AUGUST 20, 2015
Who Is My Neighbor?
Go
and do likewise. — Luke 10:37
Read:
Luke
10:30-37
Mary enjoyed her midweek church group meeting
when she and several friends gathered to pray, worship, and discuss questions
from the previous week’s sermon. This week they were going to talk about the
difference between “going” to church and “being” the church in a hurting world.
She was looking forward to seeing her friends and having a lively discussion.
As she picked up her car keys, the doorbell
rang. “I’m so sorry to bother you,” said her neighbor Sue, “but are you free
this morning?” Mary was about to say that she was going out when Sue continued,
“I have to take my car to the repair shop. Normally I would walk or cycle home,
but I’ve hurt my back and can’t do either at the moment.” Mary hesitated for a
heartbeat and then smiled. “Of course,” she said.
Mary knew her neighbor only by sight. But as
she drove her home, she learned about Sue’s husband’s battle with dementia and
the utter exhaustion that being a caregiver can bring with it. She listened,
sympathized, and promised to pray. She offered to help in any way she could.
Mary didn’t get to church that morning to talk
about sharing her faith. Instead she took a little bit of Jesus’ love to her
neighbor who was in a difficult situation.
Lord, help me to be ready at any time to be
Your hands and feet to those in need.
Faith is seen in our actions.
INSIGHT:
Samaritans lived in the territory between
Galilee (to the north) and Judea (to the south). Historically, they were Jews
who, when conquered by the Assyrians, intermarried with their conquerors and
lost their ethnic purity as Jews. For this reason Samaritans were despised by
Jews who would not even travel through Samaria, choosing instead to travel
around that land. This makes it stunning that Jesus would choose a hated
Samaritan as the hero of this parable and an example of one who was a neighbor.
Bill Crowder
Source: Our Daily Bread 2015