Early Risers & Neighbors

If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.  Frederick Buechner

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies: probably because they are generally the same people.  G.K. Chesterton

I am an early riser.  One of the things I have learned about being an early riser is that lots of stuff happens early in the morning in the dark.  I was driving out of my neighborhood this morning and three houses down from my house I saw a skunk cross the street and run under a neighbors car.  I don’t know what it is about animals, but when I see one I immediately think about God. Maybe it is because God created them and they can’t talk.  Or maybe it is because I start thinking about what God might want me to learn from the sighting. 

In this instance I thought maybe He wants me to understand how blessed I am that the skunk isn’t under my car.   Then I thought about my neighbor who may come out of their house and not realize there is a skunk under their car and then get sprayed.  Then I selfishly thought, “I’m not getting out of my car at 5:30am in the morning to walk past the neighbor’s car, (which by the way has a skunk under it), to knock on their door and let them know there is a skunk under it.”  Then I thought how sad it is that I don’t even know the neighbor. If I knew them I could probably call them, (and wake them up at 5:30am), to let them know about the skunk, but this could backfire on my good neighborliness if I woke them up.  

  

When I got to work I started looking up verses about neighbors.  God has a lot to say about neighbors; over 142 verses about how we should treat our neighbor.  In Romans 13:9-10 it begins by listing the things that we shall not do.  You shall not murder, steal, bear false witness, covet and these are all summed up by “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  I think it is interesting the way these few verses were written.  The most important part of these verses came at the end.  “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” If you are murdering, stealing, lying, and coveting the neighbors stuff then you aren’t loving your neighbor as yourself.

I think when most of us think about neighbors we think about the people who live next door to us or down the street.  Jesus meant for us to love all mankind; not just the person next door or living in our neighborhood. We are even told to love our enemies. If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will not say or do anything to harm them and if we apply that to all mankind this becomes the person at work, the individual driving next to us on the freeway, the store clerk, the mechanic and our boss. 

The ending to this story is I finally prayed that God would remove the skunk from under the neighbor’s car and make him go home to his family, but not over to my house.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for helping me to think of You in everything I do or see.  I have learned so many things about You just by observing the things going on around me and then by studying Your Word to see how I can apply it to my life.  Help me to love my neighbors as myself and that means everyone; even my enemies.     

   

Scripture: Love Your Neighbor

For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” You shall not steal,” "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  Romans 13:9-10