After being reminded to love his neighbor as himself, a legal expert asks Jesus, “who is my neighbor?” 

Jesus responds with a story about a man that has been robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the side of the road.  Two men, a priest and a Levite, walk past the injured man.  Jesus describes how a Samaritan, a person typically hated by the Jewish audience that he was addressing, stops to help the man.  The Samaritan binds up the man’s wounds and takes him to an inn.  He pays for the man to stay at the inn while he recovers from his injuries and even asks the innkeeper to look after the injured man, promising to reimburse any expenses that might accrue from his care.  Then Jesus answers the legal expert’s question with a question of his own, “Which of the men that encountered the fallen man was a neighbor to him?” 

The legal expert replies, “the one who had mercy on him.” 

Jesus follows with a simple response, “Go and do likewise.” 

This story points out that WE are called to be the neighbor in any interaction with others—in other words, the act of loving others is not dependent upon THEIR identity or proximity, but by our own identification of OUR SELF as THEIR NEIGHBOR. 

Throughout this series of teachings, we will identify barriers we may encounter in loving those that are different from us.  We will be equipped with Biblical principles and other tools to help us identify blind spots and navigate the proper way to cross social, cultural, religious, and political barriers so we can truly “Love our ________ neighbor!” 

 

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Sermons in this series include:

February 6
Love your _________ Neighbor, as Yourself.

February 13
Loving your _____ Neighbor requires Introspection.

February 20
Love your Hurting Neighbor.

February 27
Love your __________ Neighbor, Sacrificially.


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