July 13, 2025

Title: Who is my neighbor?
Luke 10:25
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.'"  28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."  29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  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.  32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  33 But a Samaritan, 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 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 on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 
 
God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  It’s not just a command to like our neighbor, but it is a statement that we are to show that love by serving.  Why does God want us to “love our neighbor?”  He wants us to “love our neighbor” because “He loves our neighbor.”  He loves all people.  God so loved the world that he gave his son so that all who believed would not perish but have eternal life.  God want us to reflect His love to the world.  But seriously, how much am I supposed to do for “my neighbor?”  I mean, I understand, for our family, church family, close friends, I have a responsibility, a loyalty which guides me to take care of them.  But there are people who don’t deserve my help.  There are people who are have brought bad situations on themselves.  Some people are just bad people… losers.  God surely doesn’t expect me to help people who do not deserve my help.  I mean it’s hard enough to take care of my loved ones, why should I help people I do not even know? Moreover, if I get involved their problems become my problems.  and honestly, I got enough.  Why should I get involved with their problems? Let someone else help them.  Why should I want to love my neighbor as myself?  
 
About 10 years ago, there was a man, Winston Moseley, who murdered a woman, Kitty Genovese.  Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old manager of a bar in Queens, New York, drove home to her neighborhood, parked her car in a lot next to her apartment building,  and began to walk the 30 yards to her door.       She noticed a man at the far end of the lot and she paused.  When he started walking toward her, she turned the other way and tried to reach a police call box half a block away.   However, the man caught up with her, grabbed her and proceeded to stab her.   She started screaming and cried for help.   Lights went on in the apartment buildings across the street.   Windows opened.   One man called out, "Let that girl alone!" On hearing the voice the attacker walked away.  Windows closed and lights went out.   On seeing that no one was coming to her aid he came back and attacked her again.   This time she screamed "I’m dying! I’m dying.”   This time more windows opened and more lights went on.  The attacker quickly escaped to his car and drove off, leaving Ms.  Genovese, bleeding, to crawl along the street to her apartment building, where she finally managed to drag herself inside.   But he was not finished.  He came back a third time.  He came back a third time, tracking her to her home and found her on the floor at the foot of her stairs, and continued his brutal work, finally killing her.  Residents who were later interviewed were asked why they did nothing to help, Why didn’t you help?  Their answer… “I didn’t want to get involved.”  It was none of my business.  Let someone else deal with it.  I have my own home and family to worry about,… and she is just a stranger.  I can’t get involved.  There’s nothing I can do. And because of this attitude… Kitty Genovese died. 
 
This is a sad story… But I want to tell you another sad story.  You know, there are 3 billion other Kitty Genovese’s out there.  Every day someone attacks them.  Every day someone attacks them, tears down their hopes crushes their purpose in life, feeds their fear of death.  Every day someone attacks them, and that someone is Satan.  They cry out: Help me! I’m dying! I’m dying - perhaps not with those words.  You will hear other words.  But for all intents and purposes their cries are the same.  Their cries sound like
refusals to believe in the bible,
anger at Christians
anger at God.
 
On the outside it sounds like rebellion, but deep down inside these are cries for help.  Help me! I’m dying! I’m dying!  And the worst words which a Christian can utter are I don’t want to get involved.  It’s none of my business.  Let someone else deal with it.  I have my own home and family to worry about, and they are strangers.  I can’t get involved There’s nothing I can do.
 
Let us seek wisdom in our Gospel lesson In Luke 10:25 an expert in the law has stood up to test Jesus.  When it came to the unclean people of the world, the non-perfect Jews, he thought it was okay to have the attitude “I don’t want to get involved.”  “It’s none of my business.”  "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?”   Jesus said "What is written in the Law?”   The expert 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.'"  Jesus replied.  So do it.  But the expert in the law didn’t really like the answer.  You see, there was a reason why he sought to test Jesus.  Jesus has been hanging around all the bad people, the homeless, the hookers, the drug users, the poor people, the crazy people.  The problem was that he hadn’t been paying any attention to the cool people, the Pharisees, who have lived by the law all their lives.  and this displeases him.  As an expert in the law, he believed that salvation comes from following God’s laws perfectly.  It implies that he believes that a person is capable of following God’s laws perfectly.  It implies that he believes that God only loves those who have followed God’s laws perfectly.  So when the expert in the law wanted to test Jesus, what he was really interested in knowing was “who did Jesus think was inside God’s love and who was outside.”  What He wanted Jesus to say to him was…  Oh, of course, you are the best of the people because you follow the LAW you are much better than these people.  You are an insider.  They are the outsiders.  But instead, Jesus says to him “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Now the sad part was that the expert was not interested in learning who to love.  Rather he wanted to know who was it okay “not to love.”  The expert in the Law didn’t want to include the bad, the homeless the hookers, the drug user, the poor and the crazy.  So he tries to justify himself.  to justify his desire to keep the unwanted outside.  He thinks “love my neighbor???”  and so asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?”  He’s hoping that Jesus does not mean the bad, the homeless the hookers, the drug user, the poor and the crazy.  He’s hoping that “loving your neighbor as yourself” is limited to “those who follow God perfectly,” is limited to his brother Pharisees. 
 
Now his hope is not entirely crazy.  The expert in the law grew up with the scriptures.   He memorized pages and pages of scriptures.   He lived for the law.   And one of the things which God called His people to do was to be Holy.   To be Holy means “to be separate” from the ways of the un-Godly.   To be Holy means to dedicate oneself, one’s body, all that one owns to God’s glory.  That’s cool.  But the expert in the law, focused not on the call to holiness for God, but on the “keeping separate” part.  The law became a fence between the Jews and the people around them, a fence to separate God’s people from the world.   The criteria used to determine if you were inside or not, whether you were part of the “in” crowd or not was “Did you commit your life to following the law perfectly?”  Eventually it became a fence to keep the people who were not part of the “IN” crowd out of God’s house.  
 
And this is a warning to us.  Sometimes we can set up fences.  We may see people who clearly do not live lives which are pleasing to God.  But instead of a passion to share the love of God with them, we classify them as being an outsider.  Instead of desiring that they come into the fold, we keep them out, or at best we simply make them feel like outsiders.  When Jesus came, he changed all that.  When Jesus died on the cross he paid for all the sins which separate us from God, which separate us from each other.  Jesus’ death on the cross removed all fences.  The law is no longer a fence which keeps people out.  But rather the Law has become the motivation to bring people in.  In this way, the call to Love your neighbor and the call to be Holy are reconciled.  The Law commands us “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  And Jesus says all men are our neighbors.  God’s call to be Holy is an invitation to return to Him, to come to him and BE MADE Holy by him.  God’s call to be Holy is an invitation to BE MADE Holy by him.  We are not to set up a fence to keep others out, but rather throw wide the gates and invite others to enter, that they too might become Holy. 
John 3:16 God so loved the world! that he gave is only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 
God’s invitation to be Holy is given to all people. 

 At Immanuel First we have chosen not to keep fences.  One of the ways we can “love our neighbor as ourselves,” is by making our church a place where people feel welcome.  That’s why one of the most important jobs in our church is how we meet visitors.  “How visitors are greeted” sets the stage for their entire worship experience.  Secondly, “we love our neighbors as ourselves” by the making our church a place where people feel they are a part.  You know how hard it is to join a group.   As we get more and more new people into Immanuel First, it will be important for them to feel welcome, to feel like part of the group.  In order that new people feel welcome those inside must invite them.   A person inside the group, must make the effort to include the new person “in”.
 
In summary, here at Immanuel First, we know people who are being spiritually attacked by Satan.  We know.  They may be friends, acquaintances, relatives, maybe even loved ones.  We know there are hundreds of thousands in our community near us who do not have a living relationship with Jesus who are attacked by Satan.  Have pity on them.  Here at Immanuel First It is our business to get involved.  There is much that we can do.  We WILL love our neighbors as ourselves.”