Even Our Enemies Are Our Neighbors

If one needs further evidence that the promises of God are not for the people of Israel alone, one can easily find it in the book of Acts.

Philip goes down to Samaria and preaches the gospel. Samaria was not a comfortable mission field. The Samaritans were not merely strangers. They were the hated enemies of Judah, a people viewed with suspicion, contempt, and religious hostility. And yet, just as when Jonah preached to Nineveh, the word of God bore fruit among those whom many would rather have avoided. Philip’s words and mighty deeds made a clear impression. The people listened. They believed. And there was great joy in that city.

This work did not begin with Philip. Christ himself had already begun it at the well when he spoke with the Samaritan woman and revealed himself as the Messiah. What began there quietly now begins to flourish openly. The seed planted by Christ is bearing fruit through the preaching of the Church.

And so, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John. This is no small detail. The Samaritans were not left at the margins as a separate or lesser people. The apostles came to them, prayed for them, and laid hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Here we can see the seeds of Confirmation: the apostolic laying on of hands, the strengthening gift of the Spirit, and the full reception of these new believers into the life of the Church.

This is an amazing witness. Peter and John laid hands on Samaritans. They did not merely preach at their enemies. They prayed over them. They touched them. They became instruments of the Holy Spirit for the very people their ancestors had despised. Truly, all the earth should cry out to God with joy.

But this is not only a story about Samaria. It is also a summons to us.

We are all called to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts. We must always be ready to give an account for the hope that is in us, not with arrogance or hostility, but with gentleness, reverence, and integrity. Our lives must proclaim the gospel in word, yes, but also in how we live. The credibility of our witness depends not only on what we say, but on whether our lives have been conformed to the love of Christ.

To be sanctified is to be set apart for God. But being set apart for God does not mean being withdrawn from the needs of others. It means being given over to the work of God. And that work must be expressed in charity. We are called to do good even under pressure, even when misunderstood, even when suffering. This is not sentimental. It is cruciform. Christ also suffered for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that he might lead us to God.

Jesus himself tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” His commandments are not arbitrary burdens imposed from the outside. They are the concrete form of love. To love God is to will what God wills. God does not need anything from us, so our love for him is shown by conforming our will to his. And what does he will? That we love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. On these commandments hang the whole law and the prophets.

But here we must be careful. Like the man who asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” we are often tempted to narrow the commandment until it becomes manageable. We are willing to love those who are near, those who are useful, those who agree with us, those who already belong to our group. But the gospel refuses that narrowing. Our neighbor includes the Samaritan. Our neighbor includes the outsider. Our neighbor includes the one we distrust. Our neighbor even includes the enemy.

That is the demand of Christian love. Not mere affection. Not vague goodwill. Love means willing the good of the other and acting for that good, without being ruled by an inordinate love of self. Humanly speaking, this is not easy. In fact, apart from grace, it is not possible. This is why we need the Holy Spirit. We need the Spirit to teach us how to love with the love of Christ, especially when natural affection fails.

The apostles’ actions in Samaria give us a powerful image of this love. Peter and John laid hands on their enemies. The Church did not keep the Samaritans at arm’s length. The gospel did not make them tolerated outsiders. It made them brothers and sisters, fellow heirs of grace, members of the one body of Christ.

We are not orphans. Christ has not abandoned us. We have been adopted as children of God, and that adoption comes with a responsibility: to love as we have been loved. God loved us while we were still unrighteous. He sought us while we were still far off. He gave us his Spirit, not because we deserved him, but because he is merciful.

So we are called to do the same. To lay hands, as it were, upon our enemies. To serve them in love. To pray for them. To will their good. To recognize that, in truth, our enemies are our neighbors.

And perhaps this is one of the greatest tools of evangelism the Church possesses: a life so marked by charity that it becomes difficult to explain apart from grace. A life that bears witness not only by speaking about Christ, but by loving as Christ loves.