February 23, 2022 – “Neck of the Woods” (Luke 10:25-37)

“Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to 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 up, and went off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man he passed by on the other side. So too a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. 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 silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ʻTake care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.ʼ Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The expert in religious law said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” So Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.” Luke 10:25-37

“Neck of the Woods”

When people first came to America, it appears there was a conscious effort to avoid naming new places and towns with Old English names. They often sought to give new “American” names. So in place of “moor,” “heath,” “dell,” “fen” and other such Old World terms, the colonists came up with “branch,” “fork,” “hollow,” “gap,” “flat” and other descriptive terms. Americans were the first to apply “neck” to a narrow stand of woods or, more importantly, to a settlement located in a particular part of the woods. In a country then largely covered by forests, your “neck of the woods” was your home, the first American neighborhood.

For Israelites, many of the people who lived in their “neck of the woods”, like people from Samaria and the Decapolis, were not part of their clan. The people considered as “Hellenists”, like those from the Decapolis, and the Samaritans, who were particularly despised by Israelites, were not often welcome. And yet, Jesus often uses people outside of the Jewish family as examples of people whose faith or gestures of faith were models of living and loving. The parable of the Good Samaritan is just such an example.

We often do not like to welcome outsiders, those not from our “neck of the woods”, to our neighborhoods, and our churches. Yet Jesus gives us example after example of how we should live — loving our neighbors and welcoming them — paying special attention to the strangers in our midst. Our communities are becoming bastions of different cultures, ethnicities, and religious practices. Now is the time to get to know the people who are not “from here”, to learn from them, and to partner with them in serving the needs of the community.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, you are the model of how to teach, love, heal and serve those not from our neck of the woods. Give us the strength to apply your lessons to our lives every day. Amen.

Pastor Dave