He answered, “’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 neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27).

A cousin passed away unexpectedly a few days ago at the young age of 29, and my family is gathered in Missouri this week to celebrate his life. I can’t be there in person, but I’ve been reading the stories being shared on social media by coworkers, friends, and family. As sad as the situation is, the tributes being shared about him are indeed a celebration of a life well lived. There are two common themes in the stories being shared: 1. he loved God, and 2. he was always the first to help. It didn’t matter if he had known you his whole life or had known you a day–he was generous with what he had, and he did so with a smile on his face, a joke in his lips, and the love of God radiating from the inside out.

In our new series, Won’t You be a Neighbor, we’ll take a look at what it means to be a neighbor. In purely practical terms, it makes sense to apply this call to love whom we come into contact with on a daily basis: our literal neighbors. The folks who have lived next door for years and the ones who just moved in across the street. The ones we see at school and work, in the grocery store, and eating ice cream in the next booth at S&T’s.

Jesus modeled this kind of love his entire life, and the parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates this. The priest and the Levite, both Jews, couldn’t be bothered to stop and help the man (also a Jew) who lay dying by the side of the road; however, a Samaritan, considered a “dirty half-breed” by priests, Levites, and the Law-experts, took the time to care for him. I’m sure the Samaritan had things to do that day, too. He might not have had as much money in his pockets as the other two men, and he was certainly aware of his rank in society at the moment. Despite all of that he was generous with what he had with someone right in front of him who needed help.

The parable of the Good Samaritan was the answer to a question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer was and is simple: be a good neighbor! Give what you can, and help those around you. It was evident that my cousin lived his life this way, and it’s a good reminder to us all that those who need our help most might be the ones right in front of us. 

The Internet age has enabled us to be flooded with images and issues from around the world 24/7. It’s much easier to send a donation to someone we’ve never met and will likely never meet than to turn to the person next to us at the grocery store. Ask God to open your eyes to the opportunities you have today to be a good neighbor to someone near you.