This sermon was preached on 10/25/09 at Our Savior. It is the second in a series called “Love Takes Time,” which is a stewardship emphasis on our use of time. The sermon text and series title were produced by the WELS for congregations to use as a stewardship emphasis. The sermon itself, though, is my own work. Some congregations celebrate Reformation Sunday on this date. My congregation will be doing that next week.
Love Takes Time…with Your Neighbors
It's not very often that we proclaim anything to our neighbors. At least I know it hasn't been often with me. But I remember a couple of times when I consciously tried to get a message out to all of my neighbors. It was several years ago when my family lived in the middle of a lot of houses, and there was just something we had to let people know. So I remember I went to the store, looked for a sign and a stake to pound it in to the ground. Then I went home and put the sign up for all to see. Can you guess what the sign said? "It's a Girl!"
We let our neighbors know when we're really happy about something, like having a child. Some people might let their neighbors know when they feel very strongly about something, like political issues. "Vote for So-and-So!" "Vote yes for this!" "Vote no for that!" All said with signs in the yard.
But what else do we do with our neighbors? Maybe when someone moves into town we'll give them some food. Maybe if there's someone really organized in your neighborhood you'll even have cookouts and parties. Most of the time, though, many of us probably don't have much meaningful contact with our neighbors. Maybe we smile when we pass each other. Maybe we nod. Maybe we even exchange a few words about the weather. But meaningful contact? It almost never happens.
As Christians, we have a different view of our lives than other 
Having the love of Christ in our lives is bound to change our lives, to change how we live. That's why this sermon series has been talking about how Christ's love affects our calling in our lives. We're not just called by God to do whatever we want for ourselves. We're called to live for him who died for us!
And as a part of that, we want to view the people around us, people like our neighbors, in a different way. The Bible tells us this, first in the book of Leviticus (Lev. 19:18), and then repeated by Jesus as the most important commandment besides loving God. What is that commandment? "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mk. 12:31) Love your neighbor. And don't just love them; love them like you love yourself. If there's something you'd want for yourself, if there's something that makes you happy, then loving your neighbor as yourself means you want that something for them, too.
But that's not easy. Love takes time with your neighbors. We just talked about how little interaction we really have with our neighbors. So how can we change that? Why do we want to change that? That's where God's Word comes in, where the Holy Spirit not only helps us understand, but gives us the motivation of Christ's love to want to share his love with others, even our neighbors.
Our text from Colossians deals with this topic. There the Apostle Paul writes, "Pray for us...that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains." (Col. 4:3) Remember, as Paul mentions here, that he's in prison. He's in chains. And he's not in chains for stealing or murder, he's in chains because he's been proclaiming the "mystery of Christ." And what is that mystery? The mystery is that God sent his only Son to live and die for the sins of the whole world, to bring eternal life to all who believe. That's the mystery of Christ: the gospel. Paul had been thrown into prison because he proclaimed that gospel.
And now, instead of wanting to forget the message that got him thrown into prison, Paul wants more opportunities to tell it! He wants God to open a door to let him tell that message of Christ's love. Why would he want that, when it included such risk to him personally? Because Paul loved his neighbor.
Loving your neighbor is something that flows directly out of knowing the gospel! You remember that John 3:16 tells us that God sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But do you remember why he did that? The first part of the passage tells us! "For God so loved the world..." (Jn. 3:16)
The whole reason Jesus died for sinners like us is because he loved us! And it's that love that motivates our love. "We love because he first loved us." (1 Jn 4:19) Jesus' love for us is what makes us want to show love. "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Cor. 5:15) To live for Christ means to live for those for whom Christ died. People like our neighbors.
Yet, many times we just don't want to. Some people might be offended hearing about Jesus. We don't want to talk to our neighbors because it takes too much time, and we're awfully busy. We don't want to deal with our neighbors' problems when we have so many problems of our own. It's so much easier just to live our own lives and do our own thing. Our neighbors? Well, they're good for a nod of the head. Maybe good enough to talk about the weather with. But to actually share the message of Jesus with them? Maybe later... or maybe not.
Do you see how selfish we can be? Do you see how we can be so focused on ourselves that we don't even care, don't even give it a second thought, when someone doesn't know their Savior? If we think about it at all, we think, "That's their problem." Or, "Someone, should really talk to him." But then we just forget about it and go back to our own lives.
Thank God that he didn't treat us that way. Thank God he sent Jesus to us when we were lost in our sins. Thank God that even though our sins weren't Jesus' problem, he took them onto himself, he took them on his back, right onto the cross, for our forgiveness, for our life, all because he loved us!
So today, give thanks that God so loved the world, that he loved you so much. Today, rededicate yourself to showing that love to others. Show that love to your neighbors. And I don't just mean the people who live on your street. I mean the people in your life, people you see at the store, at a restaurant, even your friends and family. Particularly the ones who don't know about Christ's love. How can you show them his love?
It can be a daunting task. We think we're not up for the challenge. We think, "What if I say something wrong? What if I mess it all up?" We want to just leave that work to people like me, the pastor. And to a certain extent, that's a good point. You're not pastors. I am. Not everyone has the ability to take someone through all their questions about the Bible. Not everyone has the ability to explain everything that someone might need to know about the gospel.
Now, you don't have to be a pastor to be able to do those things, and I think some of you do have those abilities. I'd encourage you to use those abilities when the opportunities come up in your lives or here in church. But if you don't have those abilities, does that mean you can't share Jesus' love with your neighbors? Not at all!
Look at what Paul mentions in Colossians! "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." (Col. 4:5-6)
Very few of you will ever be given a pulpit and told to preach a sermon. But every one of you has conversations with people. You deal with people at the store, on the street, at school, at work. And everything you do with those people, the way you act at all times, gives a witness to your faith. Do people who know you know that you are a believer? Can they tell from the way you act? It can be a powerful witness!
And sometimes in your conversations the opportunity will come up to give witness to your Savior's love with your words. Does it mean you have to explain everything in the Bible to them? No! Does it mean you have to answer every argument or question that gets thrown at you? No! Your words can be as simple as, "Come and see! Come to church with me. Come take a Bible information class with me. Come talk to my pastor." Out of love, you can point to your Savior in your everyday conversations, in your everyday lives.
And you can even help if you never leave your house. Remember what Paul said in our text! "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." (Col. 4:2) God gives you an amazing opportunity in prayer. Because Jesus is your Savior, because he died to make you live, he has given you the privilege of approaching our heavenly Father's throne in prayer any time you want to. And God listens to those prayers! You can pray for your neighbors, your friends and relatives who don't know about Jesus. You can pray about the work that we do here in our congregation. You can pray for me, even as I'm praying for you. Don't miss the opportunity to go to God himself and ask for him to work in the people around you who don't know him, and to strengthen those through whom he is working. What an opportunity we all have, every day, with our prayers!
And yes, I know. This all takes time. It takes time to go back to God's Word and continually remember his love for us. It takes time to appreciate what he's given us as a church and work together for his glory. It takes time to get to know our neighbors, to show them love and look for those opportunities to point them to Jesus. It takes time to devote yourself to prayer. But the time is worth it! When should you start? How about today? God has given you this day. He's given you the love of his Son. So there's no better time than now.
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