Message: "Everything in Between: Stranger & Neighbor"
Rev. Dr. Amanda Adams Riley, Parish Associate
Our theme for this Lent is “Everything in Between.” This theme is an invitation to navigate the polarities in our lives with more faith, intention, and openness to be transformed. Each weekly sub-theme explores two supposed binaries, like “faith & works” or “rest & growth,” or “stranger & neighbor.” We often consider these ideas to be opposing. However, as we explore these concepts within the scriptures, we find nuance and complexity. We might begin to see a full spectrum and find that God is present in between. This morning’s parable begins and ends with the question, “Who is my neighbor?” and the answer is, surprisingly, “the stranger.” The Samaritan, whose place of worship and customs are different from the scribe who questions Jesus, is both a stranger and a neighbor to the man who was beaten and left in a ditch. In our world, many of our physical neighbors are strangers to us, and many of our neighbors—those closest to us—feel like strangers in divisive social and political climates. If we align our intentions and actions, then maybe we need to reconsider who we consider “stranger,” and ask ourselves if we have acted as good neighbors. Listen now to a reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 25 through 37. Reading: An expert in the law 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 wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

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