Last Wednesday in the student service, we continued our series, Hope Lives. In this series we are taking a first hand look at poverty and what we can do to end extreme poverty.
We looked at the two greatest commandments Jesus gave, (1) Love the Lord with all your heart and (2) Love your neighbor as yourself. The question that was asked for the night was, "Who is my Neighbor?"
When Jesus gave the two greatest commandments, he was asked this question, and his answer was a story, "The Good Samaritan." In this story a Jewish man was robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite passed him by without offering assistance, but a Samaritan, whom the Jews despised, stopped and not only assisted him, but put him on his donkey, carried him to an inn, took care of him overnight, and payed the inn keeper to keep him there until he was restored to health.
So, to answer the question, "who is my neighbor?", Jesus' answer was whoever is in need that crosses our path.
I challenged the students to open their eyes throughout the week and find one person in need that crossed their path, and do one kind thing for them to help meet their need.
If you live in the Northern KY/Greater Cincinnati Area today is a perfect day to meet a need! If you look around your street you will find a driveway that needs shoveling. Perhaps it is an elderly person, or someone with a disability. It could be a woman whose husband had to go to work and won't get home until later. It is a simple way of meeting the need of a neighbor and showing them the love of Christ in a practical way.
If you do venture out to shovel a neighbor's driveway, they may offer you money. I challenge you to kindly refuse their offer. Tell them it is an honor to shovel their driveway, or suggest that they give that money to their favorite charity or to their church.
If they offer you homemade brownies...well now that is a different story!