The Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862 at Marye’s Heights was one of the most lopsided battles of the Civil War. Union soldiers kept charging up a hill toward a stone wall, where the Confederates slaughtered them.

By nightfall, thousands of wounded Union soldiers lay helpless in a frozen field between enemy lines, crying out for water and relief. A 19-year-old Confederate soldier from South Carolina, Richard Rowland Kirkland, asked permission to take water to the wounded Union soldiers.

His commanding officer, General Kershaw—while hesitant at first—eventually relented, and Kirkland, carrying as many canteens as he could find, climbed over the wall. In full view of both armies, he went from soldier to soldier, propping their heads up on knapsacks, covering them with coats, and giving them water.

Union soldiers quickly realized what he was doing, and not one shot was fired by either side for over an hour. As both sides watched in eerie silence, Kirkland moved from one wounded soldier to the next, without regard for himself. Eventually the fighting resumed.

By the end of the Civil War, 3 million soldiers had served and 750,000 of them had died—roughly half Confederate and half Union. The gruesome war that killed 2.4% of the US population—one out of every 42 people—created so much bitterness.

But among those who had witnessed such a stunning example of neighbor love that day up on Marye’s Heights, none would ever be quite the same again. Kirkland came to be known as the “Angel of Marye’s Heights.” Today, a statue of him giving a drink to a wounded Union soldier cradled in his arm stands at Marye’s Heights, thanks to veteran survivors of his enemy.

Acts of love like this have always had the power to transform, and always will. In fact—

Cut the Bible and it bleeds neighbor love.

In Luke 10:25-37, a lawyer asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” He responds by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the same way that Kirkland’s actions shocked the soldiers because they were so unexpected, the parable shocked Jesus’ audience. In the story, after a man is robbed and left for dead, it is not one of his own kind who saves him; rather, it was a Samaritan—the equivalent of a Confederate helping a Union soldier—who stopped to help when others walked by.

Jesus’ point was summed up well by Pastor Samer Massad, who said, “There is no such thing as a non-neighbor.” Everyone you see is someone Jesus died for.

Our natural tendency is to see people based on the color of our jersey, but Jesus calls us to see people through the color of His blood.

Love is the glue that holds us together and the oil that keeps us from rubbing each other the wrong way. In John 13:35, Jesus didn’t say, “By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you perfect your theology.” No, he said—“if you love one another.” Right theology is vital, but people are not attracted to Christians because of how we think; they are drawn by how we love—especially when it’s practical.

This has always been the case. In the second-century church, believers were falsely accused of treason, cannibalism, and immorality. Yet Christianity exploded across the empire. Even the pagan emperor Julian the Apostate admitted, “Those impious Christians—they support not only their own poor, but ours too.” Practical neighbor love had quite an effect. It still does.

One of my most vivid memories is a friend in Cincinnati telling me how he collected sleeping bags and took them to homeless people. That’s the kind of practical neighbor love that captures the spirit of the Good Samaritan—as well as the teaching of James the human brother of Jesus:

If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:16-17)

Who are our neighbors? All people. And when we love in practical ways—whether enemies, persecutors, or the homeless—the world can’t help but take notice.

Much love,

Pat

Discussion and Reflection Questions

1. What keeps you from loving certain “neighbors” the practical way Jesus commands?
2. Read Luke 10:25-37. What in this passage challenges you?
3. Who do you need to show the practical love and compassion of Christ today?

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