"What is written in the Law?" Jesus 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 wanting to justify himself, he asked, "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus told his this story: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
"Go and do likewise," Jesus said.
What strikes me about this story is how Jesus defines neighbor. I think for years I have thought that being a neighbor meant, at least at some level, proximity. Even here, we see the Samaritan. He is walking down the road where there is a man in a ditch. He comes near. Proximity...
But lately, ok, tonight, it just dawned on me...Jesus makes neighbor a verb. Neighbor is an action. It is a lifestyle. You can be in proximation with all sorts of people and never be a neighbor. At the same time, by the way you live, you can be a neighbor to a limitless number of people.
Neighbor someone today. Let me know what happens...
No comments:
Post a Comment