04/12/2026
Ben: “Should I take off my pants and turn them inside out?”
The rest of us: 😱
To start our time together, we played “What Changed?” One person left the room while the others changed something about their appearance. Then we invited the person back into the room to see if they could figure out what everyone changed about themselves.
Change can be difficult, but sometimes it’s necessary. We read a very familiar commandment in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which told us to love God with all our heart, soul, and might. It was a well-known commandment among the people for many generations. Then in Luke 10:25-28, a lawyer asked Jesus the most important commandment. He echoed the command in Deuteronomy to love God, and added that we should also love our neighbor. He slightly changed something to teach an important lesson that loving God also means loving others.
When the lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”, Jesus told the parable about the Good Samaritan. A man was robbed, beaten nearly to death, and left on the street. He was passed by a priest and a Levite, but a Samaritan man stopped to help him. The Jews did not like the Samaritans, so Jesus knew this part of the parable would surprise them.
Our neighbor might not be the person we expect; it might even be someone we despise. But Jesus told us that if we truly love God, we will also love our neighbors, no matter who that neighbor is. ALL people are loved by God, and ALL people deserve to be loved.
