Inverting “love thy neighbor”

Most of Jesus' public ministry shows him as a giver, rather than receiver of love; an embodiment of "love thy neighbor as thyself." And yet there are cases when the action of giving is of limited value; for example, in the story of the Widow's Mite: she gives her few coins, while a wealthy donor drops in a high-value coin. However, the face-value is less important than the heart-value of the person making the offering. If one's heart is not really in it, then the action is hollow. In other words what is in one's heart is what matters, not the physical action or its success or failure. So long as one has a Servant Heart, then any action – large or small, public or unwitnessed – has meaning in God's reckoning. 

But inverting the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor, the examples of Jesus shown in the Gospel are much scarcer. There are so many instances of Jesus reaching out to others or responding to the requests made of him. Far fewer are the cases when he is the recipient of others who are exercising the commandment and treating him as their neighbor, worthy of giving love to him. So much attention is put on training one's Servant's Heart, one that is strong and also meek like an ox; in which meek is not another word for weak, but means strength that is harnessed for a purpose. Very little attention is put on training one to be a graceful receiver of the gifts from others. 

There are times when a helping hand is offered, money or material is brought to share, or words of kindness or counsel are delivered. A greedy heart might seize these things for personal advantage. An ungrateful heart might brush aside this opportunity to engage with others on the receiving end instead of the giving end. But a graceful heart would be used to bowing to the generous spirit in which the unselfish, neighborly gesture is made. Whereas the role of giver requires a decision and follow-through, possibly intruding into another's life, the role of receiver is less often an anticipated event and instead comes about as an unexpected, unasked for moment of delight. A giver is an active agent, but a receiver has to react to something that is out of their hands. And so, it is worth putting effort not just to encourage a Servant's Heart for loving one's neighbor as oneself, but also to learn how to be a graceful receiver of other's care. 

Acts 20:35 tell us that "it is more blessed to give than to receive," and yet, giving on an impulse or after careful decision is perhaps the easier of the two. One's heart must be humble when offering to others; but also when accepting what others may give. 

Here is the context (from the Biblegateway.com for the edition of the HWP, Hawai'ian Pidgin English) 

"I rememba wat da Boss Jesus wen say, 'Da guy who give, he stay mo good inside den da guy who get.' " 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%2020:35&version=HWP 

Too often the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself emphasizes the giving, not the receiving. But both of these require one's heart to be in it, not hollowly going through the motions. Only what is in the heart matters to God, not the actions, not the success or failure resulting for all to see on the outside. Count Leo Tolstoy's thin book, The Kingdom of God is within You, embodies this truism that the heart is what matters for God's kingdom to come. 

Book, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4602  background,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_You 

Since a sincere heart is the language that God speaks, it is worth gathering together sayings (in English; maybe other languages have other angles of view, too) about one's heart: heartfelt, heart-weary, heartbroken, heavy/light-hearted, heartless, having a heart, your heart is in it, and so on. Related is a set of quotations ABOUT the human heart in poetry and prose, https://sayingspoint.com/heart-sayings/ 

A few of this list of 80 quotations follow, 

"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." —James Earl Jones 

"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge." —Thomas Carlyle 

"Those who don't know how to weep with their whole heart, don't know how to laugh either." —Golda Meir 

"The heart has eyes which the brain knows nothing of." —Charles H. Perkhurst 

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded." —Maya Angelou 

"The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart." —Rumi 

"Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely." —Unknown 

"The best gifts come from the heart, not the store." —Sarah Dessen 

"You change your life by changing your heart." —Max Lucado 

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." —Confucius 

 

Clearly, it is not just Jesus who is concerned about what fills people's hearts as it embraces or it gets in the way of one's lifelong relationship with God and all of the living things belonging in Creation.