Neighbor

One Monday we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday to remember Dr. King who dedicated his life to fight racism and whose campaigns led to the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 1965, and 1968. 

I invite you to set aside time this weekend to listen to his final sermon, “I’ve Made It to the Mountaintop,” delivered on the day before his death on April 3, 1968. In that sermon, Dr. King retells the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-38). Jesus tells this parable in answer to the question, “And who is my neighbor?” Dr. King supposes that the Priest and the Levite who walked past the man hurt and lying in the ditch asked themselves how stopping would affect their lives. The Samaritan reversed the question and asked, “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” 

Yes, stopping to help another may be an inconvenience. Doing so may be dangerous. Accompanying others may be a long and winding road. But if we do not, what will happen to them? That is the question. 

As followers of Jesus, we are called to love our neighbors. To walk alongside them. To join them in their journey. To make this a better world for all people. It is my prayer that Saint Peter’s is counted as a Samaritan, a people who care deeply about the flourishing of all and, drawing from the words of Dr. King committed “to mak[ing] America a better nation.”