Luke 10:29-37
29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
I had to do this twice. I’ll try to explain as share my thoughts on this famous passage from the New Testament.
Who is my neighbor? Do I see neighbors outside of the circle of my family and friends?
When I moved to Miami over 30 years ago, I like many other people, was turned off by the coldness and aggressiveness of the people who lived here. I had never before lived in a place like this. A place where drivers regularly ran red traffic signals, would give you the finger just for looking at them, where drivers often even refused to yield to ambulances. The people on the street seemed cold and hard to talk to. No one said hello as we walked down the streets of our neighborhood. I did not want my family living in this environment and contemplated leaving.
But there were some times when people in Miami surprised me. My car broke down in front of someone’s house at 9 or 10 at night and the homeowner came out of his house into the darkness and helped me, a total stranger, get the car started.
A coworker took it upon himself to invite me to his home several times and to play racquetball with him, while I was waiting for our house to be sold up north, so that I would not always be alone.
These acts of kindness went a long way toward changing my feelings toward Miami.
Who is my neighbor? That’s a really good question. But after reading the passage again, I realized that it is not the right question!
According to Luke, a certain lawyer asked this same question. He had correctly told Jesus that the greatest commandment was to Love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Now he asked Jesus this question. It’s a reasonable question; a good question; one any of us might ask.
But Jesus turns everything UPSIDE DOWN like he does with so many things that seem like common wisdom to us.
The question is not “Who is my neighbor?”
The question is: “To whom am I a Neighbor?”
We are to be like the Samaritan. We are called to be a neighbor to others. We are called to show compassion to those in need, even if they are not like us. We are called to “Go and do likewise.” This means a commitment to God and to God’s children (i.e. everyone). We have to prepare to be like the Samaritan, we have to know before something happens that our calling is to stop and lend aid or compassion. We are not called to pass by.
And what about those people who showed me compassion when I moved here? Their kindness will not be forgotten. They helped me when I needed to see kindness in this community but, perhaps more importantly, they also provided an example to me of how I should treat others.
Hank Fandrei
For Reflection:
What are some of the “acts of kindness” you offer, and you see being offered, in your day-to-day life? Be specific.
Many say that in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us how to be a neighbor, more than who the neighbor is. How would you paraphrase the message he gives us regarding the “how?”
Hank asked us the same question that Jesus leaves us to ponder: “To whom am I a neighbor?” How do you respond?
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