Prayer Call: Who is My Neighbor?

Hello BFB!

This is a day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today's scripture focus: “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 NIV

Many of us are facing and seeing some of the same things on the news or in the news regardless of your viewing preferences, we see a world that is often filled with division. A world where there is indifference about what's going on around us. A world more concerned with self-preservation than caring about others around us. In contrast to what we see around us, in this parable about the Good Samaritan, Jesus is calling us to a deeper way of living. He's calling us to a life beyond law - to a life that is shaped by radical love and a life about boundary breaking comparisons.

In this parable Jesus is responding to a lawyer who perhaps was trying to reduce the definition of neighbor. He wanted neighbor to be defined in a way that would put it in a box so that it could be managed and more convenient. In Jesus fashion, He flips the answer. He refuses to limit how we should love. He redefines what it means to be a neighbor. Neighbors are more than those we look out of our windows and see. Jesus expands who a neighbor is by removing proximity and similarities by calling us to action. A neighbor is the one who crosses the road, touches the wound, and pays the price.

If you read the entirety of the Good Samaritan you will see there was a man wounded on the road. There's people that leave him, but there's the one Samaritan that crosses the street, takes care of him, puts him in a hotel, makes sure he's well, and takes care of all of the costs. A true neighbor sees beyond the surface. In this parable there's a priest and Levite who saw the wounded man but they kept walking. The one who did cross the street, the Samaritan, he was considered unclean by Jewish standards - the same ones who passed by the wounded man. The Samaritan did not just see a broken person, he saw a fellow human being. Many of us are surrounded by people who are bleeding - whether emotionally, financially, physically - but sometimes are titles, schedules, our biases, or fear stops us from going across the street, we just keep moving looking past those individuals.

My prayer for us this week is that we ask God to open our eyes, to slow us down, to pause long enough not to see the issues but to see people. To see their stories. To see their value. To see their potential. Reflect and ask yourself, "Who have I passed by lately or in my past because it was more comfortable not to stop?" Stop and ask God to help you see beyond the surface. Then ask God to help you move with mercy. The Samaritan's compassion was not something that was just passive. He went to the wounded. He bandaged his wounds. He lifted him. He provided care for him. Love in the kingdom is not just about the feelings we have, it's about action. Theologian Gustavo Gutierrez challenges us to better individuals with a bold statement, "You say you love the poor, then tell me what are their names." Mercy names, lifts, and restores people. When we see so much happening around us and I argue that the world needs more than just pity, the world needs people to show mercy. To get in close with people. Let us practice mercy more. A mercy that moves. Reach out to someone that you know is struggling, visit someone, or if able, volunteer. Go out and help those who are less fortunate. Share our resources that God has so graciously given us. We need to say less and show more.

Lastly, we must learn to give without expecting. When the Samaritan gave a hand up, he didn't just stop there - he paid the price. He gave his time, money, and follow-up care and didn't ask for anything in return. This is the kind of grace that mirrors the gospel. It mirrors what Jesus paid for us. He paid for our healing with His life, not because we earned it but because we needed it. As Christians, we are called to mirror that kind of generosity. So whether it be through our time, talent, or treasure - we are challenged to give when it stretches us - not just to be seen. Give to reflect the mercy of God, to reflect the mercy that He showed us. This week let us sow into someone else's healing, the way Christ sowed into ours. Instead of who is my neighbor may we should ask ourselves how can I be a neighbor? Don't pass by people with pain, move toward it. Don't wait for comfort, choose compassion for people. The blockbuster truth is that love doesn't watch from a distance, it crosses the road.