Are They Really My Neighbor?

Possibly one of the most well-known stories in the entire Bible is the story of the Good Samaritan. As a pastor, it sometimes feels unoriginal or boring to preach or teach on this passage because everyone already knows it so well. We know how the story goes.

But I think what makes this parable especially renowned is it’s timelessness. I mean, the grace-filled story of the Good Samaritan has been one that has been retold in dozens of different ways and never fails to touch the hearts of people. A broken and near-dead man, shown grace and love by someone who should be his enemy.

But more than the timeless nature of the parable, I think the dialogue that led to the story is still a dialogue that continues to leak into the present. The lawyer’s crucial question–the question that led to Jesus infamous parable. “Who is my neighbor?”

Seemingly, an obvious question…but one that I still don’t think we’ve figured out into the present day. We still don’t quite comprehend who it is that counts as neighbor.

Instead, we set up our own gated communities. The people who live in my neighborhood, my comfort zone, in my realm of friends and colleagues, the one’s I know personally, the one’s who, in all reality, are easy to love…those are my neighbors. We pull everyone who is easy to serve and love and forgive into the gated communities of our hearts and we lock the gate tight. And we call those inside “neighbor”.

But is that what the story of the Good Samaritan shows us. I don’t think so. Jesus took the meaning of neighbor to a whole other level. A Samaritan–a person who was believed to be the scum of the earth, subhuman–my neighbor? Surely, you are mistaken Jesus…

To the Jews of Jesus’s day, the gated communities of their hearts were closed off to Samaritans. They weren’t invited into the country club. They cannot be called neighbor. And yet that’s exactly who Jesus chooses to be the hero of our story.

So maybe this well-known, timeless story, should instead, give us pause. Make us think…who is outside of the gated community of my heart? Who is it that I wouldn’t dare call “neighbor”.

Because “neighbor” is a heavy title. It’s not one we offer to just anyone. This isn’t just someone who is in close proximity, but in order to call someone neighbor, it means that we see them with respect and mutual love. We treat them with dignity and honor, not because we expect anything in return, but simply because they are human. They are God’s beloved creation. Simply because they’re our neighbor.

What a radical idea.

The world promotes the use of gated community. In a dog-eat-dog world of survival of the fittest. The capitalistic empire in which we live thrives off people being able to choose who is in and who is out. Our economy and social structures are built on being able to decide who is worthy and who is not. Who wins and who doesn’t? Who gets rich and who is impoverished?

That’s the world.

But what is the church called to? To love our neighbor as ourself. What a counter-cultural idea. A counter-capalitistic ideal. What the Good Samaritan shows us is that loving your neighbor means, no matter who the person is, their background, race, their religion or creed, no matter the cost! No matter the money! Loving my neighbor is what I’m called to do, and loving my neighbor what I will do.

It means that I no longer live a life that decides who is in and who is out of the gated community of my heart and of my life. But instead, everyone is welcomed in and the love of the Spirit that has been placed inside me is free for all.

Truly loving your neighbor should effect how you spend your money, it should effect what you post on facebook, and how you run your life. It should effect every facet of your life. Loving your neighbor isn’t a convenient saying we put on the walls of our classrooms. It’s tough and hard, and it costs us something, but it is what we are called to.

The Bible lists those that the Church must be adamant in protecting and loving: the widow, the orphan, the sick, the poor. But loving our neighbor requires that we continually ask ourselves the same question that the lawyer asked Jesus. “Who is my neighbor?”.

What about the Muslim that lives on my street? Is he my neighbor? What about the atheist at my workplace? The single mom on welfare trying to make ends meet? What about the immigrant who works in my building trying to carve out a life for his family? The gay cashier at the grocery store? The estranged family member? The low-income family who can’t afford adequate healthcare? The homeless man begging outside Walmart? Are they our neighbors? Are we called to love them? To show them dignity and respect? Are we called to share our money and our food and our homes with them?

The question of the lawyer and the story of the Samaritan continually pulls us out into a life that Christ is calling us into. One of love and one that shows dignity and repect for even those we disagree with. We are called to love our neighbors. So now we must ask: Who is my neighbor?