How To Neighbor?
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Luke 10: 25-29 (TPT) Just then a religious scholar stood before Jesus in order to test his doctrines. He posed this question: “Teacher, what requirement must I fulfill if I want to live forever in heaven?” Jesus replied, “What does Moses teach us? What do you read in the Law?” The religious scholar answered, “It states, ‘You must love the Lord God with all your heart, all your passion, all your energy, and your every thought. And you must love your neighbor as well as you love yourself.’” Jesus said, “That is correct. Now go and do exactly that and you will live.”
Wanting to justify himself, he questioned Jesus further, saying, “What do you mean by ‘my neighbor’?”
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Any excuse to be the kind of neighbor Christ has called us to be!
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Justify our reservation to loving others with excuses of prejudice, inadequacy and pride.
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Prejudice: (prejudging) preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. – Selective neighborliness
But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.James 2:9 NLT
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1. Recognize our prejudices
1 John 3:18 MSG My dear children, lets not just talk about love; lets practice real love.
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2. Seek to understand others
Romans 12:9 – Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.
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3. Love those different from you
For most humans, the threshold is whether you are like them or not. But for Christ, the threshold is whether you will acknowledge you “need” him or not…
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
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Prejudice isn’t just the present of hatred. It’s the lack of love.
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Being a Christian is loving the person in front of you the way Jesus first loved the soul inside of you.
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IN THE CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORHOOD…
A> Orphans are embraced (Those without a heavenly Father)
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5 NLT
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B> The poor are empowered
Most Americans define poverty as a lack of something material.
The truly poor define poverty as a mindset.
The root of all poverty is brokenness.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19
WE REACH OUT NOT REACH DOWN
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C> The lonely are loved
Love by touch (Jesus touched the lepers)
Love by listening
Love with time
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THE GREATEST QUALITY OF A GOOD NEIGHBOR IS KINGDOM HOSPITALITY
Ephesians 2:17-18 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
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Hospitable Hearts not only hospitable hands
Matthew 22:2-3 (Selective Hospitality)
“The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!
Matthew 22:8-10 (Open Hearted Hospitality)
So he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.
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The Kingdom is open for all, but not automatic. All are invited, not all accept the invitation.
Many people will never come to repentance and forgiveness without open hearted hospitality.
Jesus has prepared the feast, the home of your heart is ready. He wants you to throw open the banquet hall of your heart so all can see what Has has prepared for them.
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You do not get the luxury of making the decision of rejecting Jesus for others.
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It’s not just the job of the missionary!
What if we don’t have to travel far to get close to people who are distant from God?
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You cannot be selfish and self-centered and also be hospitable.
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Hospitality is recognizing the value in our fellow man; even if they cannot recognize it in themselves.
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Selective hospitality is choosing to value some more than others. I don’t get to determine the value of others. Value is determined by what God was willing to pay for a life.
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What’s the point of hospitality?
For people to see Jesus.