Neighbours
What are neighbours? Do we have to like them to love them? Liking and loving are not the same and love can mean so many different things to different people. In the Gospel, Jesus commands us to love our neighbours as ourselves. We are not however commanded to like them. Some of us can be very difficult to like and sometimes we find it difficult even to like ourselves.
At times liking can just be a whim such as “I’d like an ice cream.” If I don’t get the ice cream then it doesn’t matter that much. Loving on the other hand demands action. Because I love you, I am compelled to act – I can’t simply stand idly by. When Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan it was a stark story of two different ethnic groups who at best despised and at worst hated each other. Jesus does not tell us that the Samaritan liked the injured man he helped. However, his actions were those of love which goes way beyond the bounds of liking. Love takes you out of your comfort zone. Love is challenging. Love is costly. Love is dangerous. Love takes you to places you do not necessarily want to go to. God’s love for us took Jesus to the cross for our sake and that is the kind of love we have been shown. Jesus commanded us to love one another. This is not a call just to be nice to each other. No, it is a call for us to take risks, to make sacrifices and to place our trust in God as we love others.
Love transforms lives. Unfortunately, like many of us, I all too often go down the road of liking instead of loving. However, I believe that where we choose to love our neighbours – be they next door or from groups we just do not like – then the understanding we gain helps us to discover how to like them as well. Love changes lives and brings hope to people – and not just to those receiving love but to those who offer love as well.
David Bradshaw, St Mark’s Church Leamington Spa
October 2008