"Won't you be my Neighbor?" - Sermon for Pentecost 8, July 10, 2016

Sermon:

Text:

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who redefines neighbor.

            I grew up watching PBS. I learned about being friends with people, the alphabet and numbers through Sesame Street as I grew with Big Bird and Bert and Ernie. I learned about the power of books and imagination through Reading Rainbow as LeVar Burton and others read and shared them with me. Those programs made me into who I am.

            But the show that stuck with me and really, truly made a difference was Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. From meeting various people from around his town to travels to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe I learned that every person has value, we are all important, and we are all loved. Encapsulated all in the opening theme.

It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,

A beautiful day for a neighbor,

Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

It’s a neighborly day in this beautywood,

A neighborly day for a beauty,

Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,

I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let’s make the most of this beautiful day,

Since we’re together, we might as well say,

Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

Won’t you be my neighbor?

Won’t you please, won’t you please,

Please won’t you be my neighbor?

            I have always wanted a neighbor like you, I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you. Won’t you be my neighbor.

            And yet, we don’t live like that. Our nation and culture does not. We kill each other, we disregard each other, we turn against each other, we sabotage each other.

            And to that we need to be continually repeat Mr. Roger’s refrain. Won’t you be my neighbor, and then we need to treat people as our neighbors.

            Our Gospel lesson for today is one we all know, the story is stuck in our heads just as much as Mr. Roger’s theme. One we’ve heard many times over, the Good Samaritan. And in times like these we need to hear it again and again and again, because clearly it’s not sticking.

            The lawyer responds to Jesus after being told that he has given the right answer to how to inherit eternal life, “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.” He asks, And who is my neighbor?

            That’s the big problem and the one Jesus responds to. We know how to treat people, we know to care for people, the problem is that we divide between who we think to help.

            A friend of mine told me this example, when you’re in the line at a grocery store they have dividers for the conveyor belts. You put the divider down and then put your own stuff on the one side, with the other persons on the other. Now you don’t have to worry or think about the other persons stuff. We have then taken this idea to all of life, what we do is put up dividers.

            Who is my neighbor?

            “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

            The Priest and the Levite were doing exactly what they were supposed to do. According to the laws of Moses they must keep clean in order to perform their duties, which means no touching blood, so they must make a line between themselves and the man on the road and pass by.

33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’

A Samaritan is not just a foreigner, but virtually arch enemies to the Jews. And so, when he is walking down the road, there is already a line between himself and this man on the side of the road. And he steps over it. He doesn’t let a human division keep him from doing what he should do.

36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

We attempt to define neighbor by who people are, what lines have been drawn where, whereas Jesus defines neighbor as what you do, how you help and care for any around you.

Mr. Rogers also said this, “We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.”

The priest and Levite have said that’s not my problem, the Samaritan has seen the need and responded, and that’s what a neighbor does.

We live in a world that makes divisions between everyone, that deals with problems by saying simply, that’s not my problem. That’s over there, or it happened to them, and we don’t do anything about it. And when it happens again, we wonder why. There’s a reason why. We haven’t learned a thing, even though we’ve heard this all over and over again.

To have any chance of changing things. We must declare to the world who our neighbors are. We need to know and announce to the world who Christ sees as neighbor.

Christ says to us. My neighbor is Alton Sterling, killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My neighbors are the police officers killed in Dallas, Texas, Michael Krol, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Smith, Lorne Ahrens, Brent Thompson. My Neighbor is Philando Castile, killed in Falcon Heights, MN. My neighbor is those different than me. My neighbor is those who are hungry, those who are hurting, those who are grieving, those who suffer from racism, sexism, ageism. That’s who Christ says is his neighbor.

And then Christ asks us.

Won’t you be my neighbor? We are all neighbors to each other, we are all beloved Children of God, created in God’s image, we were created to love each other, God came to us in Christ because of love. There’s the Children’s song. Red and yellow, Black and White, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world. So, Why do we kill each other?

Let us pray,

God of peace and neighbors. Change us. Show us our errors, show us how to love each other. Help us to actually respond to the problems in this world instead of just saying that’s not my problem. Help us to be neighbors to each other, showing mercy to each other. Let us see that in you all lives matter, black lives, white lives, Latino lives, Asian lives, Arab lives, Native American lives. Amen.