Today we are looking at a very familiar text – Leviticus 19. This is where the commandment, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” comes from, which Jesus names as the second greatest commandment of all.
But how many of you know that the context of the giving of this commandment is – dealing with wrongdoing in relationships among God’s people? This is our title and focus for today.
Here is the text:
“You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of them. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:17-18 (NRSV modified)
Alright, we begin with . . .
Two initial considerations
. . . that will help us to make sense out of these verses.
1. This is talking about relationships among the people of God. There are actually several different terms used in these verses to talk about relationships, but all of them speak to fellow members of the covenant community.
The word “neighbor” used in the love command of v. 18, based on how it is used in the Old Testament, clearly means ‘fellow Israelite.’ [Leviticus 19:34, which repeats the love command, reinforces this point. It calls for love for “aliens” or “strangers” – those who immigrate and become to some degree a part of Israel. This wouldn’t need to clarified, if “neighbor” already covered everyone.]
So, we are dealing with relationships among God’s people.
2. Vs. 17 and 18 parallel each other (Jacob Milgrom). I share this because the two verses help fill out each other’s meaning; they give context to each other. There are three part to both verses, which speak to three themes:
| v. 17 | v. 18 | |
| What you shouldn’t do | You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin | You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people |
|
What you should do |
you shall reprove your neighbor |
but you shall love your neighbor as yourself |
|
Why? |
lest you incur sin because of them |
I am the Lord |
This will help us, as we now see what these verses teach us about what to do –
When you are wronged by a neighbor . . .
1. We learn what you shouldn’t do. V. 17 – You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin.” You can see the parallel and the expansion in v. 18, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your.”
The idea is that when you have hatred in your heart (v. 17)
- You have wrong inner attitudes towards the person; you “bear a grudge” – (v. 18). And also,
- It leads you to take wrong actions towards the person; you “take vengeance;” you do them wrong in return (v. 18).
We shouldn’t harbor hatred or grudges in our heart that lead us to wrong actions on our part.
2. We learn what you should do. V. 17 – “you shall reprove your neighbor.” The word reprove is similar to rebuke, admonish, censure, or correct. It means to point out a wrong, specifically here, a wrong done to you. The idea is that you do this, so that the wrong can be righted. Instead of trying to get them back, you go to them to work things out.
The parallel here is really important. V. 18 says, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” So, to reprove your neighbor (v. 17) is to love your neighbor as yourself (v. 18).
Let me say it this way. In context this is what neighbor love means. When wronged:
- Don’t hate them or wrong them in return
- Rather point out the wrong in order to work through it. Come to them with the issue so that things can be made right.
This is what it means to love your neighbor, when they have wronged you.
Now the way these verses are put together makes it clear that the call to reprove, is a call to love. So obviously this is not about venting anger, telling someone off, or saying mean things. It is about loving your neighbor as you love yourself. You are to act for their good, just like you act for your own good. This is what the phrase – “love your neighbor as you love yourself” means. And so it is to be an act of love, done in a loving way.
3. We learn why you should reprove/love instead of hate/take revenge. V. 17 says, “lest you incur sin because of them.” This most likely means, if you harbor hatred it will lead you to act in hatred toward the person; that is to harm them. This is not loving your neighbor. So in this way it leads you to sin.
V. 18 says, “I am the Lord.” This means, because God said so. And God is always right. And we should do what is right and not sin.
So this is the basic teaching. Now lets ask a practical question . . .
How wrong does the wrong have to be before we act to reprove?
Well, we are always going to do things that annoy each other. This even happens among happily married couples. How much more among us!
And there will always be people with different personality types, who most likely aren’t ever gonna be best friends. And this is OK. We are called to love one another, not all be “best friends forever.”
And we will always have misunderstandings or even disagreements and we can work on these.
But these don’t mean that you need to automatically move into “reproving mode.” What I am saying is there is an element of bearing with each other, and overlooking minor things in any community’s relationships.
- As Colossians 3:12-13 says, – “Put on . . . compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another . . .”
- As Proverbs 19:11 says, – “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is one’s glory to overlook an offense.” Some offenses can be overlooked.
But, how do you know when you should speak to the person? Well, if what was done is causing: resentment, bitterness, an unforgiving spirit, abiding anger, wrong words (like gossip or slander) or wrong actions on your part; in the language of our text – hatred in your heart, a grudge, or actions of vengeance – then you must act! Deal with the issue. Seek to work through it.
Now let me acknowledge that . . .
It can be hard to do deal with such issues in our relationships with each other
As Americans we just as soon break off the relationship, than to honestly deal with things. We are uncomfortable with this kind of stuff.
And as church people we think that we have failed if there is conflict, because we are supposed to be witnesses for love and peace to the world.
So we become conflict avoiders; we push everything under the rug. I mean some churches have so much stuff under the rug that when you walk around your head hurts from scraping the ceiling!
What we need to understand is that we are true witnesses when we work through issues in love, rather than just getting mad or walking away. The world already knows how to do this. When we have problems and pretend like we don’t – we just come off as hypocrites.
We will be true witnesses when they see us love each other enough to work through things in a loving way. This kind of deep love is new and different. This is our witness.
So no matter how hard it is, God calls us to have real relationships with each other. And this means dealing with problems that arise in love.
Let me just say that this is what God does with us. It’s because he loves us that he reproves us:
- Hebrews 12:5-6 (quoting Proverbs 3:11-12) says, Don’t “be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves . . .”
- In Revelation 3:19 Jesus said, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline . . .”
In the same way, if we love the person, we will deal with the issue.
Alright, we could also talk about receiving reproof, forgiveness and reconciliation – but we will stop here for today.
I hope you hear me this morning:
- Let us not be a congregation where resentments build up, where relationships remain strained, where our love for one another is shallow, weak or cold.
- Let us deal with our issues that arise – and is this way love each other as we love our own selves; and in this way live in peace with one another.
William Higgins
Christian teaching 