“And Who is My Neighbor?”

Luke 10: 25-37
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " '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.’"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."  Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Although it is easy to see the moral of this parable as simply “the one who does the good deed is my neighbor,” it is important to note that, historically, Samaritans and Jews did not get along at all. Jesus did not just choose a random class people to use in His parable, He specifically chose the priest – one of the holiest of peoples – and the Samaritan – one of the most looked down upon of peoples by the Jews at the time. But when the priest passed up the wounded man on the road and the Samaritan was the one who showed compassion, Jesus was indeed saying to this ‘expert of the law’ that even the Samaritans are neighbors to the Jews! Not just the people of our church, the people in our suburb, the people that we are comfortable being around.

In my experience living abroad in Jerusalem/Palestine for a year, I could very well insert [Arab] where Jesus used Samaritan. At first, I was very uncomfortable – after all, the U.S. was at war with several of their sister countries and I clearly stuck out as a white American/European. But guess what, Jesus does not always call us to be comfortable in our ministries. On the contrary, He says the gate to life is small and the path is narrow and arduous. So with this in mind as I ventured out into the streets of Palestine, I had a very skeptical idea of ‘who my neighbor is’ but God granted me the strength and courage I needed to do his work and I was willing to keep an open mind. I soon found to my surprise that, like the wounded man on the street, I was shown more hospitality by these complete strangers than I ever received here in the United States. I was taken in and given three course meals fit for a king that I knew they could not afford, but it was of the utmost importance that their guest, even an American, be honored in this way. I was deeply humbled by their kindness and generosity.

Probably the most important thing I learned by living abroad is that the most rewarding ministry is oftentimes the most challenging. It is true that God calls me to go to Rollercoaster parks for a day with Atonement’s youth, and I gratefully accept this as an important part of God’s work. However, as I look around myself to all of the “narrow and arduous” roads of ministry, I realize that God may have more challenges set out before me than I’d like to admit. As it is a difficult working progress in my life, I would like to encourage everyone to be willing to step out of your comfort zone when the opportunity to perform God’s more challenging ministry arises. Be willing to ask yourself “who is your neighbor?” because someday you may find yourself wounded in the streets and your Samaritan may be the one who comes and feeds you, bandages your wounds, and brings you to the hospital.

Paul Kacynski
Interim Youth Director