I Wish You Were My Neighbor!

One night my neighbor’s dog barked until the wee hours of the morning.  The people on the other side of me were having a party and the music was cranked up.  I didn’t get much sleep. The next day wasn’t much better.  The neighbor on the other side of us to cut down some small trees in our side yard because they dropped leaves on his yard. The people down on the corner have twins and they are so bad, the rest of the neighbors call them “the twins from hell”.  They’ve been knocking on my door and looking in the windows.  Then, there is the woman across the street; she knows everyone’s business and loves to tell you about it. Well, I didn’t ask for these neighbors when I bought this house.  I don’t neighbor anyway.  If they leave me alone, I’ll leave them alone.

One day when I was reading my Bible, I came to Luke 10:27-37.  Jesus was talking to a lawyer and the lawyer asked how he could have eternal life.  Jesus answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” This hit me like sticking my finger in a light socket; love the neighbor whose dog barks all night, or the people having a party, or the demon twins, along with the people across the street?  Surely that didn’t apply to me.  I read on....

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.  “A man was beaten and left for dead on the rod to Jericho.  A priest walked right on by.  Then a Levite (a religious Jew), passed him by.  After that, a Samaritan (no one liked Samaritans) came along and stopped and took care of the man.”  Jesus then asked the lawyer who he thought was a neighbor.  He replied that it was the Samaritan.  Jesus told the lawyer, “go and do likewise”. Did this mean caring about all those people on my block; not just thinking about it, but actually having a genuine concern about how they lived, the burdens they carried, and even for their very souls.  It meant praying for them, even if I didn’t like them.

            Proverbs 14:21, “He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.”  

Lord, I never said I hated them.  I just don’t want to have anything to do with them.  After all, they aren’t like we are. They live like heathens, doing things I would never do. Matt. 7:4 “Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? 5  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.”

Ouch!  That hurt, Lord. I’ll try to think nice thoughts about them.  Now the neighbor that has the dog that barks.  Maybe if I called the police they would handle it and I wouldn’t even have to deal with it.

Pro. 25: 7 “What you have seen with your eyes 8  do not bring hastily to court, for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame? 9  Argue your case with your neighbor directly...” You really don’t mean I should just go to that neighbor and discuss the problem? Suppose I do that and being the person that he is, (scum, low life, weird, maybe a criminal, or could be on drugs, etc., etc., etc.) he probably will make his dog bark more just to get back at me.

James 4:12 “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?” All right!  I will go and speak with that neighbor and be real sweet.  Maybe I can be so kind and sincere that I can convince them that I just love dogs and appreciate that their darling dog is so smart that it alerts all the other neighbors to anything that moves after dark.  He’ll never know how I can’t stand dogs and really wish that it would run away and never come back.

Ps. 28:3 “Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts.”

This just isn’t working out.  I need to try Plan B.  My nosy neighbor across the street may be able to help me out.  If I go to her and tell her that the other neighbor’s dog is barking all night and keeping everyone (evangelistically speaking) awake, she will probably spread the word around the neighborhood and pretty soon someone will either call the police or go and confront the owner.  Then I don’t have to be involved.

While I’m at it, I’ll casually mention the people next door who party half the night.  She probably knows what’s going on anyway.  Once everyone on the street knows about these things, it will probably be taken care of.  I’ll still look good and won’t have it on my conscience. Ps. 101:5 “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure.”

Lord, I take it you don’t want me talking to anyone else about this?  I guess you made it pretty clear.  But, what about the twins, Lord?  They tried to climb my fence; they painted their neighbors garage door pink and threw stones at the cars going past their house.  One day I yelled at them and told them to get out of my yard and never come back.  My nosy neighbor across the street told me they call me the mean lady.  They don’t even look at me when I see them.  Ro. 15:1 “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”

Things have changed around our neighborhood lately.  People seem different somehow.  I met the next door neighbors who wanted to cut down my tree.  They are quite nice people.  I found out they both like to garden.  With that tree out of the way, I found a perfect place to plant my peonies. A really strange thing happened.  I was praying one night when the dog was keeping me awake.  I must have been half asleep because I thought I heard a voice say, “Now I have your attention”.  The dog hasn’t barked since.

I walked across the street the other day and chatted with my neighbor.  I found out she is from another state and is very lonely.  She is so kind and keeps an eye on our place when were out of town.  It’s good to know you have a neighbor you can trust. I can’t believe it; ever since I started waving at those twins when I go by, they give me great big smiles and wave back.  Next time I bake cookies; I’ll call them over and give them one.  I heard their mother works nights and sleeps days.  She’s probably too tired to do much with those boys.

I stopped in the local grocery store one day and met a lady who lives a block over.  We chatted back and forth as we stood in the checkout line.  When we left the store, her parting words were, “I Wish You Were My Neighbor!” I looked up the word “neighbor” in the dictionary.  It has two meanings, 1) someone who lives near, and 2) your fellowman.  Ps. 15:2  “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3  and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman...., 5 ... He who does these things will never be shaken.”

Lord, help me to be a good neighbor.  Let me look for the good in each of them and remember this: “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than this." (Mark 12:31)