Who is my neighbour?

There have been plenty of news stories recently that reveal how we can sometimes treat people who we see as different. You need only to think about the ongoing conflicts in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, Ukraine and Russia, Iran and the US to see this play out on a global stage.

Within the UK there will be a range of opinions about refugees who arrive on small boats, as well as immigrants who seek the right to remain. And much closer to home, here within our community, as well as within our church family there will be anxieties and tensions that flow from our diversity.

It appears that as a society we can often struggle to live or work well with people we see as different. Rather than seeing them as human beings with needs, we instead see them as people who are not like us, who don’t share our thinking, our background, who are not close to us, not one of us.

Then, in today’s reading (Luke 10. 25-37) enter stage right, the Good Samaritan. A very different story. The Good Samaritan who did not allow the differences between himself and the beaten-up man to shape his response. Rather than seeing him as “not one of us” and passing by, he simply sees a person who is in need and helps them.

Jesus’ instruction to the lawyer in the story and his instruction to us today, is to “go and do likewise”. Go and do likewise. So what was it that he did, and how do we do it in our lives today?

Three things - he saw him, he drew close to him, he helped him.

First of, he saw him. This beaten-up man lying on the ground was invisible to the priest and the Levite. Not invisible as in hidden from sight, for as the story tells us, they knew he was there. But rather than seeing him as a human being in need they saw him as a burden, as a threat.

Have we not heard people say of the refugees in Europe, people fleeing the troubles in their homeland, that we can not possibly help them, because they would be a burden to us and be a threat to our way of life?

And within our churches might there be some who feel threatened at the thought of doing things differently, so a wider welcome could be offered?

First, we must learn to truly see people, to see them as human beings, like you and like me. And then secondly, when we truly see someone, and we see them in all their human need, we are to draw close to them.

The Samaritan draws close to help whilst the priest and the Levite in the story give the beaten-up man a wide berth. Drawing close to someone is not always easy because it makes us vulnerable. Not because they are dangerous, but simply because to draw close to someone opens us up to sharing their story, their needs and even their pain.

However, unless we truly see someone and draw close to them, then we cannot move to the third stage, which is to do something for and with them. The Samaritan tends the wounds of the injured man and makes sure he gets the help that he needs. At personal cost to himself.

The invitation is for us to be people who do the same, to offer compassion, to put sympathy into action, to show mercy in ways that make a difference and to do so at our personal cost.

Three things then, that the Samaritan did, and we can too. To truly see, to draw close and to help. And this of course, is the very pattern that God shows us in the way that God relates to us. Looking upon us his people, God drew close in the person of Jesus, showed compassion throughout his life, and helped us in his death and resurrection.

In the same way that the lawyer in the Gospel, did not expect a Samaritan to offer help, because of the separation that existed between Jews and Samaritans at the time, no one expected God to redeem the world, with the personal cost of death on a cross.

God shows up in the most unlikely of places, chooses people and circumstances that no one expects and does great things through them. God comes where we least expect it because God comes for all.

No one is beyond God’s mercy and grace. You, reading this, regardless of who you are, regardless of your circumstances, can have hope of seeing God at work in your life. Because that is exactly what God is doing right now.

The invitation before us is to go and do likewise. To truly see, to draw close to, and to help, anyone who we come across. Those close to us, those like us, those who are not like us and those we do not like. For in so doing, we truly live, and we truly bring God into the world.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash