Mission to My Neighbour - 230407

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Christopher Petersen. Welcome to let God speak. The Christian life is one characterized by love, a love for one's neighbor, and love for God. But at times, through the day to day of life, we can neglect this calling to care for others, or it can become superficial. How then can we ensure that our compassion for others is sincere and consistent? What are practical ways in which we can love our neighbors? What lessons about kindness can we learn from the life of Jesus? Join us as we answer these questions and more. On our panel today we have John Kosmeier and Hana Nakagawa. Thank you for joining us. Well, let's begin with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come and study your word and learn how to love others. We pray that your Holy Spirit would illuminate our hearts and our minds with your truth. We pray this in your name. Amen. SPEAKER B Amen. SPEAKER A Well, our topic for discussion is all about Christian love. And so I want to first ask the question, Hana, why is love so significant to the Christian life? SPEAKER C Sure. Let's begin reading first. John, chapter four and verse seven and eight. The Bible says, beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. So here, it's clearly stated here that it's not just optional thing. Love is not optional thing for Christians. It is very essential for us. And how John defined in his word here is that he does not love, does not know God, for God is love. So God equal love. He's not just loving, but he is love. And he asked to say this, that for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God well. We don't naturally have that love in human way, but born of God. When we are born again, when we have that experience and repent our sin and come to God and put our trust in him, that is when we can love one another. SPEAKER B Hana, that makes sense because of what Paul wrote in the Book of Galatians, chapter five, and reading verse 22 in the New King James version. But the spirit of the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness and faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such there is no law. And this is what happens in an individual's life when they give themselves to Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes in and he's the one who changes us from what we were before to what Jesus would like us to be as we represent him. And this is where we find that it's the Holy Spirit that changes our lives by controlling us. SPEAKER A Yes, perfect. And what I'm getting from both of these passages is that showing love to others really is an expression of our Christian faith. In the same chapter that you read from Hana, John also says, if someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God must love his brother also. And this is going to be the verse that carries us through the rest of our study, that to truly love means to love our fellow man. And we particularly see this in one of the stories that Jesus told in Luke chapter ten. It's a very famous story called the Good Samaritan. I'll start by reading the first few verses here from Luke chapter ten. Beginning in verse 25, it says, behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him. That's Jesus saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him, what is written in the law? What is your writing of it? So he answered and said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, you have answered rightly. Do this and you will live. So, Hana, what stands out to you from this interaction that Jesus and the lawyer have with each other here? SPEAKER C Yes, it's very interesting. The lawyer stood up and tested him. It specifically said, tested Jesus. So his heart was not really wanting to get this answer from him, but rather he was testing, and his heart was not honest, not sincere here, but Jesus here, he kind of returned the same question back to him, the lawyer. It's because the lawyer has asked a very, very important question. How do I inherit eternal life? SPEAKER A And John, does the lawyer answer Jesus'question satisfactorily? SPEAKER B The answer is yes, because if you follow the law of Christ, that teaches you to love people, and that's the exact thing that Jesus demonstrated to him. If we look at Christianity properly, the greatest evidence for Christianity is a loving and lovable Christian, and this is what this story is telling us. SPEAKER A Now, one interesting thing that stands out to me, in addition to the observations you've made, is that Jesus, or the lawyer applies that it's to keep the law, to inherit eternal life. But in other parts of Scripture, we also read that salvation, or eternal life comes by a gift of grace through God. It's a gift of grace by faith. So how do we reconcile these two passages? One about grace and one about doing the right thing or doing good works? What do you think, Hana? SPEAKER C Sure. Let's go to Book of James. James, chapter two, and verse 17 to 22. The Bible says, does also faith by itself. If it does not have works, it's dead. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God? You do. Well, even the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, all foolish men, that faith without works is dead? Was no Abraham, our Father, justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works? And by works, faith was made perfect. This is very, very interesting. Especially I find it interesting that the devil also believe. So here we are told that salvation is entirely by God's grace. It is a gift. We cannot boast about it. We can't walk on it, we can't pay for it. The salvation is only by God's grace. BUt when we receive the grace, it changes us. It has the power. There's an inward transformation. It leads us to the fruits of the Spirit as well. So when our heart is changed by the Holy Spirit, it changes the way we act, the way we behave, the way we maybe speak to someone, it would change us. So when we have that faith, it would ultimately show it would be in an action or behavior as well. So good works are actually the evidence that we have experienced salvation and the Holy Spirit in us because we receive by faith. SPEAKER A John, do you have any other thoughts from this passage here? SPEAKER B Yes. If you look at that passage again in James Chapter two and zeroing in on verse 19, you believe that there is one God. You do. Well, even the demons believe and they tremble. So they believe. But the question is, have they turned that belief into actually doing verse 20? But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? If you believe and then don'T do, your faith is dead. And this is where you come to truly believing leads to true obedience. And so the story that yOu're reading Is this man here, he was doing what he believed, and that was to help, to love. And so it's because of our faith and our trust in God that the Holy Spirit is known to be inside that individual. What a blessing. SPEAKER A IncredibLe blessIng. And to kind of bolster his argument, James refers to another story all the way back in the Old Testament, that of Abraham, maybe Hana could you just quickly summarize for us the story that James is referring to here, where Abraham, through faith or through his works, demonstrated his faith. What story is that referring tO? SPEAKER C Yeah. So by faith that he believed that God would provide. He brought his Son IsAac to the sacrifice. And, yeah, he actually act upon it. We could see that his action. But it was from his faith as well. SPEAKER A Perfect. Now, one other thing that stands out to me from this passage is, okay. If we have the Holy Spirit in us, it will naturally demonstrate through good works. We will be loving to oThers. And show compassion and kindness. Because of the salvation we've experienced. But is it also possible to do the right thing, but with improper motives? What do we think? SPEAKER C Yes, that's a very interesting question. Well, I believe that God really knows our heart. He really knows our motive and the bottom of our heart. Like, maybe we don't realize it, but he knows everything. And the Pharisees, during the time of Jesus, they were keeping the law very strictly. But their hearts were not really in line with God. They had no relationship with God. Let's read Matthew 23 and verse 27 and 28. It says, war to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bonds and all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men. But inside you are full of hypocrites and lawlessness. So they actually lacked a relationship with God. And they may look like doing the right things, but their heart was like. Their motive was not out of love. They didn't have that love. So, yes, even though they did do outwardly, their heart was corrupt. So while it is possible to do what's good or what's right in the human eyes, or without the Holy Spirit, but it would be without love. And show that we have not been born of God. SPEAKER A It's interesting, isn't it, that Matthew 23 is probably the harshest rebuke that Jesus gives to anyone during his ministry? And it's against this pretending to have a relationship with God. Jesus hated that the Pharisees outwardly pretended to do all the right things. But inwardly were ugly and had no spiritual relationship with God. There's another Old Testament passage that makes me think on this same topic. It's from the Prophet Isaiah. And at the time, the people were giving sacrifices. But God said that the motives were so incorrect that he essentially ignored them. This is in Isaiah, chapter one, and verse eleven. He says, to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me. I've had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of fed cattle. I did not delight in the blood of bulls or of a lamb's or a goat's. When you come to appear before me, who's required this from your hand to trample my courts? And essentially what he was saying is, I'm not interested in you coming and bringing sacrifices. If as soon as you leave, you're going and intentionally committing evil, you're oppressing the poor and the vulnerable. So there really is this calling to match our kind of words with our actions. And it's all tied up in this theme of do we love others? So, John, if love is so important to the Christian life, how do we make sure it doesn't become superficial? How do we make sure it's always sincere and genuine? SPEAKER B Yes, that's a very good question, actually. And it is something that the Christian can be very conscious of. If we read in first John and remember that John was a beloved apostle, he was known as a son of thunder. But when he came to Jesus, Jesus changed his whole life and he became known as the Beloved Apostle. And here we have in his first book, first, second and third John, in one John, chapter four and verse nine. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might live through him in. This is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be this huge word, propitiation for our sins. And it simply means replacement instead of our sins. Christ is there, so he was sent to this world to be a propitiation for our sins. And so when we deal with other people, we can demonstrate that same love. And then it says, beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. And so because of what Jesus has done for and in us, then the challenge is for us to do that to the people that we come in contact with. I want to read something which I thought was very good, and it's in our notes, and we're the ones who know this. And here we read, we do not deserve God's grace, and yet he has extended it to us because our sIns, we do not deserve eternal life. Yet God, incarnated as a man through Jesus, took the penalty of our sin on the cross and made a way for us to be forgiven. We understand the depths of God love that God has shown us. How can we not show love in gratitude if we want to show a love that is not superficial or surface level. We need to remind ourselves daily of the love that God has shown toward us. And so I thought that was a wonderful answer to that question which was posed to us. SPEAKER A Thank you, John. Hana, do you have any other thoughts to add on to what John has already? Beautifully said. SPEAKER C Yes. Well, it's through Jesus that we really know what love is about God as well. Ultimately, I think in the world there's a lot of definition of love, but it's not actually love. But when we see Jesus, we will know what love is because love is not selfishness, it's others centered. It's about selfless love. And let's read John, chapter 15 and 13. It says, greater love has no one done this than to lay down one's life for his friends. So yes, I really believe that in me, in us, there's actually no love. But when we look to God and who he is and what he has done, then we can know what love really true, meaning perfect. SPEAKER A So Christ, he is the example of love. He's shown it to us. And by looking on what he's done for us, that creates in us sincere gratitude so that that love we show doesn't get superficial or surface level. Well, let's go back to this story. We've taken a little detour, but an important one to unpack some of these themes that we're going to read about. So back in Luke chapter ten, and we're going to read verse 29, it says, but he, this is the lawyer, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? So the lawyer, he said, we love God and love our neighbor. And then he tries to trick Jesus. Well, all right, who is my neighbor? Then Jesus tells a story. Verse 30 says, Jesus answered and said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, a certain priest came down that road and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side. John, why is it important that the first two characters in this story who pass by the man, one's a priest, one's a Levite. What's the significance of these two men in the story? SPEAKER B The significance is that thieves had a policy, and that is what's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine if I can get it. The policy of the priests and the Levites were what is mine is mine and what's yours is yours if you can keep it. Keep going now, because there's one more to come. SPEAKER A That's right. Well, let's keep reading the story, shall we? In verse 33, Jesus says, but a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two Danari, gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? And the lawyer said, he who showed mercy on him? Then Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. So two men pass by, this man who has been robbed. He's been left abandoned on the road. And then a third man comes, a Samaritan. Hana, why is it significant that this third man is a Samaritan? SPEAKER C Yes. So Samaritan and Jews, they did not get along. Actually, Jews thought that Samaritans, they were unclean, and sometimes they take out detour so that they would not see each other as well. So this is very radical, actually, for Jesus to say this story in which the enemy of Jews show compassion to this wounded man. SPEAKER A AND that word CompasSiOn is so INtERestING. John, why is it so VITaL that Jesus used the word compassion in this StorY? SPEAKER B Matthew 14, verse 14. And when Jesus went out, he saw a great multitude, and he was moved with compassion. This man was actually carrying out one of the characteristics of Jesus. You see, the third characteristic in this parable, after the first two characteristics, is, what's yours is yours, and what's mine is yours if you need it. And this is true love actually working out. As it says. This compassion of Jesus that moved him to help others during his life was the same compassion that moved him to save the human life race. Can we do any the less? SPEAKER A We've really been given such an incredible example, haven't we, that Jesus went to such lengths to save us. How can we not show that same compassion? And there are so many occasions in the Gospels when we read about the compassion of Jesus. Another time is in Mark, chapter six, and verse 34, it says, and Jesus, when he came out, saw of great multitude and was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things. Another time we see this is the widow of Nain, her son had passed away. And we're told that Jesus saw the woman, had compassion on her, and raised her son from the dead. So Jesus gives us this incredible pattern to follow. Well, one final thing is Jesus asked this question, who was the neighbor to the man who fell among thieves? Hana, what do we get from this last question of Jesus? SPEAKER C Yes. So lawyer has to actually admit that it was Samaritan who showed a compassion. But obviously, Jews hated Samaritan as well. But truly showing love, it's not that loving those people who are nice to us only, but loving our enemy as well. Love your neighbor as yourself. It's not just those people who we like or like us, but those people who may persecute us or who may hate us as well. Let's read Matthew 543 to 48. The Bible says, you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitfully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your father in heaven. For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends reign on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collector do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others do not even the tax collectors do. So therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. That it is not easy thing, but challenging thing. But when we look to God, God has died for us while we were yet sinners, so we can follow that example as well. SPEAKER A Perfect. John, do you have one final Bible verse to share with us that encapsulates this whole theme for us? SPEAKER B One verse and a whole chapter. Okay, good. All right. Galatians, chapter five and verse 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Oh, I love me. You love you? Of course, God says, love everybody just like you love yourself. And then, of course, we come to that wonderful chapter of one Corinthians, chapter 13. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging symbol. You can talk about love, but if you don't act that way, man, you might as well be ringing a bell. SPEAKER A Sure. SPEAKER B And so this is a wonderful chapter. There are three things. Faith, hope, and love. SPEAKER A Perfect. Well, there we have the challenge to those of us who follow Jesus. It's can we love God and others? Can we especially love those who we don't get along with? To show us sincerity of faith and that we've been born again, we need to be able to love our neighbors as ourselves. But God does not leave us to do this by ourselves. He sends His Holy Spirit to empower us and to make us more loving like him. And each day we have the opportunity to receive his spirit and reflect on God's love for us, shown through Jesus on the cross. Thank you for joining us today on let God speak. If you are blessed by this program, tell your friends. Remember that all past programs and teachers notes are available on our website. You can also email us on [email protected]. Thank you for joining us and God bless. SPEAKER D You have been listening to Let God Speak, a production of Three ABN, Australia. Television. To catch up on past programs, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au Call us in Australia on 024-973-3456 or email [email protected] We'd love to hear from you.