We are starting a brand new series – Won’t You Be My Neighbour? Fewer and fewer people today know their neighbours, and with social media, high mobility and a busy pace of life, it’s natural to question if our neighbours matter – whether they are in the next house, cubicle, GO Train four-seater or beyond.
In this series, we’ll be looking at following through on what Jesus said was one of the most important things: Loving God and Loving our Neighbours.
What would you most like to learn in this series? Tell us in the comments form below!
The daily challenges explore one new idea each week on how to live as a follow of Jesus in today’s busy, commuting lifestyle. Please don’t do the challenges alone for long – share it with someone from the train, bus, carpool or neighbourhood, and grow a small discussion group from there.
It all starts September 9th, when you’ll find the first few days posted here.
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Yesterday we saw Jesus saying the way we treat a hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, or imprisoned person says something about our desire to join his kingdom. What is the consequence of this story?
The story makes it clear that Jesus’ kingdom is based on generous sacrifice. Our motivation for compassion and care is not to be someone else noticing, or that we’ll get thanked, paid back or will otherwise benefit. It’s not even entirely about the other person’s benefit.
It’s simply the right thing to do, and it’s the overflow of a relationship with God in Jesus.
The deck-building neighbour I described on Monday was also married to a great neighbour. She was a nurse, and one day she came over to check on my wife, who’d fallen asleep laying on the grass resting from gardening. This was part of that nurse’s vocation, it’s not just a job to help people in need, it’s actually part of who she is, and what she is called to do.
Christians have the same kind of vocation to love our neighbours, with friendship, words, and also our actions not because there’s something in it for us, but because it is who we are as citizens of the kingdom of God.
Sometimes this isn’t as easy as checking on a friendly neighbour – not everyone finds visiting prisoners easy, it can be scary. Serving the thirsty can mean travelling places we’d rather not see. Helping those with no clothes can be awkward!
But this is how Jesus challenges us to dispay kingdomliness. He calls us to overcome our fears, prejudices, anxiety for the sake of his kingdom and its values.
Q: List the six needs Jesus wants his followers to meet:
+ The hungry
+ The thirsty
+ The stranger
+ The naked
+ The sick
+ The imprisoned.
Who do you naturally have the most compassion for? Who do you find most challenging to show compassion for? Why?
Remember, we meet for coffee every Wednesday night at Starbucks in the Chapters Store in Ajax, in Durham Region just East of Toronto. Maybe we'll see you there?
We are starting a brand new series – Won’t You Be My Neighbour? Fewer and fewer people today know their neighbours, and with social media, high mobility and a busy pace of life, it’s natural to question if our neighbours matter – whether they are in the next house, cubicle, GO Train four-seater or beyond.