Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 3:27-30 (Wisdom's Good Neighbor Policy) (Part 10)

Proverbs and the wisdom that godly people will display if they are truly emulating their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Turn with me please, in Proverbs, the third chapter, where we'll take as our reading verses 27 to 30, Proverbs 3, beginning at the 27th verse. Hear now God's word withhold not good from them to whom it is due. When it is in the power of thy hand to do it, say not unto thy neighbour, go and come again, and tomorrow I will give it. When thou hast it by thee, devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause if he have done thee no harm and thus far the reading of God's Word what do you look for in a wise person? If we were to make a checklist of marks of wisdom, what sorts of attributes would you expect to lead us to? People who in the sight of God really are wise. What do you think about who is the wise person around you? What marks out the wise person from everybody else? I think you can think of a number of attributes. We might think of Christian teachableness. People who are teachable and humble, willing to hear the word of God, are wise people. We think of those who have mature insight into life's problems, the sort of people who can give us good advice as wise people. What else do we think of as wisdom or as godliness? We can think of great feats that may be performed for the sake of the kingdom of God and how that shows wisdom to throw oneself into those kind of efforts. We can think of people who are pious, those who pray. Any number of things may come to mind when we think of wisdom, but one of the things I don't imagine comes to our minds immediately is being a good neighbor. I can't help but think of the words of a song that was popular back in the counterculture days of the 60s. It talked about hating your next door neighbor but not forgetting to say grace. Christians have so often come across as poor neighbors, have so often demonstrated a kind of self righteousness about their own piety, about their own religiosity, about their attendance at church and so forth. And yet they are reputed in many cases, not all, but in many cases being the worst neighbors on the block as being unconcerned with others. We can raise thousands of dollars to send food to hungry people in India or in Africa or what have you. And yet we can have people in our own neighborhoods, in our own cities who are in need of attention and affection and we just kind of go by without any concern whatsoever in that way. When you think of wisdom, think of being a good neighbor. When you think of godliness, think of being a good neighbor. This is what the message of the book of Proverbs has for us this morning. One of the major ways in which wisdom and discretion are exercised in this world, one of the major ways in which we show we are wise is in our relationship with other people. Wisdom is reflected in the kind of social acquaintances and good neighbors that we are. How do you relate to other people? How do you get along with others? What are your social relationships like? That is, according to the book of Proverbs, something of a barometer of how wise you are, whether you are maturing spiritually, whether you're getting away from the foolishness that's part of our sinful nature. And so this morning we ask about our relationships, whether they are wise and godly relationships. We look, as the title of the sermon says, at Wisdom's good neighbor policy. If you want to be a good neighbor, then Wisdom has something to teach you this morning. The two illustrations in our text that are immediately set before us are these. A good neighbor meets his obligations. And secondly, a good neighbor does not stir up trouble for others. Let's look at each one of those Proverbs tells us that we should not procrastinate in meeting our obligations. Verse 27. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due. When it is in the power of thy hand to do it, say not unto thy neighbor, go and come again, and tomorrow I will give when thou hast it by thee. So often we are able to meet an obligation, or we are able to offer help to someone who needs it. And our attitude is, if only this could have come up at a more convenient time for me. If only this would have fit into my time schedule. If only this could have come about manana, right? Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll get to it. Tomorrow I'll help you. Tomorrow I'll take care of what I owe you. Tomorrow. I'll meet my obligation tomorrow. Just give me more time. Let me put it off now. The Bible is realistic here. It doesn't overlook the fact that sometimes we are not physically able or not financially able to meet an obligation or to help somebody immediately. And so what Proverbs says is, don't say to your neighbor, go and come back, and tomorrow I'll give it when you have it by thee, when you are perfectly able to help now or meet an obligation now, when it is right there in your Hand. Don't say to him, well, go and come back when it's convenient for me. What kind of mentality do we have when we say, let me help you, or let me pay my bills, or let me do what I should be doing when it's convenient for me? Well, we overlook something in the first place. Verse 27 talks about those to whom it is due, withhold not good from them to whom it is due. Or another way of translating it would be, do not withhold good from its owners. When you owe a favor, or when you owe some kind of, say, of paying off a bill or a loan or whatever it may be, then that person has that by right. That is a demand situation over you. And when you say, well, come back tomorrow and I'll take care of it at my convenience, then you're really acting as the thief acts. You say, wait a minute, that's awfully harsh, Pastor. I'm not a thief. Well, the Bible says you are. The Bible says you have the same mentality as a man who says, look, this property is my own. I can do with it as I wish. It's under my disposal to be used at my convenience for my satisfaction rather than being owed to someone else. I think of a situation we once had in our church a number of years ago, where someone came to the session and said that he was in need of money and alone. And we are, I think, commendably generous. When those situations arise with not only our own people, but when others in need that we don't know come to us, we try our best to help people, and so we help this individual, only to find out later that though there was in a sense, a need in this person's life, he nevertheless had investments that could easily have been used to take care of the need of the moment. But he didn't want to be inconvenienced or lose the advantage of the interest that was accruing to him in those investments. And so he came to the church for a loan. And when we found that out, we felt it was necessary to teach him something about godly, a godly approach to finances. You don't say, come back tomorrow. Make it convenient for me when it is at your side to use. So no more of this manana, manana. You're able to help. You're able to meet your obligations. Then do so, the Bible says. In fact, the 28th verse forbids us to put off someone's payment until tomorrow. This is exactly what the Mosaic Law teaches. A particular illustration of that principle is taught. If you look at Leviticus 19, verse 13, I suggest you turn back in your bibles to Leviticus 19, the 13th verse. And while you're doing that, let me remind you, Leviticus 19 is very important because this is the very same passage from God's word that Jesus will later use in the New Testament to summarize our obligation to others. When he is asked, what is the first and great commandment, he of course quotes Deuteronomy to love God above all else. And then he adds, and the second is like unto it to love your neighbor as yourself. Leviticus 19:18. Leviticus 19: is the love chapter in the law of God, showing us all the concrete ways we can love. No more of this easy, spiritual, ambiguous. Yes, I love everybody. Have kind of a soupy feeling toward people now. Love is very concrete, and look what it says. Leviticus 19:13. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him. We're not thieves. That's fine. But notice what it goes right on to say, the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. When a man works for you and he expects to be paid that evening, you don't say, well, come back in the morning and I'll pay you. What's the big deal, right? The banks are closed already. You're not going to be able to cash the check anyway, so just come back in the morning. How often does this sort of thing happen? As I look at my congregation this morning, I'm afraid that you're not really sensitive to this sort of thing, because coming from the kind of socioeconomic levels that most of us here do, we don't usually face that. There's been something about this biblical point of morality that's become ingrained in American. Most American business practices. I think an employer would be in a great deal of trouble if payday came and he decided, well, day or two will do that. But you see, there are a number of people who struggle and scrape and live from hand to mouth day to day who do expect that they'll be paid. And they aren't in a position to say, well, if it's another two days, then we'll just live off of what we have in the bank until that time. Many of us may be able to do that and others can't. The law of God says, when you've promised the man that he'll be paid at a certain time, you pay him at that time. And if you don't, you have robbed him and oppressed him, you don't love your neighbor as yourself. You're not genuinely showing a godly and wise attitude toward your neighbor when you do this. This is repeated for us in Deuteronomy 24:14 15. Deuteronomy the 24th chapter at the 14th verse. Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy sojourners that are in thy land, within thy gates in his day. Thou shalt give him his hire. Neither shall the sun go down upon it, for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it, lest he cry against thee unto Jehovah, and it be sin unto thee. Proverbs says, you withhold what is owed to someone else, for even one day it's sin to you. Don't put people off saying, tomorrow, pay your obligations, pay them immediately. This is again alluded to in the New Testament in James the fifth chapter, verse four. The fact that it comes up so often in the Bible should tell us how important it is. James 5:4. In the midst of an indictment of the wealthy who oppress the righteous in this world, James says, behold the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud. Crieth out, and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Precisely what Deuteronomy had said. You withhold the hire of those that work for you, and their cries will be heard by God. Now this is a very important insight into the nature of biblical morality that we need to pick up here, not just in terms of our obligation to pay people promptly. The same principle which we see presented as Old Testament law. Leviticus and Deuteronomy say, thou shalt do such. And such we see later presented to us as spiritual wisdom, the maturity that comes with godliness in Proverbs. And then, lo and behold, we find it applied again without apology, as a New Testament principle of honesty and justice. The very same thing required by the Mosaic Law is set down later as a mark of wisdom and applied in the New Testament. Exactly the same standard. What does that tell you about morality in the Bible? Situational morality, relativistic morality. Morality that's good one day, but bad another? Not at all. God does not lay down in his law principles that he intends to change, because God's character doesn't change. And the principles he lays down reflect his own holy character. And we have a very concrete illustration of that right before us. Don't you dare oppress people by failing to give them what is their due on the very day that it's due. Galatians 6:10 tells us what our general attitude should be toward other men. Paul puts it this way, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men when the opportunity arises. Do good to all men. Don't put it off. Don't say tomorrow when it's convenient. And so on. This one point of Wisdom's good neighbor policy you should be asking yourself, do I promptly pay my obligations? Pay my bills? And two Do I promptly look for ways to help others? Is that my attitude toward other people? There's three elements here. Promptness, meeting one's obligation, and going out of your way to help others. Are you a good neighbor? The second thing Wisdom's good neighbor policy teaches us here in verses 29 and 30, is that we should not be eager to start strife is really kind of the other side of the coin, if you think about it. I should want to be eager to help people, to pay my bills, to be a positive force in my community. I shouldn't be sitting around thinking of devious ways in which I can get into trouble with people. Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause if he have done thee no harm. The godly and the wise man is is one who is very reluctant to get embroiled in contention with his neighbors. Here's the man who says, for the sake of peace in the neighborhood, I'm not going to make an issue out of this. Here's the man who says, I'm not going to be watching out my window to see if those kids run across my lawn one more time, and then I'll go and tell their parents a thing or two. Verse 29b. We have an interesting reference reflection on why we shouldn't have that attitude. Seeing that he dwelleth securely by thee, seeing that your neighbor should be able to trust you and feel like things are positive and harmonious in the neighborhood. Don't go looking for contention and trouble. You see, your neighbors should not think they have to look over their shoulders to see what you might have planned for them. What's going on over there? What are they thinking about? Why are they acting this way toward us? Verse 30 says, don't quarrel with someone who has done you no harm. I think that's perhaps one of the worst offenses the neighborhoods of our land is that we have quarrels all the time between people when they're absolutely unnecessary. And so the key to good social Relations might be called reciprocity. Reciprocity? What is that? That's the golden rule. Treat others the way you'd have them treat you. They haven't done you harm. Don't do them harm. You don't want them to do you harm. Don't go looking for ways to get into trouble with them. And so this passage warns us against sitting around in our idle time, finding reasons to be upset with people, people. And provoking difficulty when there's really no reason for it. I see two very specific applications of this that I want to bring up to you this morning. I think this passage hereby warns us against the foolishness of unnecessary arguing. The foolishness of unnecessary argument. You know, some people love to dispute points. Some people love to get into arguments. They love to champion unpopular ideas. Some people just love to be contrary. You know what that means, to be contrary for the sake of arguing, taking the opposite position. Always being on the outside of some position, thereby having themselves stand out from others. You see, I don't fit in with the group. I'm unique. I'm different. I'll argue the point, every point, no matter what it is. I don't care how important it is. I'll argue, argue, argue, argue. I'm just contrary. And you'll find in life, with maturity and wisdom, that that kind of attitude does not strengthen community spirit. That kind of attitude does not build friendships. Paul in Romans 12 says, do everything within your power to be at peace with all men. He doesn't say, go around provoking argument. See where you can disagree with somebody. See what kind of problems you can create. He says, do everything you can. Rather to be at peace with all, everyone you see, that needs to be said, needs to be said to our congregation, doesn't it? We have that problem here, don't we? We have in a particular case, I'm afraid, a situation where there's an individual who just loves to argue. No matter what the point may be, you can count on this person. Take the opposite position. No matter how absurd, no matter how easily that's refuted. That person will entrench himself and entrench himself and entrench himself. And there's nothing commendable about that. And I'm sorry, but we have to be very pointed. We have to step on some toes. It applies to more than just one individual. We are too argumentative. Don't go looking for trouble. And a second, very specific application of this passage, although I don't think it applies so much to our congregation, it does very definitely apply to American society. And that's this passage condemns unjustified lawsuits, doesn't it? Notice what it says? Don't strive with a man without cause if he hasn't done you any harm. I mean, the reason why lawyers are making so much money and there's so much business is because we've become a litigious society. That's a big word. Sounds kind of fancy. But you know what it means? It means we love lawsuits. And you know, that is reflected. Even though I don't think there's a lot of suing and counter suing going on in this congregation. I've not heard of any. I'm glad. But, you know, that attitude is there. I see that in my children. You know, we'd be driving down the street and something would, you know, go wrong. And with a real flippant way, my children will sometimes say, we're going to sue you. And I'm thinking, where is this attitude picked up this idea that we're going to go to court, we're going to go to court, we'll get this resolved. It's not a Christian attitude. It's not a proper attitude. And though there may be a slight place for humor of that sort, mockery of our own culture, there's no place for taking that lightly in our circles. Proverbs says, don't go looking for problems. Unjustified lawsuits displease the judge of all the earth. All right, so now, what else can we make of this passage? We learn two very important things. We ought to meet our obligations promptly, and we ought not to be eager to start strife with people. But you'll notice that the passage says, don't do this against your neighbor. And if you're like me, like most sinners, you may be sitting there saying, ah, but who is my neighbor? I mean, who do I have to act this way toward? Yeah, that's right. I have to be willing to be self giving, self sacrificial, promptly meeting my debts, helping other people, not getting into trouble with them, not looking for difficulty, not being grumpy and striving with these people. But who, who is it that I owe this obligation to? You know, Jesus once quoted Leviticus 19:18, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And a lawyer who wished to justify himself then said to Jesus, who is my neighbor? You know, being unfamiliar with the Hebrew term for neighbor as it's used here in Proverbs and in Leviticus, where Jesus quoted the law of God, since we are unfamiliar with the Hebrew term and we tend to think in English connotations, neighbor, neighborhood, next door neighbor, words like that. We miss how unnecessary that lawyer's question was. Indeed, we miss how nasty an attitude was displayed when he asked Jesus, who then is my neighbor? And so this is going to be very difficult. Our English translations inevitably use the word neighbor. And the English word neighbor does not communicate what you need to learn from this passage. And so let me just do a little revision, verbal revision with you here. So you see why Jesus was so upset with the man for asking the Hebrew word reah, which is used in this situation. In fact, it's used 187 times in the Old Testament, has the widest range of application. Perhaps a much closer English word would be the word fellow, although we don't use that in America too much. Nevertheless, fellow, you see, can be used very broadly, even as the Hebrew word rea. It can refer most impersonally to just another person, anybody at all, the other fellow. It can be used of random acquaintances. We see that in Judges 7 it can be used of occasional associates. It can be a fellow worker, a slave. Someone you kill is called your rhea, someone who's next to you, indeed, your opponent at law in Proverbs 18 is called your neighbor or your fellow. And on the other hand, your dearest and closest friend is called your neighbor. Proverbs 17:17 says, this is the person who loves at all times. And so it goes from somebody you don't know from Adam to use the expression, to your closest friend. They are all included in the Hebrew word fellow, neighbor. And so when Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself, meaning love all men as yourself, anyone you come into contact with. And the lawyer says, well, then, who is my neighbor? You see why Jesus would be so upset? He obviously is trying to twist the word of God and avoid his obligations. Who is your neighbor? It's your friend, and it's your next door neighbor, and it's your associate and your acquaintance, and it's a stranger. In fact, when the man asked Jesus that question, you remember the story he told, the story of the Good Samaritan. You want to know who your neighbor is. Jesus tells the story of a man who is robbed by thieves and is left for dead on the Jericho road. And two Jewish religious sorts walk on the other side of the road and don't want to be defiled by what they think is a dead body. They don't want to get involved in this difficulty. But a Samaritan comes along and he ministers to this person, tends his wounds, puts him on his donkey, takes him to the inn, pays for his keep. And then Jesus asked the question, who was a neighbor to him? Who was a friend to him? Lawyer says, well, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said, go and do likewise. You want to know how to be a neighbor? I've shown you. Anyone you come into contact with, even a stranger, is your neighbor all right. And so what does Proverbs tell us here? Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it, say not unto thy it says neighbor. But you must remember, anyone from a stranger to your closest friend, don't say to that person, go and come again, and tomorrow I'll give it when thou hast it by thee, devise not evil against thy stranger or closest friend, seeing he dwells securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause if he has not done you any harm. And so Proverbs is saying, learn to have proper social relationships with everyone, to be a good neighbor in the broadest Christian sense Proverbs is urging upon its readers a number of neighborly qualities that I want to look at before we end this morning in Proverbs, Notice what it tells us about being good neighbors in that broadest sense. The good neighbor is a man who doesn't defer a proper claim upon himself. We've seen that. And he's a man of peace. He's a peacemaker. He doesn't strive for problems. In fact, if you look at Proverbs 25:8, 9, a good neighbor does not jump to an argument, and he doesn't talk critically behind his neighbor's back. Proverbs 25:8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof. When thy neighbor hath put thee to shame, debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, and disclose not the secret of another. Don't go gossiping to other people about how rotten that individual has acted over there. The Bible says, go contend your cause with that person. That's what a good neighbor does. Well, I had such a clear illustration of the need for this instruction this last week. Where we live in Irvine, we have a neighborhood association that takes care of the clubhouse and the pool and the park and various other sorts of things. And we were having some difficulty on our block with children who were not respecting property rights and some unwitting, also some malicious vandalism, some rude behavior out past curfew, a number of little irritating things. And so a neighborhood meeting was called. A couple of individuals circulated People and said, please come to the clubhouse. We're going to discuss these problems, and we'll have one of the Irvine police there to discuss what our legal remedies are and those sorts of things. I was feeling miserable, as you know, this last week and didn't have any intention of protecting participating much. But I wanted to be a good neighbor. So I went over and sat there and bundled up in a corner and watched my neighbors talk about their problems. Policeman comes in. I don't know if he's a Christian. I doubt very seriously that he was. But he comes in, he says, you know, when you have these difficulties, your best bet is not to call us. Your best bet is to go and to talk to the individuals who are creating the difficulty and show them, not in an indicting way, but show them how everybody in the neighborhood would be happier if you got along. He says, you'll find you'll get a much better response. They won't want their property mistreated any more than you want yours, and they'll probably talk to their children and they'll take care of it. On the other hand, if you call us and we go over there and we go up with our uniforms to the door, then everybody's defensive and everybody's mad, saying, why did they call the police on my children? After all, their children do things, too. And he's talking all this good sense. And for an hour I sit there seeing my neighbor saying, now wait a minute, we have to go talk to this other person. What kind of lack of spiritual wisdom is this? The Bible says, go to your neighbor and debate your cause. Don't go kibitzing around with everybody else about it. This policeman knew that. He probably knew it just from the hard knocks of life. Twenty years on, the forest had shown him that's the way to handle things. But people don't want to pick up on that. A good neighbor doesn't jump to an argument or talk critically behind someone's back. Moreover, Proverbs 11:12 says he doesn't show contempt or despise his neighbor. He's learned the wisdom of silence. Proverbs 11:12. He that despises his neighbor is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding holds his peace. That's hard because we like to insist on our rights, don't we? We like to be vindicated, don't we? The Bible says there's a plot place for just learning to be quiet and just letting things pass. Don't despise your neighbor. In fact, you should practice pity towards Your neighbor instead. Proverbs 14:21. I need to remind you, I just used a neighborhood illustration. The word neighbor is used in the broadest sense in the Bible for everybody you come into Contact with. Proverbs 14:21. He that despises his neighbor sins. But he that hath pity on the poor, happy is he. When our neighbors, those we come in contact with, fail, we ought to pity them and try to help them and meet their needs, rather than stand back in some kind of self righteous judgment over them. In fact, a truly wise person realizes that the distaste you have for your neighbor or acquaintance probably reflects far more on your own evil heart than on your neighbor's defects. That's a hard one to learn. Proverbs 21:10. The soul of the wicked desires evil. His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes. You know why your neighbor doesn't find favor in your eyes is because there's so much evil in your own soul. You probably found it to be true what Paul says later. The very thing that we criticize other people for, we find to be guilty of ourselves, right? That's why we're so sensitive to it. It's because we hate it so much in ourselves. But of course, rather than turning on ourselves and saying how much improvement we need, boy, we're quick to find it in everybody else around us. And Proverbs is on to that, to that psychology right here. A good neighbor does not rejoice when things go wrong for others. Proverbs 24:17. You ever had a loud neighbor, kept you up partying and that sort of thing, and then the next day he has a flat tire and you're driving off to work and say, boy, boy, he got what he deserved. Proverbs 24:17. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he is overthrown. A good neighbor does not rejoice in the misfortune of others, but instead he tries to meet even his enemy's needs. Proverbs 25, 21 and 22. If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat. Wait a minute. We've been talking about neighbors, now we're talking about enemies. Yes, don't you see the point? Even if your neighbor is someone that's your enemy, feed him when he's hungry, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink, for thou wilt keep coals of fire upon his head, and Jehovah will reward thee. This is quoted, by the way, almost exactly in Romans 12, the 20th verse, where Paul says that this is the attitude we're to have toward all men, that even our enemies are to be dealt with and to have their needs met by us. That exemplifies the tough conception of love that Jesus had. When in Matthew 5:44, Jesus says, I tell you, love your enemies. You say, well, that's pretty hard, but I can love my friends. He says, yes, but even the Gentiles can do that. Even the pagans can do that. The mark of a godly man, the mark of a man who is perfect like his Father in heaven, is perfect. How does our Heavenly Father act? He gives sunshine and rain to the wicked and to the just, Jesus says, and so a godly man will do good and love even his enemies. A few more of these qualities in the Book of Proverbs we can look at very briefly here. Proverbs 11:9 with his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. Do you use your mouth to tear people down? Proverbs 12:26 the righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Do you find joy in being a good example and guiding people in paths of righteousness, or do you lead people astray? Proverbs 24:28 29 do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. Do not say, thus I shall do to him as he has done to me. I will render to the man according to his work. Jesus, of course, later would teach that as the golden rule, right? One more. Proverbs 26:18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, wasn't I joking? Here's the man who really brings his neighbor down, and he says, just fooling. I was just kidding. I've done you the damage. But I didn't really mean it. Well, now, what do all these neighborly qualities amount to? I've given you an awful lot of material this morning. How can we reduce this down to a point where it's manageable and memorable and applicable to our lives? Is there a central principle from which all of these things might be derived? Yes, there is. As a matter of fact, there is. Because all of these principles and Proverbs add up to nothing less than what love. The wisest of all teachers that you could ever imagine quoted Scripture and said, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And elsewhere he explained, this is the law and the prophets, all things whatsoever you would that men should do unto you, even so do you also. Unto them, Jesus is the example of wisdom. He's also the example of love. And Jesus puts it in this way. You can look at all these detailed applications and we do need them. But if you want a way of remembering them, remember this. Love all other men. Love them as God would have you do, so love them as you would want to be loved. And then you will wisely be a good neighbor. Let's pray. Lord, you know what an ornery sort of people we can be. You know that we aren't good neighbors, we aren't good associates, we aren't good strangers to people. And so we ask this morning that you would first of all forgive us of our many sins, indeed take away our love of sinning, our self centeredness, take away our grumpiness, take away our excuses for not meeting our obligations. And teach us, by looking at the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and hearing his exhortations to our hearts this morning, to be good neighbors. To do unto others as we'd have them do unto us, to love them as we love ourselves, indeed, to show the wisdom and maturity that godliness would require, whatever our social relationship may be, we pray we would do this for the honor of your name and for the advance of your kingdom, for we pray in Jesus name, Amen.