WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

At my age, I guess I tend to look more at the “good old days.” One huge thing I believe is so missing in our culture today is that of the neighborliness I once knew. Growing up in my neighborhood, I don't know of anyone who locked their doors. There may have been some who locked their doors at night, but daytime was different. My Mother could be cooking something, finding she had run out of eggs. Even if our neighbor Lil wasn't home, Mother would go in her back door, get an egg out of her refrigerator and complete her task. As soon as she got eggs, she would take it to Lil and that was that. Nothing was ever thought of it. Neighbors looked out for each other. When my Dad was sick, I recall one summer when Mr. Williams our other neighbor came over and mowed our lawn a few times. The list could go on and on of neighbors sitting with each other on their porches just for an evening chat. Those were days when neighbors were neighbors in the truest sense. They looked out for each other.

I realize we live in a time when we can't extend Mr. Rogers invitation that we may have seen on the TV program that featured him. Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was a kids favorite and a lot of adults enjoyed it too. A theme song he sang included the invitation, “Won't you be my neighbor?” In our day, we can't casually throw out that question to just anyone so the result is that many people don't know their neighbors unless they've lived in a neighborhood for a long time. How unfortunate that we have to be so careful of impending dangers that tends to keep us closed off from others.

There isn't much in Scripture that is said about neighbors other than to love them and not take any advantage of them. There was a casual conversation between Jesus and a lawyer in Luke 10. The lawyer wanted to know how to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him in verse 27:

“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.”

Jesus spoke to the lawyer regarding priorities...God first and others second. Come to think of it, I don't think I know any human being other than Jesus who loved others more than He did. It took that selfless love to die for us all. The lawyer then followed up with a question...”WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?” We think of neighbors as people who live next door to our own houses. Jesus really broadened the term though when He went on to relate the parable of the good Samaritan. With that illustration, the meaning of the word “neighbor” greatly changed. Our neighbor now can be someone we sit beside in church, or stand behind in a grocery line. It can be someone in a car next to us at a stop light, or a family in an attached booth in a restaurant. Jesus changed the entire concept of what a neighbor is. It can refer to anyone we come around who has a need for help or even a smile. The person doesn't have to have a need, but just being around a friendly, encouraging person can bring encouragement.

Isaiah 40 through the end of the book is full of encouragement for God's people that is so personal and practical. It is a section that is a love letter as much as a love letter can be from God to His own people. He speaks of our being walking “acts of kindness” and how one neighborly act can lead to others, one person at a time. In Isaiah we read in 41:6 and beyond:

Each one helps his neighbor and
says to his brother,
“Be strong!”
So the craftsman encourages the
smelter, and he who smooths metal
with the hammer encourages him
who beats the anvil, saying,
“The soldering, It is good he fastens it with nails so
it will not totter.

Notice, one person said to a craftsman, “Be strong.” What did the craftsman do? He encouraged the one working with the liquid metal. That person in turn encouraged the next craftsman and he the next, and he the next. One man encouraged his neighbor with the encouraging words, “Be strong” and it was passed along the way in any number of ways. Who knows how far it went.

When we share encouraging words with others with love, we will never know perhaps until Heaven how far those words traveled from person to person and how they changed lives . They were all our neighbors and we didn't even realize it. The sweet thing is that God knows. He knows “neighbors” we have influenced in so many ways through perhaps just some little acts of kindness or words of encouragement. God can use our neighborly ways in ways we cannot comprehend in present days. We may not bind up physical wounds as the good Samaritan did. In our day, many folks have different wounds needing the salve of kindness and encouragement. If nothing else we can think of to say, God said it best and worthy of our repeating, “Be strong!”

Father, God, help me to be aware of folks around me who may have any number of needs. Perhaps they need just a smile or word of encouragement from me. If I can do anything beyond that for them, lay it on my heart. I want to be you with skin on in a day when so many people are hurting. I love you. In Jesus' precious name...Amen