What does it mean to love someone? We use the word love for a lot of things. We love a sports team. We love a movie. We love our boss. We love this customer. We love that family down the street. We love our kids. We love our spouse. All of those are different. When Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” what kind of love are we talking about?

       Jesus actually clarifies this for us with a story in Luke 10:30-37. It’s a famous story. It’s the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this story, a Jewish man is robbed, beaten, and left for dead. A Jewish priest happens upon the scene, and, surprisingly, passes by the beaten man. A Jewish levite (someone who worked in the Temple) also passed the man by without helping. Why? We’re not told. Maybe they were too busy. Maybe they thought he was already dead.

       But, then a Samaritan comes upon the dying Jewish man. Samaritans and Jews hated one another. But, in this story, the Samaritan stopped what he was doing, picked the man up, bandaged his wounds, poured oil on them, set him upon his donkey, and stopped at the closest village. There, he paid a innkeeper to look after him. The Samaritan man stopped what he was doing, greatly inconvenience himself, gave up his time and money, to help someone else, even someone he considered an enemy.

       Then Jesus asks this in Luke 10:36-37, “36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

       According to Jesus, loving our neighbor involves sacrifice. It means giving up what we want to help someone else out. It means choosing to love, even when it costs us. Thank you for choosing to love your neighbor this week. You’ve stepped up and decided to volunteer, instead of enjoying the worship and service like everyone else. Thank you. You are sacrificing something you love on behalf of others. That’s what love looks like. Thank you for being an example to the rest of us. We are called to love the way you’re loving us this weekend. Thank you!