“…then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He 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 neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
But wanIng to justIfy himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”” (Luke 10:25-29)
When the lawyer asks Jesus who is my neighbor, Jesus responds with the famous parable of the Good Samaritan. As he closes the story Jesus asks the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” To which the lawyer responds, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus sends the lawyer off by saying, “Go and do likewise.”
In these long days of 2020, this parable is a good reminder of the call to go and do likewise. As Jesus responds to the lawyer’s question about who his neighbor is, we hear Jesus saying that one is a neighbor when one offers mercy, kindness, and compassion to the one who is in need.
For Christians of every ilk, this is a hallmark of our ministry. As people of faith, we pride ourselves on the works that we do for the least of these: offering food for those who have little, providing clothing for the poor, offering a place for the homeless to stay for the night. Wrestling with the continuing issues around COVID-19, this call to be a good neighbor to those around us becomes that much more important. This is the time when we need to go that extra step to be sure that we witness to the love and kindness that exemplify the Christian life.
We need to be in continual connection with those around us, making that one phone call to remind someone that they are important to us, or ordering out one extra time a week to support local restaurants or shopping at local stores so the stores and their employees can make it another day.
It is a call to act with compassion, love, and grace toward those who need it most. We also need to show our care and compassion by wearing our masks, maintaining social distance and washing our hands.
These acts are not for our own protection, but for the neighbor we are called to love. In this way we can participate in Christ’s healing of the nations. They are actions that witness to our love for God and for each other and they remind those around us that we care for them as much as we care for ourselves.
We, the undersigned pastors of the Bowling Green Ministerial Association, encourage our community to wear masks, maintain social distance, and wash our hands to witness to compassion and grace in visible and meaningful ways. In doing so, we reveal our commitment to the core of Christian faith, that in the sacrifice of Christ there is hope for the salvation of all.
In the grace and love of Jesus the Christ,
Rev. Andrea Curry, President of the BGMA, Trinity UMC
Rev. Matt Every, Vice-President of the BGMA, First Christian Church
Deacon Phil Avina, St. Aloysius Catholic Church
Bishop William Mullins, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Rev. Amy Joy Miller, First United Methodist Church
Alex Wiles, First United Methodist Church
Rev. Helen K. Dukes, United Methodist
Rev. Gary Saunders, Retired
Rev. Deborah Conklin, Peace Lutheran Church
Rev. David M. Montgomery, First Presbyterian Church
