My Neighbor!

Luke 10:25–37 (ESV)
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “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.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 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. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 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. 35 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.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
 
As I read this parable, I often think of that great theme song from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
 
It's a neighborly day in this beautywood
A neighborly day for a beauty
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
 
I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you
 
So let's make the most of this beautiful day
Since we're together, we might as well say
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
 
Won't you please
Won't you please
Please won't you be my neighbor?
 
Fred Rogers, by the way, was a Presbyterian pastor.
 
This parable is one which people often believe that is a good moral story; you see a person in desperate need, and you help them.  Sometimes, if people know a bit about the cultural context, the parable takes on even greater moral imperative as it is understood to break down walls of discrimination and intolerance.
However, the parable and the exchange between Jesus and this particular lawyer goes much deeper than just a good moral lesson.
 
The lawyer is a scribe, an expert in the law, and he is seeking to test Jesus, and in the process to expose what he hopes will be Jesus’ false views regarding God’s kingdom, plans, and purposes. 
It’s an interesting initial exchange as the scribe asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.
Jesus points the scribe back to what he knows, the law; what does the law say?
The scribe responds by merging the words of the Old Testament from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 into one statement, a merging that he most likely had heard Jesus say as no other Jewish person has made such a summary statement: love God, love your neighbor as yourself.
 
It’s interesting to note that the word for love, agape, is used for both God and for your neighbor; in other words, we are to love God and neighbor alike, in the same way, with the same unconditional love.
Jesus agrees with the scribe’s response and the conversation could have ended at this point except that Jesus adds, “do this and you will live.”
Seeking to “win” the conversation, the scribe presses the point and asks the great question, “And who is my neighbor?”
 
To understand Jesus’ response, we need to know that Jews and Samaritans, in that cultural context, absolutely hated each other with a hatred that had been brewing and boiling for hundreds of years and is still present today.
Jesus’ listeners and Luke’s first readers would have been stunned by this parable which is reflected in the response of the scribe to Jesus’ question, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”  The scribe can’t even bring himself to say, “The Samaritan.”
 
You see the scribe was hoping to justify himself and his belief that God and His love and grace was something which was “just for us.”
What Jesus is leading the scribe to understand, and for all of us to wrestle with, is that we are to extend God’s love and grace to everyone and anyone.
“For Jesus, ‘neighbor’ is a verb, a way of behaving toward people in need that gives life to both the giver and receiver.  For Jesus, one does not have a neighbor; one is a neighbor, or better becomes a neighbor.  The parable does not require hearers to convert enemies into friends, to do everything for everyone, to solve the problems of the world.  To be a neighbor is not a condition one inherits, in other words, but a choice one makes to render the tangible assistance one is able to render to those in need of it, and to render it irrespective of ethnic, religious, cultic, or radical differences.”  James Edwards.
 
For those who have entrusted their lives to Jesus and seek to follow Him as His missional disciples, our calling, our challenge, and our privilege is to extend the very love and grace God has given us in Jesus into the mud and mess of people’s lives.
“No church, no Christian, can remain content with easy definitions which allow us to watch most of the world lying half-dead in the road.”  N.T. Wright.
 
So where and to whom is Jesus leading you to be His “neighbor”?
 
God bless you, and know that you are constantly in my prayers!
 
Scott