{"id":92,"date":"2010-07-18T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2010-07-18T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=92"},"modified":"2017-03-29T10:09:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T17:09:03","slug":"lord-make-us-your-kind-of-neighbors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/18\/lord-make-us-your-kind-of-neighbors\/","title":{"rendered":"Lord, Make us Your Kind of Neighbors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy 24: 17-22 | July 18, 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n

17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.\u00a0 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this. <\/em><\/p>\n

19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.\u00a0 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.\u00a0 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.\u00a0 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this. <\/em><\/p>\n

I looked up the word neighbor<\/em> in the dictionary.\u00a0 The first meaning is somebody living nearby<\/em>.\u00a0 I suppose that’s how we usually think of our neighbors.\u00a0 Those on the other side of the fence from us. Those we see at the soccer game when our kids are playing.<\/p>\n

But there is another meaning to neighbor.\u00a0 A fellow human being<\/em>.\u00a0 He or she is also our neighbor.\u00a0 That person who’s skin color or language or politics are different than yours.\u00a0 He or she is also our neighbor.\u00a0 That’s what Jesus taught someone who thought he was everything God wanted him to be.\u00a0 And it\u2019s important to know – especially when our Lord commands us. Love your neighbor as yourself<\/span><\/p>\n

In this section of Deuteronomy, God readies his people to be the kind of neighbors he wants them to be.\u00a0 At first, we might wonder.\u00a0 How does this apply to me?\u00a0 These people lived in such a different time, the circumstances so different.\u00a0 Watch now and see.\u00a0\u00a0 It does apply.\u00a0 In fact, it teaches us a way of life, a special concern for others, that you see throughout God’s Word.\u00a0 So here we say:<\/p>\n

Lord, make us your kind of neighbors.
\n<\/strong>I.\u00a0\u00a0 With a special regard for the powerless
\nII.\u00a0 With something set aside for those in need.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Deuteronomy means the second giving of the law.\u00a0 The first giving was at Mount Sinai 40 years before. Now a whole new generation has come out of the desert and is on the verge of entering the promised land.\u00a0 Deuteronomy is Moses giving God\u2019s law and spelling it out for the people as they began a whole new life.<\/p>\n

When they entered that land, many would become well established.\u00a0 Their flocks and farms and vineyards would be blessed with abundance.\u00a0 They\u2019d be able to look out for the interests of their families.<\/p>\n

But like any other society, not everyone would be so blessed.\u00a0 Here the Lord speaks of the alien or the fatherless and the widow.\u00a0 What was their life situation? \u00a0\u00a0The alien was away from home and family. The fatherless has no family. \u00a0He\u2019s on his own. The widow had lost her husband in a society where inheritance went through the man.<\/p>\n

In other words they were vulnerable to someone wanting to take advantage of them.\u00a0\u00a0 In a way, they were powerless.\u00a0 They had to depend on the fairness of others who had more to gain by taking advantage.<\/p>\n

It makes me think of a garage sale meant to help someone in need of a transplant.\u00a0 Or maybe someone who has lost his job and needs to sell his car for cash.\u00a0 Or maybe someone is looking for work.\u00a0 If we know how desperate and powerless that person is we might be tempted to take advantage of such people while they\u2019re down, to low ball the price instead of making a fair offer.\u00a0 Lord make us your kind of neighbors with a special regard for the powerless.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the Lord commanded his people:\u00a0 17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge<\/span>. A widow might need to borrow some money to tide her over.\u00a0 A person would often ask for something of value to insure that person would pay what he or she owed.\u00a0 But for the widow the only thing of value might be her cloak, a loose piece of clothing that would be her blanket to keep her warm on a cold night.\u00a0 You see then the Lord\u2019s regard for the powerless. He programs in this protection in his law for their land.\u00a0 They were to be that kind of neighbor.<\/p>\n

And why?\u00a0 They just had to look back at their own history.\u00a0 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this<\/span>. They only had to remember when they were powerless slaves in Egypt.\u00a0 where their masters took cruel advantage.\u00a0 How could they possibly do the same to the powerless among them now?\u00a0 For after all the Lord says, I redeemed you.\u00a0 When you were powerless to help yourself, I set you free.<\/p>\n

Think about that.\u00a0 For you and I can also look back to a time when we were powerless to help ourselves. A time when we were slaves.\u00a0 You see, we were slaves to something far worse than the slave drivers of Egypt.\u00a0 We were slaves to sin, and to death.\u00a0 We were slaves without hope and without God.<\/p>\n

But what does the Scripture say?\u00a0 \u2026At just the right time when were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly<\/span>, (Rom 5:6) which by the way was you and me.\u00a0 So we were there too.\u00a0 Powerless slaves.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But Christ has set us free.\u00a0 He went the way of the cross for you.\u00a0 He took your guilt upon himself and suffered your death.\u00a0 Then he rose to declare , you are free.\u00a0 Free, forgiven dearly loved children of God whose citizenship is heaven,. So now, what does God call us to do with our freedom.\u00a0 Be his kind of neighbor with a special regard for the powerless<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here I\u2019m thinking of a young man in our congregation.\u00a0 He is bedridden with Muscular Dystrophy while our state in such terrible shape keeps looking for ways to cut the budget.\u00a0 Well it\u2019s a lot easier to cut the benefits of people like this young man than those who have a powerful union.\u00a0 He can barely lift his finger. \u00a0So he needs people like you and me to say no more.\u00a0 He needs folks like us to speak up and vote that the powerless not be taken advantage of.\u00a0 For we were there. \u00a0And Christ has set us free.<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m thinking of a man who was a little boy in Mexico.\u00a0 His father abandoned the family.\u00a0 At one point they \u00a0were without food for days.\u00a0 This young boy was very hungry and walked through the farmer\u2019s fields looking for a zucchini.\u00a0 He looked and looked but could not find any.\u00a0 Finally he told me, he prayed and when he opened his eyes there was one.\u00a0 Divine intervention? A miracle?\u00a0 Maybe.\u00a0 But maybe it was another way that God provided.\u00a0 Maybe the farmer was trying to be the kind of neighbor that God commands here.\u00a0 Lord make us that kind of neighbor with something set aside for those in need<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When the Israelites entered the promised land most families would be given a plot of land.\u00a0 With that, they could raise grain and grapes, sheep and goats.\u00a0 But some would not have land.\u00a0 They would not be able to plant and harvest.\u00a0 So the Lord told those who could.\u00a0 19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.\u00a0 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.\u00a0 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow<\/span>.<\/p>\n

This gave everyone an opportunity to share in the fruit of the land.\u00a0 Notice how it worked.\u00a0 The orphan or alien would not have to beg or get a handout.\u00a0 They had to go out and do the work of gathering what was left for them.\u00a0 God\u2019s wisdom is worth imitating in our own charity.\u00a0 It\u2019s so much better for that person if he has to do something for what he gets.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s something else God was teaching the owner of that field or vineyard.\u00a0 Everything I give you is not for you<\/em>. \u00a0Think of what the apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians4: 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need<\/span>.\u00a0 Did you get that:\u00a0 Everything God gives us, everything we work for is not for us.<\/p>\n

Think of the first offering recorded in the New Testament.\u00a0 What was it for?\u00a0 To build a church, to pay a preacher, to send a missionary?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 It was to help those in need suffering famine in Jerusalem.\u00a0 God gives us blessing that we may be his kind of neighbors with something set aside for others.<\/p>\n

But again it is something more.\u00a0 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt.<\/span> When you come into this rich new land and begin to enjoy it\u2019s fruits, remember. \u00a0Remember God\u2019s amazing grace that saved a wretch like \u2026me.<\/p>\n

Yes, me.\u00a0 I may have been born into a middle class family but still I entered this world poorer than the poorest Christian in the Sudan.\u00a0 I may have had shoes put on my feet but still I was poorer than the barefoot child baptized into Christ.\u00a0 But now I am so blessed in Christ.\u00a0 He took my\u00a0 guilt so I could be so blessed.\u00a0 Blessed with forgiveness.\u00a0 Blessed with hope.\u00a0 Blessed with God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n

So look again at the stuff God has given you.\u00a0 The salary, the savings big or small.\u00a0\u00a0 What is it for?\u00a0 To support you and your family.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also an opportunity.\u00a0 To thank God.\u00a0 One way you do that is this.\u00a0 By being this kind of neighbor who doesn\u2019t take it all for himself but sets something aside for those in need.<\/p>\n

And when we are tempted to tight fisted, to be a Scrooge hording it all to ourselves, let us repent.\u00a0 Repent and remember.\u00a0 \u00a0Remember that you were slaves. And remember the One who set you free.\u00a0 He calls on you to be this kind of neighbor.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy 24: 17-22 | July 18, 2010 17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.\u00a0 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this. 19 When you are harvesting in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":856,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}