Who is my neighbor?” is an important question for a Jew. Surrounded by enemies—Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans—for centuries, the Jews of Jesus’ day sneered at the Samaritan half-breeds who threw caution to the wind and married foreigners.
“Who is my neighbor?” is an important question for us. Surrounded by nations of needy people—eating mud pies in Haiti, drinking contaminated water in India, and sleeping without mosquito nets in Burundi—we wonder if we should do more for those who are now only a mouse-click away.
Jesus answered our question with a story about the Good Samaritan. Unlike the priest and Levite (Luke 10:31-32), religious types who were too busy, scared, or just plain selfish to help the dying man by the side of the road, the despised Samaritan lost a day’s travel and two days’ wages when he carried a robbery victim to the nearest hotel (vv.34-35).
Jesus finished His story with a question that challenges ours. He reframed the debate, changing our question from “Who is my neighbor?” to “Which of these three would you say was a neighbor?” (v.36). Jesus turned our noun into a verb, saying that it matters less who our neighbor is than that we are neighborly. Our attitude is more important than the number of people we help.
Jesus rejected our question because it was asked for the wrong reason. Much like the Jewish lawyer who asked “Who is my neighbor?” because he “wanted to justify his actions” (Luke 10:29), so we ask it when we want to know how little we can give and still be saved.
Selfish people ask, “Who is my neighbor?” so they can check off the giving box and keep the rest for themselves. Good Samaritans ask, “Who needs my help?” They realize that they cannot save everyone, but they stand ready to serve anyone.
More:
• Hosea 6:6
• Micah 6:8
• Matthew 10:42
Next:
When was the last time you went out of your way to help someone? What person can you surprise today with unexpected and undeserved grace?
garymax on May 26, 2009 at 7:33 am
Thank you brother Mike for your article. I work for a ministry that supports orphans in multiple countries. Sadly donations are down because of the economy. Not just our ministry, but most. I pray Christians will rise up and be those good neighbors, now, when being good neighbors is more needed than usual. Even if we Americans have to buy less fast food or expensive coffee, the orphans around the world still have so much less than we do and still need our good neighbor help. Ministries in general, domestic and foreign, still need and rely upon Christian support.
Keneld on May 26, 2009 at 8:10 am
Garymax where can I give to ministry?
garymax on May 26, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Hello Keneld: I’m not completey sure what the “rules” are, in some respects my comments were general. But the ministry e-mail address if you want to follow up is: gary@godskids.org
loananna on May 26, 2009 at 8:55 am
my daughter is in a missionary project called, Ventana, they are in Mexico serving a community called Porvanier. They work at the orphanages for the disabled and abandoned children. This is such a good program in which it teaches student right out of high school to think outside their zip code and serve the needy. This is before they go to college or whatever the Lord leads them but they study the teaching and servanthood of the Lord. They too have seen the people of Mexico hurt economically because of the swine flu. Please keep Doug VonSteemg, Ventana and the orphans of Mexico in your prayers. As these children are the future. So you ask “who is your neighbor