This weekend I am preaching a sermon on Luke 10:25-37 – the story of the Good Samaritan. In it, a lawyer asks Jesus “who is my neighbor?” in an attempt to find out who he could NOT love (the common judgment of the day was that one’s neighbor was a fellow Jew, so they were not obligated to love foreigners, gentiles, non-Jews).
Jesus, as is typical, turns this question on its head – in a way ignoring it – and at the end of the story asks a completely different question; Jesus asks him which of the three who saw the in injured person acted like a neighbor. So while the lawyer asked who is my neighbor, Jesus answers with a story about how to be a neighbor.
The implication of the way Jesus switches the focus is that the lawyer’s question was all wrong. Anyone is a neighbor. All humanity. No distinction can be made. This is further emphasized by the fact that the injured person in the story is completely ambiguous: “a certain person” who is quickly “stripped naked, beaten, and left for dead.” A naked, beaten half-to-death person cannot be easily identified. This could be anybody – and that is the point.
Who is my neighbor? All humanity. Without regard for nationality, political affiliation, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual practices, age, social status, or any other way in which we might want to categorize others. Who is my neighbor? Whom must I love? Everyone.
Which brings me to this video. It is one of my all time favorites. It is a picture of the answer: everyone. You will find your neighbor everywhere you look, anyplace around the world, in every skin color and lifestyle and religion. In a way, even in the waves of the ocean and the whales that swim within. Who is your neighbor? Open your eyes and see…
Filed under: Bible, doing right, Theology
