Who is my neighbor?

It seems that the Lord works in my life by bringing an idea to mind and then having the same idea come to mind through the messages I hear during the next week or two.
On my way home from work the other day, I heard most of a very good message on the subject of my duty toward my neighbor.
Speaking from Luke 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan tells us much about our personal response to need around us.
May I say in passing, that I have always admired the Amish for their loyalty within the family and their community. I have also admired the Mennonites and a few other groups for their care for the needy and those who have been struck by a natural disaster.
It is interesting that the lawyers of Jesus' day were conscience stricken at some of Jesus' teaching, and tried to knock Him down in other areas (logic, application, etc.) in order to justify their own lack of action on behalf of the ones who could not protect themselves.
It was on such an occasion that Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The setting is that of a person who has been attacked, robbed and left for dead (not exactly one who is able to do for himself). Jesus tells of the reaction of three different people when they see this terrible scene.
The first, a priest (equivalent roughly to a preacher in our day) saw the scene, crossed over to the other sidewalk and continued on his way. Today it might mean moving over several lanes on a highway in order to avoid doing something about someone in an accident, or moving to another neighborhood in order to avoid seeing the sights altogether. He may even have had the cleanest of motives, such as the need to keep himself available to the people he was headed to minister to. God forbid he should be laid up for a week until he could be cleansed of the uncleanness of having touched a body of someone who might just be dead. This would have interfered with his schedule. Or maybe he was already running late, and he figured someone else would take care of him, a layman, perhaps?
The second, a levite (roughly equivalent to our deacons and trustees) whose job was to take care of the business of the temple. His response="Not my JOB". Once again, he may just have had the interests of the temple in mind, and felt his job there was of utmost importance, and therefore he could not spare the time and effort.
The third, a Samaritan, despised by the Jews for being a half-breed, product of an interracial marriage, and not a follower of God as prescribed by the Law.
His response was amazingly simple: "Here's a man in need... here I am... I've seen the need... I'm able to help... I will help... "
The speaker pointed out that there are several negatives this man had to overcome to do this.
1) The person in need was Unknown. The idea that we are only responsible to our family is not biblical, for we are challenged to care for our family first, and then others, especially those who are part of the family of faith.
2) The person in need, if able to, would have been Unkind. He was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, so it can safely be assumed that he was a Jew who resided in Jerusalem, and had business to do in Jericho.
3) To help this man was Inconvenient as he, too, had business to transact, or he would probably not have been out on the road exposing himself to the weather and the possible attack of highwaymen.
4) To help this man was definitely Unprofitable. His reaction could have been very different. He could have said "I should do something about it? I don't work for a Non Profit Organization!!" In stead he put his own personal time, money, and provisions into the act of helping a person in need.
I'm sure the Samaritan was no more excited about seeing a person all covered with blood, lacerations and bruises than I would be, but Scripture tells us that he "had compassion on him" that is, he cared about him, felt for him. Then he did something about it. After disinfecting them with wine, and soothing them with oil, he bound his wounds, then he lifted him onto his own donkey, and walked the rest of the way leading his donkey until he arrived at the local inn, where he made him as comfortable as possible and then made arrangements personally with the innkeeper to take care of the man until he could personally come back and check on him, promising to pay the difference when he arrived back from transacting his business. Then, and only then, he went on to do his own business.

Lord, help me not to lose sight of people and their needs. Keep me balanced, clinging to the truth, but also being willing to invest in others who have needs that they cannot meet.

As the song writer said "Lord help me live from day to day in such a self-forgetful way, that even when I kneel to pray, my prayer shall be for others. Others, Lord, yes others, let this my motto be: Help me to live for others that I might live for Thee."