Per Alexander's Suggestion

A disclaimer: the religious parts of this aren't really true to my beliefs. The parts about ecumenism are true to my beliefs, but maybe not the god parts. 

Luke 10: 25-37

 ²⁵On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

 ²⁶"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

 ²⁷He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'^c]">[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'^d]">[d]"

 ²⁸"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

 ²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

 ³⁰In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coins^e]">[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

 ³⁶"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

 ³⁷The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." 

      Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

^"7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. ⁸ Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

Love your neighbor as yourself. This phrase, if nothing else, captures the essence of our faith. Jesus’ final commandment, to love each other, is the very core of what we believe. However, we so unfortunately become desensitized to compassion. We all find ourselves caught up in the “how” and “why” of our faith. That is, we’re so inclined to consider what God thinks about global warming or marriage or war, and we consequently forget the “do” of Christianity. Haiti certainly taught me otherwise.

             The unutterable poverty of Haiti struck me first. As we drove through Port Au Prince and I watched thousands of people trudge through sweltering heat, there became no question about the country’s status as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Because of our journey from the capital city to our headquarters in the southwestern mountains, I now rethink all of our comforts. When I begin to complain about a line for the bathroom or a convenience store restroom’s filth, I’m forced to consider the 4.83 million people of Port Au Prince whose waste fills the streets, since no public sanitation or sewage systems exist. When I sigh at a burnt-out light bulb, I think of every last tree in Haiti that has been cut down for national energy – and the homes and lives destroyed by the erosion this energy policy has led to. Next time I find myself scoffing at a restaurant’s botched order, I’ll be forced to remember the people of our hosting parish who only eat meat on the specialist occasions and sometimes find themselves forced to decide who of their family will not eat one night. We quickly found ourselves acting as beacons of hope for many in Haiti. People’s excitement upon receiving shoes or the news that efforts would be made to build a new school showed me how much hope we can provide for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Certainly, this trip taught me why I want to love as Jesus taught, why I find it important to love. I’m reminded of I Corinthians 13, “but without love, I am nothing.” Without our love, friends, the world is nothing. And even with a good bit of care and love already in the world, poverty festers a short distance from Miami. It becomes evident that if we are going to love, as Luke’s gospel teaches, and accomplish much for the world, we must love pretty big.

           The question then arises: “how do I love?” I believe that today’s passage from Deuteronomy offers important advice for executing our lord’s last request. The reading calls us “to rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.” Certainly, we could all do well to use our wealth for the good of our brothers and sisters. However, the people of Haiti taught me that the act giving doesn’t always involve a tax-deductible check or gift-wrap. Throughout the trip, my interactions with the people of Haiti began to seem more and more important. And, eventually, I realized simpler –and sometimes more powerful - gifts exist than money. The people of Haiti, for example, were quick to offer their most valued gift to us: prayer. They also freely offer their friendship and hospitality. These interactions showed us other ways to live openhanded; in the same vain of Deuteronomy’s teaching, we are called to be openhearted and open-minded. We can certainly all keep the more broken of this world our thoughts and well wishes, but only our actions, our donations, and our friendship fulfill our golden rule.

           But just as the priests in today’s New Testament reading, we find ourselves asking: who is my neighbor? I met a seventeen-year-old student on Easter Sunday. His name was Jacque-Lynn, he sang in the choir, and he spent the afternoon talking with me. I don’t know very much else about him, and I doubt that he knew very much about me. However, Jacque-Lynn was never hesitant or shy to call me his friend. He would carry our conversation with phrases like: “Do you have two parents, my friend?” or “My brother, what will your vocation be?” Once more, knowing not even my last name, Jacque-Lynn quickly promised me without any petition on my part: “my brother, I will pray for you and your life.” I think we can all learn something from Jacque-Lynn and his readiness to call me his neighbor. In our material culture, we so often forget how many ties bind us to the members of our own congregation, to the homeless in our own community, to the disease-stricken across the world, to the poverty-stuck people of a hopeful nation a few miles off our coast. These other humans so often become “those people” or “them.” I hope we can start to think of our partners in humanity as “brothers,” “neighbors,” or “friends.” 

 I hope we can remember Jesus’ most important and simple word: love. And maybe we will even realize how much loving and giving and caring will do for our world.