Be More Intent on Loving Your Neighbor 

During a recent late-night storm, the power went off in our neighborhood. We remained without electricity and all its benefits until close to lunchtime the next day. Early that morning I, along with other neighbors, ventured outside to assess the damage. We discovered that there were a few trees down in our area, along with a number of large limbs, as well as the typical smaller debris of twigs and pine cones littering the yards and streets. We had one of those huge branches sprawled across our driveway, but thankfully it missed our house.

It was interesting to see so many of our neighbors getting outside, interacting with one another, assisting with the removal of limbs, and sharing about our mutual experience of surviving the storm and dealing with the power outage. A few new acquaintances were made. For others of us who already knew each other, it may have been the most we had talked in a long time. Race, political preferences, and other factors that often separate us didn’t matter. The storm and its aftermath brought us together to support and encourage one another. It is a shame that it often brings a hardship of some kind to pull us out of our shells of isolation and self-absorption to interact with others and to help a neighbor.

 It reminds me of the story Jesus told when He stressed the importance of loving our neighbor. Many of us know it as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. You are probably familiar with the account of the man who was robbed, beaten, and left injured lying on the road. A priest and Levite, both considered to be good religious people, saw the man but passed right on by without stopping to help. However, a Samaritan, someone different racially and culturally, showed compassion on the man by tending to his wounds, personally taking care of him, and then making sure upon his departure that others would continue to look after the man.

We don’t know what was going through the minds of the priest and Levite that day causing them to pass by this man without offering any assistance. Maybe they were concerned about their own safety since it appeared that violent robbers were in the area. Maybe they had urgent duties to attend to, even religious responsibilities to fulfill, and didn’t feel like they could take the time to help. I don’t know. But it seems that they were more focused on themselves, their welfare, and their personal interests rather than on the man who was hurting.

I am afraid that too many of us tend to be like the priest and Levite in the story. And certain factors in our culture encourage us to go that direction. It is easy to stay closed up in our houses with our air conditioning running rather than to get outside to interact with others. It is easy to walk around listening to our earbuds or looking at our phone rather than talking to or even noticing the people around us. It is safer to stay wrapped in our own little world and not get involved in the messy lives of other people.

I heard someone put it this way recently. He suggested that we need to quit looking in mirrors so much and look through windows instead. In other words, we need to quit being so focused on ourselves and our interests and see the people around us and their needs. If we are going to love our neighbor as Jesus taught, we need to be more intentional about getting outside our walls and reaching out to others. And it shouldn’t take a storm to get us to do it.