 5:28-29 (NKJV) So husbands
ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves
himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and
cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
(Wm. Klein, Expositor's Bible Commentary, Revised) – A basic, human
self-love is a given; it is understandable, and it is valid. Self-hatred is a
pathology; healthy people do not hate themselves. Paul states that no one does.
It is not that self-hatred does not occur, but it is
not normal. Paul’s statement here is speaking of the norm. So, there is a sense in which we must love ourselves
in order to love others properly. That is, we must see ourselves as products of God’s
divine love, design and purpose, not some cosmic mistake that evolved from
slime billions of years ago. We must see ourselves as individuals created in the
image of God and thus able to see our neighbors in the same light.
If we understand that we deserve love and respect,
then so does our “neighbor.”
II. Our love for others is inseparably tied to
our love for God.
I quoted Lenski a little earlier who said, the quality and the high character of both
commandments are "alike."
The Apostle John clearly declares that it is not
possible to love God and not love one another or “our brother.”
1
John 4:7 (NKJV) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God;
and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1
John 4:11 (NKJV) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another.
1
John 4:20 (NKJV) If someone says, "I love God," and hates his
brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen,
how can he love God whom he has not seen?
As I already alluded to a few moments ago, we must
love others, because every one of them are created in God’s image. No matter how marred and scarred the “image” may be,
they are still made in the image of God. You can’t really, genuinely love God with all of your
being and yet have disdain for God’s highest creation.
In addition,
According to Scripture, our love for God is the
motivation for “doing all we do for the glory of God.” When we love Him, we
want to exalt Him and glorify Him. We want God to be applauded. We want our
lives and actions to draw attention to Him. It naturally follows that we would want other humans
that were created with the same purpose to also be involved in glorifying God. Part of loving God means doing whatever we can to
enlist more and more people into giving glory to God.
III. Our love for others is not primarily a
feeling.
The Greek word used for love in these commands is not
the word that conveys feelings of admiration, or affection. Rather, it is the
word that conveys intelligence and purpose (Lenski), along with commitment and
sacrifice.
As
such, it isn’t about “warm, fuzzy feelings.” It has more to do with actions
that convey concern, empathy, and demonstration of God’s love for them. It
has often been said, “Love is a verb.” Meaning it is more often about what you
do than what you feel.
If
we had time, there are plenty of stories we could share about ways people have
demonstrated love for others. “Loving
our neighbor” isn’t always about doing really big things. Sometimes it is being
sensitive enough and willing to just pause and do the little things. I don’t
know where this event happened, but I read about it several months ago.
Here is a story I read on the internet several months ago: After her
grandson's tennis lesson, Joyce took her grandson to Rita's Italian Ice for a
treat. As they were about to leave, she noticed a sweet family all enjoying ice
cream together and she stopped. "Something urged me to ask them if I could
take their picture, which they did not hesitate to agree," she shared on
Facebook. "I took this picture and then handed my phone to the young
daughter and told her to go ahead and text the picture to their cell
phone."
On their way
home, Joyce explained to her grandson that this isn't the first time she's
offered to capture a sweet family moment for complete strangers so that they
can have a special memory. Days later, she looked at her phone and noticed a
text message from an unsaved number:
Dear Madam,
you took our picture in front of Rita's on June 8th. My wife has passed away
yesterday and this is the last picture we have together as a family. Please
accept my deepest gratitude for your kindness, it means the world to me. Thank
you from the bottom of my heart.
Joyce
continued texting the father and learned that his wife had been sick for the
past year. "Never underestimate a simple act of random kindness," she
wrote. "My heart is heavy for this sweet family that I don't even know and
the tremendous gift that was left to them because I listened to my gut that
day. I'm in awe!"
Conclusion:
You
might have already guessed that I have brought this message today for a
specific reason – We’re getting ready to start an outreach into our neighborhood. I
want us to not only be prepared mentally and spiritually in our hearts with the
right motives, but I want you to be praying and asking God what part you are
going to share.
Here
are some of the jobs that will need to be done:
·
People to prepare
the packets we’re going to distribute.
·
People to visit
the homes on all of the surrounding roads in our general neighborhood.
·
People who will
be committed to pray for the people and the literature going out.
·
People who will
be willing to follow-up on possible needs we might be able to fill.
·
People who will
be willing to be on call to serve needs we discover through our outreach.
o Sit with the lonely
o Transport folk to appointments
o Prepare a meal/clean a house
o Basic home repairs/lawn repair, etc.
So
you see, loving our neighbor is more than just saying it. It is more than
likely going to require work and sacrifice.
James
2:15-16 (NKJV) If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily
food, 16and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be
warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed
for the body, what does it profit?
Closing
song: The Servant Song
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