By Rev. Jeremy Vaccaro
In Mark 10, a teacher of the law comes to Jesus and asks him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” I know that many of you already know what Jesus said. He answered, “The most important one is this: ... Love the Lord your God … The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” They are simple commands aren’t they? But they aren’t always simple to carry out.
I think I’ve always been better at loving the Lord than loving my neighbor. It’s easier for me to love the Lord. He’s perfect. He’s faithful. He never sins against me. Neighbors are different. They’re like me: imperfect, naturally selfish, and in need of grace (lots of it). So, learning to love my neighbor has been quite a journey for me.
I remember when I first started on Young Life staff in Oakhurst, back in 1996. My job was to develop teams of adults to love kids who were far from Christ for the sake of the Gospel at Yosemite High School, Mariposa High School, and their feeder junior high schools. One of the most important (and hard) lessons the Lord taught me during my first month on the job was that I didn’t really love kids who were far from Christ. It was a rude awakening about the status of my heart toward my neighbor. By God’s grace, He changed that in me.
Then, in seminary, Diane and I lived in a small apartment complex full of seminary students. Some were very cool & easy to love, but some of them weren’t. So, when God called us to be the community directors for the complex, I knew that He was going to be working on my heart some more. And, He did. It was during that season that God really began to work in me about the potential of intentional Gospel living with the folks who live right around me.
In 2002 we moved to Gig Harbor, Washington. It was really the first time in my life that I had lived in a traditional neighborhood (remember, I grew up in the middle of an orange grove near Woodlake). Of course, it was different than our apartment experience in seminary. Most of my immediate neighbors didn’t love Jesus at all. And, our lives were incredibly full with babies, church activities, and a growing list of responsibilities at work. Still, God graciously worked in my heart about my neighbors.
One of the catalysts for deeper relationship with our neighbors was a massive wind storm that took down several tall trees in our neighborhood. The next morning several of us were out, working together, to pull trees off of houses and recount our experience of the storm. It was amazing to see how God used that storm to open doors of relationship. In the years that followed, God gave us many opportunities to love our neighbors in tangible ways. We walked with a family while their marriage was falling apart; we intentionally befriended a teenage boy whose parents were quite unengaged; we cared for a neighbor who fell off his roof and broke his leg; we opened our yard and home to neighborhood kids; we built a front porch to spend more time in the front yard than the back yard; and we journeyed with a young family as the mom died from lung cancer. Of course, we weren’t alone in these opportunities to love our neighbors; there were others caring alongside of us. And, we were also cared for by them.
Now, we live in Fresno. It’s the first time I’ve ever lived in a city quite this big. One of the things I love about the big city is the diversity of my new neighbors. As soon as I walked on to the campus of our local elementary school, back in October of 2012, I knew we weren’t in Gig Harbor any more. So, once again, I am learning what it means to love my neighbor. I’m learning what it means to break through social, economic, ethnic, and religious barriers for the sake of Christ’s love and His call on me to love others.
I imagine all of us, as Christ followers, are on this journey to learn to love our neighbors. This edition of First Pres(s) is meant to share some of the stories of our church as we learn to love our neighbors together and live the Gospel together in neighborhoods across our city. No matter where you are on the journey, I hope you are inspired to live today and every day in obedience to Jesus’ greatest commandments.
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