Who Is My Neighbor?

“Who is my neighbor?”

Luke 10:25-37

A sermon for 2/8/26 – Scouting Sunday

Luke 10 “25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.””

This is Scout Sunday. It’s great to have our scouts here with us today. I grew up in Scouting and have great memories. I am glad the church supports the scouting program for what it stands for and what the children can learn from being part of it. This morning, they all repeated The Scout Oath and The Scout Law.

The Scout Oath

On my honor, I will do my best

To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;

To help other people at all times;

To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

The Scout Law

A Scout is:

• Trustworthy,

• Loyal,

• Helpful,

• Friendly,

• Courteous,

• Kind,

• Obedient,

• Cheerful,

• Thrifty,

• Brave,

• Clean,

• and Reverent.

Part of the Oath & Law is about how the Scout treats self, and part is about how the Scout treats others. Listen to a description of certain parts of the Law:

TRUSTWORTHY. Tell the truth and keep promises. People can depend on you.

LOYAL. Show that you care about your family, friends, Scout leaders, school, and country.

HELPFUL. Volunteer to help others without expecting a reward.

FRIENDLY. Be a friend to everyone, even people who are very different from you.

COURTEOUS. Be polite to everyone and always use good manners.

KIND. Treat others as you want to be treated. Never harm or kill any living thing without good reason.

OBEDIENT. Follow the rules of your family, school, and pack. Obey the laws of your community and country.

CHEERFUL. Look for the bright side of life. Cheerfully do tasks that come your way. Try to help others be happy.

https://www.scouting.org/

All those parts of The Scout Law are about how a Scout is to treat others. It seems to me that Scouting makes treating others as important as Jesus Followers do. Jesus made this really clear in the story we call The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Just in case my folks here don’t know, parables were stories that were told to make a point. They were not like stories of things that actually happened, but were meant to help explain a truth the speaker was conveying.

Here’s an example by the storyteller, Max Lucado: “Once there were a couple of farmers who could not get along with each other. A wide ravine separated their two farms, and each constructed a fence. To keep the other one out.

In time, however, the daughter of one met the son of the other and – wouldn’t you know it-the couple fell in love. Determined not to be kept apart, they tore down the fences and used the wood to build a bridge ACROSS the ravine.”

I think we all get the point of that one!

Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan because he lived in a world just like ours: