“LOVING YOUR BROTHER (NEIGHBOR)”
TEXT: 1 John 4:19-21; Luke 17:3-4;Psalms 55:12-14;Luke 10: 5-9
INTRO: For the past several weeks we have been exploring the traits of a REAL Christian. We have examined the following:
· R-Righteous Lifestyle
· E-Evangelical Passion
· A-Authentic Walk
That now brings us to the L in Real-
· L- Loving Your Brother/Neighbor
ILLUS: Pastor Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Community Church, in So. Cal, has come up with a slogan that He uses for the purpose statement of his church.
He uses the two great scriptures:
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment.39 And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
“A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow a Great Church”- Pastor Rick Warren- The Purpose Driven Church, Pastor Rick Warren, Zondervan Publishing, 1995, page 102
If you will allow me to put a little twist to this slogan, to fit our purposes today, I would say:
“An Authentic Commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow an Authentic Christian!”
A couple of weeks ago, we discussed in detail the importance of having a Passion for Evangelism. Having an Authentic commitment to the Great Commission-
As a matter of fact, I mentioned that a Non- Evangelical Christian was an Oxymoron.
Let me be as bold, and as hermeneutically correct we I state:
PROP.SENT: The Bible teaches us that it is impossible to be a Christian with out love for your brother and neighbor. We are commanded in the epistle to the Hebrew Christian’s, to …Keep on Loving our Brothers.
I. IMPORTANCE OF LOVE
A. First Love!
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
I love this part of Scripture, because God takes all the pressure off. Husbands, Wives, remember when you were dating your spouse. Think back to the time when you wanted to say, “I love You!” but you had that little thing in the back of your mind that said, “What if she laughs at me?” “What if He does not Love me in return?”
One of the important things we need to understand about Love, is that “God loved us First”! And he proclaimed it loudly on Calvary’s Hill.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God himself put all the cards on the table, and said First of all- “I Love You!”
When we first started our relationship with Jesus Christ, what we did was, we simply said- “I love you too Jesus” and a relationship was started. Our relationship with God is based on the word Love- Without Love, we have NO relationship!
Now if you do not think that this is an important quality, or a mandate for the real Christian, let me remind you what Jesus told the Church in Ephesus.
To the Church in Ephesus he said: Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
So what does this have to do with, Loving Your Brother/Neighbor?
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
The same type of Love that Jesus Showed us, we need to show our brothers! To the point of laying down our lives.
B. Fathers Love!
1 John 4:19 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
If I were to take a quick poll of today’s congregation, I am sure that there would be an overwhelming response that we would all say- We Love our Heavenly Father.
However, as we taught last week, we need to Walk the Walk, not just Talk the Talk!
How do we put feet to the thought of Loving our Heavenly father?
Simple according to this passage: LOVE YOU BROTHER!!!
Now notice it does not say:
· For anyone who does not like his brother
· For anyone who does not tolerate his brother
· For anyone who does not pretend to love his brother
· For anyone who is not nice to his brother
But it says;
For anyone who does not love his brother
Anything short of Loving our Brother would be short of Loving our Father in heaven.
I know this is heavy stuff- Because frankly some of our brothers and sisters and neighbors are very hard to love.
The command does not say that it is going to be easy, the command is to LOVE our brothers!
II. IMPLEMENTING LOVE
A. Forgiving Love!
Luke 17:3-4 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ’I repent,’ forgive him."
The by-product, the blessing we receive from the Love of Jesus, when he died for us is the Forgiveness of sin.
Everyone of us are sinners, saved by the love of Jesus. Forgiven of our sin!
ILLUS: Lakers Great Kobe Bryant: I am guilty of the crime of adultery, for that I need my wife and my God to forgive me, I pray that they will forgive me of this sin. CNN, July 18th, 2003
We are all in need of forgiveness-
If we are to demonstrate the Love of Jesus in our lives, if we are to love our brothers, then forgiveness is not an option.
“But Pastor, you do not know the hurt he or she has caused me!”
“You do not know the pain, the heartache!”
Even the Psalmist writes about the reality that we will be hurt by our friends.
Psalms 55:12-14 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.
You may be right, I may not know your pain, your hurt, however I know my pain and my hurt. Church we all go through hard times as believers. My pain or hurt is unique to my situation, just as yours is to you.
When somebody has hurt you! The best way to get over that hurt is to forgive!
ILLUS: I have shared my childhood testimony with this church many times. I was raised in a very abusive home. After becoming a Christian, I knew I had to forgive my parents for their abuse. If I did not, I would in actuality, be allowing them to continue to abuse me. Pastor David Schaal
ILLUS: I shall allow no man to belittle my soul, by making me hate him- Booker Taliaferro Washington (1856-1915) America’s God and Country, Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, Fame Publishing, Coppell, TX 1994, page 634
If you do not let go of the hurt, the enemy will make a Monkey out of you.
ILLUS: Pastor Ron Robertson shares a story he heard from a missionary from Africa. One of the great delicacies there is Monkey Stew. The hardest thing about making monkey stew is capturing a monkey, they are so fast and free. But the locals have come up with a trap. The take a bottle with a narrow neck, and they place a flap door on the inside, with a banana in the very bottom of the bottle. The monkey slides his hand and arm into the bottle ,and then grabs the banana, making a fist around the fruit. The problem now is the monkeys hand, with the banana is to large to came out of the jar. The monkey will scream and yell, jump and jolt. The locals hear the screams and they go and collect their monkey. All the monkey had to do is “Let GO” Let Go of the banana, and he would have been freed. Many Christian can learn from the monkey. We are caught in the trap of Unforgiveness, we wont let go of it. The pain, the hurt. Church, let Go, do not let the enemy make a monkey stew out of you.
One thing is for certain- Bad things are going to happen.
Jesus said in Luke 17: …things that cause people to sin are bound to come…
Hurt is going to happen, pain will be felt. It is how we react to the hurt and the pain, that matters.
A lot of us are scared to forgive others because of the outward scars that will be present. But scars are sign of healing.
· S Sign of
· C Christ
· A Absolve and
· R Reprieve
Forgiveness-
John 20:25,27,28 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then stretch out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” (GN)
You see Thomas knew that the Forgiveness’ that Jesus offered came at a price, and that there would be marks of reminders on his Lords body.
Jesus Himself bore the Scars as a reminder of the pain he had to go through.
You will bare scars too. However, they should be scars that shout Forgiveness. That is exactly what the scars on Jesus’ hands say. You are forgiven.
The nails may have been the instrument that pierced his hands and feet- But it was our sin that pierced him to the cross. Our sin that is now forgiven, just look at the scars.
B. Future Love!
Luke 10: 5-9 "When you enter a house, first say, ’Peace to this house.’
6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you.
9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ’The kingdom of God is near you.’
This is the Love your Neighbor part.
An Authentic Commitment to the Great Commission. We need to Love our Future Brothers and sisters now.
I’m sure we all would agree- Christ is our only hope! He is the only Hope for our neighborhoods, our town and our nation.
· Can you imagine facing life without Jesus?
· Can you imagine facing eternity without Him?
Probably not. But so many of our neighbors go through each day without that relationship with the Son of God that is so vital to us.
The question is, how can we reach them?
Reaching our neighbors with the LOVE and witness of the Gospel will probably take many of us beyond our comfort zones.
Do you think that discomfort will matter in the light of eternity?
We are not a social club of “Us Four and No More”!
Romans 5:8 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
When Christ died for us on Calvary- He died for future generations. His Love was poured out for FUTURE BELIVERS.
Church, we have to have a Future mindset- We have to have a love for what God is going to do through us in the future.
We need to implement this type of love in our Christian Character.
· Perhaps you have a neighbor who is isolated by bitterness.
· Maybe someone on your block has a reputation for being unlikable.
· It could be that there are those living near you who are still set apart by others because of their racial or ethnic background.
· These are your neighbors who might feel as though they’re the outcasts of your neighborhood. They are still among those God wants us to reach—and might be the ones who respond gratefully to your efforts not only to befriend them, but also someday to disciple them.
Remember all your neighbors as you consider your discipleship strategy to light your street. Consider them with godly compassion, and remember that none of them is beyond the reach of God’s touch through you.
1. BLESS MY NEIGHBORS
The first item we note in Jesus’ instruction in this passage is found at the very outset of the passage.
…LUKE 10:5…
“Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing.”
Here we’re admonished to bless my neighbors. Our assignment is to speak peace over them in prayer. Say those two words with me aloud: Speak Peace! What does it mean to bless our neighbors in this context?
2. KNOW MY NEIGHBORS
…LUKE 10:7…
Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide you.
Now, how might we apply this concept today? We need to get to know our neighbors by getting closer to them, so our second ACTION is to: Know my neighbor. That’s action number two. Say it with me Know Your Neighbor. We can get to know them through Our assignment: genuine fellowship.
3. HELP MY NEIGHBORS
Luke 10:9 brings us to the basis for the third step of our model:
…LUKE 10:9…
…and heal the sick.
We might apply this admonition with the thought: help my neighbors. That’s action number three. Let’s say that aloud: Help Our Neighbors. Our assignment here is to meet a felt need.
The healing we can offer in Jesus’ name certainly includes physical healing. But it also means we extend care toward our neighbors who may be suffering with damaged relationships, or whose lives have been injured by loss and failure. It means Summary: we discern your neighbor’s needs and, as God enables you, try and meet them. This calls us to a practical demonstration of God’s love.
This is truly Loving your Neighbors!
But the greatest way to Love your neighbor is by
4. WIN MY NEIGHBORS
…LUKE 10:9…
As you heal them, say, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’
Our action step here is to) win my neighbors. The assignment is to share a witness. We need to anticipate the time when God gives us the opportunity to share our testimony with a particular neighbor.
In a sense, when you’re witnessing for Jesus you’re actually saying, “The Kingdom of God is near you- Jesus is the answer to entering God’s Kingdom!” Of course, you may not say it in those words but that is precisely what is happening.
Summary: Through your witness you’re bringing the Kingdom of God “near” to that neighbor.
This is truly the best act of Love you can share with your neighbors- tell them about Jesus.
We have 4 weeks before our next ‘Harvest Sunday”- This day is designed for the Unsaved, Unchurched in mind. What a great way to Demonstrate your Love for your neighbor. By Loving your neighbors future- By telling them about Jesus.
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American Bible Society. 1992. The Holy Bible : Today’s English Version (2nd ed.) . American Bible Society: New York
