Who Is My Neighbor?

Key verse: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

The big idea: Love the people God has placed around you.

Pastor Mark opened with a saying many of us grew up hearing: “Do as I say, not as I do.” The parable of the Good Samaritan presses on exactly that. In Luke 10 an expert in the law asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, and he already knows the answer: love God and love your neighbor. Then, wanting to justify himself, he asks, “And who is my neighbor?” He is looking for guardrails.

Your neighbor is the person you know, the person you just met, and the person you haven’t met yet. Jesus does not hand the man a description. He tells a story. A man is beaten and left half dead on the road. A priest and a Levite see him and pass by on the other side. We are not told their reasons, and the result is the same either way. Pastor Mark said we have an excuse problem: I’m already late, someone else will help, maybe they brought it on themselves, I wouldn’t know what to say. We can always find a reason to walk around somebody else’s need. The Samaritan shows a simple movement of mercy.

See: Learn to see people the way Jesus sees them.

Philippians 2:3-5; Matthew 9:36

It starts with noticing: the coworker who is not themselves today, the person on the other end of the call. This takes discernment, and not every situation is ours to jump into. The closer we follow Jesus, the more we see people the way He does.

Feel: Ask Jesus to give me His compassion for people.

Colossians 3:12

Compassion means another person’s needs suddenly matter to you. Most of the time it arrives as an interruption to our day. You may be the one person God has placed there to show someone how much Jesus loves them.

Move: Do something.

James 2:15-17

The Samaritan bandaged the man, carried him to an inn, paid for his care and promised to come back. Sometimes doing something is not everything. It is just one thing. Each day we can ask, “God, what do You want me to see today, and what one step do You want me to take?”

Jesus ends by turning the question around: “Which of these three was a neighbor?” The expert answers, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus tells him, “Go and do likewise.” Not go and think about it. One way our church will do this together is the community Thanksgiving feast on November 22.

Application

Believe: Loving God and loving my neighbor belong together. They are the greatest commandments. Following Jesus changes the way I see people.

Pray: “Jesus, help me see people the way you see them. Give me your compassion and wisdom to recognize the opportunities for mercy you place around me.”

Do: When I see an appropriate opportunity to show mercy, take a step.

The actual question is: will I be a good neighbor?