March 31
2019
Who is my Neighbour?
But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. “On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:29-37
This is a Bible passage that we know well.
But at the end of the day, how many of us are still asking Jesus,
“who is our neighbour”
as we try to justify picking and choosing those we reach out to.
The message is clear.
Being a good neighbour requires mercy.
Mercy doesn’t avoid those that may make us “unclean”, take us out of our way, cost our time and resources, or require a long term commitment.
Mercy comes at a cost to us but is to be offered freely, without expectation of accolades or repayment.
Mercy flows from compassion.
Compassion moves us when we see others as Jesus sees them.
Our neighbours then are all those that Jesus loves.
If we look at it this way, perhaps we would be less likely to ask
“who is our neighbour”
from a place of trying to weed people out and more from a place of loving people.
Question for Discussion
Who do you need to love today?
