Who is my neighbor? This seems to be a question that we have been asking more and more over the last few decades, especially as internet technologies have connected us with people from around the globe. And, it has certainly taken on a new meaning for Luther Memorial in the past few years as you all have asked not only who our neighbors are, but how can we be in further relationship with them. I think about this every time I visit Foss Home and someone asks me where I am a pastor, as I point in the direction of the church and get to say, at the church next door! We are neighbors with one another, centered not just on our location on Greenwood, but also on the relationship that we are developing with one another.
I’ve always loved that these two commandments in today’s Gospel are connected, to love God and love your neighbor because relationship is inherently at the heart of our Triune God. And, I think that these two commandments provide a balance for each other. The commandment isn’t to love your neighbor so much that you lose sight of who you are or of who God is, but it also isn’t about focusing on God so deeply that we forget there are other people around us. At least, that is what I always think of when I hear the Good Samaritan story. Because, two people of faith walk by this injured man and we are often told that it is because they could not become ritually unclean, or it hinders their ability to worship God. I do not want to dismiss that people have different religious traditions that are very important for them, as I don’t think that this text is trying to say how Christians are better people than our Jewish neighbors, but I do wonder if sometimes our faith practices can get in the way of being in relationship with our neighbors when we hold on to them too tightly. After all, our faith frees us to care about the neighbor solely for the sake of the neighbor, without having to worry how it is going to impact our salvation. And, as I mentioned last week, I think that sometimes God intentionally calls us into the uncomfortable.
All week, I have been thinking about this freedom and calling to serve the neighbor, even when that might be uncomfortable or inconvenient for us in relation to Jesus’ response to the question of what must be done to inherit everlasting life. “Jesus answered, ‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?’ The expert of the Law replied: ‘You must love the Most High God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ Jesus said, ‘You have answered correctly. Do this and you’ll live’” (Luke 10: 27-28). When I was reading this on my high school trips years ago, I always read it as this list of things that we have to do. But, it was also a list that seemed impossible to fulfill, it seemed too daunting. And, how can we love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and then also have love left over for our neighbor if all of us is supposed to love God? These are the questions that I spent perhaps too much mental energy on as a kid.
Yet, as I have grown older, I have come to see this in two different ways. One being the response that we give at ordinations, “I will and I ask God to help me.” God doesn’t just throw us out and say, go do all these things now, but we continue to be in relationship with God and can ask God for help and guidance, especially when it comes to figuring out how to love our neighbors. The second thing I think about is that everlasting life piece and how it is centered on relationships between us, God, our neighbors, and I would daresay all of creation because I think that neighbors can extend beyond people. It can be so incredibly life-giving to be in relationship with one another, to spend time in our favorite outdoor places, to have quality time with our favorite animals. This isn’t to say that relationships don’t take work or that sometimes they can be life-draining instead of life-giving, as it is important to acknowledge that too. But, I think about the joy and love that I see between all of you when we gather on Sunday. Or the way that you will call others from church throughout the week just to check in on them and see how they are doing, even when they cannot be here in person. It is life-giving to see those beautiful relationships.
What makes the Good Samaritan story so powerful to me is that a stranger stops by along the way and shows compassion for and tends the wounds of an unknown man. Even where no relationship existed between them, he still decided that this man deserved compassion and care. And, while I know that it is a parable that Jesus tells, I think back to my last trip in the Holy Land when we were driving along this long, windy, deserted road and our tour guide explained that this is what the road where the Good Samaritan story took place would have been like. Besides the 33 others on the bus with me, we saw no other people along the way. Regardless of the validity of that fact about the road, it has always changed the way that I view this parable because it becomes even more important that the Good Samaritan stops to help this man in need when there are so few people traveling that way. Had he simply kept on walking like the two before him, who knows what kind condition the injured man would be in.
There are so many different ways to interpret this story that Jesus tells, but I think that today, in our world full of pain and violence and grief, I keep thinking about what it means to have compassion. To suffer with those around us. And, I don’t see that necessarily as a call to welcome more suffering in our lives, but I do think it stops us and asks us how we can care for those around us. It isn’t always even about doing things like bandaging up wounds and carrying random injured strangers to inns, but it is also things like calling one another, smiling at strangers, writing notes and letters to people, providing lunch for children, creating access to a free pantry where people can come take the food that they need, donating to different causes. None of these are things that we have to do, but they are things that I have seen us doing anyway because we love God and we love our community and I think the world could use more of that these days. Love solely for love’s sake.
The Good Samaritan story and these commandments always seemed a lot more intimidating to me as a kid than they do now, perhaps because I have come to accept the fact that we trust in God’s grace alone and because I have realized that we are never going to be perfect. But we can keep showing up, keep using our voices and our actions, and keep loving this messy and broken world we live in, knowing that God is continually working something new in our midst. We show up for the sake of our neighbor, whoever or whatever our neighbor might be because we believe that there is more to life than just the pain. And, one of my favorite things about being together in community is that even on the days when it feels like we can’t believe that because we just keep getting too many news updates or bad news from loved ones or doctors, we are surrounded by others who have faith with us. We may not always be able to do much individually in this world, but I think we might be surprised by what we can do as a community that loves and cares for our neighbors. So, let’s keep listening for which neighbors God is calling us to next as we deepen the relationships with our neighbors.
Previous
Sunday July 3rd, 2022 Worship