​WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

The command to love your neighbor is constant in the Holy Scriptures. We humans, however, are a contentious lot and we’re pretty sure we don’t want to love everyone. I mean, there are certain people that just don’t deserve our love, right? This propensity to restrict the definition of a neighbor leads us to dehumanize anyone we’re sure we shouldn’t love. There is perhaps no better example of this kind of moral gymnastics than in a story from Luke’s gospel:

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An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 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.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-29)

Jesus responds with one of the most famous parables in the New Testament, often called “The Good Samaritan.” As well-known as this parable is, I’m not sure we get it. We still find ways to wiggle out from the command to love neighbors. So, I’d like to share this parable using a method of interpretation called “incarnational translation.” It is a method where we update the ancient text to our current reality.

“A man was walking late one night on the east side of Des Moines and wandered into an alley occupied by gang members and thugs. They stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a legislator was walking by moments later, and when he saw the bloodied, half-dead man, he passed by on the other side of the street. So likewise, a corporate executive, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side as well. Then a transgendered person with a beard, wearing a tasteful shade of eye shadow and sporting a beautiful floral print dress came upon him, and when he saw him was moved with compassion.  This person bandaged his wounds with their coat and what they found in a purse, treating the wounds with some Neosporin. Then the transgendered person placed the bloodied man in his car, parked down the street, brought him to a hospital nearby, and sat with him until he could be examined. When the staff of the ER wondered how payment would be made, the transgendered person gave them a credit card number and authorized payment for whatever was needed. They said, “When I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend, see that you care for him well.”  Which one of these was a neighbor to the man left for dead in the street?   The answer in Luke is “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus says to us, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:30-37)

There are movements afoot in our legislature to designate transgendered people as less than people. There are movements afoot to dehumanize human beings, which will make them easier targets for hatred, violence, and scapegoating. There are movements afoot to legislate a broken and twisted morality rooted not in love, but in power and self-justification. This must not stand. Call your legislators and demand an end to this evil.

Pax Christi,
Tim Olson – Lead Pastor
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Image by Falco from Pixabay