SINGLES FOR CHRIST

CHRISTIAN LIFE PROGRAM

TALK NO. 6 – LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR

GOAL:

To explain the meaning of the Christian love for neighbor, and to inspire the participants
to practice it.

CORE MESSAGE:

Loving God and loving neighbor form the inseparable core of the Christian life. These two
go together. We cannot love God without loving our neighbor. The characteristics of
Christian love are described by St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. But Jesus
elevated loving one’s neighbor to a higher plane. We are to love our neighbors not only
as we love ourselves, but as God loves us.

Our model for loving our neighbor is our Lord, Jesus Christ. He washed the feet of his
disciples. He died for us. The full depth of the meaning of Jesus’ teaching on loving our
neighbor is revealed in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In the parable, Jesus took
pains to describe in great detail the various actions done by the Samaritan in helping the
victim—“approached the victim,” “poured oil and wine,” “bandaged him,” “lifted him up,”
“took him to an inn,” “cared for him”—in order to convey the message that “being a
neighbor” entails “doing things” and not merely wishing others well. Loving our neighbor is
not a passive attitude but an active involvement. It involves a lot of “going” and “doing,”
and “approaching” and “caring for others.” In the parable, Jesus does not directly answer
the question, “Who is my neighbor?” since this opens up the possibility that some will be
“neighbor” and others are not. Jesus does not want to make any distinction. The relevant
question is, “Am I neighbor to others?” And Jesus commands us to be so.

EXPANDED OUTLINE

A. Introduction

1. The first of all commandments is to love God with all our heart, with all our
mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength. This is found in the Book of
Deuteronomy: Therefore you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your strength (Dt. 6:5).

2. The second of all commandments is to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is

found in the Book of Leviticus: Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against
your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lv. 19:18).

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 3. Jesus summed up the whole law in these two greatest commandments: You shall
love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You
shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on
these two commandments (Mt. 22:37-40).

4. These two go together. We cannot love God without loving our neighbor: If
anyone says, “I love God”, but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does
not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (1
Jn. 4:20).

5. Loving God and loving neighbor form the inseparable core of the Christian
life. Because God created man in his image, one cannot claim to love God
while hating the very likeness of God that is present in man.

B. Characteristics of Christian Love

1. In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul describes the characteristics of
Christian love and how to love others (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

a) To love others is to be patient. We should be slow to anger. We should

give ample allowance for the shortcoming of others.

b) To love others is to be kind. We should avoid an attitude of criticism. We

should have a posture and speech that is up-building and encouraging.

c) To love others is to not be jealous of others. We should not covet what

others have or begrudge another for possessing something we do not have.

d) To love others is to not be pompous or inflated. We should be humble and

think not of our own importance. We should be conscious of our own
unworthiness rather than our merit.

e) To love others is to not be rude. We should accord honor and respect to

one another, praise them if they do well and console them if they do
badly.

f) To love others is to not be self-seeking. We should not focus on having our

rights met but focus rather on our duties to others.

g) To love others is to not be quick-tempered. We should master our emotions

and feelings, we should be slow to frown but quick to smile.

h) To love others is to not brood over injury. We should not hold grudges or
resentments but rather be forgiving and understanding of the weakness of
others.

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 i) To love others is to not rejoice over wrongdoing. We should always seek
the good in others, even with people that we find difficult to deal with.

j) To love others is to rejoice in truth. We should always be sincere and

honest and tell the truth to one another.

k) To love others is to have forbearance. We should patiently and humbly

bear insults, injuries and disappointments without taking counter action.

l) To love others is to have trust and to believe in the best about other
people. We should have a positive attitude towards others, always seeking
their good side.

m) To love others is to have hope. We should have a positive attitude towards

life and other people and remain joyful and peaceful under any
circumstance.

n) To love others is to have endurance. We should develop an ability to bear

things, not with passive resignation but with triumphant attitude.

2. We are able to assume the characteristics of Christian love if we can honestly

substitute the word “I” for the word “love” in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians
(ask the participants to read together loudly the cited verses but substitute “I”
for “love”).

C. Loving Others as Jesus Loves

1. Loving our neighbor is not an option. It is God’s commandment. And Jesus

commanded us to love others not only as we love ourselves but as he loves us: I
give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also
should love one another (Jn. 13:34).

a) Jesus emphasized this command. He stated this several times: This is my

commandment: love one another as I love you (Jn. 15:12). This I command
you, love one another (Jn. 15:17).

b) Jesus elevated loving one’s neighbor to a higher plane. We are to love our
neighbors not only as we love ourselves, but as God loves us. Since God
loves us with a self-sacrificing, forgiving and prodigal love, then we must
also love our neighbor with self-sacrificing, forgiving and prodigal love.

2. Jesus showed the example of Christian love when he washed the feet of his
disciples. When he finished, he told his disciples to do likewise (Jn. 13:12-15).

a) The feet that Jesus washed were the feet of men who had spent most of the
day walking long, crowded and dusty roads. In all likelihood, they were
very dirty feet. In the Jewish culture of Jesus’ time, the servant washes the

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 feet of the guests. But Jesus took a towel and a basin of water and washed
them.

b) What Jesus is teaching is that we should be servant to one another. Loving

others as Jesus loves means serving others.

3. Jesus clearly commanded us to love our neighbor as he loves us. But how much
does Jesus love us? What is the extent of his love?

a) Jesus himself answered this question. No one has greater love than this, to
lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn. 15:13)

b) Jesus died for us because he loves us so much. Loving our neighbor

demands not merely giving our time, imparting our wisdom, or praying for
them. If necessary, we should be prepared to give up our lives for them, as
Jesus did for us.

4. Our model for loving our neighbor is our Lord, Jesus Christ. In his letter to the
Philippians, St. Paul describes the love that Jesus has for us (Phil. 2:5-8).

a) When Jesus said that we should love our neighbor as he loves us, this is
exactly what he meant.

b) Like him, we should be prepared to offer our life for the sake of others, as
Jesus offered his.

D. Who is our Neighbor?

1. If we are to die for our neighbor, we need to know exactly and clearly who
our neighbor is. We are thus compelled to ask the question, “Who is my
neighbor?”

2. The answer to this question and the full depth of the meaning of Jesus’ teaching
on loving our neighbor are revealed in the Parable of the Good Samaritan
(Lk. 10:25-37).

a) We have heard this parable many times. To some the story has become
boring and the message dry and lifeless. To bring life back into the story,
we need to examine its historical context more deeply (read historical note
below).

b) The story begins with a lawyer among the crowd wanting to test Jesus by
asking a question: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Knowing
his intention, Jesus did not answer the question directly. Instead he asked
another question: “What is written in the Law?” The lawyer answered by
quoting Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18. Jesus responded: “You have answered
correctly; do this and you will live.”

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 c) Somewhat embarrassed that Jesus was able to take the initiative, the
lawyer asked a rhetorical question: “And who is my neighbor?” Again Jesus
did not answer the question directly, but instead responded with a
parable.

d) The Jewish audience knew that the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was
close to 30 kilometers and descended 1000 meters. They were familiar
with the winding road that was bordered by desert and huge rocks from
which bandits could easily hide in and then attack travelers. As Jesus
related the story, they began to see themselves as the victim in the story.

e) They heard that both the priest and the Levite did not offer any help. But
there was a third man in the story. They began to think that this third man
must be a Jewish layman who will help the victim. But wait! What is he
saying? A Samaritan helping a Jew! But this is impossible! Why not a Jew
helping a fellow Jew? Or why not make a Samaritan the victim and a Jew
to help him?

f) At the end of the story, Jesus asked the lawyer: “Which of these three was
neighbor to the victim?” The lawyer was left with no option. He has to say
the Samaritan. But being a Jew who bitterly hated the Samaritans, he
could not utter the word “Samaritan”. So he answered, “The one who
treated him with mercy.” And to this Jesus replied, “Go and do likewise.”

g) In relating the parable, Jesus took pains to describe in great detail the
various actions done by the Samaritan in helping the victim: “approached
the victim,” “poured oil and wine,” “bandaged him,” “lifted him up,” “took
him to an inn,” “cared for him.”

3. Jesus tells us that loving our neighbor is not a passive attitude but an active
involvement. He wants to convey that “being a neighbor” entails “doing things”
and not merely wishing others well. It involves a lot of “going” and “doing” and
“approaching” and “caring for” others.

4. The Parable of the Good Samaritan embodies Jesus’ teaching on loving our
neighbor. He does not directly answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?”,
since this question opens up the possibility that some will be “neighbor” and
others are not. Jesus does not want to make any distinction. He tells us that it is
irrelevant to ask the question, “Who is my neighbor?” since the responsibility of
being a neighbor is placed upon us. The perspective is not to ask others but to
ask ourselves, “Am I being neighbor to others?”

E. Conclusion

1. Loving God and loving neighbor have been likened to the vertical and the
horizontal parts of the cross. One directs us upward to God, while the other
directs us horizontally towards our fellow men.

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 2. Loving our neighbor as Jesus loves us is not an easy task. In fact, it is impossible
without God’s grace. But God will give it freely and generously, if we sincerely
ask for it.

3. Jesus said that we should love one another as he loves us. Jesus loves us
regardless of who we are. He does not care if we are rich or poor, educated
or illiterate, Samaritan or Jew. He died for all of us. He is “neighbor” to us all.

Historical Note:

The Jews and the Samaritans had hated and despised each other for many generations. It
all started after the death of Solomon in 922 BC. Israel was divided into two, the kingdom
of Israel in the north and the kingdom of Judea in the south. In 721 BC the Assyrians
occupied the northern kingdom. Then in 857 BC, the Babylonians conquered the southern
kingdom of Judea. But in 529 BC, the Persian emperor Cyrus defeated the Babylonians
and allowed the exiled Jews to return to Judea.

In the meantime, the northern kingdom remained under Assyrian occupation. The Assyrians,
who were pagans, intermarried with the native population, including the Samaritans. And
these intermarriages went on for many generations. Thus in the eyes of the Jews who had
returned from exile in Babylon and who considered themselves as the only faithful
interpreters of Israel’s religious traditions, the Samaritans were half-breeds and half-
pagans. As a result, the Samaritans were prevented from worshiping in the Temple of
Jerusalem. The Samaritans, therefore, built their own temple on Mt. Gerisim. Then around
6-9 AD, a group of Samaritans defiled the Temple court in Jerusalem by strewing it with
human bones. This action led to further division and even more bitter hostility between the
Jews and the Samaritans.

This hostility and hatred between Jews and Samaritans was so intense that we read in the
book of Sirach 50:25-26: My whole being loathes two nations, the third is not even a
people. Those who live in Seir and Philistia, and the degenerate folk who dwell in Shechem.
Mt Seir is in the territory of the Edomites. The Edomites and the Philistines were enemies of
the Jews. Shechem is a city in Samaria. As stated in the book of Sirach, the Jews did not
even want to call the Samaritans “people” (the third is not even a people…the degenerate
folk who dwell in Shechem). The Jews hated the Samaritans more intensely than the
Edomites and the Philistines, whom they had fought with regularly in their long history.

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