What does “Love Your Neighbor” have to do with making a payment on your biggest debt?
What is your biggest debt?
A couple of years ago our family moved. When we bought our current home, we did what many of you have done when you bought a home.
We met in a conference room with a large table and we signed a contract. And in the contract we signed when we bought our home, we agreed to a long list of requirements.
We agreed to abide by the HOA bylaws in our neighborhood. We agreed to pay property taxes. We agreed to pay for insurance. And… We agreed to make a monthly payment to the mortgage company for our home.
If we stay in our house long enough, we can pay it off. It’s a debt that can be repaid.
Most of us understand how this works. There are some debts that can be and should be repaid.
But if you’ve lived very long then you also know there are debts that can never be repaid. Not really.
Taxes Paid in Full
I think about a young couple I know who were in their very first year of ministry at a church right out of college. He was the newly hired youth minister at the church and she was finishing up college. They were living on nickels and dimes.
When April rolled around it was time for them to file their taxes like everyone else. There was a man at their church who was a CPA who’s daughter was in their youth group. He wanted to help this young couple out and so he came to them and said he wanted to do their taxes for them for free! What a blessing.
All that was great news until he came back to them and said that something had happened when the payroll was set up. Some things were not set up correctly. And now they owed a huge amount in taxes.
Immediately, they thought they were done. It was more money than they had or even knew how to come up with. But their CPA friend wasn’t done talking. He said, “Me and my wife have talked, and we want to pay your taxes for you this year and help you get everything set up the right way.”
They knew the meaning of, “Love Your Neighbor.”
They did for that young couple what they could not do for themselves.
Hospital Bill Paid in Full
I think about another couple I know, their kids are grown and married and have kids of their own. Everything was fine until they got the call from the doctor. Their worst fear was realized when they heard the word cancer.
Treatment was going to be expensive and before long, they had huge medical bills that insurance didn’t cover. They didn’t know how or if they could ever pay the medical bills but he was starting to get better and they were so grateful for that.
That’s when another friend of mine drove up their driveway and knocked on their door. He asked how they were doing, how he was doing, and then he asked this question, “How much do you owe?” Of course, they were unwilling to say. It’s kind of a private matter. And they aren’t the kind of people who are used to receiving help from others.
Ironically, they are some of the most giving people you’ve ever met. They had served in the youth group for years. Helped out at church in more ways than you could count. We would call them super servants!
But my friend pressed again, “How much do you owe the hospital?” He continued by telling them how he had just sold his third company. God had blessed him with more money than he knew what to do with and he felt like God was calling him to help them.
Finally, they showed him the bill from the hospital. He took out his checkbook, wrote a check for the entire amount, hugged them, and drove away.
He knew the meaning of, “Love Your Neighbor.”
He did for them what they could not do for themselves.
What is your biggest debt that you could never repay?
There are some debts you can repay and there are other debts you can never repay.
If you’re a follower of Jesus, the answer to that question is easy. One look at the cross and we remember, we owe a debt to God that can never be repaid.
At the cross, God did through Jesus what we could not do for ourselves. We didn’t deserve it. We couldn’t earn it. And we’ll never be able to repay God for the gift of Jesus, for the price He paid so that you and I could be delivered from death to life, so that all our sin could be forgiven, so that we could come to have a relationship with God, friendship with God, unhindered by sin and shame.
But even though we can never, ever repay God for what He has done for us through Jesus, we ARE supposed to MAKE PAYMENTS.
Did you know this?
We HAVE a debt of love, we OWE a debt of love to GOD. There is a balance outstanding. And it is enormous. And God has called us to make payments. But not to him. And not necessarily with money.
Some of you are really confused right now. You were with me when I said we have a debt of love we could never repay to God. You were with me when I said Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. But I lost you when I said that God has called us to MAKE PAYMENTS.
Some of us, the last thing we need is another payment to make!
Owe Nothing… EXCEPT!
The Apostle Paul says this in Romans 13.8-10:
Owe nothing to anyone…
In other words, debt is generally to be avoided. We’re taught in other places in scripture that the borrower is slave to the lender (Proverbs 22.7) and Paul knows that Jesus died for our freedom and He wants us to live in that freedom in every possible way in our lives.
So Paul says that as followers of Jesus we should live in that freedom and live debt free in every way EXCEPT ONE!
Paul says… except for your obligation to love one another.
In other words…
We have a debt of love.
Who are we in debt to? God!
Who do we send payment? Others!
The truth is, we could never repay God for His gift of love. It’s too much. Even if we could, he doesn’t want it.
What does he want? For us to love others with the love he has given us. We have an obligation to love others, just like I have an obligation to make my house payment each month.
Paul uses this financial language to help us understand how love works in God’s economy. God is so rich in love he doesn’t need us to pay him back. And because he’s the source of love, we can’t give him something he needs, requires, or will ever lack.
HOW?
So how do we repay the debt of love we owe to God?
By paying it forward to others. By loving others. By loving our neighbor!
Paul continues…
If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
Now that’s a pretty amazing statement when you remember that according to the religious leaders at the time there were some 633 requirements in the Law of Moses!
The Law of Moses, the law of God for the people of God that they received at Mt. Sinai after the Exodus, after being delivered from captivity in Egypt, had 633 requirements. At least, that’s the way they had interpreted it. 633 commands they had to keep in order to fulfill the requirements of the law.
Just like when we signed the contract on our home we agreed to keep all kinds of requirements, there was a contract, a covenant, made between God and Israel.
Paul says all of it, all 633 commands, it all comes down to this. You can fulfill it ALL if you do this one thing: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.
What does that even mean?
It might be helpful to know that in Greek, there are many different words for love. There are words for brotherly love, romantic love, and so on. The word for love used here is the word Agape which you might be familiar with.
Agape love is not so much about emotion as it is about DOING THINGS for the benefit of another person.
How do you REPAY the debt of love you owe?
Meeting Needs
I can’t help but think of the young couple I know that became foster parents and almost immediately foster kids were placed in their home! Talk about making a difference in someone’s life! Talk about making an eternal impact. About doing for someone what they could never do for themselves.
And what’s more amazing? They instantly needed things they never needed before. They are a young married couple and this is their first time having kids in their home so now they need clothes, books, and toys. All of a sudden people in their church found out what they needed and when Sunday rolled around the church foyer was full of clothes, books, and toys for these children!
Someone once asked Jesus what was most important. Do you know what he said? First, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And second, LOVE your neighbor as yourself.
DO THINGS for the benefit of others!
How do you REPAY the debt of love you owe to God? A debt you could never repay to God? By paying it forward to others! By sharing the love you’ve received from God with those around you!
Taxes, Hospital Bills, and the Rest of the Story
I’ll never forget the husband and wife who paid the taxes for that young married couple, because that young couple was me and my wife! And we’ll never be able to repay what they did for us. At this point in our life, we could repay the money, but we could never repay what they did for us and how it changed the trajectory of our lives.
But they didn’t ask us to, they just asked us to find a way to pay it forward.
I’ll never forget my friend who wrote one check, with one stroke of the pen he paid off all the medical debt for my other friends who will never be able to repay him for what he did for them.
But he didn’t ask them to. He knew they would find a way to pay it forward.
And God knows that we’ll never be able to repay Him for what He did for us at the cross.
But he doesn’t ask us to pay HIM back, He asks us to pay it forward.
How do you repay the debt of love you owe to God?
You repay your debt of love to God every time you actively love your neighbor.
Missed a Payment?
I have to ask a hard question before we close… Have we missed a payment?
It’s easy to pay lip service to the idea of loving our neighbor but what happens, more often than not, if we’re honest, is that we don’t reflect on how we can actually DO it. It doesn’t just happen. So what we end up with is a hypocritical kind of love.
This call to loving our neighbor isn’t PASSIVE. It doesn’t mean… I can do what I want as long as I don’t hurt anyone else.
This is a call for ACTIVE love. And I have a confession to make, I’ve missed a few payments. I’ve missed a few opportunities to pay it forward, to love my neighbors in tangible, meaningful ways. My guess is you have too.
So here’s my challenge for you this week… Do something out of your comfort zone to MAKE A PAYMENT. Don’t make it easy. Don’t check a box.
Do something meaningful, tangible, to demonstrate love and care for someone else. And don’t do it because you have to. Do it because this is what happens when you come to realize just how much God has done for you. And because you are overwhelmed by that love, you’re more than willing to find a way to pay it forward.
And when you do, watch out… you’ll make a difference in someone’s life.
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