One of the more famous stories in all of literature comes from the earliest parts of our Bible. Cain and Abel, the children of Adam and Eve, are in conflict Cain actually murders Abel. God quickly confronts Cain with these words: “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper” (Genesis 4:9b)? It’s a rhetorical question to enforce the Bible’s command that we care for one another. I am my brother’s keeper. Say this with me: I am my brother’s keeper.
For the next few Sunday’s, we are going to focus on our relationships in our community in a series, entitled, Won’t You Be Our Neighbor? Many of you have seen our videos featuring Mr. Rogers in recent weeks. More seriously, we are asking many of you to read The Art of Neighboring as we progress through the series. This is a light read that you can move through in a matter of a couple of hours. In fact, one of the simplest pieces is this tool: where you are asked to identify the names of your eight closest neighbors. As we have been preparing for this day, our staff called this “the chart of shame.” I discovered this week that one of my neighbors had been in the hospital nearly 60 times in three years. We’ll come back to this chart at the end of today’s message.
On Food Truck Sunday, we'll be turning our south parking lot into a Food Truck Park. Everyone has to eat lunch after church, right? So let's just do it together! What if you invited a neighbor from your apartment complex to come that Sunday? During the month of October, we'll be tackling projects all over the community through our Love Loud emphasis. What if there is a Love Loud project on your street that you just don’t know about yet? Wouldn’t Trunk or Treat be more fun if you knew the kids behind those masks, because you took time to get to know their parents between now and then.... When we take the time to get to know our neighbors, we're not competing with the church - we're being the church!
Christianity is revolutionary because Jesus came along and said, “You please God by how you treat others.” “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). The Golden Rule: love just as you want to be loved. And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40). This entire series highlights one of our church’s core values, what we call generous living.
The Bible says you cannot please God unless you love your neighbor. So that all my the longings that I have for my own safety and health and success and happiness I now feel for that other person as though he were me. This is novel; this is revolutionary. And we really need to recapture this in our day.
1. It’s Needed Now
The Need Is Within Our Community. Over 10% of all Fort Worth ISD students have attempted suicide at least once in 2017. Nearly 30% reported they feel sad or hopeless almost every day for 2 or more weeks in a row. I discovered that government leaders have noted: People who have close bonds with their neighbors live longer; Where people know the names of their neighbor's crime is 60% lower; When natural disasters strike your neighbors are your first responders. There’s a chaotic pace to our lives where we need to slow down. The recent school shootings are not just about gun rights but we all see there’s a growing need to build strong relationships with one another.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8)?
1. It’s Needed Now
2. It’s Been Our History
One of the distinctive features to historical Christians has been we’ve taken the Golden Rule seriously. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:43–44). The Bible says that our love for our enemies is the proof that we are believers in Christ.
Epidemics
Both in 165 and in 251, devastating epidemics swept through the Roman Empire. Medical historians think the first epidemic, often called the Plague of Galen, was smallpox while the second one was measles. No matter the actual diseases, the effects were lethal. During the fifteen-year duration of the epidemic around 165, one-fourth to one-third of the empire’s population died as a result. The emperor Marcus Aurelius (who eventually died from the disease) wrote of caravans of carts and wagons that hauled out the dead. It was estimated that 5,000 people died daily in Rome at the height of the second plague. What’s interesting is to compare and contrast the way the early Christians dealt with the sick versus their pagan neighbors. No one really knew how to treat the sick and many did not even attempt to show medical care. It was not unusual for pagan families to pick their own family members up who was sick and out of fear of contamination lay them outside to die on the street, just so they weren’t contaminated. Many pagans, who had the means, got out of the city. Prior to knowing germs spread, pagans were afraid to visit one another. It was normal when a member of your own family got sick to, even before he or she was dead, throw them in the street, but Christians did not leave.
The Christian Response
But when disasters struck, the Christians were better able to cope. Because of the unique impact of Christian mercy, there were higher rates of survival. Where Christians, of course, not only nursed their own sick during those epidemics, but other people’s sick. Christians picked up not only their own sick and stayed in the city and cared for them, but they picked up the pagan sick … touching them, lifting them up, their sores oozing onto their hands … knowing this probably meant they might die, but they stayed. Historians will show you Christians because they stayed, because they weren’t afraid, because they cared for the sick and the dying and the poor, not only their own, but also of pagans. This had an enormous impact on the people. Here’s the question: Why did they stay and the pagans left? They believed in the resurrection. Christians on the other hand, believed that death wasn’t the end of life and this life was a time of testing.
Charity
A century after the epidemics, the emperor Julian wrote a letter in 362. In the letter to a pagan priest, Julian calls on the priest to upgrade the quality of compassion among Romans to that of the Christians. “… the impious Galileans support not only their own poor but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us.” As a result, he called for pagan charities to equal the Christians even though he hated them. In 251 (more than a century after the completion of the NT), we have a letter from a bishop of Rome to the bishop of Antioch where it stated that the Roman church was supporting 1,500 widows and people in need. The best Christians have loved people and showed tremendous care for others.
1. It’s Needed Now
2. It’s Been Our History
3. It’s Up to You
Did you know there are at least fifty-nine “one another” commands in Scripture? Let me give you a quick summary of some of the highlights. You are called to be patient with one another (Mark 9:50). You are called to honor one another above yourself (Romans 12:10). We are to live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16). The Bible commands us to carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Not to be outdone, we are to have equal concern for another (1 Corinthians 12:25). You are to be called to do nothing from selfishness plus we are to humbly count others more significant than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). We are to pray for each other (James 5:16). Twice I discovered we are to encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18; 5:11). But above everything else, we are to love one another. At least eleven times, the Bible tells us to love one another. We are to show brotherly love to one another (Romans 12:10). We are to spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). We are to make our love increase and overflow one another (1 Thessalonians 3:12). Plus, we are to love one another deeply from the heart (1 Peter 3:8).
Psychologists tell us that the more healthy, loving relationships you have, the happier you are. When you spread love on your block, you spread happiness.
Transition to Lord’s Supper
Of course, all is because of Christ’s death on the cross for us. The only way we can really love is because we are powered by God’s love to us and through us. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for One dark Friday gave away to one bright Sunday.
