Tuesday, 20 August, 2002

The lead piece is from "Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris. In this book she takes many of the words and images of the faith and attempts to put some reality and life to them.



NEIGHBOR

I recently read in a friend's sermon a story of a Croatian of Serbian descent, a Christian who was in charge of managing refugee resettlement for a part of Croatia. Working on plans to rebuild a Muslim village that had been totally destroyed in the war, the man found, to his surprise, that no mosque had been included. When he inquired about it, the mayor told him he had assumed that Christian organizations would not be willing to help fund the rebuilding of a mosque. The relief worker replied that it was because they were followers of Jesus Christ that they would help rebuild it. "Jesus told a story about a good Samaritan," he said, "who helped his neighbor without asking him about his theology.



Neighbor turns into a wonderful and powerful word for change and transformation. This is all the more the case for people who profess to be followers of Jesus. Offering and giving and receiving help in time of need is vital to the building of a community. When we consider the "other" as neighbor, it is more difficult to write them off for Jesus spoke about neighbor in such an expansive manner. Neighbor is a part of the vision of the reign of God that constantly pulls us into relationship with others...even if they do not quite fit our idea of a neighbor. We want neighbors like us...who think like us...who accept us. And yet, neighbors are...well, you name it...the reign of God is quite wide and eternally connected.



Connection: Go ahead and greet one of your neighbors today and in the middle of the day take note of the surprising face present around you as "neighbor." Blessed are you neighbor!



Lord, you knit together a grace-filled tapestry of people who are connected to one another by your creative majesty. Empower us to see the beautiful way you intend to bring the fabric of your eternal reign together into one great community of loving kindness and neighborly support. Amen.