In this season of my life I find myself carrying a couple of titles I didn't see coming...
In School Suspension Coordinator.
Cross Country Coach.
Sure, I guess I am good at discipline, remediation, and supervision. And I guess you can say I know how to run and I think it's fun and healthy and challenging. But I never thought either of these things would become my "job".
One thing is for sure, my days and afternoons at Watertown High School are filled with questions.
"But why did I have to have ISS?"
"Wait, I already turned this in. Can I go speak to that teacher?"
"Who put me in here?"
"Hey coach, how many miles are we running today?"
"Wait, where did you want us to run?"
"Coach, five hills...really?"
"Hey coach, what did you say?"
Questions. Repetitive questions. Questions spoken just to kill some time. Questions to which we already know the answer. They get on my nerves. A pet peeve of mine I guess you could say.
Way back when, the "experts in religion", the elders, the priests, and important "church" people, they all loved to ask questions of Jesus. Many times they were repetitive. The questions were in abundance. And almost always...I'd say a good 9.5 out of 10...the questions had an ulterior motive.
One day one of these fellas asked..."Hey Jesus, what should I do so I can go to heaven?"
Knowing this guy was an expert in the law, Jesus gives a question right back to him..."You know what the law says, right? How do you read it?"
The man answered with an affirmative..."Love God...and love your neighbor."
Ding ding ding! Right answer! And then Jesus told him to go and do it.
Question answered. Case closed. Job done. One would think so, but not so fast.
"And just who is my neighbor?"
I can almost hear the sarcasm of "A-ha I got you now!"
Now most all of us know what followed and I love it. Jesus pretty much made it clear and simple by telling a story. He spoke of a man taking care of another man who had been beaten that he supposedly didn't even like. Even an enemy is your neighbor! Boom!
We think the mic drop is a new and trendy thing to do today. Whatever. Jesus did it all the time back in the day.
Lately, I have had something else on my mind about this chunk of scripture...
We need to quit asking the same question today and start acting like we have heard the story and know the answer. Quit asking who your neighbor is and just start loving them! He already told you!
For the Samaritan it was the Jewish man. Today that may look like this...
For the healthy it's the sick. For the democrat it's the republican. For the straight man it's the homosexual. For the wealthy it's the homeless. For the married woman it is her friend who is divorcing. For the cool kid that is walking the halls it's the kid that is made fun of and doesn't fit in. For a member of one "denomination" it's the member of another. For the sober minded it's the addict. For the legal American it's the immigrant. For the Christian it's the atheist.
The list could go on and on. But the point is let's stop asking the same 2000 year old question trying to ignore the answer that has already been given. And you know what...the answer to this question may be the solution to all of our problems.
It doesn't matter if you agree on everything 100%...guess what you won't. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. It doesn't matter if they are in the wrong...somewhere along the way we all have been wrong about something. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. It doesn't matter if it makes you uncomfortable...Jesus never once commanded us to be comfortable. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. It doesn't matter if they are outside our circles...lots of folks that Jesus visited with were supposedly outside of his. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.
If we claim to love God we have no other option than to love your neighbor. We can't do one without the other. Let's quit asking the question and just do the job.
