Modern Saints: Won't you be my Neighbor? The Gospel according to Mr. Rogers (Sermon 11.9.25)

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Have you ever had a really good neighbor? 

Growing up, mine was Denise. 

She was the mom two doors down, who always made her house open to us neighborhood kids. Around her table, we shared tamales and Thanksgiving dinner, played Mexican train, and did art projects late into the night. She made us laugh endlessly. She was someone my mom could ask to pick us up from school if we got sick. I trusted her like I trusted my own parents.

How about you? Who comes to mind when you think about a good neighbor? 

Having a good neighbor is one of life’s great gifts. Perhaps that is why, being a good neighbor is one of the most important teachings in the Christian faith. A teaching shared with Judaism and Islam. In all three traditions, the way we treat those around us is deeply connected to how we relate to God—and to ourselves.

So it’s may not be so surprising that a television show all about neighbors and neighborhoods was created by a man of deep faith.

Each episode of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood opened with the cheerful Fred Rogers singing “Won’t You By Neighbor,” as he swapped out his sports coat and dress shoes for a sweater and sneakers.

The show featured real neighbors, like the character Officer Clemmons, played by Françoise Clemmons, and special guests like the famous cellist Yo Yo Ma,  and 10-year-old Jeff Enlanger, who, due to his disabilities, navigated life in an electric wheelchair. The unscripted scene between Jeff and Mr. Rogers talking and singing is one of the show's most iconic.

The show also features puppet characters from the “Neighborhood of Make-Believe,” like King Friday, Queen Sara Saturday, Daniel Stiped Tiger, and X the Owl. Together, they helped children understand emotions, solve problems, and imagine a world built on love and respect. 

A producer once said of the show: “Take everything that makes for good television—and do the exact opposite.”

Low production value, simple sets, and an unlikely star.

And yet, it worked—because Mr. Rogers was saying something profoundly true—

Love is at the root of everything. All learning. All parenting. All relationships.

And he reminded us that what we see and hear on our screens becomes part of who we are. So we should really care about what we put out on those screens. That truth is just as powerful today as it was when Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood first aired—perhaps even more so now, when screens and mass media shape so much of our daily lives.

Back then, television was brand new! If you're anywhere near my age, that can be hard to imagine! Fred Rogers was on his way to seminary to become a minister when he saw a television for the first time.

He immediately recognized how powerful this new medium could be. But when he saw slapstick shows with people throwing pies in each other’s faces, he wondered, Why are we using it this way?

So he decided to postpone seminary and go into television instead.

Fred quickly realized he wanted to create something no one else was making—a children’s show that respected kids’ intelligence and emotions. He was part of a growing movement of teachers, psychologists, pediatricians, and parents who were realizing that our experiences as children, both positive and negative, set the foundation for our entire lives. Fred had come to believe what was then considered a radical idea—that children’s feelings were just as deep and important as those of adults. 

Through the show, he created a world shaped by those convictions: a place where children could face fear and uncertainty, yet always encounter love, understanding, and care. 

Eventually, he did attend seminary at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. When Fred Rogers was ordained by the Presbyterian Church (USA), it was as a television evangelist—an unusual calling then, and still now, within the Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Roger’s was a minister, but you wouldn’t know it watching his show—at least if you assume all ministers should identify themselves as such, wear a collar, or give sermons. 

He never did any of that. He wasn’t what you think of when you think of a “televangelists.” Yet through every episode, he shared the message at the very heart of the Gospel—love your neighbor, and love yourself.

In many ways, Fred practiced what we preachers are taught in seminary—to teach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was not an escape from the real world. Instead, it was a place where children could learn about the real world around them, its wonders and its problems. 

In the very first week of the show, Fred addressed the Vietnam War through the puppet characters of Imagination Land. The ruler, King Friday, builds a wall to keep out “the changers.” Over several episodes, the characters address themes of conflict, war, and the power of kindness. Eventually, King Friday’s neighbors respond by sending messages of peace by balloon until he tears the wall down—a gentle, profound lesson in nonviolence and reconciliation.

Mr. Rogers also addressed the persistence of racism in the years after Jim Crow. At that time, many white communities refused to share swimming pools with Black neighbors—a painful legacy of segregation that lingered across the country. Fred Rogers found this to be absurd.

His response was to write a scene in which he and Officer Clemmons shared a footbath on a hot day. 

No loud political statement. No obvious protest. Just a kind moment between neighbors.  The way that the world was supposed to be. The way it could be.

Fred Rogers’ life and work were, in many ways, inspired by Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. 

This gospel lesson begins with a conversation between Jesus and someone educated in the Torah law. A nomikos, in Greek, which has been translated into English as “lawyer.” 

The lawyer asks Jesus, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? 

It's kind of a trick question. Jesus’s adversaries are often depicted as asking these sorts of gotcha questions. Questions that cannot be answered with a simple yes/no. 

So Jesus sidesteps his trick question with a question: 

“What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?”

The lawyer responds with this familiar line, derived from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.  “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus commends him. “Do this and you will live.” 

But the lawyer is not satisfied. He wants to be proven right. The author of this Gospel seems to understand that this man is motivated by self-righteousness. 

“Who is my neighbor?” 

Another attempt at a trick question.  

And so Jesus answers with the story. Not a precise legal definition or a long, drawn-out theological explanation, but a story.

The story of a man robbed and left for dead by the side of the road. The story of two religious leaders, a priest and a Levite, who pass by without helping. 

The story of a Samaritan — who stops, tends the man’s wounds, and secures him care until he recovers.

Today, the term Good Samaritan has come to mean a kind person who helps a stranger. We even have laws and charities that bear the name. But in doing so, we’ve softened the parable and lost sight of its challenge.

Samaritans were a people closely related to the Hebrews, yet centuries of conflict had turned them into enemies. For Jesus’ audience, a Samaritan would have been seen not as a neighbor, but as an outsider and an oppressor. The shocking twist of the story is that Jesus makes the enemy the hero, the one who truly embodies neighborly love.

In this, Jesus echoes one of his most radical teachings: Love your enemies. For generations, God’s people had been commanded to love their neighbors and care for the stranger—but loving one’s enemy was something entirely new.

That changes the question, “Who is my neighbor?” A neighbor isn’t just someone who looks like us or lives nearby. Jesus redefines neighborliness by his own measure—Christlike love that sees humanity, dignity, and goodness even in those we fear or oppose.

Mr. Rogers took that same question—“Who is my neighbor?”—and made it the heart of his ministry. He showed that being a neighbor means recognizing the humanity in everyone and responding with love rather than judgment or fear. Like the Samaritan, he crossed boundaries that others maintained.

• He sat with children who were afraid, confused, or grieving, helping them name their feelings instead of hiding them.

• He challenges harmful stereotypes about people of different races, abilities, and backgrounds, uch as in the scene of him and Officer Clemmons sharing a wading pool, and when he welcomed Jeff Erlanger on the show.

• He reminded everyone that we are deserving of love, with his catchphrase, “I like you just the way you are.” 

  
  

Mr. Rogers had his critics. Some claimed his message of self-worth created a generation of entitled adults. In reality, research shows the opposite: it’s shame, not affirmation, that breeds narcissism.

In one of his many commencement speeches, Mr. Rogers answered those critics, saying, “The meaning of ‘You are special’ is that you don’t have to do anything sensational for people to love you.”

He lived his life by that truth—that each person is created good and loved by God. Grace is not earned by merit but freely given. To be a Christian is to see what Mr. Rogers saw: that every person is precious in the eyes of God.

Just like the man left for dead on the road to Jericho.

Just like the Samaritan who stopped to help.

Both the parable and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood teach that love of neighbor is not just a feeling but a way of life. It means noticing who has been left out or hurt—and moving toward them with compassion, even if you are supposed to be enemies. It means slowing down in a fast, distracted world long enough to truly see and care, even when you may be needed elsewhere.

In recent years, his message has found new life, in part due to several films about his life. To me, it seems that the renewed interest in Mr. Rogers is because our world so badly needs to keep learning from his message. 

“Won’t you be my neighbor?”

 It’s more than a catchy line — it’s an invitation. An invitation rooted in God’s call to each of us: Love your neighbor as yourself.

But we, like the lawyer, may still wonder—Who is our neighbor?

Jesus shows us that our neighbors are everyone—if we have the faith to see it and the courage to act on it. Love has the power to turn walls into bridges.

Mr. Rogers understood that one of the most life-changing things we can do is help someone know they are loved.

In his commencement speeches, he often ended with these words:

“From the time you were very little, 

You have had people who smiled you into smiling, 

People who talked you into talking, 

Sung you into singing,

Loved you into loving."

He would then instruct his audience to think of somebody who had helped them along the way.

"No matter where they are, you know that they have always wanted what was best for you. They have cared for you beyond measure and encouraged you to be true to the best within you.”

Who came to mind for you?

And now—I want us to think not only about who we have received love from, but to whom we have given love. I am sure every one of you in this room has done this.

Who have you loved into loving?

And who will you love next?

Sermon preached by Rev. Delaney Piper on 11.9.25.