Who’s on neighbouring this week?
by Emma Strelan
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‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise’ (Luke 10:36,37).
Read Luke 10:25–37
This week is a week of challenges. If you follow along the Scripture passages, you’ll witness Jesus’ varied responses to those trying to figure out just what his radical message and subversive presence mean for them.
Today, we read of an expert in the law challenging Jesus: If we are to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves, who is our neighbour?
My church recently noticed we weren’t focusing on mission as much as we wanted to. So, we created a mission ministry support person role to ensure that at least someone was thinking about mission. Having specific roles is a good way to ensure the ministry load is shared around a congregation or community. If there’s no receptionist, who will answer the office phone? If there’s no worship coordinator, who will organise the service orders? If there’s no youth worker, who will run the Friday night youth group? (The answer to all of these is too often, ‘The pastor!’ unfortunately.)
In today’s passage, we hear that loving our neighbour and showing mercy should be one of the highest priorities a Christian should have. So, in congregations filled with band members, money counters, PowerPoint slide operators, communion assistants, Sunday school teachers, flower arrangers, and numerous other roles, perhaps we should add ‘official neighbours’ to the weekly roster to make sure we’re covering our bases. Or perhaps not.
The trap I’ve seen my own church fall into when we assign roles is that anything outside of those responsibilities can easily be brushed off as ‘not my job’. But Jesus reminds us that being a neighbour isn’t defined by the role we’re listed as in the church directory. The Samaritan wasn’t trained in any specific ministry. He simply had a missional opportunity placed along his path, a heart (and resources) ready for compassion, and he decided to move in love toward brokenness.
It’s easy to let things fall into the ‘not my job’ category, especially when our jobs or roles often already come with an overwhelming number of responsibilities. However, when it comes to the battle of obligations, Jesus is very clear in what we should prioritise: ‘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 ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
Do this, and you will live.
Lord of love, may I see the needs of others that you place before me today, and may I be open to new ways to serve you, even if I don’t feel equipped. Amen.
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