Thursday 15 March 2007

More from the parable about being a neighbor.

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" (Luke 10:25-26) He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this , and you will live." (Luke 10:27-28) But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, he passed by on the other side. (Luke 10:29-32)

We could always start by saying "You can never be too safe" or "Who knows what could have happened" or "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date..." Then again, we can stop and we can be the love that loves us. Yes, people do fall into hard times and are brutalized in our world. Yes, those kinds of things can happen to any of us. Does our God keep us from bad things happening to us? No. Does our God invite us - call us - inspire us - to be the presence of God's love in a world that can be brutal, oppressive, and down right nasty? Yes. There are many ways we can find excuses for turning our back to our world and trying to make our faith in God a personal and individual experience that will somehow keep us and our own kind safe. But that is not what it means to be a neighbor...to love neighbor and to love God. Neighbor is an adventure that pulls us out of ourselves and helps us mix it up so that we can come to experience the living presence of God. Unfortunately, we so often learn that there are the good and the bad and we must always be on the alert to avoid "them" - because they are not us and we are, of course, the good. It is not easy to break out of that quite natural way of preserving ourselves. Following Jesus is never a road of preservation and building reputations and making ourselves a part of the "better party." Following Jesus is stopping alongside the road to tend to the world...to listen...to investigate...to question...to turn love into action...and...with all of that, risk our lives for the sake of others.

Connection: There are many ways to stop alongside the road today. We can still be safe and yet see to the safety and healing of others.

Be our Love, O Lord. When we walk along the ways of this day, be the breath that causes us to pause and look around and take note of the many ways you love can be our life and our life can be the unfolding of love for you and our neighbor. Amen.