In an urban setting like Singapore, everyone has a neighbour. They come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes we wished that we do not have so many of them. But have you ever paused and asked, who then, is my neighbour? The lawyer who came to see Jesus to ask him how to have eternal life ended up asking Jesus the same question. As a learned person, he had full knowledge of the laws of Moses, and answered Jesus correctly when asked. Jesus gave him full marks for replying that the law required him to “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” (Luke 10:27 ESV). But when asked to carry out the actions required by the law, he retorted with a rhetorical question: “Who is my neighbour?” The Bible tells us that he did so to justify himself – to show that he had done everything as required by the law (Luke 10:29).
By definition, a neighbour is someone in close proximity. In those days, you could only interact with people who are within shouting distance. Any further and you are a distant friend. Today, we have in our hands the means to interact directly with every “friend” we know anywhere and anytime of the day. Have we become better neighbours? Are the friends in our contact list the neighbours that Jesus is talking about?
Jesus followed the conversation with the lawyer by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. The familiar story gives us an important lesson – a neighbour is not necessarily someone who is a friend. A neighbour is someone in need whom God has put across our paths. Anyone whom God has allowed us to interact with who needs our help is a neighbour. Like you, I spend most of my time with people I know – family and friends. We certainly must love them. But it is the time we spend showing mercy to “strangers” in need that God puts in our way that counts in determining whether we have been good neighbours. Jesus says to the lawyer and to us: “You go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37 ESV).