“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Good Morning Friends,
Today’s scripture defines neighbor through a story but I think it also is defined in the person of Christ and so too in the lives of those who follow in His Way. As a kid I remember watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood not realizing at the time that the kind man in the sweater was a Presbyterian Minister. I remember the comforting words, “You are special. You are loved. I like you, and I hope you like you, too!” Ok they are a bit sappy and I have outgrown them in a way but also have grown into them. The neighborhood Mr. Rogers imagined was so reassuring and uplifting. Indeed it did demonstrate the good feeling we are supposed to have when we make it a part of our lives to offer to others, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Scripture: Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?” He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.” “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.” Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?” Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man. “A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’ “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”
Luke 10:25-37 (The Message)
Message: Fred McFeely Rogers, better known to us as Mister Rogers
was compassionate about portraying a good neighbor on television. God turned the trapped energy of his ministerial background into action. He turned simply acts of kindness and love into a television series about being a neighbor. The beauty is that the message was also about Christ redeeming culture. The message of Christ about neighbors is that everyone can be an example of compassion. I find it intriguing that by living scripture Mr. Rogers found a better route to ministry than he would have in the pulpit of a traditional institution. I think Jesus’ hope was that we would each reach out with the same spirit of love of the Good Samaritan as we through our actions share the invitation with everyone we meet to be part of something greater than ourselves. Looking back on my childhood I would have to say that –our friendly neighbor—made his life into a sermon about being a good neighbor. Maybe that was his television character and maybe it was the real man. Maybe the television character became the real man. You see, in a way he did so hate television that he went into its business to redeem it. Regardless there is a gentle message in the scripture of the hope that we might too write ourselves into the story of being a good neighbor. The story of the Good Samaritan illustrates this message of our need to comfort, encourage and gives us courage on the journey to experience God in unexpected places. Notice in the story that we are led to feel compassion not in a temple but on the Wilderness Road. Notice that compassion does something in our lives, that it creates in us a feeling so deep that it must be expressed. Realize that compassion costs us something. It is not free. Understand that compassion demonstrates our relationship to God regardless of the form of its delivery. See in this story of compassion the great commandment… a Jesus on the cross, where the sinless is paired with the sin…where love is paired with pain…where mercy is combined with justice. Friends…neighbors…it may take reason, risk and faith, but the reward is life is experiencing compassion and acting on it. That is being a good neighbor.
Pray we forgive our neighbors when they are not neighborly. Pray we invest in the next generation of neighbors. Pray we have the character of strength in us that has the courage to be a good neighbor. Pray we honor a neighbor’s solitude but not their loneliness. Pray that we realize that peace with our neighbors is not the opposite of war. Pray we have neighbors who we love and help us through difficult times of life. Pray we strive to accept our neighbors exactly as they are right now. Pray we honestly value our neighborhood. Pray we have an intrinsic value for the uniqueness of each of our neighbors. Pray we have neighbors who help us to confront our feelings of sadness and anger bringing a sense of comfort. Pray we have neighbors who help in all sorts of ways but especially in helping others find fulfillment in their lives. Pray we have neighbors who make constructive choices about what to do with their feelings. Pray we have neighbors who grow in the face of pain even as the help. Pray we have neighbors who are heroes that care for the outcasts. Pray we are the kind of neighbor we would pray to experience as our own neighbor. Pray we realize that the real issue of life is not how many blessings we have but what we do with our blessings on our journey.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 