How to Love Others As Yourself

Discipleship Questions for Sunday July 15, 2007

 

Scripture Readings:

 

First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:0-14

Psalm: 19

Second Reading: Colossians 1:1=14

Gospel: Luke 10:25=37

 

Deuteronomy 30:9-14
9The LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11"For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 13Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 14But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. -- NKJV 

 

Responsorial Psalm     Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11

(R.) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The law of the LORD is perfect,

refreshing the soul;

the decree of the LORD is trustworthy,

giving wisdom to the simple.

(R.) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The precepts of the LORD are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the command of the LORD is clear,

enlightening the eye.

(R.) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever;

the ordinances of the LORD are true,

all of them just.

(R.) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

They are more precious than gold,

than a heap of purest gold;

sweeter also than syrup

or honey from the comb.

(R.) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

 

Colossians 1:1-14
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. 9For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. -- NKJV

 

Luke 10:25-37
25And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" 27So he answered and said, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'" 28And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." 29But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' 36So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" 37And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." -- NKJV

 

Discipleship Questions:

 

  1. Please read the Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy above and focus in on verses 10 and 11.  What do these verses tell us about our relationship with God?
  2. We are being called to “turn to God.”  We are told that this is not too hard.  Oh, it’s not easy but it’s not too hard either.  It’s important to remember this – it’s not too hard – it’s possible and it’s what God Almighty asks of us.  So what can you do from now on to remained “turned towards” God?
  3. Please turn with me now to the Parable of the Good Samaritan in your Bibles.  Turn to the Gospel of St. Luke chapter 10 beginning at verse 25.  Please listen now as I read and try to discover the key virtues of this wonderful man:

 

Luke 10:25   On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26   “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27   He answered: “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” – in other words, to be a great man or woman of God our whole being must be turned towards and tuned in, as it were, to God.  Every bit of us must be focused upon Him – we must love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength – with all of our being.  And when this is in place we must and will most assuredly love our neighbor as ourselves – as if they were ourselves.  In other words, there will be no distinction between us and them. We will love them as much as we love ourselves.

 

Ah!  This is the way it was always meant to be.  This was the way it was in the Garden of Eden and this is what Christ is restoring.  We’ll explore this sublime heavenly reality more in a few moments.

 

What follows now in our reading is a word-picture of what someone looks like who does this!  Let me say that again – this is what someone looks like who “DOES” this! 

 

So let’s read on – Jesus answered . . . 28   “You have answered correctly so do this and you will live.”  Do what?  Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength and then love your neighbor as you love yourself!  Love them so much that you are unable to choose between yourself and them – your self and their selves merge!  They are as important to you as you are important to yourself.   

 

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

 

Jesus loved us as much as He loved Himself and so when the final test came He chose for us over against Himself.  This was heavenly love in action.  This is the sort of love we were made for!  You and I were made for this kind of loving.  It’s this kind of loving that restores us to our original nobility  -  our original created state!

 

It’s this kind of love that liberates us from our incarceration -  within the constricting walls of ourselves.

 

OK – let’s read on – verse 29: But the expert in the law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Now remember this expert in the law wanted to do what?  To justify himself!  Ah!  Self focused – the defend and protect and shore up that which had been created at the Fall – an independent – self-protecting self  - our sorry attempt at god-hood!

    

This man wanted to establish the legitimacy of Himself!  A tragic mistake and one so very very hard to turn away from because to do so feels like suicide!  Turning away from our very selves is not easy but it is not only possible be absolutely necessary if we are ever to enter into our birthright and that is the freedom of those turned totally towards God – loving God with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength!  And it’s only when we do this that we are truly able to love our neighbor as if they were ourselves!

 

Let’s keep reading – verse 30  “In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  Now I should say here in the Priest’s defense that had he touched the wounded man he would have become ceremonially unclean and that wasn’t good for a priest at that time.  It would have meant that he would have had to undergo an extensive ceremony to become clean once again.

 

Perhaps this may be a bit like us not wanting to get too close to ex-criminals, or street people or even people who aren’t exactly just like us -  The untouchables of our western clean middle class world. 

 

When we avoid people like this aren’t we acting just like the priest?  And so we’re not being a Good Neighbor and we’re certainly not loving our neighbor. 

 

Could it be argued then that in ignoring these people not only are we not being good neighbors but we’re not acting out of a love that’s completely sold out to the Creator of all beings.  We’re not loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength for if we were we would love our neighbor as ourselves and we would therefore stop and help the wounded man instead of passing by with a disdainful look on our faces!

 

So let’s read on – verse 32:  So too, a Levite who served the Temple priests (This name is generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was set apart for the subordinate offices of the sanctuary service (1 Kings 8:4; Ezra 2:70), as assistants to the priests\),

 

when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  33 But a Samaritan[1], as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care (epimeleomai; which means - to take care of, to give proper consideration to some issue or matter — ‘to think about, to be concerned about, to give attention so as to respond.) of him.  35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36   “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37   The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy ( mercy, pity, compassion: —compassion(2), mercy(25).) on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Now I want to draw your attention to the word that Jesus used to describe the attitude of the Good Samaritan and to the word that the Inquirer used to describe him.

Jesus used the word - splagidzomai; and it means: to experience great affection and compassion for someone — ‘to feel compassion for, to have great affection for, love, compassion.’ to be moved in the inward parts, i.e. to feel compassion; to take care of;  to give proper consideration to some issue or matter — ‘to think about, to be concerned about, to give attention so as to respond.’

We’re being called to this deeper love for all!  This is the level of love that God is calling us to for all!

What do you think about the above?

4.     Now share my personal experience in all of this.

 

About 3 weeks ago I awoke on morning very early and was overwhelmed with a burning desire to ask God to make me a truly great lover of all people.  My heart was bursting and I knew then that this was of God.  That God was growing something inside of me and all that I had to do was pray the prayer that He was leading me in.

 

All of this was very very easy!  All I had to do was flow with the tide that God was inexorably drawing me along in.

 

I believe that God was to stir up this desire in each of our hearts right now!

 

But I need to share the rest of the story with y’all!

 

Over the next weeks after this wonderful time of prayer God has been revealing ever so painfully how desperately short I fall in this virtue!

 

Ah!  He caught me by the heart and then showed me those things in my heart that needed to be cleaned out if that loving desire is to become the dominant drive in my heart.

 

Can you see it now?  To become like the Good Samaritan I needed to cooperate with God in some necessary cleansing – much like what y’all have been doing to this grand old building – cleansing it and thereby preparing it for Worship and Good Works to the end that God’s Kingdom will be glorified and expanded!

 

Are you willing to invite the Lord to cleanse you so that you too can love like the Good Samaritan?

 

 

 


[1] Samaritan: It is important to note that Samaritans were despised by the story's target audience, the Jews. The Samaritans were also largely taught by their interpretation of history to hate Jews. [2] Thus the parable, as told originally, had a significant theme of non-discrimination and interracial harmony. But as the story reached those who were unaware of the status of Samaritans, this aspect of the parable became less and less discernible: fewer and fewer people ever heard of them in any context other than this one. To address this problem with the unfamiliar analogy, the story is often recast in a more recognizable modern setting where the people are ones in equivalent social groups known to not interact comfortably. For instance instead of a Jew being helped by a Samaritan one could place a Palestinian in that role, or even a member of Hezbollah aided by an orthodox Jew. One could also have a racist helped by a member of another race, a sexist woman helped by a man, or a devoutly religious person helped by an atheist, or any reverse or combination thereof. The message's essentials is that humanity's bonds in brotherhood transcends social and cognitive segmentations which we adopt in our lives.

Thus cast appropriately, the parable regains its socially explosive message to modern listeners: namely, that an individual of a social group they disapprove of can exhibit moral behaviour that is superior to individuals of the groups they approve; it also means that not sharing the same faith is no excuse to behave poorly, as there is a universal moral law. Many Christians have used it as an example of Christianity against racial prejudice.