DON'T DEVISE EVIL AGAINST YOUR NEIGHBOR - a sermon by Fortune Nwaiwu
“Don’t plot harm against your
neighbor, for those who live nearby trust you. – Proverbs 3:29.
Some people are neighbors just because they live in the same area or street,
but really everyone is a neighbor since we all share this planet. There's no
good reason we should try to hurt the people around us. Even if someone just
lives next door, being a neighbor really means being there for each other
through both good and bad times. Whether that's sharing happiness or sadness,
helping out with money issues or health problems, we're all in this together.
You know, it seems like
sometimes neighbors just don't want to see other people succeed or be happy.
There are always folks out there who get jealous when good things happen for
other families. Like if you buy a nice new car, all of a sudden some neighbors
act like it's a personal insult to them! They don't want to see your family
enjoying anything nice. And some neighbors really go out of their way to make
life difficult for people in the neighborhood.
It can also be a problem with
landlords sometimes. If they think you're too religious or something, they may
start looking for reasons to get rid of you. Like if you're really prayerful,
the next thing you know you're getting a notice saying you have to move out. At
least if that happens, you can be glad you identified that landlord as someone
not to trust, who doesn't respect people's humanity.
That's why you need to be
careful who you end up living near. You never know about some unbelieving
neighbors and what issues they may cause. Best to keep an eye out and protect
yourself if you start sensing that kind of vibe from the people around you.
Illustration
So in Chapter 3 of Things Fall
Apart, Ezeudu gives Okonkwo a warning about Ikemefuna, "That child calls
you father, do not bear a hand on his death.
Ikemefuna has been living with Okonkwo as part of a peace deal between
villages.
But then the Umuofia village receives a
message from the oracle that Ikemefuna has to die. Ikemefuna doesn't know about
this though, and still feels safe with Okonkwo. However, when attackers come
for him, Ikemefuna cries out to Okonkwo for help, saying "Father, they
have killed me. Tragically, like in
Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar where Brutus betrays Caesar, Okonkwo is the
one who ends up giving the final blow that kills Ikemefuna.
It's really hard when people you
trust the most end up hurting you. Like if a family member or teacher betrayed
your trust - how would that make you feel? And you expect people in important
roles, like religious leaders, to always do the right thing and be good
examples. Family is also supposed to protect you, not do anything that puts you
in harm's way. Hurting a relative would be wrong. It's a tough situation when
the people closest to you go against what they're supposed to do.
I am still thinking about
something I read in that novel by Achebe, where Ezeudu said "That child
calls you father, do not bear a hand on his death. It really stuck with me. We're all going to
die eventually, that's a fact of life. But we shouldn't be the ones directly
causing other people to die, especially people we're close to.
The story of Abraham and Isaac
from the Bible came to mind too. Do you remember when God told Abraham to
sacrifice his son, but Isaac asked "father, we have the fire and wood, but
where is the lamb for the sacrifice?" Even though Isaac was just a kid,
his question really makes you think about what they were doing. He didn't know
his dad was actually going to sacrifice him.
It seems like these days, there
are too many stories of people going missing or getting used for bad things
like rituals. Some kids even hurt their own parents. The Bible says we
shouldn't scheme to harm our neighbors. Overall, it's sad that trust can be
broken and people don't always act the way they should, even those who are
supposed to teach and guide us.
How Should We Treat Our Neighbors?
The Bible tells us in Proverbs
3:29 that people trust us a lot. They know we wouldn't want to hurt them on
purpose. They feel comfortable sharing private things with us because they
believe we have their best interests at heart. So it's really important that we
never think about doing bad things or evil to them.
1. Don’t think of raping your
neighbor
We shouldn't take advantage of
people when they're vulnerable. I've heard too many sad stories about friends
attacking each other sexually. Like that poor woman whose husband was sick -
her neighbor said he'd help her financially if she'd be intimate with him. But
the Bible says in Exodus 20:17 not to want what belongs to someone else, like
their spouse.
Remember the story in 2 Samuel
13 about Amnon? He invited his sister Tamar over under false pretenses, just so
he could assault her. She had no idea he had harmful intentions. Let's learn
from mistakes like that in the past. It's never okay to force yourself on
family or take someone's innocence against their will.
2. Don’t think of spreading false
rumors against your neighbor
We also need to be careful about
spreading lies or gossip that could damage people's reputations. Proverbs 16:28
warns that gossip drives wedges between friends. And Proverbs 25:18 compares
lying about others to using weapons against them.
3. Don’t seek revenge over what
your neighbor did to you.
We should avoid wanting revenge
when someone wrongs us too. Proverbs 20:22 advises leaving punishment up to God
instead of taking matters into our own hands. And don't covet what your
neighbors have according to Proverbs 3:31.
4. Don’t withhold good things from
your neighbor
Most importantly, help people
out when they're struggling like good neighbors do. Proverbs 3:27 says if you
can assist, you should. So let's build each other up with kindness instead of
thinking of ways to tear each other down.
5. Don’t shed the blood of your
neighbor
Your neighbor is precious, and
we should be our brother keeper. God warns Abraham not to lay his hand on his
son. We shouldn’t think of shedding our neighbor’s blood just because we can. Cain
shed his neighbor’s blood and was banished by divine intervention.
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