CHRISTMAS GIVES US A NEW NEIGHBOR

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

REDEFINES OUR RELATIONSHIPS

Neighbor: concept apparently limited in the OT period and late Judaism to one’s fellow Israelite, or member of the covenant, and extended by Jesus to include anyone encountered in life.

Jesus differed dramatically from his Jewish contemporaries by eradicating the limitations on the neighbor to be loved. In contrast to those who would limit love to one’s fellow countrymen, Jesus advocated extending the obligation reserved for the neighbor to the enemy as well and in so doing, destroyed the distinction between neighbor and enemy altogether.

Matthew 5:43–48 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

On another occasion, a scribe asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment given by God

Mark 12:28–31 ESV

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In response, Jesus cited Deuteronomy 6:5 concerning the nature of God and man’s obligation to love God with his entire being: heart, soul, and mind. Of significance is that Jesus did not stop there but linked with this a second commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some scholars suggest that this dramatic and close association of love of God and love of neighbor originated with Jesus. If Jesus did first draw these commands together (see Mt 22:37; Mk 12:29–31), it reveals our Lord’s own understanding of the relation of these two obligations: proper love for neighbor derives from love for God and conversely, love for God is inseparable from meeting the needs of a neighbor in love.

The debate in Jesus’ time was not over how to properly treat a neighbor but who, in fact, was the neighbor. Jesus is asked this very question by an expert of the Law

Luke 10:29 ESV

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus had complimented the lawyer for his clear understanding of what was required to inherit eternal life; namely, love of God and love of neighbor. Luke suggests (10:29) that the lawyer asked the further qualifying question in order to “justify himself,” that is, justify his actual behavior of limited love toward his fellowman.

Jesus chose not to respond directly but through the use of a parable, in this case, the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan (10:30–35). In order to open the lawyer’s eyes to the tragic shortsightedness of his question, Jesus related an everyday story of a man traveling the treacherous road from Jerusalem down to Jericho, a road particularly plagued by robbers. The traveler is robbed, stripped, beaten, and left half dead (v 30). To this point, the lawyer might have assumed Jesus was offering an example of who constitutes a “neighbor”—a fellow Jew in need. Jesus proceeds, however, to introduce two figures, a priest and a Levite (10:31, 32) who, in an academic discussion, could have argued quite ably on who is the neighbor God calls one to love. The lawyer would no doubt have anticipated such experts in the Law to act rightly toward the victim. In contrast, the priest and Levite, upon seeing the man in need, respond by “passing by the other side.” Enter a Samaritan, a figure especially despised by the Jews. Viewed as heretics by the Jewish religious authorities, the Samaritans were disqualified in rabbinic circles from being considered a “neighbor” and thus worthy of love.

While the lawyer listening to the parable would have expected the priest and Levite to act justly toward the victim, he must have been surprised that a hated Samaritan would show compassion and thus fulfill the greatest commandment. Jesus intentionally spelled out the extent of the Samaritan’s compassion (immediate care in dressing wounds, transport to the inn, care for the victim there and extended care in paying for care by others while he is away, 10:34, 35) to such a degree that the lawyer would have no doubt as to the genuineness of the Samaritan’s love. The irony of the story is that one not considered worthy to be called “neighbor” by Jews was precisely the one who showed himself to be “neighbor” to the victim (10:36, 37).

All of this reveals Jesus’ definition of “neighbor” and what “love of neighbor” demands. Jesus sets no limitation on who qualifies as the neighbor commanded by God to be loved.

The forcefulness and power of Jesus’ teachings on the love of neighbor and its relationship to one’s love for God are demonstrated by a similar emphasis within the early church. Paul on two occasions called the love of neighbor the “fulfillment of the entire law” “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Galatians 5:14 ESV

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

while James referred to the same commandment as “the royal law” (Jas 2:8).

What is gospel neighboring? To meet the concrete needs, the human needs, of all the people around you, whether they believe like you do or not, with such costliness and such sacrifice that people will need to hear the gospel just to try to make some sense out of your life, because you’re so inexplicable.

REQUIRES OUR RESPONSE

Feeding, sheltering, protecting the weak, liberating the oppressed. This is the essence of what it means to be a disciple. This is the essence of what it means to love my neighbor. This is it.”

In fact, this is not the only place. In Matthew 25, Jesus says,

Matthew 25:42–44 ESV

For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’

Jesus has the audacity to say, “Here’s how I know the difference between a person who just says they believe and a person who has actually experienced my supernatural grace. A life poured out in deeds of compassion and service, especially to the poor, is an inevitable sign that you’ve actually experienced my salvation. It may come later, it may come sooner, but it will always come.

REFUTES OUR RESTRICTIONS

There are three ways in this passage in which Jesus refutes their restrictions. The first way we tend to restrict gospel neighboring is we try to limit the who.

“Your neighbor is anybody in need, absolutely anyone.” The protagonist reaches across an enormous racial barrier in order to help. It’s Jesus’ way of saying, “Don’t you dare try to limit this. Don’t you dare.”

THE LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOR IS THE ONLY DOOR OUT OF THE DUNGEON OF SELF. GEORGE MACDONALD.

Secondly, we tend to limit the when.

Jonathan Edwards, who was a pastor in New England in the 1740s, wrote a fascinating treatise called “The Duty of Charity to the Poor” because his own congregation was giving him all these excuses why they didn’t want to do it. He made lists of all the excuses and gospel answers. Here’s one excuse. “But you say, ‘They are not truly poor. I only have to help people when they’re truly destitute and poor.’”

Edwards’ answer is something like, “Should we relieve our neighbors only in extreme destitution? That is not agreeable to the rule of loving our neighbors as ourselves. We get concerned about our situation long before we become destitute. We do something about our situation long before we become destitute, so you should love your neighbor as yourself.”

Here’s the second excuse. “But they brought on their trouble themselves. I don’t have to help when they have brought it on themselves.”

Jonathan Edwards writes, “But Christ loved you, pitied you, and greatly laid himself out to relieve you from all that want and misery which you brought on yourself by your own folly. Should we not love others as Christ loved us?” In other words, Edwards is saying Jesus looked down from heaven and if he had said, “I only want to help the deserving poor with my blood,” he could have saved himself a trip, because there isn’t anybody down here who deserves it.

Thirdly, we tend to limit the how much.

Jonathan Edwards deals with a person who says, “I can’t afford to help people in need. I can’t afford …” he essentially says, “Remember

Galatians 6:2 ESV

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Edwards goes on, “IF OUR NEIGHBORS DIFFICULTIES AND NECESSITIES ARE MUCH GREATER THAN OUR OWN. . . WE SHOULD BE WILLING TO SUFFER WITH HIM AND TAKE PART OF HIS BURDEN UPON OURSELVES.

When people say, “I can’t afford to give,” what they mean is, “I can’t afford to give to the poor or the needy without it burdening me, without it hurting my living standards, without it really making me radically sacrifice.” Jesus says, “Yes. That’s it.”

There’s no such thing as a person who can’t afford to help. In fact, if you can afford to help, you’re not helping enough.

Jesus Christ says, “Let me tell you the magnitude of what I’m calling my disciples to do. You are to help even people who ordinarily you would hate the sight of. You are to help people who have brought this on themselves, and you are to help them to the place where some of their burden falls on you, so that to some degree you experience some of their difficulty because you’re giving that heavily.” He says, “That is what I call you to. Don’t you dare limit it.”

Well, let me ask you a quick question. How do you get anybody to live like this I mean, obviously this is great, but nobody lives like this? Nobody lives like this. So how do you get people to live like this? That brings us up to our final observation this morning.

REVEALS OUR REASON

The first way you can try to get people to live like this is through morality, secular or religious. The secular version goes like this. You say, “Well, if you’re a progressive person, if you’re a decent person, if you’re a civic-minded person, you’ll be concerned for the poor. You will vote for policies that help them and you will give yourself and your time through volunteer work and through your money. That’s the secular version.

The religious version is, “You must give to the poor because the Bible commands it or the Qur’an commands it or the Torah commands it,” or whatever.

There is not one major religion in the world that doesn’t put a lot of emphasis on helping the poor. So you have a religious and a secular version, but they both basically motivate you through guilt. “You have so much, and they have so little. Don’t you feel bad? Give it away.”

Notice this in our parable. Jesus puts into this parable two people who are extremely moral, extremely religious … a priest and a Levite. it was their job distributed the goods to the poor. He could have chosen some other kinds of people, a Pharisee, or something, but the priests and the Levites. What is Jesus trying to show us?

He’s trying to show us people who out of a duty, who out of morality, who out of just simple conscience, ordinarily do help the poor, but when it comes to the radical costliness, when it’s going to cost them something, when it’s going to make them risk their life, when they’re going to have to lay themselves out in the radical way Jesus Christ is demanding, radical gospel neighboring, they can’t do it. They go around the side.

Jesus is saying morality can’t take you very far. It can make you a little bit generous. It can make you feel bad about the way you’re living, but it can’t take you very far. It doesn’t really change your life. In fact, let me ask you a quick question. Is there anybody here feeling guilty about their lack of involvement, their lack of generosity, lack of concern for the people in need around?

Is anyone here feeling guilty? Stop. Because it won’t take you where Jesus wants you to go, because Jesus is not trying to make the lawyer feel guilty. HE WANTS HIM TO FEEL GRACE.

The key to the parable is where the religious scholar has been placed by Jesus inside the story. If Jesus Christ had said the story like this, if he had said, “A man, just like you, was riding along on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, and in the road, he saw a Samaritan. The Samaritan had been robbed and had been beaten and he was almost dead, but that man, just like you, though the man was a Samaritan, he got off of his steed and he went over and he poured oil on his wounds. He sacrificed himself and he risked his life and he gave to this man. Go and do likewise …”

What would the guy have done? He would have laughed at Jesus. He would have said, “Are you kidding? I’m not a traitor of my people. That’s the weirdest story I’ve ever heard. No self-respecting Israelite would ever do something like that. I would have just trampled on him and put him out of his misery. I would have ridden over him a couple of times.” He says, “You do not inspire me, Jesus. You do not move me, Jesus. That’s the most ridiculous thing in the world.” It’s true. That’s exactly what would have happened, but Jesus didn’t do that.

Jesus puts the Israelite into the road, and he puts the hated Samaritan on the steed, in the saddle. Here’s the question he’s asking the man. “What if you were in the road? What if your life was ebbing out? What if you were bleeding to death? What if your only hope was an act of free grace to you from an enemy who doesn’t owe you any mercy, in fact, he owes you the opposite? What if your only hope was an act of free grace, an act of radical neighbor love, from someone who in no way owes you neighbor love at all? What if that was the situation? Would you want grace?”

Do you realize what he’s doing? If he had said, “You’re in the saddle, the Samaritan is on the ground, reach across the barriers and don’t be a racist and don’t be a classist and be generous,” he would have been basically saying, “I’m giving you a ‘do it,’ a rule.” Even if the man agreed, he would just be complying. It wouldn’t have changed his heart.

He’s not giving him a “do it,” he’s giving him a dynamic. He is saying; What if you had an experience of radical grace? What if you were shockingly saved only by the grace of someone who owed you nothing but rejection?”

Only if that had happened to you would you get up and start to look at everyone differently. Only then would you become a radical lover. Only then would you become a radical neighbor. Only then would you look at people who in the past you despised … the wrong race, the wrong class, people who you didn’t think were responsible …

You’d look at them and say, “But I was no different. I was saved by someone who didn’t owe me that. I was saved by someone who had been an enemy. I was saved by someone who I had rejected and resisted myself. I have been saved by radical grace.” That would change … It would get rid of the moralism, it would get rid of the pride that makes you look down and laugh at all the other people who aren’t just like you. That’s what would happen. Jesus is saying you will never be a neighbor until you get a neighbor.

In other words, you will never be a radical neighbor until you’re radically neighbored. You will never be able to have the kind of ministry to the people around you until you are the recipient of radical neighbor grace. You have to ask yourself, “All right. That’s very interesting. Where would you get something like that?”

Do you notice how Jesus has turned it around? He started off saying the question, “And who is my neighbor?” but at very end, look at Jesus’ question. He changed it. “Who was neighbor to you? Who was neighbor to the man in need?” The guy has to choke out … He can’t even use the word Samaritan, but he basically gets it. He says, “The one who showed him mercy.”

The gospel says Jesus Christ came into the world. He came onto our road. Of course, he owes us nothing but rejection, because he’s the Creator. We owe him everything, and we’ve been trying to be our own masters for all of our lives, but when he came to our place in the road, he had compassion on us. This word compassion in verses 33 and 34 … It says “pity” but the word there is a word that is used more about Jesus Christ’s emotional life than any other word in the Bible. He had compassion on him.

When Jesus Christ saw us, he knew that to stop wouldn’t just risk his life it would cost his life. For Jesus to get down and come to us and put us up in his place, on his saddle, cost his life. “God made him sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him”. If you see him as your Good Samaritan, if you see him as your radical Neighbor, if you see him as having done that, that changes you forever and you can do this.

You see, in the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus Christ demands the love that cannot be demanded; he requires the love that cannot be required. Jesus Christ says radical gospel neighboring requires a love that cannot be a response to a requirement but a response to free grace. Only when you see the true Neighbor and what he has done for you, will you become a true neighbor for others.

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