And Who is My Neighbor?

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

 While camping at my property in Rocksprings this past Spring Break, I stumbled upon a little bit of an unfortunate circumstance.  My truck battery died.  Completely.  Utterly.

This wouldn't have normally been a bad thing.  I mean, I've got one of those portable jumper things.  I just happened to have left it at home.  I could easily call for help, but there is VERY limited cell phone service and I knew virtually no one. 

But...

Things have a way of working out.  Earlier in the day my truck battery died, I met a group of guys who own property out there as well.  They gave me their names and numbers.

Earlier that day, my wife had placed her purse on the trailer I had towed out there.  For some reason, at intervals, the spot where she placed her purse received cell phone service.  It wasn't constant, but it was there.

I placed my cell phone in exactly that spot and waited until I saw there was signal.  The signal maintained for just long enough for me to make a few phone calls.  People called people, and before I knew it, I had numerous offers of help.

At 9 p.m. that evening, one of the folks who lives out near my property came driving up the road in his Mule (the Kawasaki kind).  He had a generator and battery charger.

"I understand you need help," he said.

I'd never met the guy.  He'd driven by my place earlier and seen my kids and I out playing.  He was afraid they were in the tent asleep and that he'd wake them.  (They were in San Antonio with their grandparents in a much warmer situation than I was.)

His help was much appreciated.  He cranked up his generator, plugged in his battery charger, and was talked and waited for the battery to charge.  Of course, he eventually found out I was a pastor.

"I'm not much of a church goer.  I drink.  I smoke.  I cuss.  I've done a few things that aren't to be proud of.  Maybe I'm not too good of a person."

Me: Let me tell you what I think.  I'm really not trying to butter you up or anything, but it seems to me Jesus had a whole lot less to say about those kind of things, but He did have a lot to say about dropping everything and helping out a neighbor who was in need.  You've come out here in the middle of the night to help out a complete stranger, and in my book, that carries a lot more weight than those other things.

"Hmm.  I think you are right about that."

I know I am, but that's beside the point.  The point is I was this guy's neighbor, and he responded when I was in need.  No questions.  No asking for payment or anything from me.  He simply was doing the right thing.

Would I do the same?

I hope.

For the Sake of Others or Why I now Have the Rugged Look

There is a very fine line between doing something because you cherish and need others to like you and doing something for others because they like what you do.

Please read that statement very carefully.  It's important, I think.

Late last year, my family and I went on vacation and enjoyed a wonderful trip to Arkansas to visit my grandfather.  Now, when I take a break, I break.  I relax in as many ways as possible including leaving my razor at home.

For most of my life, I have been clean shaven.  A few times I have worn a goatee.  Once I grew a patchy beard because of a Halloween costume.  Rarely have I gone long with any sort of facial hair.  Generally, it gets itchy, and I don't like trying to maintain it.  It's easier just to shave it all off.

Ah, but as vacation ended, the girls in my house all had something to say about Daddy's (and not to be left out) and Hubby's scraggy look.

"Daddy," my girls said, "Don't shave!!!"  They like the tickles when Daddy kisses them goodnight.

My wife likes them for other reasons.  Apparently, they add a piece of attractiveness to her.  I'm very cool with that.

The only person who didn't like the whiskers was Junior.  I don't blame him, but he was outnumbered.

I kind of liked the look as well, and it kept me from having to shave.  I decided to keep the scruffy look--in part because the ladies of my household loved it.

Now, I certainly didn't need their approval to keep the whiskers.  I didn't need their affirmation to go with the scruffy look.  It's not my satisfaction that is important.  I didn't need my ego stroked, but it does give me great joy to see the smiles on the faces of the ladies in my family.  I didn't adopt the scruffy look for my sake, but I adopted it for their sake.

Same with a new hat I purchased recently.  My wife likes Indiana Jones--it's a child of the '80's thing.  Right after Christmas, my family and I were in Bass Pro Shop.  I saw a hat that closely resembled Indiana Jones' hat.  I tried it on.  I showed my wife.  She gave me one of those looks.  I said, "I have a new hat."

I didn't need the hat.

I didn't want the hat.

I never would have bought the hat.

But, it gave my wife pleasure.

I love my wife.

It is my desire as her husband to do things that please her--not for my sake, but for her sake.

Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Treat others as you would have them treat you.

I want others to treat me and do things for me because they know it is something I like, not because they feel some sort of obligation to make me happy; not because they need me to like them; not because they want my approval.

I believe this is a grace-full approach.  Works-righteousness tries to earn anothers' approval by doing things for that person.  Grace does things for another simply for the sake of the other whether approval is gained or not.

That's why I am now sporting a scruffy look and wearing a rumpled up hat.

And I'm cool with that.

What God has Done

A rather intriguing thing happened in my life and in the life of this blog this past week.

First, my blog post 10 Things You Can't Say or Do or Believe or Whatever While Following Jesus was picked up by the ELCA website Living Lutheran.  Then, the blog post from Living Lutheran was picked up by the ELCA Facebook page.  Then, conversation about my post ensued with both positive and negative comments, including some who know the author of the post I cited in my original article.  Even the author of the original article put his two cents worth in about my blog post.  Two intriguing things stood out:

1. If Christianity isn't about what we are supposed to do, why did Jesus spend so much time talking about how we are supposed to interact with our neighbor?

2. If Christianity isn't about what we are supposed to do, why is there such a thing as discipleship?*

When I read some of the comments, I think I got a glimpse of what that German monk had to deal with so long ago when he kicked off the Reformation.  Never mind that I ended my original piece with the comment:

Then ponder how you may be called to share that love with others--without lists but instead with a Leader you are called to imitate. 

Grace doesn't mean you aren't called to do things.  Not in the least.  And I guess the folks wondering about discipleship missed that part about imitating the Leader, but I think that's a bit beside the point.

Look.  I stand by what I say.  Christianity isn't about what we do.  It's about what God has done.

I mean, first of all, Christianity isn't simply an ethical path.  Jesus wasn't some kind of mystical sage full of wisdom.  Nearly all of His teachings are found in the Old Testament.  Yours truly is absolutely astounded when I hear folks say, "We don't follow the Old Testament law anymore."

Really?  So, you mean the idea of loving your neighbor as yourself is something you don't follow anymore?

"That's different.  Jesus told His followers to do that."

You mean, Jesus quoted the Old Testament in regards to that.  Check Leviticus 19:18 out.

In fact, it could be argued that Jesus is speaking about the Natural Law here.  This particular teaching is found in just about EVERY code of ethics around the world and is central to just about EVERY religion.  Jesus is saying nothing new-at all.  And if He is just one of many other types of teachers of morality; well, then there is really nothing special about Him.  That's just the facts.  So, yes, Jesus did talk about how we should live with one another, but there was nothing particularly special about that teaching when compared to other cultures and religions.  (Check C.S. Lewis' commentary about this in Mere Christianity.)

Secondly, if you think you are really a disciple of Jesus and you are gung ho about doing what Jesus says and you think you have the moral authority to tell everyone what it really means to follow Him correctly (by doing this and not doing that), well, then I first challenge you to accomplish that top 10 list I posted in my blog, but if that isn't good enough I'll only ask you to do one other thing.  It's a simple matter really, because Jesus actually said there was one thing we couldn't do and still be His disciple:

So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.  Luke 14:33

There are no exegetical gymnastics to get you out of that one.  This is indeed a direct translation of the koine Greek.  There are no textual variants.  You could argue that Jesus was simply talking to His immediate disciples, but what is to prevent anyone from saying that about ALL of Jesus' teachings?

IF CHRISTIANITY IS ABOUT WHAT YOU DO, YOU CANNOT BE A CHRISTIAN IF YOU HAVE POSSESSIONS at least according to what Jesus teaches--yeah, that same Jesus that teaches us an awful lot about how we are supposed to interact with God and with our neighbor.

Enter GRACE.  Christianity is about what God has done.

We know what the right thing to do is.

We can't do it.

God takes care of matters on the cross.

We try to accomplish whatever we can out of love--and love doesn't say, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!"

Love says, "I love you anyway.  I give you your inheritance anyway even though I am still alive.  I come running to you anyway when you return home.  I invite you to the party anyway even though you have shamed me.  And I will keep letting you go; I will keep running to you; I will keep inviting you even though you keep messing up.  I will rejoice when you do things according to my will, but I will not punish you because you cannot achieve perfection.  You are my child, and you will always be."

Yeah, that's what God has done and is doing.  Only that kind of love can change a person...

Only the love of God can change a person...

Nothing we do can.

*I am reframing the original comments and putting them into question form.  Believe me, some of the comments weren't as nice as the questions.  :-)