Matthew 22:36-40 pretty much sums up what God directs Christians to be doing with our short time on this planet. While teaching one day, a Pharisee asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law”? Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”.
Whoa! Don’t you kind of wish that Pharisee wasn’t so inquisitive? But, now that we know, we are without excuse. All that’s left is to get out there and start loving God and people, right?
At church last month, our pastor held up a cute yellow refrigerator magnet to illustrate a neighborhood. The magnet had a center house surrounded by one house on each side. He then preached on the Biblical perspective of neighboring. He concluded his sermon by challenging the church to actually get to know the people who literally surround us each and every day. The directive seemed simple enough: learn the names of our neighbors and find ways to love them. How hard can it be?
“Who is My Neighbor“ refrigerator magnet from church
It wasn’t that long ago that everyone knew all of their neighbors-their strengths/weakness, their likes/dislikes, their occupation, hobbies, and their needs. And, someone, often everyone, made it their business to meet each others’ needs. For a variety of reasons, most of us simply don’t do that today. Are we too proud? Too busy? Too scared? Or do we just not take Jesus at His word? It can’t be that we don’t understand Jesus’ words-they are pretty clear-so what gives?
My husband and I decided to take Pastor Steve’s challenge seriously. We couldn’t exactly use the yellow refrigerator magnet because our neighborhood looks a little different than that. We reside in an 186 slip marina. It’s kind of a big neighborhood! So we mapped out our dock on an Excel spreadsheet, then walked up and down the dock writing down the names of all of the boats on our dock-almost 50 boats!
The Marina at Ortega Landing
That was the easy part. We were aware that we had lived here for 6 months, could recognize some of our neighbors, knew a few names, but very little else about them. Sure, we had excuses for not knowing our neighbors better-not everyone lived aboard so they weren’t here all the time, there were simply too many names to memorize, we were still too busy settling in, we should have put in a bigger effort sooner…we could come up with a lot of excuses!
Truth be told, we knew that we should know our neighbors better and be more available to them. But admitting to them, after all this time, that we don’t even know their names was going to be embarrassing! Humility, friendly smiles and cookies just might smooth things over, though. It’s true that homemade chocolate chip cookies are the only sure-fire way to butter people up, but my oven is tiny with a capital T, it was 95 degrees and we needed almost 100 cookies. Could Walmart cookies do the trick? The Walmart bakery big “decadent” cookies could! Armed with fifty dollars worth of delicious cookies carefully packaged two to a baggie, we headed out through the companionway (that’s boat-speak for “doorway”, I just threw that in here for authenticity)! (And don’t ask me how I knew the cookies were delicious.)
Starting with Phil and Sue, who we do know, was easy. They invited us into their air conditioned cabin cruiser, we chatted for a while about this project and made plans to meet later at the pool. They loved the cookies. Ok, so far so good!
We walked the dock, knocking on every boat. Admittedly, it was a little awkward, standing face to face asking the names of people who we have spent months with chatting in the pool or on the dock. We simply smiled, introduced ourselves, handed them a baggie or two of cookies, and explained that we were being intentional about getting to know our neighbors. Then we talked a bit about ourselves, our skills, offered to help out wherever we could, and asked them about themselves. This exchange turned out not to be nearly as difficult as we had imagined. Maybe it was the humility, friendly smiles, and the delicious cookies. However, most of our neighbors appeared to be so surprised to hear that we simply wanted to get to know them better (and that we were delivering cookies), that maybe they didn’t even realize we were asking for their names! After each visit, we jotted down their names on our spreadsheet before moving on to the next boat. One funny story-we knocked on one boat that we assumed was empty because we had never seen anyone on that boat, even though we walk by it several times every day. After one knock, up popped a lady. We were so surprised! It turns out that she and her husband live and work aboard. We had a very pleasant conversation and have even had a few short conversations since. No assumptions now-keep knocking on every boat! Of course, some people don’t actually live on their boats, so we don’t have the names of the owners of every boat yet, but we have most of them.
I assume that our neighbors are just like yours: pleasant, receptive to good cookies delivered with a smile, and happy to know that you care enough to get to know them.
I have to admit that memorizing everyone’s names has been difficult, but it has been so rewarding. I really enjoy addressing people by name. One very shy teen now even returns a smile and a whispered “hi” when addressed by name. My husband and I both continue to practice the names of everyone on our dock, as well as others that we see in the marina. Just yesterday a lady who I should know better stopped me to ask how I was doing because she hadn’t seen me in a week or so. I explained that my husband and I had been visiting family and friends in Nebraska. Then, even without cookies, I mustered up the courage to ask her name. Amanda. I was definitely humbled to know that Amanda had noticed that I hadn’t been around. (By the way, that’s a whole different lesson-people are watching, our Christian witness matters.) I won’t forget Amanda’s name, and I will definitely be seeking a closer relationship with her.
Our neighboring challenge will continue, as boaters come and go. In the meanwhile, we are enjoying our new friendships. Do you know all of your neighbors? If not, I can highly recommend cookies from Walmart to help you get started.
Angie, what a beautiful example of doing what Jesus asked us to do!
You and Bill are making a difference, one life at a time.
Steve
Steve, Thanks for your leadership and encouragement.
Great message!!
Jan, Thanks for your encouragement. I really appreciate it. I know that you are a “lighthouse” in your neighborhood.
Angie & Bill
I want you to know your ministry is important and appreciated.
Thank you for your outreach to all boaters.
Gods love shines thru you every time you smile, wave and say hello.
Sue & Phil
Sue and Phil, you are so kind! Thanks for your encouragement and thanks for reading our blog. We love being your “neighbors”! Be well, Bill and Angie.