When Enemy Becomes Friend
Yeshua: The Jesus We Never Knew - Part 2
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Luke 10:25-37
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10:29
Listen to this week’s sermon here:
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In our increasingly divided and polarized world, it seems that those fighting to gain or remain in power have found endless ways to turn neighbors into enemies. Our political and religious alliances have turned not only neighbors, but co-workers, fellow church members, friends, and even family members against one another.
Yet in all of our effort to keep in step with what we think is right and hold at arms length those who we think are wrong, I wonder if we have forgotten a core truth of Jesus’ teaching: our enemy is our neighbor but our neighbor but our neighbor is not our enemy.
It has been said that one of the best ways to defeat an enemy is to make them a friend. There is no need to destroy one another when love is greater than the conflict between you.
Have you ever tried to be angry with a person you are genuinely praying for? I’m not talking about the kinds of prayers that hope that person “gets what they deserve.” I mean genuine prayers, for the strength to forgive and show love to someone who seems unlovable. It’s very hard to hate someone when you are genuinely praying for and seeking out their best interest.
We have so many ways to “walk by” or ignore those who are different, those we fear, those who are in need but we just don’t have the time or resources to help. The more people we ignore, the more our list of “the other” grows. In turn, the list of those we truly consider friends and neighbors shrinks until our social circles become either extremely superficial or unbearably lonely and isolated.
Our enemies may indeed be our neighbors, but because they are our neighbor, they are not our enemy. Because they are loved by God, they must be equally worthy of our love too.
Name at least one “other” or even one “enemy” who God is inviting you to be a neighbor to this week.
What is your next step, a specific way you will be a neighbor to someone outside of your circle?