Monday, July 13, 2009

Love Thy Neighbor I

We now move to the second of the great commandments, which is said to be "like unto" the first one. It doesn't mean they are the same, it just means that they are connected. In the words of I John, "How can you say you love God, whom you have not seen and not love your brother that you have seen?"

"On Loving and Liking"

I have always struggled with the idea that you could love someone without liking them. "I have to love you, but I don't have to like you." Perhaps it was because the people who said it to me spoke it so easily! But after many years, I must admit the truth of the statement. Our liking of another individual assumes that we have attractive pheromes (the scent that attracts us to each other), similar interests, and things we just enjoy about them. Sometimes we like and become friends with people because we just need to be liked and have friends. Often, we can't even describe why we like somebody. And the truth is, not everybody likes you or me (as hard as it is for us to believe!). But they can act in love toward us and us toward them even when we find each other unlikeable and even repulsive. I do believe this, that when we do act lovingly and are in prayer for those we don't like, the tendency in us to find something likeable about them often occurs. And we can work on our likeability to some extent, by improving our relational skills and becoming more aware of the thoughts and perceptions of others. I have trouble picturing an effective church outreach plan that says, "You may find me repulsive, but you'll love my Jesus." Having said that, the love of Christ does urge us past the walls of our liking to discover the power of loving people in His name.

Leviticus 19:9-18

It always good to find the context of a biblical teaching. "Loving your neighbor as yourself" is part of a larger discussion. I begin with verse 9, because it immediately begins to ask the question of tomorrow's study, "Who is my neighbor?" We have neighbors to love who are there only in passing. From the harvest, the gatherers are to leave some for the poor and the aliens. The harvest of their labors is spoken for by people they not only don't necessarily like but also may not know. What if every time we cultivated a garden, we gave some of the fruit and vegetables to people we didn't know, yet were in need? What if every time we bought groceries, we bought extra for those who had little, or at least gave a donation to the food bank (that is able to buy more for the money than we can)? Not all neighbors are resident, but instead are in proximity to us "in passing". This past week I was mowing our lawn and was startled by a man from behind who approached me, asking for assistance. I did help him some, but I didn't know him and may never see him again. In that moment, he was my neighbor.

In the verses that follow, a few of the ten commandments, and how they are lived out, become ways to love God in our neighbor. Acting honestly and with integrity, being "up front" in our negotiating, paying people on time, looking out for those who have disabilities, making fair and just judgments, refusing to manipulate or take advantage of people, and refusing to hate and take revenge are all ways to love God in your neighbor.

The end of verse 18 is the second great command: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." It makes a grand assumption, that people love themselves. The self-loathing that is part of our generation is foreign to the writer at this point, even though there are examples of self-hatred in scripture. I have heard it said by some, "I can't love you until I learn to love myself." It is true that lack of self-love can get in the way of acting lovingly toward others. It is also true that acting in love toward others can develop your self-love, as well as regular worship of the LORD. To refuse to act lovingly toward others because you don't love yourself is really a "cop out." Notice the repeated phrase in the passage, "I am the LORD." Loving thy neighbor is not something we ignore or negotiate our way out of.

I John 1:1-2:6

In my first year of Greek, we finished the course by reading the letter of I John. It is the simplest Greek in all the New Testament, written at the level a child can understand, but the lessons in it are profound. In a very real sense, the letter is a sermon on applied love of God and neighbor. The opening words of the letter remind us of the opening of his gospel, with the dominant themes of "life" and "light" and the incarnation (the coming of God in the flesh in Christ). The life we share is based on a historical fact - the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In him light, life and love became touchable. Some people treat the Christian faith as just another philosophy of life, but our faith in Jesus is firmly joined to who we was on earth - what he did and what he taught.

The contrast of light and darkness (a major theme in all of John's writings)leads to a discussion about honesty and consistency in our Christian lives. We often say, "It is as simple as night and day." The church of John's day was being challenged by corruption and division and so he quickly wants to sort out truth from deception. There are many sincere Christians (even leaders) who speak quite eloquently the truth, but live contrary to what they teach. We are tempted, because of their appeal or their friendship, to excuse their duplicity, but John urges us to keep a clear view. It's either light or it's dark, and there is no-in between.

But honesty requires that we also admit that there is always some duplicity, because we find it impossible to live up to the standards of Christ. We are works in progress. Verses 8-10 call us to self-examination and confession, so that we can be forgiven and cleansed. This is not always easy. We want to pretend we are better than we are and to rationalize what we do. Often it takes someone who loves us enough to help us face the truth about ourselves. It is risky for that person, but what is at stake is our freedom and future Christian growth.

Thank God, we do not have to reform all by ourselves. We have one who knows us better than we know ourselves and He (Christ) is our advocate. In other passages of scripture Christ is also our judge. When we ignore his call to love and holiness, we experience judgment and the consequences for our attitudes and actions. When we come to him in humble confession, he becomes our advocate, calling for our forgiveness and cleansing. Schubert Ogden, one of my systematic theology professors taught that "grace" and "wrath" were like two sides of a coin, because of the love and holiness of God. When we buck up against that holiness and love we experience wrath and judgment, and when we open up to holiness and love we experience grace. Again, this gift of Christ is not just a philosophy. Jesus died a historic and vicious death to make it possible, not just for us, but for everyone.

John closes this passage calling for a consistent walk to match our talk, "to walk as he walked." When I was growing up, a song that was often sung by soloists was "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked." It is a song that traces the life of Christ as if we were right beside him. It is a beautiful song, but I see John inviting us to "Walk Today as Jesus Walks", making his love flesh in our daily lives. The call of John is to faith (in Christ who really came and died in history), humility (that we commit sins and are helpless to overcome them on our own)and genuineness (letting Christ shine in all we say and do). How are you doing on those three fronts? Have a great day.

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