Won't You Be My Neighbor?

The title of this blog likely instantly brings back many fond memories of the beloved Mr. Rogers (especially for our more seasoned readers). As children, many of us watched Mr. Rogers change out of his stuffy suit jacket and dress shoes into a comfy sweater and sneakers, all while asking us to be his neighbor. In a world today where most of us don’t even know our actual neighbors (those living right next door), it brings to light some important questions: “Who is our neighbor?” and “What is the responsibility of a neighbor?” 

I was recently reading through Old Testament scripture and something stuck out to me in 2 Kings Chapter 4 that I hadn’t noticed before. This chapter in the Bible describes the well known story of the prophet Elisha helping a widow and her two sons. 

One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.” “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied. And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.” So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”
2 Kings 4:1-7 NLT

Elisha instructs the widow to ask her neighbors for empty jars and then begin to fill them with the only asset she has…a small jar of olive oil. It’s an amazing story of what God can do with the little we think we have. This story is usually preached to show the provision of God if you are obedient to do what He tells you to do. But the character(s) that drew my attention this time was not the widow or her two sons or even Elisha. It was actually the neighbors. What would have happened in this story if the neighbors were stingy and refused to give the widow their empty jars? Would the miracle still happen? It takes me back to the question: what is our responsibility as neighbors?

Of course, when we start talking about neighbors, who they are and what they should do, most of us will probably navigate towards the story of the good Samaritan in Luke 10. In this parable, Jesus is explaining to a teacher of the law who his neighbor is. He goes on to tell a story of a man being attacked by robbers and left for dead. A priest and a Levite saw the man but passed by on the other side. It was only the third man, the Samaritan (who represents Jesus), who stopped and took pity on the man. He bandaged his wounds and took care of his needs by taking him to an inn and paying for the man’s stay for as long as he needed to heal.

So, thinking back to the original questions I posed: Who is our neighbor and what is the responsibility of a neighbor? Based on what Jesus says in Luke 10, our neighbor is anyone that is put in our path that we can tangibly help to make a difference in their life. Our responsibility as a neighbor is to co-labor with God and have front row seats for the miracles He wants to do in the lives of others.

Like the widow in 2 Kings, God so often works through others to achieve His will in the lives of His people. It’s the exact reason we’re not zapped up to Heaven once we’re saved. We are left here on Earth to be neighbors. God longs to use His sons and daughters to impact the people around them. He will likely use others to help you achieve freedom, too. And He will most definitely use you to help others achieve their freedom! 

So, what’s the takeaway? Go out today and be a good neighbor!