1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God. 11 You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. 12 And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord. 13 You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. 14 You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. 15 You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord. 17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
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In our daily walks through life we come across any number of strangers: waiting for the city bus, walking through the mall, and even chance encounters in the local grocery store. Everywhere we go, there is a chance that we will have an opportunity to engage with somebody who was once a nameless face. However, the question becomes what do we do? How do we engage those who are unknown to us?
More often than not we don't. We simply go about our business, walking past those we do not know, possibly giving a friendly nod of gratitude if they hold the door open for us. However, beyond that we are slow to engage with people who have no reason to belong in our circle of influence. It isn't that we don't care about them. We just have no real reason to invest or divest in their lives, except when Jesus calls us to love our neighbor. Oops, did you forget that part of the New Testament? Probably not, but chances are you have found yourself in the age old argument over the specificity of neighbor. Just who is our neighbor anyway?
To make it easier on us, the Levites have provided us with plenty of ways to love our neighbor--granted most of them fall under the umbrella of "thou shall not," however this then can empower us to do the mere opposite of what is forbidden.
Remove stumbling blocks from the path of the blind.
Tell the truth to our neighbors.
Provide for the poor.
Cloth the naked.
Visit the prisoner.
Care for the widow.
Feed the hungry.
The list goes on and on and on. However, it all comes back to the call to love our neighbor. So, as we continue down our daily journey, the daily grind of work, the struggle to keep our heads above the rising tide, what can we do to make the lives of those around us just a little more bright. What words of encouragement can we offer? What helping hand can we lend? What steps could we take off our path to make the path of the other a little easier to traverse?
Let us pray:
Our lord, our savior, our guide, our example, we ask that you shine a light into our lives where we may be of assistance to our neighbor. Allow us to see the needs of our community and take steps off our daily path to lend a helping hand. Empower us to make those tough decisions, and give us the heart to do it out of the love and grace that you have provided us. We seek to gain nothing but to do your will on earth as it is in heaven. Be with us, guide us and protect us as we journey forward into your grace. Amen.
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