Love Thy Neighbour

... and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:35–40

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" The lawyer 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 neighbour as yourself." And Jesus said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." Luke 10:25-28 

My family love our neighbours. They are great fun to be with. We’ve hung out together with them over the last decade, sharing stories of life as their children (and ours) grow up into teenagers and then young adults. We barbeque, bake, watch sports together; we are honest about our struggles – they are a little like a surrogate family to us. We share joys and triumphs; a sports premiership, a new job, a promotion; whatever it is, there’s a certainty in their response – one of deep connection, passion, even delight for “the other”.  When times are tough, offers of selfless help, sacrificial support and “walking alongside”.

These are my physical neighbours – they live in the houses immediately around me. But I do not think that Jesus’ command is limited to just these people. 

I am convinced it is a call for us to be neighbourly to all we meet. I am sure Jesus is not saying that we should limit our love to those who return it in our direction (in fact, His life bore this truth out time and time again). I am sure that Jesus is asking us to see our neighbour as those who are very easy to love in equal measure with those who it would seem are impossible to love.

Jesus reached out to all – independent of their station in life, their means, their worldly circumstances.  His love for others extended to His persecutors, His executioners. To those in supreme authority, to those suffering abject social humiliation. 

Who are our neighbours?

If you have been in my office at school, you will see a reminder to myself, in a framed picture on the wall next to my right-hand computer screen. I repeat it here, as a prompt for all of us.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR:

Thy Immigrant Neighbour

Thy Atheist Neighbour 

Thy Christian Neighbour

Thy Muslim Neighbour

Thy Depressed Neighbour

Thy Black Neighbour

Thy Conservative Neighbour

Thy LGBTQIA Neighbour 

Thy Disabled Neighbour

Thy Indigenous Neighbour

Thy Jewish Neighbour 

Thy Liberal Neighbour

Thy White Neighbour

Thy Incarcerated Neighbour

Thy Homeless Neighbour

Thy Addicted Neighbour

Thy ___________ Neighbour

I challenge you to consider how you might fill in the blank at the bottom. It could be someone in authority, someone in your team at work, someone in your family who you are estranged from; perhaps you could put their name in that blank. That’s the extent of Jesus' call on us in this commandment.

Loving those neighbours we know well is easier than loving those neighbours we don’t know at all. Loving those neighbours we don’t understand, or don’t agree with – this will be a deep challenge to us all. Knowing how to represent God’s love in the lives of those whose life – or lifestyle – we don’t feel comfortable with – I believe that is at the heart of Jesus' call on our lives in this second of the great commandments.

We love a God who first loved us. In spite of everything we did to annoy Him, ensure we put Him offside, gave Him every reason to reject us. God extended His grace to us – and does, repeatedly, when we fall short of His call on our lives. We represent Him in the world. What will that representation look like, as a college community?

Will we be known for our neighbourliness, in the ways Jesus described it to the teachers of the law? Or will we look more like the world around us, judgemental and transactional, only extending loving acts in the directions of those we prefer, or those who prefer us?

My deep hope is that this community will make Jesus irresistible to all who are our neighbours – both within and beyond us. Please join me in that prayer for us.

Shalom.