Our society has significantly changed, and our neighborhoods are less connected. There are still a few instances where we look after our immediate neighbors, but there is much more of a tendency toward looking through the blinds at what is going on than actively connecting with one another. This likely stems from the fact that, with easy access to the internet and the faux connections we get through social media, we often see less value in random social interactions with our neighbors. If anything, social media has taught us how to show up ready to argue. Thus, when somebody shows up ready to argue, there is reason to watch out. This is exactly where we find Jesus, as a legal expert approaches him, clearly more focused on the legalistic minimums required for personal salvation than on what living in faith truly requires. Therefore, Jesus redirects the focus outward. Christ shows that true discipleship is found not in self-justification, but in sacrificial compassion for the “other,” no matter who the “other” might be. To be a true neighbor doesn’t literally mean you must be in close proximity; rather, being a neighbor is a costly choice that brings blessing to the community even amid hard circumstances. We are naturally drawn to a faith that confirms our biases, protects our social standing, and lets us draw a neat circle around the people we are obligated to care for. However, Jesus calls us to open our thoughts about our neighbors, as we do not love our neighbor to earn eternal life; we love our neighbor because we have received grace.
25 An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” 29 But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021), Lk 10:25–37.
It would be hard to find someone who demonstrated love for their neighbors better than the incomparable Fred Rogers. Through his long-running television program, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, he demonstrated that we are called to be kind to people, reinforced in every episode as he asked, “Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbor?” He often challenged the status quo in how we viewed people different from us and showed that we need to care for people simply because it is the right thing to do. He demonstrated this during the Cold War; Rogers met with and was hosted by a Russian-language children’s program in the Soviet Union. However, Fred Rogers was not just a television host; he was also a minister in the Presbyterian Church. He viewed his television program as his church, and by inviting people everywhere to be his neighbor, he made a theological statement. It wasn’t just for the people who looked like him or agreed with him; it was an unconditional assertion about the inherent worth of every person. In answering the expert’s question directed to Jesus, Rogers showed that sharing and caring for everyone you meet is the practical, daily outworking of the Gospel.
In Jesus’ parable, we are confronted with examples of who we expect to be a good neighbor, but we often find that the command to love your neighbor puts you in uncomfortable situations. As Jesus points out in the response of both the priest and the Levite, we see that they put many things in the way of loving their neighbor. Whether it was because they saw the man who was beaten and robbed as a potential threat to their own safety, or whether this man would make them unclean, or maybe even threatened their own sense of the social hierarchy, we know that they went out of their way not to help the man. However, the Samaritan arrives to become the hero of the story. This is ironic and troubling because Jews typically would not even speak with Samaritans because of the animosity between them. The term “Good Samaritan” was unthinkable, because they were considered heretics and hostile threats. Knowing what society thought, the Samaritan risked his life, his resources, and his reputation to ensure the injured person was cared for and even to ensure his safety and further care. Jesus, in showing this example, reminds us to break down years of animosity toward one another and instead show love to everyone, despite our history, even to those who have actively hated us. We have a similar historical example of animosity as those in the Ku Klux Klan have had toward Jews and people of color. Larry Trapp, a former leader in the KKK, directed an intimidation campaign toward a Jewish Cantor, Michael Weisser. However, Weisser never retaliated, but instead chose to respond with care and kindness. Ultimately, there came a time when Trapp’s health began failing, and the areas of support were drying up; it was the Weissers who brought the man, who had devoted his life to threatening them, into their home and cared for him until his death. Like the Samaritan, Weisser saw a broken man, was moved with compassion, and treated him with love. Jesus uniquely answers the legal scholar’s query with a poignant reply that shows him he can learn best about being a neighbor from the people he has most vilified.
As the law expert approached Jesus, he wanted a fight, a debate that would disrupt the teacher, but Jesus showed him that blessings can flow where we might least expect it, and it often costs more than we expect. Jesus instead turned the debate and put the legal scholar in a position where he had to proclaim that a Samaritan could show mercy and was the exemplar of a true neighbor. This is like a situation where a member of the opposite political party is the example of the proper leader, and Jesus leads us to affirm that the best example comes from the opposition. Furthermore, Jesus shows us that truly being a neighbor may cost us everything, and that we must become people who allow ourselves to be vulnerable and show compassion to the “other.” This is because true blessing comes through costly compassion. Jesus demands practical mercy because we must break free from the worlds we lock ourselves in, go out, see our world, and understand our neighbor’s pain, for it is the only way we can truly enter into communion with those that are marginalized. The Samaritan had no illusions that his compassion would transform hearts or make things easier for him; instead, he acted out of true compassion, teaching us that there is little to gain from acts of compassion except this: it is what it means to be a disciple. True discipleship often threatens our social standing. When we advocate for and physically care for the marginalized, the despised, or the “other,” we may be alienated by our own priests and church leaders.
Jesus embodied this parable as He became an enemy of religious and political leaders alike. Still, instead of getting mugged on a dark road, He was publicly executed. He became something people would avert their gaze from, not wanting to even look at the spectacle. However, on the cross, Jesus moves from victim to Samaritan, healing us and paying the debt we accumulated through sin. Jesus, the ultimate “Good Samaritan,” finds us dead in sin and empties his life to heal us. Because we have been shown mercy, we are sent out with a mandate to “go and do likewise,” which is not a suggestion; it is the mission of the Church. We are called to look at our community, especially those we are culturally conditioned to avoid or despise, and ask, “Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbor?”
