Living in the Spirit
October 25, 2014

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He 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 a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ — Matthew 22:34-40

I grew up on a farm where the next house was at least a quarter mile away. When I was a child only two other families lived on the 640 acre section where our farm was located, only one family resided on the section directly to our north. In Oklahoma City there are approximately 1,000 people living in each square mile. In New York City there are almost 28,000 people per square mile. On the farm, our neighbor to the east was an elderly couple with whom we had a very close relationship. The family to the south was a married couple who had several children, but by the time I came along only four remained at home. The three boys, particularly the oldest were best friends with my brother. The daughter was a beautiful teenager who I admired when I started school. While I am on cordial terms with my geographic neighbors in Oklahoma City, they have markedly different interests and lives than mine. There is not much opportunity for interaction.

I think most of us understand neighbor in the terms I just described: someone who lives near to us. This is not the case in the Bible. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says a neighbor is according to the O. T. and Jewish conception, a member of the Hebrew race and commonwealth: Acts 7:27; and Rec. in Hebrews 8:11; according to the teaching of Christ, any other [person] irrespective of race or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet*

Even that does not quite get to the heart of the matter. Jesus seems to turn around the whole meaning of the word “neighbor”. It does not necessarily describe who another person is. It is about our attitude and approach to the other. He seems to say that “neighbor” is the preferred state of our being, regarding anyone who might pass our way. In a world where we are becoming more and more afraid of the others, Jesus may be calling us to practice our neighborliness by taking the time to get to know the others we meet along the way. Getting to know someone is the first step toward learning to love them.

Prayer: Lord, we know about love because you first loved us. Help us be the first to love another that we meet along life’s path. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/greek/4139.htm

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.