Neighbor is a Verb
Following a holiday like the 4th of July, in the midst of an election season, given the reality of so much conflict in our communities, country and world... It seems like a good time to focus a bit on the second part of Jesus' summary of the good spiritual life.
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
- Matt. 22:36-40
Love your neighbor. The life of the faith isn't just between us and God; it's not just in our heads and hearts. It's also in our hands; it's tangible, local, between us and our communities, the ones in our homes and neighborhoods, sharing our continent and world.
Read the reflection below on what it means to neighbor, and take a few minutes to talk with Jesus about a few times you've sensed yourself neighboring well. What do you notice about how you're uniquely wired to neighbor? How do you enjoy showing people care? What talents or parts of your personality help you neighbor well? Thank God for these things and ask God to show you ways you could lean into them in the week ahead.
“Love your neighbour as yourself” the Gospel says (Matthew 22:38). But who is my neighbor? We often respond to that question by saying: “My neighbours are all the people I am living with on this earth, especially the sick, the hungry, the dying, and all who are in need.” But this is not what Jesus says. When Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:29-37) to answer the question “Who is my neighbour?” he ends by asking: “Which, … do you think, proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the bandits’ hands?” The neighbour, Jesus makes clear, is not the poor man laying on the side of the street, stripped, beaten, and half dead, but the Samaritan who crossed the road, “bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, … lifted him onto his own mount and took him to an inn and looked after him.” My neighbour is the one who crosses the road for me!
- Henri Nouwen