In Bill Adler's popular book of letters from kids, an 8 year old boy from Nashville, Tennessee makes this contribution:

“Dear Pastor, I know God wants us to love everybody, but he surely never met my sister." Sincerely, Arnold.

There is an old jingle I learned as a child that puts it another way:
To live above with those we love, well that will be glory. To live below, with those we know, well, that is a different story.

In our Quest for Christian Values, we concluded last week that it boils down to loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. This is the great commandment, said Jesus. Then eliminating our need to debate the nature of neighborliness Jesus goes one step further in the Sermon on the Mount and says, “You have heard that it was said,…