{"id":1165,"date":"2017-02-03T00:56:24","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T00:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=1165"},"modified":"2017-12-18T21:57:46","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T21:57:46","slug":"who-is-my-neighbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2017\/02\/03\/who-is-my-neighbor\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is my Neighbor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember when my daughter and son were young children, I would sometimes watch Sesame Street<\/em> or Electric Company<\/em> with them. Both were fast-paced and kept them, and sometimes me, entertained. I mean, who didn\u2019t like Big Bird, or The Count (ah, ah, ah).<\/p>\n

We also watched Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood<\/em>. Who can forget the lovable Fred Rogers, a Presbyterian minister who died in 2003, opening the door, entering the set singing the theme song, taking off his jacket and putting on a sweater, sitting down and changing dress shoes to tennis shoes, and closing with a heartfelt, \u201cPlease, won\u2019t you be my neighbor?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, no offense to any of you, but I always thought that Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood <\/em>was television Ritalin for hyperactive children. I\u2019m not sure the effect on my children, but it worked for me as I was usually asleep on the couch by the time the theme song ended! But, to the main point, I can still hear in my mind the genuine wistful, appeal, \u201cPlease, won\u2019t you be my neighbor?\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps some of you have traveled Highway 1 from Jerusalem down to Jericho. It is truly a desolate place in the middle of a barren, harsh, wilderness. Along this modern road is a site named the Inn of the Good Samaritan. Based on the incident narrated in Luke 10:29-37, the location serves as a fitting backdrop to the challenge a young lawyer (probably a scholar of Torah) posed to Jesus, \u201cWho is my neighbor?\u201d (10:29). Jesus turned the question from \u201cWho is my neighbor?\u201d to \u201cWhat qualified one to be a neighbor to another?\u201d At the close of the pericope, the lawyer had discerned the answer to his own question, \u201che who showed mercy\u201d (10:37).<\/p>\n

Behind this question was a test question of the relationship of inheriting eternal life and the Torah (the Law). Jesus, as He often did, replied with a question, \u201cWhat is written in the law?\u201d (10:26). The lawyer replied by citing portions of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. It was Leviticus 19:18, \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself,\u201d that turned the incident into a teaching moment regarding care for \u201cthe neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n

This encounter between Jesus and the lawyer stands in the flow of events and sayings of Jesus as He sent His disciples into the world as His ambassadors. The first section, 10:1-9 is about followers of Jesus going into the \u201charvest\u201d of the lost \u201cas lambs among wolves\u201d (10:3). It\u2019s about disciples engaging cities, looking for \u201ca son of peace,\u201d (10:6) where refuge and hospitality are found. In such a place, there is the affirmation that \u201cthe kingdom of God has come near you\u201d (10:9).<\/p>\n

Where there is rejection of the message of Shalom, there is nonetheless the certainty that \u201cthe kingdom of God has come near.\u201d But this time the nearness of the kingdom brings divine judgment because Shalom was rejected (10:10-16). Indeed, the peril is so great that the cities that rejected the Good News are in a worse condition than Sodom (10:12).<\/p>\n

Upon completion of their mission across Galilee, a diverse area in Jesus\u2019 day with mixed peoples from across the crisscross of empires, the disciples returned to Jesus with great excitement of the \u201cpower\u201d they experienced in His name (10:17-20). Yet, He warned them not to confuse \u201cpower\u201d with the reality of His presence, a reality reflected in their \u201cnames written in heaven\u201d (10:20).<\/p>\n

Jesus then paused to pray and rejoice concerning the purposes of the God of Heaven who had sent Him (10:21-24). For us as Pentecostals, the language of \u201crejoiced\u201d in verse 21 has overtones of ecstatic prayer, some even suggesting that this describes Jesus praying in other tongues.<\/p>\n

Within the context of Luke 10, this episode of ecstasy in the life of Jesus did not lead to privatized, individualized piety. Instead, it led into the conflict zones of activism where suffering and legal\/moral responsibility collide.<\/p>\n

This is where the Good Samaritan incident speaks loudly to us. We think of our neighbor as someone we know, someone who lives close to us; we borrow their hedge clippers and they borrow our hose pipes. Jesus redefined the neighbor to be the person we do not know, the person who is different from us, any person who is in need. Fulfilling Torah extends the borders of Christ\u2019s kingdom by our willingness to interrupt our own agenda, time schedule, and journey for the sake of the other.<\/p>\n

Following the incident of the Good Samaritan, the chapter concludes with Jesus in Bethany at the home of Martha and Mary (10:38-42). At first, the two incidents seem disconnected. One moves from a dramatic scene in the Judean wilderness to an apparent hospitality scene in a loving home. But in the final two incidents of Luke 10, connections do appear.<\/p>\n

The Good Samaritan account and the Martha\/Mary account interpret one another. Jesus tells us that action and sitting at His feet (piety) are not in conflict. For Martha and the Good Samaritan, their focus is action, service and responding. But interestingly, while Jesus implicitly condemns the \u201cpiety\u201d of the priest and the Levite, Jesus commends Mary\u2019s piety for choosing \u201cthat good part,\u201d sitting at His feet (10:42). By acknowledging Mary\u2019s action, Jesus affirmed what other rabbis did not: a woman sitting and learning at His feet.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not one or the other, the action of the Samaritan traveler or the sitting of Mary. It\u2019s both. New Testament scholar Fred Craddock closed his commentary notes on Luke 10 with this sentence, \u201cIf we were to ask which example applies to us, the Samaritan or Mary, his answer would probably be Yes.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

A right understanding and practice of being neighborly goes beyond just being religious. It touches the hearts of those who are \u201cNones\u201d or even reject Christian faith. In the summer of 1968, I joined a couple of dozen other people on an extended journey across Europe, Israel and into Russia. I remember a Sunday morning in Moscow when our communist state sanctioned young female guide took us to a Christian church service. While we did not understand the service since it was in Russian, when we got back on the bus someone asked her what the sermon was about. She said it was about a story she had never heard before. It was called the Good Samaritan. She described the biblical story and said that it touched her heart.<\/p>\n

As we follow Jesus, may we have ears to hear the plaintive cry of those who, in the simple voice of Mr. Rogers, ask, \u201cPlease, won\u2019t you be my neighbor?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Bishop Doug Beacham<\/strong><\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> Fred B. Craddock, \u201cLuke\u201d in Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990) p. 152.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[108,134,439],"class_list":{"0":"post-1165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bishops-blog","8":"category-general","9":"tag-bishop-doug-beacham","10":"tag-bishops-blog","11":"tag-good-samaritan","12":"entry"},"title_es":"\u00bfQui\u00e9n es mi pr\u00f3jimo?","content_es":"Recuerdo cuando mi hija y su hijo eran ni\u00f1os peque\u00f1os, a veces me miro Barrio S\u00e9samo<\/em> o Electric Company<\/em> con ellos. Ambos eran de ritmo r\u00e1pido y las mantuvo, ya veces yo, entretenido. Es decir, que no le gustaba Big Bird, o El Conde (ah, ah, ah). Tambi\u00e9n vimos Mister Rogers 'Neighborhood.<\/em> \u00bfQui\u00e9n puede olvidar el adorable Fred Rogers, un ministro presbiteriano que muri\u00f3 en 2003, abriendo la puerta, entrando en el conjunto cantando el tema, quit\u00e1ndose la chaqueta y ponerse un su\u00e9ter, sentarse y cambiar los zapatos de vestir de zapatillas de tenis, y el cierre con un sincero, \"por favor, \u00bfno quieres ser mi vecino?\" Ahora, sin ofender a ninguno de ustedes, pero yo siempre pens\u00e9 que Mister Rogers 'Neighborhood<\/em> fue la televisi\u00f3n Ritalin para los ni\u00f1os hiperactivos. No estoy seguro del efecto sobre mis hijos, pero funcion\u00f3 para m\u00ed, ya que era generalmente dormido en el sof\u00e1 en el momento en el tema musical termin\u00f3! Pero, al punto principal, todav\u00eda puedo o\u00edr en mi mente la verdadera melanc\u00f3lica, apelaci\u00f3n, \"Por favor, \u00bfNo quieres ser mi vecino?\" Tal vez algunos de ustedes han viajado la carretera 1 de Jerusal\u00e9n a Jeric\u00f3. Es verdaderamente un lugar desolado en medio de un \u00e1rido, duro, desierto. A lo largo de esta carretera moderna es un sitio llamado la Posada del Buen Samaritano. Basado en el incidente narrado en Lucas 10: 29-37, la ubicaci\u00f3n sirve como tel\u00f3n de fondo apropiado para el reto de un joven abogado (probablemente un estudioso de la Tor\u00e1) que representa a Jes\u00fas, (10:29) \"\u00bfQui\u00e9n es mi pr\u00f3jimo?\". Jes\u00fas se volvi\u00f3 a la pregunta de \"\u00bfQui\u00e9n es mi pr\u00f3jimo?\" A \"\u00bfQu\u00e9 se clasific\u00f3 uno a ser un vecino a otro?\" Al final de la per\u00edcopa, el abogado hab\u00eda discernido la respuesta a su propia pregunta: \"El que practic\u00f3 la misericordia\" ( 10:37). Detr\u00e1s de esta pregunta era una pregunta de prueba de la relaci\u00f3n de heredar la vida eterna y la Tor\u00e1 (la Ley). Jes\u00fas, como hac\u00eda a menudo, respondi\u00f3 con una pregunta: \"\u00bfQu\u00e9 est\u00e1 escrito en la ley?\" (10:26). El abogado respondi\u00f3 citando partes de Deuteronomio 6: 5 y Lev\u00edtico 19:18. Fue Lev\u00edtico 19:18, \"Ama a tu pr\u00f3jimo como a ti mismo\", que convirti\u00f3 el incidente en un momento de ense\u00f1anza respecto a la atenci\u00f3n de \"el vecino\". Este encuentro entre Jes\u00fas y el abogado se encuentra en el flujo de eventos y dichos de Jes\u00fas como \u00c9l enviado a Sus disc\u00edpulos al mundo como sus embajadores. En la primera secci\u00f3n, 10: 1-9 se trata de seguidores de Jes\u00fas de entrar en la \"cosecha\" de los perdidos \"como corderos en medio de lobos\" (10: 3). Se trata de la participaci\u00f3n disc\u00edpulos ciudades, en busca de \"un hijo de paz\" (10: 6), donde se encuentran refugio y hospitalidad. En ese lugar, est\u00e1 la afirmaci\u00f3n de que \"el reino de Dios se ha acercado a vosotros\" (10: 9). Donde hay rechazo del mensaje de Shalom, hay sin embargo la certeza de que Pero esta vez la cercan\u00eda del reino trae juicio divino porque Shalom fue rechazada (10: 10-16) \"el reino de Dios se ha acercado.\". De hecho, el peligro es tan grande que las ciudades que rechazaron las buenas noticias est\u00e1n en una condici\u00f3n peor que Sodoma (10:12). Al t\u00e9rmino de su misi\u00f3n a trav\u00e9s de Galilea, un \u00e1rea diversa en tiempos de Jes\u00fas con los pueblos mixtos de todo el entrecruzado de los imperios, los disc\u00edpulos volvieron a Jes\u00fas con gran entusiasmo de la \"energ\u00eda\" que experimentaron en su nombre (10: 17-20) . Sin embargo, les advirti\u00f3 de no confundir el \"poder\" con la realidad de su presencia, una realidad reflejada en sus \"nombres escritos en el cielo\" (10:20). Entonces Jes\u00fas se detuvo para orar y regocijarse en relaci\u00f3n con los prop\u00f3sitos de Dios del cielo que hab\u00eda enviado a \u00c9l (10: 21-24). Para nosotros, como los pentecostales, el lenguaje de \"regocijado\" en el vers\u00edculo 21 tiene connotaciones de la oraci\u00f3n de \u00e9xtasis, algunos incluso sugieren que esto describe a Jes\u00fas orando en otras lenguas. En el contexto de Lucas 10, este episodio de \u00e9xtasis en la vida de Jes\u00fas no dio lugar a la privatizaci\u00f3n, la piedad individualizada. En cambio, produjo en las zonas de conflicto de activismo donde el sufrimiento y la responsabilidad legal \/ moral colisionan. Aqu\u00ed es donde el incidente buen samaritano habla en voz alta para nosotros. Pensamos en nuestro pr\u00f3jimo como a alguien que conocemos, alguien que vive cerca de nosotros; tomamos prestado sus tijeras de podar y prestado nuestros tubos de manguera. Jes\u00fas redefini\u00f3 el vecino para ser la persona que no conocemos, la persona que es diferente de nosotros, las personas que est\u00e9n en necesidad. El cumplimiento de la Tor\u00e1 se extiende las fronteras del reino de Cristo por nuestra voluntad de interrumpir nuestra propia agenda, calendario, y recorrido por el bien de la otra. Tras el incidente del buen Samaritano, el cap\u00edtulo concluye con Jes\u00fas en Betania, en casa de Marta y Mar\u00eda (10: 38-42). Al principio, los dos incidentes parecen desconectados. Se pasa de una escena dram\u00e1tica en el desierto de Judea a una escena de la hospitalidad de manifiesto en un hogar lleno de amor. Pero en los dos \u00faltimos episodios de Lucas 10, aparecen las conexiones. La cuenta del buen samaritano y Martha \/ Mar\u00eda representan interpretar el uno al otro. Jes\u00fas nos dice que la acci\u00f3n y se sienta a sus pies (piedad) no est\u00e1n en conflicto. Para Marta y el buen samaritano, su enfoque es la acci\u00f3n, el servicio y la respuesta. Pero curiosamente, mientras que Jes\u00fas condena impl\u00edcitamente la \"piedad\" del sacerdote y el levita, Jes\u00fas elogia la piedad de Mar\u00eda por escoger \"la buena parte,\" sentado a sus pies (10,42). Al reconocer la acci\u00f3n de Mar\u00eda, Jes\u00fas afirm\u00f3 que no lo hicieron otros rabinos: una mujer sentada y el aprendizaje a sus pies. No es uno o el otro, la acci\u00f3n del samaritano o la sesi\u00f3n de Mar\u00eda. Es a la vez. Experto en el Nuevo Testamento Fred Craddock cerr\u00f3 se\u00f1ala en el comentario en Lucas 10 con esta frase: \"Si tuvi\u00e9ramos que preguntar qu\u00e9 ejemplo se aplica a nosotros, el samaritano o Mary, su respuesta ser\u00eda probablemente s\u00ed.\" [I]<\/a> Una comprensi\u00f3n y la pr\u00e1ctica de la derecha siendo vecindad va m\u00e1s all\u00e1 de ser religioso. Lo que toca los corazones de aquellos que est\u00e1n \"Nones\" o incluso rechazan la fe cristiana. En el verano de 1968, me un\u00ed a un par de docenas de otras personas en un viaje prolongado en toda Europa, Israel y en Rusia. Recuerdo un domingo por la ma\u00f1ana en Mosc\u00fa cuando nuestro estado comunista sancionado gu\u00eda de mujer joven nos llev\u00f3 a un servicio de la iglesia cristiana. Mientras que no entendemos el servicio ya que estaba en Rusia, cuando regresamos en el autob\u00fas que alguien le pregunt\u00f3 cu\u00e1l era el serm\u00f3n estaba a punto. Dijo que se trataba de una historia que nunca hab\u00eda o\u00eddo antes. Fue llamado el Buen Samaritano. Ella describe la historia b\u00edblica y dijo que le toc\u00f3 el coraz\u00f3n. A medida que seguimos a Jes\u00fas, podemos tener o\u00eddos para o\u00edr el grito quejumbroso de los que, en el sencillo voz de Mr. Rogers, pregunta: \"Por favor, \u00bfNo quieres ser mi vecino?\"\r\n
[i]<\/a> Fred B. Craddock, \"Lucas\" en Interpretaci\u00f3n: Un Comentario de la Biblia para la ense\u00f1anza y la predicaci\u00f3n (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990) p. 152.<\/h5>","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/02\/Custom.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-iN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}