Ed, my old neighbour in Saskatchewan, had a question for me yesterday. He asked, 鈥淲hy does the Bible tell us to love our neighbours and our enemies since they could be the same people?鈥� My answer was that Ed should treat them both as friends even if they are acting more like an enemy to him.
Friendship is a gift, or an attitude of respect and support, offered to another person. When a gift of friendship is offered, it may be rejected, but it well could become a mutual relationship instead of a one-sided effort. Unfortunately, friendship is often seen as narrow for us, just a specific few individuals, and so is our definition of a neighbour.
We get stuck on the idea that our neighbours can only be those next door, adjacent or near us. Neighbours may like us or shun us, ignore us, may even hassle, disturb or hate us. Haven鈥檛 we all heard stories about someone鈥檚 neighbor that we really would rather not have heard?聽
I told Ed that Jesus had a large and expansive view of a neighbour. To Jesus, a neighbour is anyone who needs our help in the sense of our compassion. Our willingness to help a neighbour is to be stretched to help anyone in need. Anyone in need that we can help is our neighbour.
Jesus answered the question, 鈥淲ho is my neighbour?鈥� with this story. 鈥淎 man was going down to Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.鈥� (Luke 10:25-37)
The man robbers attacked wasn鈥檛 expecting to find himself lying half dead at the side of the road. However, he could not help himself. He could only hope someone would help him. A priest came along but did not help him. Likewise a Levite came along and saw the beaten man but did not help him either.
Thankfully, a Samaritan came down the road and stopped and helped the beaten man. He bound up his wounds, set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he left money with the innkeeper for the hurt man鈥檚 care. Thus, he proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among robbers. Jesus tells us we need to be a neighbour to others in the same way as the Samaritan.
The Samaritan loved the beaten man as himself. Love is the summary of the Ten Commandments, which is the love of God and love of neighbour. Romans 13:10 says, 鈥淟ove does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.鈥�
The Samaritan put love into action. It is not knowing God鈥檚 will but also doing it. God is love. He showed his love among us by sending Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Since God loved us in Christ, we ought to love one another. If anyone says, 鈥淚 love God,鈥� yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:8,10-11,20,21)
