Jeremy Hoover

In this sermon, from March 22, 2009, I explore the ways we limit our love for others by justifying the rules we create that put space between us and our neighbors. Whenever we ask, "Who is my neighbor," or make a pre-judgment of someone based on how they look or where they come from, we break Jesus' command to love our neighbors as ourselves.

The text for this sermon is Luke 10:25-37, the famous parable of the Good Samaritan. Key, though, is the behavior of the expert in the law, who seeks to justify himself AFTER Jesus tells him to live out the commands to love God and love neighbors. He asks, "Who is my neighbor?" because he wanted to find some limit, some loophole, to the love he was supposed to share with his neighbor.

In this sermon, I apply the concept of loving our neighbors to the current political discourse in the United States. I point out that it is unbecoming for us as Christians to define ourselves by our political points of view and to view as enemies those whom we share a bond in Christ with. Loving our neighbors means loving even those with whom we disagree politically.

Sermon: Loving Neighbors (Luke 10:25-37)

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