Matthew 22:36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in
the Law?” 37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest
commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
These are very familiar verses to me and I have to admit I’m
glad that Jesus kept it really simple when he laid out the commands for our
life in loving God and loving others or that’s how we sum it up. Jesus essentially took 613 Old Testament laws
and said this is the most important!
Loving God with all my heart, soul and mind involves everything from my
complete and total surrender and my heart’s longing to being always aware of
His presence. However, I want to focus
this post more on the second command, love your neighbor as yourself.
When studying this passage we like to expand on who that
‘neighbour’ is and really talk about the people who live in our communities and
our world. We talk about the people that
we rub shoulders with everyday. So, what
about our specific neighbours, you know, the ones that live directly beside you??
Sharon and I have lived in a number of different places and
have had all kinds of neighbors that we have been able to get to know
well. When we moved to Guelph, we
quickly discovered that the person living next door to us was the
self-proclaimed, ‘street witch’ also used interchangeably with words that rhyme
with witch. It was an older couple who
apparently had moved here hoping to find a peace and quiet. Well, our street just happens to be full of
kids. There are as many as 30 on our end
of the street. We live on a cul-de-sac
and we started playing road hockey like we did in any neighbourhood that we had
been a part of. She proceeded to take
pictures of our kids and called the city to complain and sure enough the police
would arrive and tell us that it is a by-law issue and so, no hockey. We also had a self-standing basketball net
and we played at the end of our driveway.
Again, more pictures and more visits from the by-law officer with a
sticker placed on our net with the request to move it so now it sits at the
front of our garage. A street party was
arranged annually and approval was sought only to be told if a ball landed near
their vehicle, more calls from the police.
Rylan would play soccer in the backyard but if the ball crossed over to
their yard, it would be gone. She had
someone there ready to confiscate the ball into her house. It was quite a scene.
We also have a dog, Josie, who likes to bark to get back in
the house and a visit came shortly after we got her from the humane society
checking out her credentials and a payment needed for an updated license. In the summer a fence was erected and it
stands 9ft. tall The city by-law is actually less than that so you can imagine
how tempting it has been to make a few calls myself!
They really wanted nothing to do with anyone and the more
private, the better! So, needless to say, loving my neighbor hasn’t come easily
here in Guelph. I still tried to make
small talk now and then when in the driveway, but not much took place beyond
that. Then, Sharon, had this crazy idea
before Christmas to bless them with homemade cookies. She would make them and I was assigned with
Rylan and Addi to deliver them. We
knocked and you can imagine the shock when they opened the door… on both sides
of the door. We were shocked that they
opened it and the husband happened to be in a wheelchair because he broke his
ankle. We didn’t even know that. So, he graciously accepted them and that was
the end of that.
That was until Saturday’s latest dump of snow and I was
outside shoveling our driveway. I was
almost done when I saw the ‘witch’ come out with one crutch attempting to
shovel her driveway. The snow banks were
really high so there was no acknowledgment of each other and I completed my
task and went inside. I then went to check in on Sharon who was resting from
eye surgery and then peeked out the window to see the lady still attempting to
shovel. I knew I had to go outside and
help her but everything inside of me wanted to just ignore her. However, that is when I knew that I couldn't.
The Holy Spirit was working on my heart and outside I went again and asked if I
could help. She was surprised but was so
thankful and I was able to get it cleared.
At one point, she tells me that yelling at the kids on the street is one
way of ‘keeping alive’. Then she shares,
‘I just had chemo two days ago….the cancer is starting to grow back.” She
proceeds to pull her hat back and I see that she has very little hair. So, I
ask what type and she tells me it is breast cancer. At the moment I asked if I could pray for her
healing. She responded yes and there in
her driveway, I put my arm around her and she held me and I prayed for her like
I would pray for my own family with the firm conviction that God could do a
miracle. She was encouraged and I was blessed
and it was a huge reminder to me that Jesus’ commands were just meant to be
memorized, that were meant to be lived out!
So, here is some simple truths that I learned as a result of
all of this.
· Seek out
your neighbor - Don’t wait for them to come to you. Take the time to get to know their story.
· Be real – It
is so important that people get to see the real ‘you’. It doesn't hurt for them to know that you
don’t have it all together or have all the answers especially if they know you
are a Christian.
· Bless those
who persecute you. We are never off the
hook no matter how much we think we have been offended or our rights have been
denied.
· Sacrifice –
It always costs us to reach out to others and those in need.
· Respect
boundaries – We can’t force the issue.
If they do not want our help, we have to respect that and not keep
pressing the issue, the advice etc…
· Be a good
listener – listen to the Holy Spirit at every moment that you are in
conversation with someone because He is the best prompter and He will give you
the words to share.
I just caught up with her husband yesterday. He had the biggest smile on his face as we talked and he shared that his cast is coming off today!
