Last week, a lawyer asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment?  Jesus answered that it was to love God with everything, and love our neighbours as ourselves.  Then, right after that answer, Jesus told a story:

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 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.”  (Luke 10:25-37 ESV)

Jesus set up a high standard, based on the Old Testament part of the Bible, that was undeniable for the lawyer.  So, instead of challenging it, the lawyer tries to get around it.  He tries to find a loophole, by asking Jesus to define neighbour.  If he has to love his neighbour, perhaps he can choose who qualifies as a neighbour.  Just the people next door?  Just those of my race, religion, education or income level?

He’s asking the same question as many readers today – who exactly is my neighbour, so I can make sure I love the minimum number of people necessary?

So Jesus tells this story, known as the story of the good Samaritan.  The two religious professionals, the Levite and Priest, are too concerned with ritual purity to stop.  His first Jewish hearers might have been thinking this was an anti-clerical message about underdogs like them being heroes in contrast to prideful authorities.

But then Jesus introduces a Samaritan into the story as the hero.  Samaritans and Jews avoided each other.  There was lots of bad blood, that went back a long way.  And yet Jesus makes him the hero.  The Samaritan was a true neighbour, even to his enemy.

Jesus challenges the prevailing beliefs about what it meant to love God.  Good piety includes loving care for others, not just purity.

Then he goes further, and tells the legal expert, “You go and do likewise.”  He’s essentially saying, “Legal expert, be like this guy, who followed the law you claim to know. “

After hearing Jesus’ command to love our neighbour last week, how many of us tried to find a loophole?  Is loving our neighbour really that bad?  When I trained to be a paramedic, one of the first questions the class asked was, “When I’m off duty, do I have to stop and pull over if I see an accident?”  The answer was no, you can drive past, but if you stop you need to stay until another professional takes over.  There’s a loophole – a paramedic off duty simply can’t stop at every accident.

But as a Christian, is there a similar loophole?

Question: How have you tried to justify or rationalize not loving someone like yourself?

Ryan Sim - September 18, 2013

Wednesday - Change It - Strangers to Neighbours

Jesus says to love our neighbours, and includes enemies in his definition. In this week’s story Jesus confronted the reality that Samaritans and Jews were neighbours yet enemies, and said that his followers need to love and serve one another beyond such divisions. Elsewhere, he says it quite clearly: love your enemy. Turn the other cheek. Go the extra mile. My favourite part is where he says, “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” Loving your friends is nothing special, but loving your enemies is special indeed. It’s hard, it’s messy, it feels very risky, compromising and vulnerable. But when we avoid loving our neighbours and enemies, we live in isolation, fear of the unknown and misunderstandings. One mayor told a church leader: “The majority of issues that our community is facing would be eliminated or drastically reduced if we could just figure out a way to become a community of great neighbours.” It’s hard to know what to say, do, when life gets messy, and especially when our love isn’t returned. It’s easy to just give up and say Jesus’ command is too hard to follow. But that can be explained simply enough. We haven’t got enough practice loving those closest to us, who aren’t our enemies, in order to be ready for loving our enemies. Loving our friendly, similar neighbours is good training for the big leagues. So – start by just finding out – Who is my neighbour? Download the attached Block Map. Click the Extra file, or link at end of video. You are in the middle of the grid, and think of the other squares in the grid as your neighbours across the street, beside and behind your home. Or if it’s more appropriate, think of it as your workplace, and the squares as neighbouring cubicles. Then write in each square: - Their Name(s) - One Fact About Them - Something Deeper – A hope, dream, fear, challenge, etc. Try and complete the grid as much as possible, and discuss with your group. We meet for coffee every Wednesday night at Starbucks in the Chapters Store in Ajax, in Durham Region just East of Toronto. Maybe we'll see you there?

From Series: "Won't You Be My Neighbour?"

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