How to be a Good Neighbor

9-10-17

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and our lord and savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy spirit, Amen.

This past Lent, I remember driving back to my apartment after a church meeting one evening, and being startled by a strange sight as I pulled into my parking lot – a 6 foot, light-up, lavender Easter Bunny, prominently displayed in front of one of my neighbors’ doors. Now, technically we are not allowed to put up flags or any kind of political signs, though some people do have small “welcome” signs or little flags that say “spring.” But…really? A giant purple rabbit?? Every night last Lent, there he was, ready to greet me. And sure enough, by the time Easter Sunday arrived, that rabbit was nowhere to be seen. I guess they forgot that Easter is a season that is seven weeks long, and not just one day!

So, I assumed, in comparison to THAT, this little variety of welcome sign would be small potatoes. It reads, “No matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbor,” in English, Spanish, and Arabic. But sadly, I was very wrong. It was up for 10 days before I received a voicemail from my apartment complex office. “During the last grounds inspection, we noticed your sign, which is violation of your lease, so we would like to you take it down.” So I did.

 But I had another sign that I had planned to put up that says, “Hate has no home here” in Spanish, Arabic, Korean, and Hebrew! But I am not even going to try. Apparently obnoxious giant rabbits are ok, but not super specific welcome signs that will tell my neighbors that refuse to show hate to anybody.

So this is one instance that my Midwestern passive-aggressive heritage will come in handy. No, I will follow the letter of the law in my apartment complex – by NOT displaying these signs outside of my apartment. BUT. They cannot prevent me from hanging them on the INSIDE in my living room. They cannot prevent me from LIVING the ideals of radical welcome, and “Hate has no home here,” for the benefit of ALL my neighbors, who are black and white, Asian and Latino, right around the corner in Doylestown. They cannot prevent me from loving my neighbor, as Jesus has taught us to do.  

Jesus was once asked which one of the ten commandments in the most important. Jesus answered by giving two – Love the Lord your God with everything you have, and love your neighbor as yourself. (MT 22:36-40)

Years later, Paul wrote a letter to all the Christian communities active in Rome, representing a wide swath of the population – Jewish converts, Romans who are gentiles (or non-Jews) who formerly worshiped the gods and goddesses of Roman mythology, members of society of all stripes: slaves, masters, women, wealthy, poor. All rubbing elbows at the Lord’s table with varying degrees of success. Perhaps not surprisingly, this diverse group of people were having trouble being the body of Christ. Specifically, between the Jewish Christian and the non-Jewish Christians. Things were tense. Tempers flared.

So, in this part of the letter, Paul reminds them – and us – that the point of the commandments is not to impress God or pass a test. The ten commandments, specially commandments four through ten, are for the benefit of our neighbors. Specifically, in showing them welcome and love, as Jesus himself did all through his life.

I confess that I don’t always remember all the commandments in the correct order, or have Luther’s explanations of them as part of the Small Catechism memorized. But for people like me, there is asmartphone app available for free that has the entire Small Catechism at your fingertips. I know, you have been in desperate need of a smart phone Small Catechism app.

But thanks to this app, when I am out and about, and wonder what Luther says about the 5^th commandment – “You shall not murder,” Lookie here, there it is! By the way, Luther’s explanation of the 5^th commandment goes like this – “We are to fear and love God, so that we neither endanger nor harm the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them in all of life’s needs.” In other words, it’s not enough to follow the commandment by “just” REFRAINING from murdering them.  According to Luther, as good neighbors we should also “help and support them” by loving them as we love ourselves.

It’s harder than it looks. This was really difficult for the communities of Jesus-followers in Rome… and it seems like it isn’t any easier now. Old conflicts die hard. We do horrible things to one another out of fear, and injuries fester and poison our relationships. As time goes on, divisions between individuals, families, races, cultures, nation, and faiths can seem insurmountable.

Sixteen years ago tomorrow marks a day that I don’t think anyone will soon forget. Growing up in the Midwest, my experience of September 11^th is very different. That night I went to my church for an impromptu prayer vigil, as did many people here on the East Coast. But, it wasn’t until I moved to NJ six years ago that I met people who were first responders stationed on Ellis Island later that day, or former parishioners who worked blocks from the towers and got out of the city that day on the last running train.

Amid all the horror and loss of life, in an article I read one man racing down the thousands of stairs to try to get out of one of the towers: “Everybody helping one another. We coached one another down those stairs. We were teammates and we knew we were going to get out.”

A group of Muslims in New Jersey were also asked what theirexperiences of the day had been. Rafiq Chaudhry shared this: “Later, I and other people went to the mosque. The imam prayed for everybody, prayed for all the people in the United States of America…. Two days after September 11, there was a fund-raiser in Jersey City for the firefighters who died at the World Trade Center. I said, ‘I definitely have to go, I’m part of the community.’”

Neighbor helping neighbor get out of a deadly situation. Neighbor helping neighbor through prayer and lifting up those in need in the community. Neighbor helping neighbor no matter what difference may exist in skin color, language, religious practice, gender, or legal status. Neighbor helping neighbor, coming together, and Jesus is there among them, members of the body of Christ, making up God’s holy neighborhood.

One translation of the beginning of John’s Gospel goes like this: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1:14, The Message Translation). That’s Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, the word made flesh, took on our being, becoming fully human – who by the way, as a child was taken by his parents to a foreign country as an illegal refugee to escape the violence that Kind Herod had in store for him. When Jesus grew up, he healed and he taught and he fed and he cared and he loved – and he did not let anyone or anything stop him. Not evil. Not darkness. Not sin. Not even death. Just so that Jesus would be our neighbor forever, and that we would be good neighbors with one another, in Jesus’ name, with all the power of love that name brings. So that, when two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, Jesus is there with us.

How would we conduct ourselves if we remembered that Jesus is here with us? 

How would we do the business of the church, and go about the business of our lives? Would we act any different? 

What kinds of things might we try if we knew that Jesus will be with us?

As on of my preaching professors Dr. Karoline Lewis recently shared: “When you are in your staff meeting, a session meeting, a hospital room, fellowship time, bible study, Jesus is there among you. When you are making decisions about where your benevolence will go or whom your church will welcome, Jesus is there among you. When your church questions if it will speak up or stay silent, Jesus is there among you. When you are discussing your vision, your mission statement, your future, Jesus is there among you.”

And when Jesus is present – things start to happen. Lives are transformed. People are healed. Sins are forgiven. Warriors put down their weapons. Enemies reconcile and live together in peace. Neighbors come together and build God’s holy neighborhood. Strangers are welcomed and become neighbors, and together we work in the name of Jesus, and nothing in heaven or on earth will be able to stop us. Amen.