Learning from Jesus - Pt. 3

 

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:30-37 ESV).

 

Even though we live in the country, we have a few neighbors in our little subdivision. There are only about thirty families that live nearby and all of the houses are separated by at least an acre of land. You could say there is little opportunity for any “over-the-fence conversation! Over the years we have come to know several of the folks nearest us. They often wave as we cross paths going and coming. That, in itself, it not the extent of being neighborly. Several years ago as I was mowing the back part of our property my next door neighbor came walking down the fence with his chainsaw. I must admit I was a bit confused. I shut the tractor down and he said, “My wife saw you mowing and she sent me down to cut some of the limbs that are over the fence and too low to mow under.” I guess she felt I was a bit old to be bending under the low-hanging limbs very easily. I talked with him a bit and explained that they really didn’t bother me and I didn’t want to ruin the shape of the tree by pruning it. We both had a good laugh and talked for a while about college football. You can see from the picture that we have trimmed the limbs since. I guess I did get too old to bend over that much… LOL!

 

He is a great neighbor. We have on more than one occasion helped one another out on various things. Our reading today is known as the Parable of the Sood Samaritan and offers a picture of what Jesus was trying to show a religious leader who wanted to test him. It is about risk and relationship with people who are not identical to us. It is about seeing the one that Jesus has placed in front of us and becoming involved in their story. It is about addressing hurts and loneliness because that is what Jesus is asking us to do. It is about paying attention to the needs of people around us and not stepping aside or walking by, thinking that someone else can take care of them. It is about being a good neighbor. Are you a good “neighbor”?