The Verse That Ties All Things Together

 “The commandments… are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  - Romans 13:10

 “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is a most remarkable verse.  It’s a verse that sent me on a journey through the Bible this week.  It’s a verse that ties together.  It ties together an astounding biblical truth that we see scattered throughout the Bible. Let me attempt to illustrate as succinctly as I can. 

 It was not only Paul who implored followers to ‘love neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus also commended the disciples to “love neighbor as yourself.”  But Jesus was not the first to say it.  In fact, Jesus was quoting the Old Testament, specifically the Book of Leviticus.  “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (19:18)

 Leviticus 19 is a special chapter.  It’s a chapter that describes a life of holiness expected to be lived by the Israelites in response to God’s gracious and saving acts in liberating them from their Egyptian oppressors.  Originally the book of Leviticus was a part of the book of Exodus and only later on became a separate book.  Chapter 19 of Leviticus is a “fleshing out” of the Ten Commandments given to the Israelites through Moses after their deliverance out of Egyptian slavery describing God’s expected life of holiness to be lived by God’s people.    

 Originally in Israel “neighbor” meant next-of-kin or fellow Israelite, but we see an expansion of that definition even in Leviticus.  Merely a few verses later it says, “When an alien resides in your land, you shall not oppress the alien… you shall love the alien as yourself…” 

 In other words God’s command to the Israelites was that when an alien was among them, they were to treat the alien not as they were treated when they aliens in the land of Egypt, but love the alien as they loved themselves.  That was to be the way they were to honor God in response to God’s saving activity upon them.   So, as far back as in Leviticus, the Bible broadens the definition of neighbor, beyond next-of-kin and fellow Israelite, to include the “alien.” 

 The apostle Paul reminds us in this epistle from Romans that the fullest expression of God’s intentions as expressed in God’s laws and statutes is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Also in Galatians Paul says, “…the whole law (or God’s will) is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (5:14)

 In Matthew’s gospel when a religious leader asked Jesus which of all the commandments in God’s law was the greatest, Jesus gave a fascinating answer.  He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (22:36-40)

 Right then and there Jesus forever linked loving God and loving neighbor: loving your neighbor is to love God, and loving God is to love your neighbor.  They are interchangeable.

 In  Luke the religious leader continued the conversation with another question, “And who is my neighbor?”  It was then Jesus told the familiar parable of The Good Samaritan.  You know the story.  A man was mugged by robbers and left in the ditch along the side of the road to die.  Two religious leaders passed by, a priest and a Levite.  These guys, for sure, were familiar with God’s command in Leviticus to love neighbor and alien as much as self.  Even so, they passed the dying man by – ignoring his suffering and his pain.  But ironically in a clever twist of the Leviticus imperative, it was an alien, a despised Samaritan, who stopped and rendered compassionate aid, thereby fulfilling the commandment of God to love both neighbor and alien as himself. 

 A favorite question I ask Bible study participants is which character in the Parable of the Good Samaritan looks most like Jesus?   Most people immediately say, “The Samaritan.”  I don’t disagree, but if you really look at it, the mugged man in the ditch looks even more like Jesus – the Jesus who was flogged, beaten, hung on a cross and left to die; before whom all sorts of people, religious and profane, passed by shouting scorn and displaying indifference.

 One more passage that get tied into this biblical truth is from Matthew 25 where Jesus said “I was hungry and you gave me food… thirsty and you gave me something to drink… a stranger and you welcomed me… naked and you gave me clothing… sick and you took care of me… in prison and you visited me.”  “Just as you did it to one of the least of these you do it unto me.” (Matthew 25:35,36, 40)   This is one of the most deeply mysterious verses in the entire Bible, for Jesus is saying that His, and hence God’s, solidarity with human pain and suffering is so total and so complete that when we minister to those who suffer, in some unfathomable way, we minister to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. 

 “Love your neighbor as yourself” is not merely a sentimental command to do nice things for our neighbors, but it is nothing short of an astounding and scandalous invitation to encounter the living Lord Jesus Christ himself in the lives of the most desperate, suffering, lonely, and pained souls of this planet.   

 When we look at all the many biblical teachings that “Love your neighbor as yourself” ties together, as well as other teachings of Jesus like, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” we see that Jesus profoundly broadens the definition of neighbor – so far as to say that even my enemies, in some divinely mysterious way, are my neighbors.   

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the most concise, yet profound description there is of what it means to live the Christian life; to live Christ’s life; to live your life in a way that honors God and the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins and the sins of all humanity. 

 If we can trust and believe that in and through Christ God has pushed the boundaries of neighbor and neighborhood far beyond our narrow and parochial boundaries, it literally changes everything, and it changes things radically and scandalously. 

 It means that God’s neighborhood is so much bigger than the neighborhood boundaries that we draw; God’s neighborhood includes the whole blessed and profane world; and every blessed and profane person in it.

 It means that our neighbors include even those we dislike and despise; and especially those who dislike and despise us. 

 It means that our Lord Jesus Christ is particularly present, not only with us, but in the suffering and pain of even the least of all the children of this planet. 

 “Love your neighbor as yourself.”   So who exactly is my neighbor?  Well, if I take seriously all the Biblical connections that this verse ties together, it’s the ones who look a little or a lot like Jesus, that’s who!  The ones who are suffering, sick, lonely, lost, imprisoned, thirsty, starving, frightened, oppressed, poor, homeless, disenfranchised, displaced, grieving, refugeed, rejected and dying.  The ones who look like Jesus on his way to the cross: the victims and refugees streaming out of the Gulf Coast region; those dying of HIV/Aids; starving and orphaned children in sub-Sahara Africa; the unemployed and under-employed; the lonely teen-ager; the abused woman; the forgotten aged.

 “Love your neighbor as yourself” is a verse that ties all things and people together in the heart of God.  It’s a verse that ties all humanity together into one neighborhood.  It’s a verse that ultimately brings us to the cross of the Lord Jesus to be forgiven for our lack of neighborliness, and be empowered to “love our neighbors as ourselves.”  Amen.