Who Is My Neighbour? - January 23, 2022
Luke 10:25-37
Deborah Laforet
Who Is My Neighbour?
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by the Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
Last week, we read from the 18th chapter of Matthew about the shepherd and the lost sheep. Just a few verses before in this chapter, the disciples has asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus then put a child on his knee and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
Then a few verses later he talks about the good shepherd leaving 99 sheep behind in order to find one lost sheep, and upon finding that sheep, puts it on his shoulders, brings it home, throws a party, and celebrates with his friends - all for just one sheep. Remember the disciples question: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
In pondering today’s parable, we also start with a question. “Who is my neighbour?”
In response, Jesus starts this parable with a person journeying from Jerusalem to Jericho. Why does Jesus mention the route between Jerusalem to Jericho? Why doesn’t he just say the person was travelling. I looked it up. The road between these two cities is about 25 kilometres. It would take most of the day to get there. It’s a treacherous road. I found the following info about it:
The road between Jerusalem and Jericho was a major thoroughfare for trading caravans, military personnel, and the pilgrims who visited Jerusalem multiple times each year. Given the isolated terrain, people on this road were easy targets for bandits, who would have found ample hiding places and escape routes into the desert where no one would pursue them. When Jesus said that “a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho” his listeners surely would have recognized the dangers that this journey posed. (http://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=33100)
In other words, this person was going into places of danger, similar to our sheep in our story from last week. This person is robbed, he’s hurt, and he’s left on the side of the road half dead, with little chance of someone finding him. But it’s this person’s lucky day. An elder is coming down the path, a priest from the temple, someone who will surely consider the needs of another. But the priest sees him and passes him by. But wait! Another temple leader. A levite. Surely, this levite will stop and help someone in need. But no, he passes by as well.
Surely then, there is no one. If both a priest and a levite have passed by this person, there must be a reason. Maybe it’s the sabbath, but then again, why would they be travelling on the sabbath? Maybe it has to do with rules of impurity. Maybe it has to do with the person on the side of the road, because the priest and the levite have done no wrong.
Then along comes a Samaritan. Now, those listening to Jesus knew this person wouldn’t help. In fact, they might have been wondering if the Samaritan was also a robber and had come to finish the job. Jesus surprises them though. It’s the Samaritan who this person shows mercy. It’s the Samaritan who bandages the person’s wounds. It’s the Samaritan who lifts the person up onto his donkey, takes him to an inn, where he stays with him overnight, and then leaves money with the innkeeper so the person can stay until well enough to go.
After the story, Jesus asks the questioner, who, of the three, was the neighbour. The questioner doesn’t say, “The Samaritan,” possibly because he can’t, and instead replies, “The one who showed mercy.”
“Who is my neighbour?” “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” It's not who was expected. In Matthew, the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is a child and a lost sheep. In Luke, the neighbour is the one who shows mercy, not necessarily the one we expect, the one society holds up as good and valued.
After every Godly Play story, there is a time of wondering. The wonderings may seem simple and child-like, but depending on the age of those wondering, the questions can be taken literally or metaphorically, and, at any age, the responses to the wondering statements can be very profound. This week, as some of you will hear on Tuesday when we gather for the “We Wonder” session at noon on Zoom, we will wonder about the characters in this parable. We will wonder if the story would have been different if the characters had been women. We will wonder if the story would have been different if the person who showed mercy was a child.
These wondering statements set me off on my own path of wondering. I wonder if the person on the side of the road was a woman in a burka or a tough looking black man. I wonder if the person were homeless? I wonder if the one who showed mercy had been a convict, mentally disabled, or an anti-vaccer. How would the story be different? I wonder if the person on the side of the road, half dead, were you or me, if we’d be surprised? Scared? Bewildered? Would we attempt to find this person after we were well? Would our outlook change or would we just chalk it up as an anomaly?
“Who is my neighbour?” “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” What is Jesus trying to tell us through these stories? Who needs our attention? On whom should we be focusing? The people who followed Jesus were not a people of privilege. They were living in an occupied land, but, like us, they also lived in a world where the most powerful were the most respected, where the most vulnerable were the most oppressed, where people believed you earned favour and privilege and just needed to work harder for more success and accomplishments.
Jesus challenged these norms. He saw the most vulnerable as the greatest. He saw a neighbour as someone who showed mercy, not the one who was most like you. He was known for eating and drinking with outcasts. He was known for touching and healing people on the margins of society. He taught others to do the same. He was seen as a threat and he was killed for this.
Who is my neighbour? Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? As a faith community, as one who professes to follow Jesus, how do we answer these questions? Who is the greatest? Who is my neighbour? Who are the vulnerable? Who are the despised? Who are the neglected? Who are set aside? Who do we choose to not see or not hear? Who do we judge? Who do we oppress?
As followers of Jesus, we must ask ourselves these questions, we must hear these stories, and explore them in our own context. And then, what? What do we do? How do we live? I wonder what the next steps would be for this community in loving our neighbours. I wonder what this community would look like if it humbly served the greatest in the kingdom. I wonder….
Jesus said, “Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” May we find ways of being humble. May we welcome the vulnerable. May we do this and welcome Jesus into our lives, into our hearts, into this community. May it be so. Amen.