“Love Your Neighbor”
Sermon for Youth Sunday, by Natalie Arndt
Feb. 29th, 2004
Last year during my Junior year of high school, I took AP Biology. It was a
challenging class, and I don’t think I’ve yet forgiven myself for taking it, but I did get
through it with minimal damages. However, there came a point during our study of
nutrient transport in plants at which I became terribly confused with the information,
rendering me helpless against the homework my teacher had assigned. Sitting in my
study period that morning with my notebook open, textbook on my lap, and handouts all
over my desk, I found no help in the numerous diagrams and charts our teacher had given
us. As time ticked away I nervously searched for someone from my AP Bio class who
might be willing to explain the diagrams to me. The only person I found was the last
person I would have like to ask had I had my choice. I finally worked up the nerve to ask
her what was meant by “vascular cambium,” and she spent the next fifteen minutes
explaining the chapter to me. I was surprised. This girl had no obligation to help me, let
alone do more than say “Oh – the vascular cambium is….” (well I’ve forgotten now), but
she did. I like to think that she was able to see past someone who is not like herself, and
see a student in the same difficult position as all the other AP students that year.
In this way, my classmate was very much the Good Samaritan – helping when
help was not expected; helping because she could. The message that lies within the
parable of the Good Samaritan is simple, fundamental, and vital to Christianity. In fact,
the instruction to “love your neighbor as you love yourself” is so basic and so often
repeated that it’s easy to overlook the implications of this charge. “Love your neighbor as
you love yourself.” Rather than telling us how much we must love our neighbor, Jesus
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