WEBVTT

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You know, I have to let y 'all know I actually

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went this last week to Las Vegas Yeah, I know

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right and I was there for a preaching conference.

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I swear I was there for a preaching conference

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I really was it really was I know it sounds suspicious

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right you know a priest a pastor and rabbi walk

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into a casino right okay but and you know I was

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there we spent the first two days it was my old

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professor from seminary and we were going through

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all the different types of patterns that are

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used for preaching and all and then spent a couple

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days I was doing the sightseeing and you know

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definitely went to go see the sphere that place

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is huge it's fascinating and I went to go see

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a Cirque du Soleil show Not that kind of Cirque

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du Soleil show, all right? It was a Michael Jackson

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show, okay? Everybody was clothed enough. You

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know, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?

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Come on, she's like right there, the Michael

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Jackson joke had to be made. And yes, yes, and

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I went through the casinos and all, they're in

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every single hotel. And I did not, I resisted

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playing, especially because a bunch of them were

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like $100 buy -in, and I'm like, ah, not so much.

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I just went and got a burger from Gordon Ramsay's

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place, so it was all right, it was all right.

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But you know, while I was in town, I went to

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go see the Planzas. The Planzas, were the couple

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that sold me my house. They were members here

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before they moved to Vegas to work with the National

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Weather System. And one of the things with that

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is that in doing this, I was able to connect

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and share what was going on. But you see, this

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couple, they went out of their way to make sure

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that I could get into their home. At a time four

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years ago, whenever prices were jumping through

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the roof, not only did they not raise the price,

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They even came down just a little bit so I could

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actually still afford it. You know, they technically

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were never my neighbor because when I moved in,

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they moved out. But they treated me like it.

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They treated me like somebody that they cared

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about, someone who mattered to them. And when

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I was there, they wanted to know about our next

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door neighbor. You see, she's been there for

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a number of years. She lost her husband a few

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years ago. Her kids and her grandkids were there

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with her, but she was always the sweetest person.

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that she also has a similar faith in Christ But

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you know she's always been good kind of checking

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on the house and making sure things are okay

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But made me wonder What if she weren't similar

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to me? What if she wasn't always the nicest what

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if there were times when she was difficult or

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rude? What if I'd be tempted to call this person

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a bad neighbor? Would I still care about her?

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Would I be treating her with kindness? At what

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point would I be deciding whether or not she

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was worthy of being my neighbor? And that's the

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question that's at the heart of today's message.

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Who is my neighbor? And maybe more importantly,

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what kind of neighbor am I willing to be? Romans

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13 10 says love does no harm to a neighbor therefore

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love is the fulfillment of the law You see as

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we think about our neighbors We may be thinking

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well I've never done any harm to my neighbor

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There's lots of things I might have wanted to

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do to my neighbor, but I haven't actually done

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anything toward my neighbor But what if we did

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do something wrong? toward those around us if

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we did Would we even be willing to admit it?

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even to ourselves And I wanted to take a moment

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and I wanted to look at Leviticus Leviticus 19

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there's few verses there and What they're doing

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is they're showing us something deeper that we

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should consider see before Jesus ever told the

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parable of the Good Samaritan God had already

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laid out a clear picture of what it meant to

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love your neighbor See, in Leviticus 19, we're

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given a series of commandments, okay? Not just

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about rituals or sacrifices, you know, the things

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that we normally think of with like Leviticus

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and all the blah, blah, blah. But we also see

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justice, generosity, and everyday decency. And

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they're all wrapped around this same core idea.

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Do not do no harm to your neighbor. do good when

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you have the power to do it. Let's break it down

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and not like white boys do. Now, verses 9 and

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10 say, When you reap the harvest of your land,

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you shall not reap your field right up to its

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edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings

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after your harvest, and you shall not strip your

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vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen

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grapes of your vineyard, you shall leave them

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for the poor and for the sojourner. I am the

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Lord your God. See, this talks about leaving

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something for the people who are in need. You

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see, when you would go through and gather all

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of your crops, there was always bound to be stuff

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that would fall down, that would fall behind.

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So you'd have to go out of your way to go back

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and spend all this effort to catch up all the

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little pieces. But it was so little, it wouldn't

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really make a difference to your profits or to

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what you were reaping. But if there was someone

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desperate, who didn't have a home and didn't

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have food, they could go and gather it and it

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would be enough for them to live. The idea is

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don't grab every scrap for yourself. Sometimes

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we're so desperate to hold onto what we think

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is ours, even leftovers, things that wouldn't

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matter to us, that could mean everything to somebody

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else. What we hoard might not really help us.

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but it could be a lifeline for someone else.

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Did you really need to sell the old couch that

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was 20 years old for 50 bucks online, or could

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you have given it to that new couple next door

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that you know they don't have furniture? Or even

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looking at verses 11 and 12, and it says on there,

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you shall not steal. You shall not deal falsely,

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shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear

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by my name falsely and so profane the name of

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your God, I am the Lord." Because how often do

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we do things that are actually lying and honestly

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stealing, but because we can make it look right

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or act that somehow this is what God would want

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and this is what good people would do, it's like

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we're just taking a spiritual bumper sticker.

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of Jesus saves and putting it on things just

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to make things look holy. See, there's a reason

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I don't ever put a Jesus bumper sticker on my

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car knowing how I drive in Houston traffic. See,

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we might say this is what God wants when it's

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really just what we want. And worse, we hide

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behind our identity as God's people that, well,

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I'm a good person. And acting as if being religious

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or having our moral high ground makes everything

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that we do right. Even as we go over and manipulate

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things on our taxes to make it look better, knowing

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in reality that it's not true, not right. And

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then in reality, we've just done something deceitful.

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Verses 13 and 14. You shall not oppress your

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neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant

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shall not remain with you all night until the

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morning. You shall not curse the deaf or put

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a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall

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fear your God. I am the Lord. Do not take advantage

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of those who can't stop you. Let's be honest.

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We know that there are people we could do what

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we want and they couldn't actually do anything

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to us. We know that there are people out there.

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It could be the person that we underpay, they've

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already done the work, but we're only gonna give

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them so much. Or the person that we ignore, or

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the one who needs help but there's no real reward

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for it, for us. Or the times whenever we pretend

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that we've done nothing wrong because it was

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legal even though we know it was immoral. If

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you know that that employee, needs the paycheck,

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but you found an excuse to hold it back for two

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weeks? That's not being savvy, it's being sinful.

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Or verses 15 and 16. You shall do no injustice

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in court. You shall not be partial to the poor

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or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall

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you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around

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as a slanderer among your people, and you shall

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not stand up against the life of your neighbor.

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I am the Lord. How often it is that we want to

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get our way so we can somehow figure out how

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to manipulate the courts or manipulate popular

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opinion or manipulate those around us manipulate

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our friends or our family to somehow take our

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side and To get what we want the power the money

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the influence We don't go to the person we talk

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about them because we know that if we actually

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went to them it would be easily fixed We speak

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about others and we trample over them using our

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social media or our group chats to ruin someone's

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reputation saying we're just venting when in

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reality we're just looking for vengeance or even

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the last two verses from this section you shall

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not hate your brother in your heart but you shall

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reason frankly with your neighbor lest you incur

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sin because of him you shall not take vengeance

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or bear grudge against the sons of your own people

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but you shall love your neighbor as yourself

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I am the Lord You know how you feel deeply wronged.

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You know that resentment. You know that hurt.

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Where, you know, I've been mistreated. There

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should be justice done. All I want is justice.

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But is that actually how God sees it? Is it possible

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that that person actually feels that you've wronged

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them? Or more than that, even if they did wrong

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to you, would you actually be willing to let

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God take care of it instead of you? How often

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do we say we've forgiven somebody but every time

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they come up we make sure we bring up exactly

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what they did? All of these verses Keep reminding

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us one thing Love your neighbor as yourself.

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You see sometimes we harm our neighbor without

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realizing it and other times we harm our neighbor

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We know exactly what we're doing. We just don't

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want to admit it But either way the question

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remains How can we do better? And that's an idea

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that we want to see as we look at Jesus. See,

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in Luke 10, we see the parable of the Good Samaritan,

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and I'm sure that you know this parable and maybe

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you know it a little too well. See, sometimes

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we know a story so well that we stop listening.

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We don't want to just go about our business,

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but we want to lean in and hear what this is

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truly saying to us. You see, there's a man who

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is beaten and half dead on the side of the road

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and two men pass by, a priest and a Levite. Again,

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not a joke. But these are the religious leaders,

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the ones that bring people to God's presence

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with the sacrifice, with the temple, the tabernacle,

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the ways in which they connect people with God.

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If anyone should stop and help, shouldn't it

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be them? But they don't. They see them, and they

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go to the other side of the road. See, the text

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doesn't tell us specifically why, but we can

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guess. Maybe they were in a hurry. They had stuff

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to do. You know, here's a problem. Maybe they

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weren't sure. Maybe that man was already dead.

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See... If they tried to help and he was already

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dead, they'd be unclean. They'd have to deal

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with all these other issues. You know, someone

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else would probably take care of it. Probably

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the priest thought that the Levite could take

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care of him because the priest has priest stuff

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to do. The Levite, maybe somebody else could

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help him. Maybe the Levite's saying, you know,

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I've got all this stuff to take care of. Someone

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else, I'm sure, will come along. Maybe his family

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will be there. I just, I don't want the hassle.

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But they keep going. See, technically they stay

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clean, but spiritually, they walked right past

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the heart of God. See, this part of the message,

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you know, it always reminds you of those things

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where like the one person you know they're struggling

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with their groceries, but you've explained to

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yourself in your mind why you shouldn't go help

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them, because I'm sure that they'd be uncomfortable

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with that and they wouldn't want me to be in

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their business. Or, you know, that one person

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who's had their blinker on, for the last several

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seconds they're trying to get over but in your

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mind you're like if I just speed up I can get

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there before them so that you know I could get

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there two seconds faster the times that we intentionally

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look in the other direction if you don't make

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eye contact then it lets you off the hook you

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know what I mean it's as if your moral obligation

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is canceled by your ability to act like you didn't

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see it it's the priest and Levite level avoidance

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and it's kind of funny except that it's kind

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of true. And then comes the Samaritan, the outsider.

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See, the one that was considered impure by the

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religious establishment, he sees the man, but

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instead of calculating the cost of what it would

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take to help him, he crosses the road to him.

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He helps, he gives, he stays. This is the move

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from not just not harming people, but to actively

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helping them. From avoiding trouble to becoming

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a blessing. From asking what happens to me if

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I stop and deal with it to asking what happens

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to him if I don't. And this parable hits today

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because we live in a world where we've gotten

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really good at defining who does and doesn't

00:15:01.289 --> 00:15:06.080
count as our neighbor. If we find a technicality,

00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.360
a zip code, a background, a legal status, a lifestyle,

00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:12.100
we can convince ourselves that we don't have

00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:15.659
to help. That's not our issue. And yes, I know

00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:18.360
you caught what I put third in that list as if

00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.820
somehow I were trying to be sneaky to convince

00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:23.759
you to look at people without finding an excuse

00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:28.799
to get out of loving them. Because Jesus doesn't

00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:33.990
give us an out. Our neighbor is the person right

00:15:33.990 --> 00:15:36.889
in front of us. It's the person on the side of

00:15:36.889 --> 00:15:40.070
the road. The one God placed on our path. We

00:15:40.070 --> 00:15:42.850
may not agree with them. We might not understand

00:15:42.850 --> 00:15:46.169
them. We might even be afraid of the implications

00:15:46.169 --> 00:15:50.129
of helping. But Jesus doesn't call us to be cautious.

00:15:51.070 --> 00:15:53.750
He calls us to be compassionate. It doesn't mean

00:15:53.750 --> 00:15:56.190
we throw away wisdom, but it does mean we throw

00:15:56.190 --> 00:15:59.870
away indifference. Because love doesn't look

00:15:59.870 --> 00:16:03.990
for a loophole. So let me ask you, who have you

00:16:03.990 --> 00:16:07.210
been avoiding because it might be inconvenient

00:16:07.210 --> 00:16:11.809
to care? Who have you crossed the road to avoid

00:16:11.809 --> 00:16:15.049
physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually?

00:16:16.090 --> 00:16:19.929
And what would it take for you to cross back

00:16:19.929 --> 00:16:24.850
over to them? 1 John 4 11, Beloved, if God so

00:16:24.850 --> 00:16:26.830
loved us, we also ought to love one another.

00:16:27.590 --> 00:16:30.940
Let's go back to that question. What would it

00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:35.080
take for you to cross back over to them? To stop

00:16:35.080 --> 00:16:39.059
avoiding and to start loving? Let's take just

00:16:39.059 --> 00:16:42.639
a little closer look at that Samaritan. That

00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.779
word, it may not land fully with you today, but

00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:49.440
it would have hit hard in Jesus' time because

00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:51.700
the Samaritans, they weren't just outsiders.

00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:56.299
They were of the offensive enemies. These were

00:16:56.299 --> 00:17:01.080
the ones that the kingdom had separated And they

00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:03.440
were going to have their own altars, their own

00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:07.059
worship, their own places, their own king. And

00:17:07.059 --> 00:17:10.599
then they even were seen as traitors. They were

00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:13.839
seen as spiritual traitors, ethnically impure

00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:18.200
and religiously heretical. It wasn't a neutral

00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:21.140
word just saying, oh, you're from Samaria. When

00:17:21.140 --> 00:17:24.359
a Jewish person said it, it was a racial slur.

00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:30.759
They were the half -breeds. They were offensively

00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:33.000
termed this because they were the people that

00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:34.980
even though they were also children of Abraham,

00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.180
they married people from the surrounding nations.

00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.220
They were worshipped at the wrong place. They

00:17:41.220 --> 00:17:43.400
had their own version of faith. They were seen

00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.640
as people to be avoided, dismissed, and rejected.

00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:51.519
And yet this is the guy that you'd never expect

00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:57.339
who chooses to stop. He's the one who chooses

00:17:57.339 --> 00:18:02.609
to help. He's the one who chooses to love. Like

00:18:02.609 --> 00:18:05.349
people crossing into our state just to help us

00:18:05.349 --> 00:18:08.529
find our lost children, despite everything we've

00:18:08.529 --> 00:18:11.890
done to label them over the years. And here's

00:18:11.890 --> 00:18:14.970
the key. The Samaritan doesn't get caught up

00:18:14.970 --> 00:18:18.480
in religious posturing. His own moralism. He's

00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:20.960
not worried about ceremonial cleanliness. He's

00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.400
not calculating risk or social consequence He's

00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:27.579
not looking for a theological loophole to justify

00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:32.380
walking away. He sees a person in need and He

00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:35.980
moves to him Because his heart won't let him

00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:40.099
do anything else and that right now that that

00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:43.779
is what righteousness looks like Because sometimes

00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:47.000
we use our own morality as a shield to protect

00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:51.400
our comfort. We use our religion as an excuse

00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:55.380
not to love. We say things like, it's complicated,

00:18:55.539 --> 00:18:57.599
or it's not my problem, or they don't belong

00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:00.480
here. All while the person on the side of the

00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:04.299
road is bleeding out. But the Samaritan sees

00:19:04.299 --> 00:19:09.140
a person, not a category. A neighbor, not a nuisance.

00:19:10.019 --> 00:19:13.990
An opportunity. Not a threat. So how much more

00:19:13.990 --> 00:19:17.490
should we, the people of God, do the same thing?

00:19:18.369 --> 00:19:20.750
And Jesus asks the question that flips everything

00:19:20.750 --> 00:19:23.109
on its head. Who was the neighbor to the man?

00:19:23.410 --> 00:19:27.269
Not asking who counts as my neighbor, but asking

00:19:27.269 --> 00:19:33.730
who became the neighbor. Do you hear that? Who

00:19:33.730 --> 00:19:38.109
proved it? Who became the neighbor? Because neighbor

00:19:38.109 --> 00:19:41.059
isn't something we inherit. It's something we

00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:46.180
choose to become. Do we want to be the neighbor?

00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:49.839
Do we see it as a burden or do we see it as a

00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:53.079
privilege? Because the world isn't going to be

00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:55.420
changed by protecting ourselves, it's going to

00:19:55.420 --> 00:19:59.859
be changed by sacrificial love. By people who

00:19:59.859 --> 00:20:01.819
cross boundaries, people who break through the

00:20:01.819 --> 00:20:05.339
prejudice, people when love, it's not just for

00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:07.859
when it's easy, but especially when it's hard.

00:20:09.539 --> 00:20:13.299
We keep asking why the world is so broken Why

00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:17.680
people don't know Jesus maybe? Maybe it's because

00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:19.880
we've stopped looking for ways to be their neighbor

00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:23.619
Maybe it's because we've made loving people optional

00:20:23.619 --> 00:20:26.359
But Jesus says the neighbor the true neighbor

00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:32.420
is the one who stops who serves who loves Even

00:20:32.420 --> 00:20:35.799
when it costs even when the person is offensive

00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:39.500
to us or thinks we're offensive to them even

00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:41.460
when your pastor is afraid of how many people

00:20:41.460 --> 00:20:45.079
don't want to hear it. It's a privilege to be

00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:49.720
a neighbor. So what's stopping us? This is what

00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:53.180
we see in Jesus. Because Christ has done everything

00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:56.799
to be our neighbor. Even when we were His enemies

00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:00.680
because of sin. And yes, He's our Savior. He

00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:02.740
is the Lord of all. I'm not minimizing that by

00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:05.599
using the word neighbor, but to show that the

00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:08.470
same heart that we've been talking about, The

00:21:08.470 --> 00:21:12.569
heart that crosses the road? The heart that refuses

00:21:12.569 --> 00:21:16.369
to look away? The heart that sees worth in the

00:21:16.369 --> 00:21:21.210
wounded? That's the very heart of Christ. Because

00:21:21.210 --> 00:21:24.170
Christ wants to be our neighbor. Not because

00:21:24.170 --> 00:21:26.089
that's nothing, but because it's everything.

00:21:27.730 --> 00:21:30.230
From the one who dwells in the Kingdom of God

00:21:30.230 --> 00:21:34.880
and welcomes us into it. See, that's the miracle,

00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:38.019
is that the Son of God saw us not just as lost

00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:41.640
sheep, but as neighbors worth loving. When we

00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:43.599
were His enemies because of sin, He didn't walk

00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:47.539
away. He came closer. He made room for us not

00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:50.640
just to live next door to Him, but to be in His

00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:53.839
home. To give us everything, to give us life,

00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.299
to bring us into His family. Because God sees

00:21:56.299 --> 00:22:01.359
broken people like us and says, I want you in

00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:04.299
my kingdom. I want you in my home. I want to

00:22:04.299 --> 00:22:07.940
live with you. And if that's the heart of Christ,

00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:11.339
then what greater privilege do we have than to

00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:14.839
reflect that same heart to others? To look at

00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:17.539
someone, the one we disagree with, the one we

00:22:17.539 --> 00:22:19.220
feel distant with, the one that we've labeled

00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:21.720
as others, and to say, I want the privilege of

00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:24.400
loving you. I want the privilege of seeing you.

00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:26.839
I want the privilege of being your neighbor.

00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:30.660
Because that's how the world changes. Not with

00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:34.000
arguments, not with excuses. With love. Real

00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:37.839
love. Cross the road kind of love. Love that

00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.980
doesn't make excuses to avoid people, but searches

00:22:40.980 --> 00:22:44.059
for opportunities to bless them. Because there

00:22:44.059 --> 00:22:47.980
are many voices that you're going to hear. Priestly

00:22:47.980 --> 00:22:52.039
logic. Levite caution. Theological technicalities.

00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:54.319
Political talking points. But there's one voice

00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:57.400
that cuts through it all. It's the voice of Christ.

00:22:58.379 --> 00:23:00.420
The one who came as the unexpected neighbor,

00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.660
the one who, like the Samaritan, was rejected,

00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:07.579
misunderstood, and even offensive. And yet, He's

00:23:07.579 --> 00:23:09.000
the one who showed us what the Father's love

00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.160
really looks like. And He says to you, go and

00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:18.200
do likewise. But if I may, not just do, go and

00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:21.599
be likewise. Be the neighbor Christ has made

00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:24.680
you to be. Because He was the neighbor who crossed

00:23:24.680 --> 00:23:30.240
heaven to love you first. So go and love like

00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.240
that in the name of Jesus. Amen