Never ever passes by on the other side

On what being a good neighbour means

I MUST admit that I watched the final episode of the Australian soap ‘Neighbours’ last week.

The UK normal viewing audience of around one million were in excess of three million as Channel 5 bid farewell to 37 years of the tales of Ramsey Street, part of an imaginary suburb of Melbourne, the second largest city of Australia.

It’s amazing how this modest soap, purchased by the BBC to fill an afternoon slot, grasped the imagination of the nation.

Michael Grade, the then controller of BBC 1, saw its potential when his daughter told him that she and her classmates would not miss a lunch time episode. When it was then repeated early evening viewing figures often exceeded 20 million and the rest is history! I remember in my college days when at lunch time at the Baptist college in Cardiff the then Principal Rev Dr Neville Clark would be perplexed to say the least and deeply concerned that future Baptist ministers would rush to the common room not to miss an episode! Those were the days!

An expert of the law once asked Jesus the question ‘Who is my neighbour?’ Jesus then told the story of a ‘good Samaritan’. A badly beaten traveller robbed of all he had and left to die at the roadside. Although they saw his need a priest and a Levite both among the religious leaders of the day left the poor man to die – after all they had religious obligations to fulfil which for them were of far greater importance. Then, a Samaritan, from a religious group hated and reviled by the religious elite of the day, did exactly the opposite. He was moved to compassion, bound the wounds of this dying man and even ensured he was cared for in a local inn before continuing his journey.

That badly beaten man would never have had a future had it not been for such compassion and kindness show by a nameless stranger. By today the term ‘good Samaritan’ is rightly used to acknowledge similar acts of kindness and care and sets an example of what being a good neighbour means.

It also affirms that true faith is not only intellectual assent to religious belief; it involves life change that always seek to the good of others and never ever passes by on the other side. Jesus said at the end of the story to the expert of the law – Go and do likewise - let’s do just that!