Who is my neighbor

 “No big complicated medical terms, just give it to me in plain English,” a man said to his doctor after his annual physical.  “Okay,” the doctor said, “You are overweight, have high cholesterol and blood pressure from bad eating habits, you sit around too much, and you have only yourself to blame.”  “Right,” said the man, “now can you give me some big complicated medical terms so I can explain all this to my wife.”   
       Unfortunately, we are all prone to making something complicated if the more simple version challenges us to change or to take more responsibility for our own lives.  This can be especially true when it comes to religion! The closer we get to its simple, direct commands to make God first in our lives and to love our neighbor, the more we take refuge in using nuances and postponing our responses.   
       Putting God at some distance from us is one way to put off the intimate encounter that forces us to prioritize our energies, engage seriously the agenda already written in our hearts, and take up the discipline of adult maturity.  As Paul reminds the Colossians, God is no longer at a distance.  Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God.  If we want to know what God asks of us, follow Jesus!   
       Jesus brings the entire immense tradition of the law and the prophets down to a single image: God is revealed in compassionate, sacrificial love.  The familiar parable of the Good Samaritan is really the story of a lawyer who wanted Jesus to help him use the law to stay in control and not let love get out of hand.  Law enabled him to sort out his relationships to family friends, countrymen, and determine at what point any obligation to help another ceases.   
       Several reversals occur in the parable.  The lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” presumes that he is in the position of benefactor.  Who am I obligated to help?  As Jesus tells the story of the poor victim waiting for someone to come along and be neighbor to him, the lawyer is drawn into the role of benefactor.  The failure of the priest and the Levite only heightens the need for him, the lawyer, to show compassion.  But into that role Jesus suddenly introduces the hated Samaritan instead!  The only character left that the lawyer can possibly identify with is the victim!   
       The question then becomes, “Who is neighbor to you?”  What if you were in desperate need and your worst enemy stops and shows compassion for you?  What does this do to the lawyer’s careful, predictable world?  The lawyer, in this intimate encounter with God, loses the security of the law!  He is plunged into the limitless demands of love!   
       We are all left with the same simple, demanding vision of God in Jesus.  Respond generously in any situation of need and pray that others will likewise be neighbor to you when you are the one in need!  Thus, your life becomes an unpredictable, limitless adventure of opportunity and response.  If, like the lawyer, we can be coaxed into taking the plunge, then we are not far from the Kingdom of God.  Say yes to love, and enter quickly!