"Who Is Your Neighbor?"

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Welcome to the Ebony and Ivory Show, where we talk about just about everything except politics.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Yes, good morning, everyone. I'm Ebony and I'm Ivory.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

And we thank you for joining us today. Question of the day. Who is my neighbor? Who's my neighbor, Marsh?

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Good question. Who is our neighbor? I think the best example of a good neighbor is in the Bible, the parable of the Good Samaritan. And what's a parable? Well, a parable is a story that Jesus always told different stories that had lessons in them for his disciples. And uh this particular story was about uh a man lying on the side of the road on the road to Jericho, and um he had been, I guess, beaten up and just in bad shape, and one of the Jewish priests passed by and looked at him and just kept walking, didn't stop to help, and then one of the temple assistants from the uh from the temple passed by and kind of did the same thing. And the third person that passed by was a Samaritan. And the Samaritan looked at the poor guy on the side of the road, and he uh went and he helped him. He bound up his wounds, he took him, put him on his donkey, took him to an inn to where he could recuperate, and uh he even paid for the man to stay at the inn and told the innkeeper, um, let him stay as long as he needs to, and I'll come back by and pay whatever whatever balance is owed. So that was a really good example of uh a good neighbor.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

So the two guys were Jewish, they were uh it was a high priest and an assistant, you said? Yeah, priest and an assistant. Samaritan. So Samaritan, what's so when we look at the Jewish and we look at the Samaritans, if they were if there was a ranking, where would the Jewish put themselves? Oh well, the Jews were above everybody. And where would they put the Samaritans? Down on the bottom. So they were pretty much, as far as the Jewish was concerned, a nobody.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Right, right. I think they um what happened was they had uh intermarried with the different people around, and they were kind of like they kind of thought they were half breeds, you know. That's what the Jews thought.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

That's what the Jews thought.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

So they were they were not friends. They were, you know, they were enemies and they uh didn't associate with each other or didn't care for one another.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Just because one was a Jew and the other one was not. Right. Different cultures. Right. Right, right. So what was was there a risk for the Samaritan to stop and help this man?

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Definitely, because uh this this um this road was notorious for violence, and he, you know, people would get um ambushed and people, you know, they would steal from people and beat them up, and that's probably what happened to this guy. So yeah, there was a big risk for him to stop because he could have gotten beaten up too.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Because typically what they do is two guys, one lays down like they're hurt, and then when somebody stops to help, the other one ambushes. Right, right. So it's kind of a setup, but this particular guy was probably one that stopped, maybe we don't know. So, and this Samaritan took him to the inn and paid for his for him to stay there, and then told the innkeeper he would go back, come back and pay whatever was owed. That's interesting. Somebody who's a nobody, or that they thought was a nobody, extended a helping hand. So in this particular story, who's the neighbor?

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Definitely the Samaritan. He's the one that cared enough to stop and help.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

And his neighbor would be would have been the one that was laying on the side of the road. Right, right. Yeah. Um you're gonna hear me reference or hear us both reference um a book that we're reading from is called uh Relationship Principles of Jesus. And um some of the things that we mentioned are are gonna be from that book, and I'm just gonna put that out out front so I um you know, so that parable it talks about loving everyone and loving someone, and it says love that meets the needs of people who are close to it and yet looks on those outside its circle with prejudice is not true love. There's that word prejudice, and prejudice comes in many forms, you know, it's not necessarily color, it's based on money, the way somebody's dressed, the music they like. You know, it's just it's crazy how we can judge someone based on differences, and that's what makes this world what it is, is our differences. Um, Matthew, Matthew 20, I'm sorry, Matthew 5, verse 43, 43 through 44. It says, You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That's a tall order for us as humans.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

It definitely is.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

So how do we do that?

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Only by the power of God, the Holy Spirit in us, because we cannot do it on our own.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

That's for sure. I mean, I mean, we talk about people that persecute you. Sometimes they just don't like you for whatever reason. Right. And sometimes you don't even know the reason. Have no clue. I mean, I'm one of those people. Yeah. People dislike me, and I have no clue. I always say, you either love her or you don't. Yeah. That's that's what she says about me. That's my friend. So even those who would say they're your enemy, you're supposed to love them.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Yes. Yes. Can you do that? Not on my own. Not at all. Yes, yes, yes, Sass. Even even having the Holy Spirit in you, it's still tough.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Yeah, it is. Um, you know, we sometimes we look at things as a sign of weakness when we do things that like, you know, I'm gonna give you a for instance. Yesterday I had a confrontation, which I probably should not have had. I probably should have just kept my mouth closed. And but I didn't. You know why I didn't? Because I wasn't gonna let them yell at me and me not yell back.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Yes, I understand.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

And so that's that's one of those things. So, you know, those particular people probably didn't like me at that particular moment because of what I did. I wouldn't let them pass, you know, for whatever reason. So I guess I'm supposed to love those people as well.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Lord, need your help.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

And if you if you remember, this book talks about God's love. It said he said that what God's love is, you remember? He said God's love is everyone, everywhere, and at all times.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

That's that's God's love.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

That's God's love. But human love is someone, some people, I'm sorry, some people, some places, and some of the time. That's the way we love. Sometimes our love is conditional.

unknown 8:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

If people do what we want, then we love them. And if they don't, then we have, yeah, we have biases.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

It's crazy. You know, if they agree with us, you know, we love them. Right. If they don't agree, maybe not so much. Whereas I think we should probably discuss those differences and try to understand where each other's coming from as opposed to just writing people off or you know, getting upset or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

And and that's the problem, understanding differences. You don't have to be able to relate to my our diff each other's differences as long as you seek to understand. I agree. You know, um yeah, it's it's it's just it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Um you want to say something? Yeah, well, I've always uh, you know, even in our relationship, I've always um tried to understand where you're coming from because I'm not in your shoes. You know, I'm not in and I had uh have no idea what it is to be in your shoes. So I think that's important to understand that, you know, even if we don't understand each other, we can still love each other.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Absolutely, you know, absolutely, because sometimes you agree to disagree, that's exactly, which is where we end up most time. Exactly. Because I mean we have our own opinions and the way we see things, and you and I have been friends for over 20 years. Um and we have had some conversations, we've had some disagreements, um, but what I can say, you know, probably me more than you, it would take me time to get past these disagreements. And I guess m I have I like to process things. And when I feel like I have it processed, then I'll call you or say, you know, this is how I feel. I've gotten better. Yes. I've gotten better, and I can, you know, but and I guess that's was the scripture say iron sharpens iron? Exactly, and it doesn't always feel good, right? But you know, if we can understand and listen, our problem is we don't listen.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

You know, and people will say, uh, I'm a good person. Nobody's good. No. I I tell you what what other thing I I I think is not a good thing to say when people say, and we may have discussed this before, that um I don't see color. And we might have discussed this the last time, but you have to see color. You know, so that you'll recognize each other's differences. I mean, we live in a great melting pot. We live in one of the best places as far as being able to explore different cultures, you know.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Exactly.

unknown 11:59

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

We have our Mexican restaurants, we have our Asian restaurants, we have Indian restaurants, you know. I mean, even uh Italian restaurants, yes, you know, they're soul food restaurants. Exactly. And so, you know, when when May 5th comes around, everybody wants to be uh Hispanic.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

Cinco de Mayo.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

They want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and drink margaritas and eat guacamole and chips or whatever and salsa. Um but you know, it has to go beyond that. Exactly. It has to go beyond that. And there's a scripture from 1 John uh 420. Oh, okay. It says, let me find it. It says, if excuse me, if anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. But he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. You know, and that's right. We do that all the time, and your brother is is not necessarily your biological brother.

unknown 13:13

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

You know, um, I don't say that I hate because my mom has always taught us you that's a strong word. Hate is such a strong word. And I looked it up uh in the um in a linear, and that for that word hate, persecute was one of the words. It was persecute and to love less. To love less. Love less. That's what that the definition of that word hate in that particular scripture. Um, yeah, so our enemy, I'm sorry, not our enemy, our neighbor is everyone, everywhere, all the time. You know, sometimes people don't love because it's a risk to love. Very much so. It's a risk, so afraid of two things. Being rejected is one. Yes. That's one reason that they love, and the others that people don't love because of differences. Exactly. That's one of the greatest pluses in the world. Exactly. You you can learn so much from from each other, you know. Um we have to learn to love one another. Go ahead. No, I was just gonna say the first three commandments. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

The of the ten commandments is to love God.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

And this the first one is to love God. The second one isn't that to love your neighbor as yourself.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Oh, you're talking about the uh the three New Testament commandments isn't that sums up the Ten Commandments. Right, yeah, right, sorry. To love God with all your strength, heart, mind, and soul, to love your neighbor as yourself, and then to love your brother as Jesus has loved us. Oh, there it is.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

There it is.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

As who? As Jesus has loved us.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Man, to be able to love like Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

That's a that's a tall order.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Yeah, it is. Pretty much everything we're asked to do in the Bible is a tall order. Yeah, exactly. But if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Exactly. You know, and and as Christians, we're not perfect.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

No, well, that's for sure. We need grace, yes, but we also need to let the Holy Spirit work in us and through us and not hold on to our selfishness and selfish desires and those kind of things, you know.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Yeah. So people, we have to learn to love one another. It doesn't matter what someone looks like, especially in the church. Especially in the church, you know, and and and one of the things I said when I on the intro is we talk about everything but politics. We have to understand that we're not uh Republicans or Democrats who happen to be Christians. We're Christians who happen to choose that particular you're a Christian first, amen. And all of the other stuff really doesn't matter. You know, because the Bible doesn't even talk about Democrats or Republicans or libertarians or whatever. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Um put those things aside and focus on Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

You know, the the Bible also said, in fact, Jesus in the Bible said they'll know you are my disciples by your love for one another.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

And there's a song that says they'll know you're a Christian by your love. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah. So my here's what I say. In a couple of years, you aren't gonna know who's who. You aren't gonna know who's black and who's white. You aren't. Because after a while, yeah, you know, like they didn't want the the different tribes intermarrying. And and I think people take that today to mean that God didn't want, doesn't want the different cultures to mix, the different races to mix. And I just don't believe that's it.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

No, one reason God told them not to intermarry was because those other people worshiped other gods.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

That's the bottom line.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

And he didn't want his people to be enticed or tempted to worship those other gods. Right. So that was it.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

That was it. So um, yeah. So we appreciate you guys joining us today. Um and uh we hope that something we said changes the way you look at others, that you embrace one another's culture, yes, and love one another as Christ loved the church. Amen. So we thank you, and have a good evening.