Most of us would say that we want to be a good neighbor. We try to be friendly and kind to people we see in our neighborhood or at the grocery store. While these well-meaning intentions and gestures are admirable, after a while we wonder if our human interactions have anything more to offer.

What if the deeper connections we are looking for starts with an invitation for us to be more generous and brave towards welcoming people who are unfamiliar or different than us? What if the greatest way for us to experience the beautiful community that mirrors the kingdom of God is by showing hospitality to strangers?

Perhaps being a good neighbor means learning how to love our neighbor. 

For those of us who believe and follow Christ, we don’t really have to guess about this invitation. Hospitality is clearly a command (1 Peter 4:9) that is to be done without grumbling and it specifically includes showing it to strangers (Hebrews 13:2). In addition, the Bible intentionally highlights people who were considered strangers in various cities and circumstances. The whole nation of Israel lived as strangers in the land of Egypt while they were enslaved by Pharaoh. It is for this very reason that God later commands them in Leviticus 19:34

“The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”

Loving the stranger as yourself.

Easy to say, but much more difficult to live out in our lives. A powerful example is given to us by Jesus in the story of the Good Samaritan. You may be thinking, “Hold on. This is a story about loving our neighbor, not loving the stranger.” I would challenge you with this question — is there a difference? Or do we construct our own ideas of neighbor and put limits on who falls into that category, just as the expert of the law tried to justify himself on this issue before Jesus?

We see in Luke 10:25-37 that Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan in response to this expert of the law as he tried to nitpick who deserved to be his neighbor. But Jesus shows us how the outcast of Jewish society (the Samaritan man) chose to care for someone who likely hated him. This man did not even know his name and expected nothing in return. They were strangers and enemies.

The power of this story lies not in formulating a detailed description of who our neighbor should be; but in the fact that God calls us to show mercy to those we would label enemy and stranger. 

This summer, a team of students from Shallowford Presbyterian Church had an opportunity to encounter people and life at the border through a Service Learning Trip. They bravely chose to move beyond the news headlines and come see for themselves. In the words of the trip leader,

“It’s hard to change our perspectives when we are only given one point of view.”

Their students were given an opportunity to share about their transformational experience at their Sunday morning service. We encourage you to listen to their beautiful testimonies. Thank you Shallowford Church for reminding us of this calling to love and welcome the stranger.