“Who is my neighbour?”
This question from a Jewish lawyer was the beginning of one of the most evocative and impactful parables told by Jesus (Luke 10). As I’ve reflected on this question, I’ve noticed that while the story of Christ is deep in its description of justice and empathy, the question is deeply human. See, questioning the categories of who our ‘neighbours’ ought to be is not just a question of boundaries, but also trying to find the limit of God’s view of inclusion, and by extension, who deserves our concern and good will as followers of God.
In the past two months, Xin Yu and I have been challenged by this question. As we’ve not been able to advance the depth of our relationships with our church family as much as we would have like, we’ve felt God challenge us to consider who God has placed within our circle of life. The question we asked was, ‘what if we took this opportunity to get to know our literal neighbours and see if God opens up doors to serve them?’. We started to speak with our neighbours, asking them for their stories and opened opportunities for friendship.
What we’ve experienced has been nothing but a blessing for us. We’ve met and been able to build friendships with people of different ages, cultures, ethnicities, sexual identities and life experiences. I’ve been able to pray for some of them, encourage them during difficult days and laugh during the good ones.
One such neighbour of mine used to go to church, but had just gone through a season of deep discouragement in faith, mental health, marriage and family. We started running with one another, making it a ritual to share and pray with one another. I see that as an example of seeing God use me ‘in the wild’. The Spirit was already working in his heart, but I was given the privilege of being a part of his healing. By trying to find avenues to be obedient to God in our present circumstance, we’ve been blessed deeply by the amount of doors being opened for us to minister to our local community.
Who is my neighbour?
The parable Jesus uses to reply to that question is that to be neighbourly is to learn to serve and love people regardless of the gaps between us. The moral of the story is designed to challenge our perception of who we should love and advocate for. God’s love for His creation has NO limits, He is perpetually at work within the world around us, if we would only try and see it.
Sometimes moments of challenge and fear can cause us to retreat into our shells, and cause our concern for our neighbours to shrink. But it’s these moments where God calls us to be even more bold in our courage and love for those around us. To show them the light of Christ outside of the church building itself. Can I just encourage you, as Sydney opens up again, to consider how you can love your neighbour deeper in the coming week, months and years. To ask of God, “who is MY neighbour? And how can I join in your ministry for them?”
"誰是我的鄰舍？"
一位猶太律法師提出的這個問題是耶穌所講的最令人回味和影響最大的比喻之一的開始（路加福音 10）。當我反思這個問題時，我注意到雖然基督的故事對正義和同情心的描述很深，但這個問題卻是非常人性化。質疑如何區分我們的“鄰舍”應該是誰，不僅僅是一個界限的問題，而且還是試圖找出上帝看“鄰舍”涵括之限度，推而廣之，作為上帝的跟隨者，看看誰是值得我們的關懷和善待。
在過去的兩個月裡，我和我太太都被這個問題所困擾。 由於我們未能像我們希望的那樣推進我們與教會這個家有更深的關係，我們感到上帝在挑戰我們去思考上帝把誰安置在我們的生活圈子裡。 我們問的問題是，“如果我們藉此機會認識我們真正的鄰舍，看看上帝是否為他們敞開大門讓我們去服侍呢？”。我們開始與我們的鄰居交談，問他們的故事，並打開了建立友誼的機會。
我們所經歷的只有對我們的祝福。我們能夠與不同年齡、文化、種族、性別認同和生活經歷的人認識並建立友誼。我已經能夠為他們其中的一些人祈禱，在困難的日子裡鼓勵他們，在美好的日子裡一起歡笑。
我這些鄰居其中一個曾經有去教會敬拜，但剛剛經歷了一段在信仰、心靈健康、婚姻和家庭方面深感沮喪的時期。我們開始一起跑步，彼此分享和祈禱成為了慣性。我認為我看到這是上帝“在曠野”使用我的一個例子。聖靈已經在他的心中工作，而我有幸成為他的醫治的一部分。我們試圖在目前的情況下找到順服上帝的途徑，很多為地區服務的大門就此為我們打開了，我們實在深深地受到祝福。
誰是我的鄰舍？
耶穌用來回答這個問題的比喻是，作為其他人的鄰舍，就是要學會善待人，不管我們之間的差距如何，都要學會服侍和愛人。這個故事的寓意旨在挑戰我們對應該愛誰和擁護誰的看法。上帝對他的創造的愛是沒有限制的，只要我們試著去看，就會看見他是永遠在我們周圍的世界中工作著。
有時，挑戰和恐懼的時刻會導致我們退縮到自己的貝殼裡，並導致我們對鄰舍的關注減少了。但正是這些時刻，上帝呼召我們要更加勇敢，更有勇氣地愛我們周圍的人。向他們展示在教會建築物之外基督之光。隨著悉尼再次開放，我能否鼓勵你考慮如何在接下來的幾周、幾個月和幾年裡更深地愛你的鄰舍。問上帝，“誰是我的鄰舍？我怎樣才能進入袮為他們預備的事工？”
