Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood?

Luke 10:25-37

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.”

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When the religious scholar asked Jesus, “What do I need to do to get eternal life?” I’m sure he wasn’t expecting Jesus’ reply. I would bet that the religious scholar was hoping that Jesus would say, “You need to believe ‘x’,” or “You need to believe ‘y and z,’” but Jesus doesn’t offer any of those replies. Instead Jesus tells a parable, a story, about a man who had been beaten up on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho by thugs and was saved by a Samaritan traveler. We too come to Jesus with questions, sometimes because we are curious and sometimes because we want to try and make a point, but the truth remains that Jesus will always find a way to turn our expectations around and challenge us to see the world differently. 

This ever evolving view of the world, of ourselves and of our faith, is made even richer when we understand the significance of the character we find in this mornings parable told by Jesus. We first meet the traveler on their way to Jerusalem when they were targeted by a group of robbers who leave the traveler hanging on for dear life. It might be assumed then that the priest and the Levite would have stopped to help the poor traveler, but they both were more concerned about their own purity, their own cleanliness, and so they do the opposite of what we would expect, which was to go out of their way to make any kind of connection with the traveler. 

All doesn’t look well for the person who was simply walking along, until a Samaritan shows up and pours out their love for the one who is on the brink of death. You might be wondering at this point why it was significant for a Samaritan to help the person who was in dire trouble. The truth is that Jews and Samaritans did not get along with one another, you might say that they even had a deadly hatred of one another, but despite all that this Samaritan breaks the mold and takes the Jewish traveler under their care and makes sure they get back to good health. Would we be willing to do something like for a stranger we had never met before, let alone someone who didn’t fit into the social molds we have crafted?

It isn’t faith by faith alone by which we are saved or by which we are known to be followers of Christ, but it is by how we live and more importantly how our faith dictates how we live our lives. Of course what we believe is important, but if those core beliefs don’t produce any visible fruit or don’t provide a moral compass that's feeds ourselves and others than what are we doing with our lives? Our faith, our lives are meant to be more than the sum of their individual parts. The challenge for us is how do we lives that are balanced, lives that reflect growth within ourselves and lives that push us to care for those who are our neighbors. 

It’s important that we wrestle with these questions, these questions that involve our faith and how we live our lives, because if we aren’t careful we will discover that our once beautiful day in the neighborhood is actually a day in a neighborhood with closed doors and hardened hearts. There’s enough cynicism, skepticism, and we find that we are now faced with the dilemma of whether or not we are willing to let the love of Christ do it’s thing so that our communities may once again be a reflection of what God has intended for us. But living into that community requires sacrifice and as we all know sacrificing things of our own doesn’t always come as an act that is easy for us to embrace. 

We might like to think that we are like the Samaritan, but in reality we might find we can relate more to the Levite and the priest. Do you know why the priest and the Levite left the man who was robbed on the side of the road half dead? Do you know why they couldn’t spare a minute for someone who was clinging onto their life by a narrow thread? It’s because both the Levite and the priest were so concerned about their own wellbeing, both spiritual and physical, that they didn’t want to sully themselves with the blood of another human being. While it may be hard to accept the truth of the matter is that we ourselves have placed our own “purity,” status with God over that of others as well. 

If this is all starting to sound familiar it should, because it follows a story most of know at this point. And that is the story of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus didn’t care about whether or not the people he was saving were “clean” or “unclean.” Jesus didn’t care about whether or not they mastered all aspects of theology or religion, because what mattered most to Jesus was the fact that each and of us were beautifully and wonderfully made. Now Jesus did some things that we might not be able to do (i.e. walk on water, multiply fishes and loaves of bread, etc.), but this act of loving is something that is not out of grasps and it plays such a vital role in how we cultivate our spirits in relationship to God’s will. 

I mentioned something before that might have sounded familiar to you and that was the phrase, “A beautiful day in the neighborhood.” It’s a phrase that comes from the beloved program Misters Rogers Neighborhood and has had an impact on millions of youth and adults. But there’s a question that lies at the heart of the message for today and that is the question of, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” It’s a core question one that will ultimately shape the world we live in. It’s a core question that saves people, saves faith, and ushers in peace if we are willing to be the one who treats everyone like a neighbor. 

You know this past week I spent a week at a place called Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center. It’s a place that’s special for me, because it’s always felt like a sacred place where you can be who you truly are and a place where you can forget about the world and enjoy the time you have with friends. But what I most enjoy about the time I spend there is seeing how kids and youth encourage one another. For some it’s the first time they’ve been away from home, for others it’s the first time they’ve been told they can who they really are, and for others it might be the first time where they are treated with respect and kindness. And what makes it all the more special, for me at least, is seeing how kids and youth model these things for those in there cabin groups. They don’t only have fun together, but they care for one another as well. 

My challenge for all of us would be that we embrace that “child-like” sense of love and care for those around us. We might have gotten bogged down by our doubts about others and our cynicism, but when we love and care for our neighbors we’ll find that we feel good. We’ll feel good not only because we know we’ve done something that is right, but because we will also know that we have grown in faith and body as well. “Neighbor” isn’t just the person who lives next door, but it is also the person who lives down the street, the person in the next state over, and the person who lives in a different country. And when we care for our neighbors, our hearts will find that they are full on the days when they are in need of healing and rest. 

So won’t you be somebodies neighbor today? Go out and live like the Samaritan, not just because you know it’s the right thing to do, but because it is what our faith commands. Jesus didn’t tell the religious scholar that they had to know what the right thing was, but they had to put it into practice as well. Today we are given a reminder about our faith and the role it plays in our lives. So when we hear Jesus asking us, “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” may we be like the religious scholar “The one who treated him kindly.” And then afterwards may we take to hear what Jesus said, “Go and do the same.” In our doing the same we will truly find that it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.