Who is my neighbor?
Luke 10:25-37

Last week we began a series on Jesus command to love your neighbor as yourself. I suggested that the first step to loving your neighbor has nothing to do with your neighbor at all. The first step to loving your neighbor is to delight in God -- to love God with your heart, soul, mind and strength. Delight in God is the foundation for loving your neighbor because only when you delight in God will you be able to delight in serving others.

Today I want to begin to look in more detail at what it means to love our neighbors, beginning with the question, "who is my neighbor?"

I'd like to begin with a story. It's a pastor story. Not a true one -- although this sort of thing does happen.

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Once upon a time there was a pastor of a small church. It was Friday afternoon, and the pastor was sitting at his desk, looking down with glazed eyes at a pile of Bible commentaries. His sermon was not coming easily.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. This was a surprise. He got up to open the door and found himself looking at a middle aged woman. She looked intelligent and business-like. He vaguely remembered her -- she had visited the church the previous Sunday. He remembered the look of alertness -- maybe it was suspicion -- in her eyes during the sermon. Quite different from most in his normally drowsy congregation.

He welcomed her in, and she got right to the point. "I'd like to know more about what you believe," she said. "I couldn't tell very much from your sermon, and to be quite frank I don't want to attend a church that is wishy-washy about the TRUTH." When she said truth her back straightened and her chin jutted out, making it clear that Truth was capitalized. "I'd like to know what you believe about inerrancy, the incarnation, infant baptism, the sacraments, amillenialism, the charismatic gifts, heaven, hell, homosexuality, abortion and the use of drums in worship." She took a breath. "But perhaps we should start with the most important question: "What do you believe it takes for a person to be saved?" She put the same emphasis on "saved" as on "truth."

There was a momentary pause. The pastor wearily considered handing her a church doctrinal statement and suggesting she come back next week. Instead he said "Well that's good a place to begin. It's an important question. What do you think? You seem like you know your Bible. What does it say?"

He was satisfied to see that she looked surprised for a moment. She quickly pulled herself together and recited, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and You shall be saved. Acts 16:31 . Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. I John 5:1. I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will live, even though he dies. John 11:36. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44. And of course John 3:16. That should be enough."

"Yes, quite enough," he answered. Then paused. "Do you know what Jesus himself said when he was asked "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

She looked puzzled. "Yes," she said, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength," and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Luke 10:27"

The pastor glanced up, as if afraid for a moment that one of the church doctrine police might be listening at the door. Then he said, "Love God and Love your neighbor continually without wavering and you'll have life. That was what Jesus said -- I believe he meant what he said. Do those two things and you'll be saved."

The woman looked aghast. Her eyes bulged. Veins popped out on her neck. Her worst suspicions were being confirmed. "Are you saying that salvation is by WORKS? What about Grace? What about Jesus death on the cross -- the atonement? Of course I believe that we should love our neighbors, but loving our neighbors must flow out of faith in Jesus. Love is just a natural outgrowth of our belief in Jesus. Why I've experienced it myself. Since I've been a follower of Jesus I've had wonderful relationships with all of my neighbors, even the difficult ones -- Why, just last week I baked cookies for Mrs. Kreighton even though she never thanks me. I take care of the Casik's obnoxious dog when they're on vacation. And I share my faith with them ALL the time. As a believer in Jesus of course I love my neighbors -- it just flows out naturally."

"Does it?" the pastor asked. "Let me tell you a story." Here is the story he told:

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A Christian businessman -- a soft spoken and godly man with a wonderful wife and three children (the perfect number) -- was travelling along Route 9 in Hadley. He was travelling to his home in Williamsburg late at night after a business trip. It was snowing. Visibility was bad, and there were not many cars on the road. He was listening to sermon tapes as he drove.

Suddenly, just before the Coolidge bridge oncoming headlights swerved towards him. Everything seemed to blur. He jerked the steering wheel to the right. There was thud muffled. He felt the car spin. After that he didn't remember anything.

He woke up cold. His coat was gone. Through the windshield could see the Asian Food Store, and next to it the masked windows of the Adult book store. This was terrible. He needed to get out of there fast. He had been a leader in fighting the store. He had organized an effort to record and publish licence plates of all the cars parked there. He reached for the car keys. They were gone. He reached back for his wallet. That was gone too.

He opened the car door and tried to step out, but something was wrong with his leg. It felt numb and he couldn't seem to move it. Somehow he dragged himself out of the car, and began crawling, shivering across the snow to the edge of the highway. He pulled himself up and supported himself on the guardrail and waited. After a few minutes he saw headlights. He began to wave.

The distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies at Smith was returning from a seminar and dinner at the Umass faculty club. It had been a stimulating evening, discussing recent trends in New Testament criticism. His presentation had been stellar and he knew it. Dinner had been superb. He was all aglow from praise and good wine. Isn't life good, he thought to himself -- then piously corrected himself, isn't God good!

He saw the figure waving beside the road several hundred yards before the car would pass. As he got closer his curiosity turned to disgust. The man was practically naked. It was all too clear where he had been. He slowed down slightly, then sped by, swerving toward the opposite side of the road. He might call the police when he got home. Or perhaps it would be better just to let the scum freeze.

The man continued to shiver on the guardrail. Again he saw headlights. Again he began to wave. This time the car slowed to a crawl.

The College Chaplain had been at the same seminar. Her experience had not been as positive. Chaplains are low on the academic totem pole. She had spent most of the evening alone. A few professors had made condescending attempts to talk with her. She had driven out of the parking garage right behind the professor and had tailed him, keeping a respectable distance. She had seen the brake lights ahead, and she too slowed as she neared the bridge. She took a close look as she came close to the man. She slowed to a crawl and almost stopped. She had a heart for the homeless -- she volunteered at the shelter once a month. Then she looked up and saw the bookstore. Too risky. She was a woman alone late at night. Who knows what the guy was in to. But why, she wondered, had the professor not stopped? It would have been the Christian thing to do.

The man looked in despair at red tail lights disappearing over the bridge. He slumped back onto the guardrail.

Then he was startled by a loud, cheery voice behind him. "Looks like you need some help. You're in quite a pickle!" He turned. It was the owner of the bookstore. He recognized the face from the newspapers. She shrunk back. How could he accept help from such a man?

He was not given much of a choice. The sex shop owner carried him to his own car. He drove him to the Hotel Northampton. On the way he explained that he couldn't very well call in to report the accident because he was not on great terms with the Hadley police. They would probably try to book him for robbery. At the hotel the sex-shop owner left his credit card with the concierge, and helped the injured man to his room. He returned the next morning with a rental car, and a new winter jacket.
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There was silence after the pastor finished his story. Finally he asked, quietly, "Who was the neighbor in that story?


I'll end my story there. You will all recognize my source. Jesus told a similar story in Luke 10:25-37. We call this the parable of the good Samaritan. That is like calling the story I told you the story of the good sex-shop owner. What the sex-shop owner did for the accident victim did not make him good. And what the Samaritan did for the injured man beside the road did not make Him good.

No Jesus point is NOT that if you help injured people then that will make you GOOD.

Jesus has two points to make in this story:

1. First, loving your neighbor means loving the very people you most fear and are most repulsed by.

At the end of the story when Jesus says "Go and do likewise" what does he mean? Does he mean simply "act like this Samaritan did?" Show love to injured Jewish travellers? No. When he says "go and do likewise" he is saying "show that kind of love to Samaritans." Samaritans were scum to the Jews. They were idolaters. They were enemies. A few years earlier Samaritans had invaded the temple in Jerusalem and scatter human bones around to defile it.

Who is your neighbor? Your neighbor is your enemy. The Samaritan. The sex-shop owner. The boss who just fired you. The professor who belittled your intelligence. The person taking you to court for no reason. The person you find hardest to love -- that is your neighbor.

When Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves he is talking about those people. And when he says, "Do this and you will live" he means love your enemies without wavering. Love the hardest people there are to love continually, and you'll have life.

Is this possible? Anyone with any sense at all knows that it is absolutely impossible to do this consistently. I have a hard enough time loving my wife consistently, let alone loving my enemies.

And that leads to Jesus other point -- and probably his major point in this passage:

2. Only those who recognize their own need for mercy will inherit eternal life.

The lawyer came to Jesus with an academic question. The woman came to the pastor with an academic question. They knew the answers already. They were just testing. They knew very well that they were right. They felt good about themselves.

But no one leaves Jesus feeling good about themselves. The lawyer came to test Jesus, but it turned out to be Jesus who tested him. He exposed the state of his heart -- his lack of love and lack of mercy, his pride.

The lawyer did not recognize his own need for mercy. He did not recognize his own inadequacy and his desperate need for forgiveness. And his self-righteousness blinded him to his own lack of mercy for others. Jesus raised an impossible standard in order to face the lawyer with the hardness of his own heart.

I once said in another sermon, Jesus is not interested in heads that nod, but hearts that hunger.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.


How does the story that I told end? I'd like you to supply the ending. Does the woman go away angry and critical -- feeling that the pastor has taken liberties with scripture. Or does she go away with tears of repentance, having heard this story for the first time, recognizing her pride and arrogance and crying out to God "Lord be merciful to me, a sinner. I am inadequate on my own. Help me to love as you love."


"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matt. 5:7) May the Lord bless you this week as you first of all rest in his mercy to you, and as you seek to share that mercy with those around you."