Lucy and Ricky had Fred & Ethel, Archie Bunker had the
Jefferson’s and Tim “the tool man” Taylor had the eccentric Wilson. Neighbors!!
Everybody has them. Mr. Rogers
had a whole neighborhood full of them! Knowing our neighbors is important and loving
our neighbors; ah, that may be a whole other story.
Let me tell you about a special neighborhood, filled with
special neighbors in the town of West Jordan, Utah. An entire neighborhood came together to
celebrate a little boy’s birthday with a party and parade and cake and ice
cream and balloons; yet it was not the little boy’s birthday. Then a few days later, the entire
neighborhood came together to celebrate Halloween for this same little boy with
a block party and costumes and trick or treating; yet it was not
Halloween. Then just yesterday the
entire neighborhood came together to celebrate Christmas Eve for the little
boy; they decorated every house in the neighborhood with lights and gathered
together awaiting the arrival of Santa!
And today they celebrated Christmas Day with the little boy, complete
with toys and gifts and a feast. We all
know it is not Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
These neighbors were responding to the life story of 4 year
old Ethan van Leuven, diagnosed 2 years ago with a rare form of cancer. Recently Ethan’s mom & dad were given
very sad news; he only had about 2 weeks to live. As the neighbors found out, everyone came
together to make sure little Ethan would get to celebrate every holiday
possible, one last time. Tomorrow it
will be New Year’s Eve! What
neighbors! What love! What a gift!
And the greatest present they all are giving to Ethan is their presence,
presence filled with love.
As people of faith, Jesus tells each of us to love God with
our whole everything and oh, by the way, love your neighbor as yourself!
In this 22nd chapter of Matthew, we find the
Pharisees still trying to trap Jesus with his own words. Last week he silenced the Sadducees with his
answer about the coin and paying taxes, this week he silences the Pharisees
with this incredible answer. You see the
Pharisees were not just asking Jesus to pick a favorite commandment from the 10
Commandments, they wanted him to recall from the 613 ritual laws and
commandments found in the Torah, which command was the greatest. Jesus simply says: “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, soul and mind.
This is the greatest commandment.
The second is like it. You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus took the whole law and the prophets, everything the
Pharisees would know well, and teaches that love of God, while first, can
hardly be separated from love of neighbor.
Love of God is evidenced by how we love our neighbor. Now we may indeed love our next door
neighbor, and we all would probably rush to the aid of a neighbor like little
Ethan van Leuven. But who is our
neighbor? What does Scripture say and
the Church teach when we ask: who is my neighbor?
We glimpse a hint in our 1st reading today, from
Exodus: widows, orphans, aliens, the poor.
Yes, our neighbor in Jesus’ neighborhood is often the marginalized, the
discriminated, the oppressed, the beaten down, the misunderstood, the seemingly
unlovable, the outcast, those who the world deems the worst of the worst. And if we profess to love God, Jesus tells
us, just like loving God, love them too.
How can we love them? Like those
neighbors in West Jordan, Utah, love them with our whole being; with our
everything! Be the present of
presence. For these neighbors we must be
a solid example of our Christian witness.
Pray for them; do acts of kindness for them. I am still the beneficiary of neighbors, dear
friends, who cut my grass and take care of my yard, as they recognize my need
of time spent in various ministries. For
me, my dearest neighbors are those men in Rayburn Prison, those men that the
world would rather throw away or simply forget about. And to me, they love me as their neighbor.
In the week ahead, can we spend some quiet time and truly
examine: how do I demonstrate my love for God, a love that must be with my
whole heart, my whole mind, and my whole soul.
Would others know I love God by the way I love my neighbor? Examine in
that same quiet time: do I love those who don’t look like me, act like me, or
even worship like me? Do I love my
neighbor next door, and do I love my neighbor half-way around the country and even
half-way around the world? And remember,
that love of neighbor Jesus speaks of includes our own loved ones and family,
even those who have let us down or may be estranged. If this be the case, these great commandments
compel us to reconcile. Do we need to
reconcile with someone? Re-read this
Gospel, in the week ahead, for the faith and courage needed to take the first step
toward that reconciliation!
The Ricardo’s and the Mertz’s; the Bunker’s and the
Jefferson’s; the Taylors and Wilson!
Yep, neighbors. Who is our
neighbor? What does my neighborhood look
like? I hope it looks like that of Ethan
van Leuven. And as Mr. Rogers might ask:
would you be mine, could you be mine, won’t you be my neighbor; and as Jesus
might ask: won’t you love my neighbors!
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