A Man Called Otto: You scared me, Otto…..I was just trying to help.

Otto is a grumpy old man grieving his beloved wife’s death and has estranged himself to his oldest and best friend.

Otto's life was full of sadness and loss. He has no real memory of his mother, just her absence. His father died before Otto graduated college. His wife was paralyzed, and they lost their son in the second trimester following a bus accident. Otto was mildly injured in.

After hearing that his estranged best friend, who lived a couple house down the street from him, is set to be put into a care facility under suspicious circumstances, he walks over to the house Marisol and her husband are renting and asks to use their phone.

Marisol wants to know why, but Otto initially refuses to provide any answers.

He had his phone, gas, and electricity turned off because he was planning to commit suicide to join his wife in death, but he did not want people to know. He tried hanging himself, but the hinge pulled out of the ceiling. He tried running his car in the garage with the exhaust being fed back into his car but stopped because Marisol needed help. He was contemplating shooting himself but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

So when Marisol refuses to let Otto use her phone, she sternly says, "You won't tell me why your phone is disconnected? You won't tell me why you need to use my phone? You won't tell me what happened to you in the street yesterday? And then you went inside, and you wouldn't even open the door? You scared me, Otto. Do you know how long I was out there? And I didn't know if something had happened to you. Or if something was gonna happen to you, And I'm sorry if I said the wrong thing about Sonya's coats. But I was just trying to help. And you left me out there."

You think your life is so hard because everybody's an idiot, and you have to do everything on your own, right? Right? But guess what. You can't. No one can. And I think you should just be happy that someone was trying to help you get through a crappy day.

Being More Than A Good Neighbor

From the day Marisol and her husband moved in, she tried to be a good neighbor, especially to Otto.

She brought him dinners and desserts and tried to forge a relationship with this crusty old curmudgeon who was a stickler to the letter of the law or policy.

Otto would grudgingly allow Marisol and Tommy to borrow tools and other things.

Anita and Reuben had been friends with Otto and his wife for years before Otto and Reuben had a falling out.

Marisol, above all others in the neighborhood, continued to try and become friends with Otto regardless of how brutish Otto acted.

The Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37 the encounter Jesus had with a law scholar.

The law scholar tested Jesus on how one could enter Heaven. Jesus turned the question back on the scholar and asked what the Law said about it.

In verse 27, the scholar replies, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

The scholar was so close to salvation but then had to ask, "who is my neighbor."

Jesus then tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."

Are We Like The Scholar Or Marisol?

Most people can be nice to those who are nice to them.

Few can be nice to those who are nasty people.

We need the Holy Spirit to indwell us to be able to love the way Jesus commands us to.

What if we were to speak with respect like Ephesians 4:15 says? "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ."

Remember Proverbs 15:1, which states, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

How can you live out the following?

1. See Others with the Eyes of Our Heart
2. Have Compassion Toward Others & Be Willing to Show Mercy
3. Make a Personal Touch That Gets Us Out Of Our Comfort Zone