Click to hear this sermon sermon080518

About two and a half weeks ago, tropical cyclone Nargis hit the Southern valleys in Myanmar with over ten hours of 190 kilometers-per-hour winds. 

Neighbors: God and My Relational Self - Luke 10: 25-37; Ephesians 4: 25-5: 2 - May 18, 2008 - Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About two and a half weeks ago, tropical cyclone Nargis hit the Southern valleys in Myanmar with over ten hours of 190 kilometers-per-hour winds. Neighborhoods were destroyed; villages were wiped out. Early estimates were over 10,000 killed. Then it was 22,000. Now the Red Cross is estimating over 48,000 people killed - others say 128,000. And, many more will die if aid isn't poured in very soon.

This, of course, is a major disaster in its own right. But here's the shocking thing -­much of the food and medical relief that is ready to go is not being allowed in to the people who need it. The generals who rule Myanmar have a combination of distrust of any outsiders, and a lack of caring about the lives of the people they govern - and they are drastically slowing down international aid to the people who are suffering so terribly. Many have suffered and died because of their failure to act. It's unbelievable to us.

Of course, that's a faraway place. Nothing like that could take place here is our own country. But think again. For example, President Bush, who has diligently confronted the epidemic of AIDs, especially in Africa, has sent to Congress the second stage of his President's Emergency Fund for AIDs Relief. This bill extends the president's AIDs policy that is having a great impact in many places. The House has dealt with the bill; there is overwhelming support in the Senate; the President, of course, will sign it. But... seven conservative senators have formed a blockade. They say that if a bill for AIDs is approved, then next thing you know, people will ask for other things, like 'food, water, treatment of other infectious diseases, gender empowerment programs,' and 'poverty alleviation programs'. It will be a case, in their words, of 'mission creep. '

Once these seven senators put the brakes on the bill, none of the other key leaders, including the President and the Senate leaders, have seen it as a priority to step forward and expend political capital to push the bill through. And, as in Myanmar, people suffer and die because of the failure to act. Again, it's unbelievable.

Jesus was once approached by a man question that every confirmand, every mentor, every parent, every pastor, every church member, everyone who wants to please God has to answer. The man asked Jesus 'Who is my neighbor?' I wonder what he thought Jesus would say. Would Jesus say, "Your neighbor is the person who lives next door to you." Or, "Your neighbor is your fellow citizen or church member." Or, "Your neighbor is the one of your race, your social class, your liking." Or, "Your neighbor is the popular kid in school, or the dealmaker at work, or the one whose attention will elevate you socially."

But Jesus didn't say any of those things. Here's what he said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. The people Jesus was talking to would know that road very well - would know that it was dangerous - and that what happened to that man in the story was one of their biggest fears. That man would probably die. But wait, said Jesus. A priest came down the road. And we listening to Jesus' story say, "Oh thank God. A priest. Now the man will be rescued." But the priest walks by on the other side on the other side of the road. And the Levite, another respected leader pledged to help the people, does the same. It's unbelievable.

The Myanmar government will not allow aid to get through, and thousands die. The political leaders of the United States will not push through a bill to bring desperately needed AIDs relief, and thousands suffer. You see, what Jesus was describing in that priest and Levite was not two bad apples in the barrel. He was describing a cruel, uncaring reality in this world where people again and again fail to help each other. And there's always a reason - the priest was a busy man. The Levite might be afraid he'll be beaten. The Myanmar generals might be shown up in front of their own people. The President and the Senators have political realities to consider. People suffer greatly while we sort out our reasons for passing by on the other side of the road.

But, thank God, Jesus' story doesn't end there. Because there are neighbors in this world. And, fortunately for that man who was lying there bloody and bruised, the next man who came down the road was his neighbor. Here's the shocker though, for that Jewish audience Jesus was teaching -- the neighbor was a Samaritan, and Jews and Samaritans were ancient enemies. But the Samaritan saw the dying man, and he had compassion, and he poured mercy on the one who was hurt. And the man's life was saved - not by his own countrymen, his own leaders, But by the one he had despised. This is the shock in one the most shocking stories ever told. Who was the real neighbor? asked Jesus. The answer is obvious - the one who showed mercy.

            Who is my neighbor? is a question we are going to have to answer more and more.   There's a story about a man who wanted to hang a picture on the wall of his apartment. As he was driving the nail, he had to bang hard with the hammer. There was a knock on his door; it was his neighbor in the next apartment. The man hanging the picture apologized, saying, "I'm sorry. I had to hammer hard. I hope the noise wasn't too much." And his neighbor said, "Oh no. I'm not concerned so much about the noise. I just wonder if you mind if I hang one of my pictures on the other end of your nail."

Do you know that there are currently 6.6 billion people living in the world? And do you know that by the year 2050, when the world and the church are being led by the young people we confirm today, it is projected that the world population will top 9 billion people? There's a lot we don't know about how to live on a planet with 9 billion people - but here's one thing we better figure out. We better figure out how to be neighbors. We better figure out how to be kind to each other. Because more and more we're going to be living in a world where the nail you drive in your wall is going to end up in your neighbor's living room. We've got to figure out how to live with each other.

            In the past few sermons I've preached, I've focused on the Great Commandment - -  that teaching of Jesus that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength - in other words, emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically.  But Jesus didn't stop there - he quoted another verse from the Old Testament - "You should love your neighbor as yourself."  Heart and soul and mind and strength - those are personal attributes, and if they were all there was to it, , we might imagine that loving God is an individual thing, something you do within yourself, with nobody else involved. But Jesus said No, there's more. We need to love God in relationships as well. We need to stop and help each other. We need to care about people dying in Myanmar and folks with AIDs and the next door neighbor who's hurting and the stranger who's having a hard time. That's what we have to be about if we want to be known as Christians.

What a joyful thing to celebrate with these confirmands this morning. You who are being confirmed, we have told you over the last few months that this is a decision only you can make. It's something inside you that says, Yes I love God. Yes I love Jesus. And I want to be a follower of Jesus. To do what he wants me to do. To tell people about him, and live in a way that pleases him. This is my decision. I have chosen it. And I believe Jesus will put his arms around me and love me through all my life on earth, and all the way to heaven. That's something you decide as a person.

But there's something else I hope we've told you. When you are confirmed, you are joining the neighborhood that Jesus started. Part of that is called the church. In the Bible, church members had such a family feeling that they called each other brother and sister. But it's even wider than that. Jesus said that to be part of his family, you join a neighborhood. And when he was asked who is in the neighborhood, he told the shocking story about the Good Samaritan who cared about the stranger and helped him.

Most of you are already members of clubs and teams and troops. But there is something different about being a member of the church. This is the club where what holds us together is that we love God, and because of that, we love every last person in the world. That's not always the way of the world. In this world, governments don't always care for their people; staying on top is often more important than caring about others; people hurry by others in need, and don't care much beyond their own little circle.

But when you join a church, you are saying that that's not how you choose to live.

Jesus started a neighborhood of love that extends around the world; and wherever people are forgotten, oppressed, mistreated, or abused, friends of Jesus are neighbors reaching out to each other. And the neighborhood is not just Main Street. Or Cicero. Or your school. Or the houses you pass on the way to work. The neighborhood is wherever someone is hurting by the side of the road. Wherever the cries of children are heard. There is where Jesus wants to be. And he needs you and me to take him there. God has a great plan for this world; that's why Jesus came and died. But the plan will only unfold as rapidly as confirmands and mentors, pastors and laity, brothers and sisters, friends and strangers - as fast as each one of us chooses to put aside our narrow concerns and join the neighborhood - great things are going to happen on this tiny planet the more we get to know and love and help each other. Nine billion people won't have much choice if they want to survive. Let's break down the walls and get neighborly.