Air conditioning and neighbors

Romans 15:2 (ESV)

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Is it hot outside today where you live like it is here? If so, then let the sweat trickling across your forehead remind you to connect with your neighbors.

These days, Americans are so accustomed to air conditioning they rarely consider how different the world was before its invention. From the transport of fresh produce across the globe to the cool air blowing through your car vents, the benefits reach into nearly every area of life. And I must admit, I enjoy the creature comforts this technology provides as much as anyone.

Still, I feel something important has been lost. Before the introduction of home air conditioning units around the 1950s, it was often too hot to stay inside. As a result, the entire family would sit on the porch together and enjoy the evening breeze. Plus, with everyone outside, neighbors talked across porch railings and got to know one another.

But after air conditioning was made available, people retreated inside their homes, and the sense of community found in most neighborhoods began to fade. As one historian put it, walking down the street, you no longer heard the chatter “of people talking on the porch, but the whir of compressors.”

We are blessed with technology that allows us to be comfortable. But just because the summer heat forces you indoors, don’t let it make your neighborhood cold. Get to know the people around you. Say “hi” across the fence. Bring back that good ol’ fashion sense of community and show God’s love to those nearby.

Dear Lord, thank You for our neighbors. Help us to take the time to get to know them and spend time with them. Help us to be able to share Your love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

How many spiritually dead neighbors do you have?

Psalm 85:6-7 (ESV)

6 Will you not revive us again,

    that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

    and grant us your salvation.

D.L. Moody was on vacation in England from his ministry in Chicago. At one point during his sabbatical there, a local pastor prevailed upon Moody to speak at his parish church. So D.L. went to preach the next Sunday morning. That afternoon he recorded in his journal that it was the deadest crowd he had ever seen and the only thing worse than preaching to those people was that he had promised to speak again the same night.

But that night, midway through his sermon something happened. The people started to come to life, and Moody felt compelled to ask if anyone would like to become a Christian. Many people stood up. He was taken aback, "Maybe you don't understand what I am asking. So when we are dismissed if you want to become a Christian come over to this little room and meet with me." When the service was over, D.L went to the room and it was packed; and many became believers.

Now he was on vacation, and so next day, Moody boarded a train for Ireland...but the Lord had other plans. Disembarking in Ireland he found a message awaiting him, "Come back. Revival has broken out." So Moody returned to the church and preached for 10 straight nights and over 400 people came to the Lord. Moody was perplexed. How could he have known that an 80 year old widow named Mary Ann Adeland had read one of his sermons in the newspaper and begun praying every day that God would bring D.L. Moody to her church?

We might well wonder what this thing is about prayer...especially prayer in the secret place. How does it work? Why does it work? A little old widow's love and concern for her spiritually dead neighbors inspires her to pray relentlessly and specifically, and the vacation plans of a great revivalist are adjusted for a local harvest, a God- orchestrated vacation revival for D.L. Moody, right in her home town! Believers pray because they love, and little passionate souls like Mary Ann Adeland are hidden gems in the Lord's crown. How many spiritually dead neighbors do you have?

Dear Lord, we pray that we would have our eyes open for those around us that need Your love. Help us pray for them that their hearts will be softened to hear Your love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.