21 Jul 24

Rev Gav

What does it mean to love your neighbour?

In a previous message, I focused on the first of Jesus’ commandments — how we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and in this message I would like to explore the second commandment which is to love our neighbours as ourselves.

A man in a dark room leaning in to see his reflection in a mirror.

Matthew 22:36-40

After discussing the second of the greatest commandments, ‘love your neighbour as yourself’, a teacher of the law asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” This was an odd question to ask, given that hospitality to strangers was part and parcel of first century Jewish culture, yet it appeared to be asked in all seriousness, for at the time there were still people for whom the religious elite did not associate for fear of defilement. Surely, this rabbi Jesus would agree? Yet Jesus replied, not with a simple answer but with one of the most well-known of his stories, the story that we call The Good Samaritan. I sometimes wonder why Jesus chose to answer in this way but, as the saying goes, ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’, and with this story, Jesus painted a picture of what it looks like to be a neighbour to others.

To summarise: a man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was beset by robbers who left him half dead. A Jewish priest and Jewish temple helper ignored the victim, famously crossing the road to pass on the other side, but a man from Samaria, a Samaritan, showed the man mercy and looked after him. The Samaritans were a group of people with a rich heritage, and their relationship with the Jewish community was complex. To put it in simple terms, they were despised for being ‘unclean’ in that they had interbred with foreigners and not kept their Jewish bloodlines pure. So much was the animosity between Jews and Samaritans that some Jews would rather travel around Samaria than through it, yet it was the Samaritan in the story who came to the aid of the poor victim.

At the end of the story, Jesus asked the expert in the law to identify which character was the ‘neighbour’ to the victim, and this was the clever twist in the tale. In answer to the question, Jesus simply held up a mirror to the questioner, leading the expert in the law to no longer ask who his neighbour was, but to self reflect on whether he himself was doing likewise and being a good neighbour to others.

Jesus, as always, seemed to be interested in the quality of people’s hearts, and today, as we reflect on that story of the Good Samaritan, and we ask who our neighbour is, Jesus holds up a mirror to us. Are we showing mercy to strangers who we have never met? Are we acting with compassion, acceptance, and generosity towards others? Are we being then good neighbour?

Of course, the the story of the Good Samaritan then leads us to consider our enemies, for if those with whom we disassociate ourselves are deemed by God to be good neighbours, how does that change how we see them?

The gospel of Jesus Christ is very clear. We are not to point the finger at others and pronounce judgment but to love one another. In fact, if the story of the Good Samaritan is anything to go by, we are to love others even if it burdens us or comes at an emotional or financial cost.

Every encounter we have with another person is an opportunity to love them, especially if they are difficult and prickly. A friend of mine is wonderful at loving ‘difficult’ people. When I asked her how she could be so kind and generous to people who were consistently rude or obnoxious, she smiled, winked at me, and said, “I’m wearing them down with love.” And it works too. All of us find it easy to love the lovable, but loving the unlovable comes at an emotional cost to ourselves. It means swallowing our pride, carrying the burden of rejection, and being determined in our unconditional love with the unwavering faith that, in the end, love will win.

It is God’s unconditional love for us that unlocks our ability to unconditionally love others. Our love should not be driven by a need to please, a need to be needed, or out of a sense of guilt or duty, but by the transforming unconditional love and acceptance of Christ in our own lives. We are loved, we are forgiven, and we are accepted, therefore we extend that love, forgiveness, and acceptance to others.

Christians are called to be salve in a hurting world, to help people encounter God’s love, and be ministers of God’s grace. The reality is that, for many of us, our prejudices run deep, especially towards those we do not understand or have, though pressure, haste, or ignorance, labelled as ‘undesirable’. There is only one person preventing you from being a good neighbour, and that is you.

This week, as you live under the banner of God’s amazing grace, may you reflect God’s love to the world. May you know that you are loved, accepted, and forgiven, and may your relationship with God give you strength to ‘wear others down with love’.

Amen.