Who Is My Neighbor?
I love the story in Luke 10. An expert in the Law “stood up to test Jesus”. Here’s how it goes.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.
“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10: 25-29
The ruler wanted to get Jesus to answer what seemed like a complicated question. After all, he was an expert in the Law, and the Law had lots of rules. The answer? It boiled down to one word. LOVE. Love God, and love your neighbor.
The expert’s response is pretty common of us all. “But… give me more specifics. WHO is my neighbor? Who exactly do I need to be nice to? To show love to? And what does that look like?”
Jesus, of course, then went into the story of the Good Samaritan. It’s a story of a man going above and beyond to care for another that society’s rules said he shouldn’t. He cared for the man even when more likely candidates (a priest and a Levite) had chosen to simply pass him by and leave him for dead. THAT is what love looks like.
So, who is your neighbor? It’s easy to love the sweet lady down the street who brings cookies over and waves as you drive by. Those are easy to claim as “neighbors”. But how about the house that the police are frequently called to, or the guy who always needs help (like a LOT of help)? How about the children who don’t have parents who care to care for them? And what about the single mom who works 3 jobs to make ends meet? What about the people who are vocally against everything that you stand for, and even directly against YOU because of it?
THOSE are our neighbors. It’s everybody. All of them. If we’re too busy, or too scared, or don’t think we have the right resources, we’ve missed the point. Loving others IS loving Jesus. They ARE Jesus. When we avoid hurting and messy people, we avoid Jesus.
So, who is your neighbor going to be today? Jesus was pretty clear by the way he treated others. We don’t need to wait for a master plan or a group to be organized to work with. People that don’t know what to do often don’t do anything. Let’s not be that way. SEE people you encounter, then LOVE them like Jesus did. Look at His example, then YOU decide what that will look like today!