Hello Neighbor

When was the last time you waved or said hi to your neighbor? Today? Yesterday? Last week? Last month? Last year? You may be thinking that you haven't seen your neighbors in a long time or don't even know your neighbors well enough to say hi. You may even be thinking that you don't have anybody that lives real close to even consider them being a neighbor. Today, I want to challenge you to see beyond the neighbors that live next door and see people who cross your path as your neighbor. In the Bible, Jesus was asked by a man who is his neighbor. So, Jesus answered his question by telling a story. This story is called a parable. Parables were stories that Jesus told to groups of people to teach a spiritual lesson. I love how Jesus told parables! This particular parable that Jesus told is found in Luke 10:30-37. In the story, a man is traveling down the road when all of a sudden he is robbed, beat up and has his clothes taken from him by a group of thieves. They left him half dead and left him lying there! While the man is lying there on the road, three different men cross his path. Now, I want you to read very carefully the reactions of these three men. The first man was a priest (preacher). He saw the hurt man, but simply walked on the other side of the road (v.31). In other words, he avoided the man completely and wanted nothing to do with his situation. The second man was a Levite, also a religious leader. He went and looked at the hurt man (v.32), but decided to keep on walking and not help either. Notice that he got a close up look at the man, but still didn't want any part. Now at this point you may be thinking that shouldn't they have helped being they go to church and all, especially being leaders in the church. Leaders are supposed to set a good example, right?! I'm with you! Let's go a little further. In verse 33, we see the third man that came along. He was a Samaritan. Unlike the other two men, he decided to do something about the hurt man's situation. We don't know if he was a leader like the other two men. We just know that he was going about his normal day when he stopped and gave help! He helped the hurt man by cleaning up his wounds and getting him to an inn, so he could be taken care of. The Samaritan man had to leave the hurt man at the inn, but told them to take care of him and he would pay for any costs (v. 34-35). Before that day, I don't believe the Samaritan had ever met the hurt man before, but he had so much kindness that he was moved with compassion to help. He wanted to help him. That's the key: wanted! How many of us know someone who needs help and won't help??! Whew!! That could be a whole new blog post all by itself! Anyway, let's get back to our story. At the end, Jesus asked who was the neighbor in the story and the answer was the one who showed mercy. Jesus said, "Go and do likewise." (v.36-37). In thinking about our neighbors, they are more than just the people who live next door to us. Neighbors are those who are on our job, at our school, on our sports team, at the grocery store, the movies, church. They are the individuals that we come in contact with daily. We can help and be kind to them in some way. God does want us to use wisdom as we know how much we can and cannot do. I believe the Samaritan used wisdom when he took the man to the inn. He knew the people at the inn could give more help than he could, but he got him there. That was a start! Saying hi, smiling, and giving a compliment can go a long way and make a difference. I'm a witness! Holding the door open, giving someone a glass of water, cleaning up, picking up trash, and taking someone's shopping cart back in the store are all ways to help our neighbors that don't require any money. We can help others by giving money or items needed, but that's not the only way we can help. When we see a need, let's be a good neighbor. Let's not pass by people or avoid them. Let's not kick people down further than they already are. Let's encourage and help when we can. If we need others to help, that's okay too. Teamwork can be a good thing! No matter what age we are or no matter where we live, we can all help our neighbors in some way. Hello, neighbor!!