Pentecost 8–Followers of Christ Love Their Neighbor

The believer loves his neighbor. We have every reason to love him. We know what we were when God found us; we know the love and mercy he poured out on us. Christ, the compassion of God, has treated our spiritual wounds and paid for our healing with his own blood. As we have known his goodness, let us do good to all. As our Prayer of the Day reminds us: The word is planted in our hearts, and now we ask the Holy Spirit to bring forth such fruits of faith as loving our neighbor for the sake of Christ.

HT: Lesson summaries produced by Rev. Joel Gawrisch and Rev. Jonathan E. Schroeder for Planning Christian Worship Year C.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Almighty God, we thank you for planting in us the seed of your Word. By your Holy Spirit help us to receive it with joy and to bring forth fruits in faith and hope and love; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

VERSE OF THE DAY

Alleluia. The Word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. Alleluia. (Deuteronomy 30:14 cf. NIV)

THE GOSPEL: LUKE 10:25-37

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus connects love for God with love for our neighbors. Just as God has had compassion on us, so we are to have compassion on others, especially those in need. This love for others, even for our enemies, grows from the Word of the Lord rooted in our hearts and mouths.

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Artist	Balthasar van Cortbemde  (1612–1663)
Title	English: The Good Samaritan
Object type	painting
Genre	religious art
Date	1647
Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	Height: 199.4 cm (78.5 ″); Width: 244.6 cm (96.2 ″)
Collection	Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp

In Luke 10:25-37, a lawyer attempts to test Jesus by asking him to identify the referent of the term neighbor in the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself” (Lk 10:27). The lawyer asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Lk 10:29) Jesus responds by telling the parable of the traveler on the Jericho road who was robbed, stripped and left “half-dead” by the side of the road. Three fellow travelers on the same road see the man; two pass by on the other side, and the third, a Samaritan, stops to give aid. Jesus then turns the man’s question back to him, asking, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor? (Lk 10:36) The real question is not whether other are our neighbors or are not our neighbors. It is not about geography or culture, even though geographical and cultural differences call for learn to care in ways that are sensitive to those differences. The question “Who is my neighbor” is about us, not about any group we call “them.” The real question, then, is captured in Mr. Rodgers song, “Won’t you be my neighbor” We are called not to figure out who is and is not our neighbor, but to be a neighbor. We live in a world full of people who are singing Mr. Rodgers song to us.

Diana R. Garland in Family Ministry a Comprehensive Guide, p. 117

FIRST LESSON: DEUTERONOMY 30:9-14

How abundantly has the Lord loved his people and blessed them with bountiful gifts for heart and mouth, soul and body. This Word of salvation is abundantly clear and fills our hearts and mouths. With such abundance, the life of faith responds in generosity towards others in need.

The more God’s grace empowers their lives, the more they know their need of his pardon. And the word of pardon carries with it God’s commitment to make us people who will want to live in his presence — to make us what he says we are. Hence, God’s promise is embedded in his command: ‘You shall be holy.’”

Gilbert Meilaender, “Hearts Set to Obey,” in I am the Lord your God: Christian Reflections on the Ten Commandments, ed. Carl Braaten and Christopher Seitz (Eerdmans, 2005), 274.

SECOND LESSON: COLOSSIANS 1:1-14

This lesson begins a series of three readings from Paul’s letter to the congregation at Colosse. Spirit-worked appreciation for what has been given to them in Christ Jesus has led the Colossians to bear fruits of faith and love for the benefit of God’s kingdom. Paul’s prayer is that this work of the Spirit continues, not only in the hearts of the Colossians but also in the hearts of believers today. Rescued from darkness, we too know and embody the love of Christ, bearing fruit in every good work done for the love of our neighbor.

God-given faith in Christ secures the unshakable hope of Christ which frees us to love like Christ.

Christopher Powers

By the power of the Spirit, may we bear up patiently under life’s fleeting affliction with joy in our hearts, knowing that the Father has transferred us for all time in the kingdom of His Son…

Christopher Powers

SUPPLEMENTAL FIRST LESSON: DEUTERONOMY 24:17-22

The Lord commands the Israelites to remember those in need by reminding them that they were once slaves in Egypt. Crying out in need, the Lord answered Israel’s prayer and provided for their salvation. God’s love for us is always the reason and motivation for our acts of love toward our neighbor.

SUPPLEMENTAL SECOND LESSON: ROMANS 12:9-21

Paul calls on the believer to live the life of faith in joyful response to the Lord’s goodness. This means shunning what is evil and embracing what is good. Loving our neighbor means embodying the love of Christ: being humble, brotherly, hospitable, peaceable. Sharing with those in need, especially the enemy, embodies the love Christ had for us. This, then, is truly showing love to our neighbor and doing good to all.

The cross teaches that genuine love abhors evil…

Christopher Powers

HYMN OF THE DAY

Christian Worship #456; Forth in Your Name, O Lord, I Go

Not too much out there. Taking suggestions.

PSALM OF THE DAY: PSALM 25

This psalm is an irregular acrostic (an alphabetic psalm). It is an excellent daily prayer. Although the contents of the four stanzas of the psalm overlap, each stanza does have a distinct emphasis. The first and last stanzas, which look outward, deal with the psalmist’s enemies and afflictions. The middle two stanzas, which look inward, deal with the psalmist’s sins and his repentance.

Brug, J. F. (1989). Psalms 1–72 (2nd ed., p. 117). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.

Show Me Your Ways featuring Maddie Michaelson – The Psalms Project

The Psalms Project is a community of musicians carrying out out a vision of setting all 150 Psalms to music and including the essential meaning of every verse, crafting songs that are stylistically faithful to each Psalm by combining modern, familiar instrumentation with unconventional structure and style – a marriage of King David’s vision with the very best qualities of modern worship music.

Questions to Consider

(Please share your answers/thoughts in the comments below)

1. What is God saying to me in these lessons?
2. For what do these lessons lead me to give thanks?
3. What sins do these lessons lead me to confess?
4. For what do these lessons lead me to pray?
5. What is the connecting thought that sticks out the most in these lessons? What major theme(s) connect(s) all the lessons?
6. Which piece of artwork did you find to be most beneficial? Why?