This being Easter Week it seems like a good time to talk about the teachings of Jesus. When Jesus walked upon earth he taught us to serve one another. Indeed, he spent his life serving others without any financial reward. He taught us to do as he did, which means we are expected to spend a lifetime in serving others.
Those who only care about themselves live a life of misery. If you only care about yourself whatever you accumulate will never be enough. Jesus taught us that serving others will bring us joy in this life and happiness in the world to come. Why should this be? It seems to be a law of Heaven that serving others brings us joy and selfishly accumulating wealth and only caring about one’s self brings misery.
Think about people you know who are genuinely concerned about you and others. Someone who is always willing to help you and others even if it is only words of encouragement when you are feeling down. Is that person someone you want to be around not only because they make you feel valued, help you to understand that you can manufacture you own happiness and as an example of how you should treat others?
Contrast that friend with someone you know who is totally selfish. Is that someone a person you would go to for encouragement or advice? Likely that person is someone you would prefer to avoid? The only reason I can think of for spending time with a selfish person is if you have confidence you can show this individual the joy that can come to someone who forgets self and serves others.
Jesus taught us about serving our fellow man in an oft repeated parable which has come to be known as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In the parable a man was attacked by robbers and left at the road side badly injured. This happened in an Israelite Society where the people had been greatly blessed by God and the expectations were that they would serve him.
In the parable a Priest and a Levite passed him by, two people you would expect to be good examples of God’s teachings. We do not know what they were thinking. Were they late for an appointment? Were they only interested in doing things that might bring them the praise of men and helping this person did not seem to qualify? Did they just not want to get involved? Whatever the reason, it was displeasing to God.
Then a Samaritan appeared, treated his wounds and took him to an Inn and leaving money with the Innkeeper to tend to his needs. He also promised the Innkeeper if the money was not enough to take care of his needs he would pay him the next time he traveled through, which implies he traveled that route often and knew the Innkeeper.
It us worth noting that the Samaritans had a mixture of Israelite and non-Israelite blood and were held in social contempt by most Israelites. There are takeaways from this parable. Those who think they are the chosen of God are often not willing to follow his teachings. Those the Israelites considered inferior are often “the Chosen” of God by the way they live. The “Good Samaritan” was willing to help a total stranger, perhaps an Israelite who held Samaritans I contempt, at a loss of his time and treasure.
I know a widow who prays every morning that God will lead her to someone she can help that day. As you can imagine she is living a life of purpose and has a reason to get up and get moving each day. I heard a religious leader once say that a colleague told him to treat everyone he meets as someone who has great challenges in life and he would be correct half the time. It has been said that everyone has a private Hell. To test this theory I asked a woman I am closely acquainted with if she has a “private hell”. She admitted it was her children. I knew what she meant. Some of her children had strayed from the teachings of Jesus and others had gotten divorces.
Do you have a “private Hell”? As the old country song’s lyrics say, some broken hearts never mend, some tears never dry. Sometimes our challenges are caused by others and we are seemingly powerless to change that. What can we do to try to bring solace to others who are suffering challenges in their lives? Will your ministering to others help them? Probably. Sometimes people are helped just by having someone to share their burdens with. Will it help you? Probably. Sometimes when we complain about our burdens we find others with burdens that make ours look small.
Why should we get involved in service to others? Since Jesus tells us should serve our fellow man it should be important to us. Where do we find people to serve? I looked out my window one day and saw limbs and leaves in my widow neighbor’s yard, a wonderful opportunity for service came to me and my wife. Probably most of us have opportunities for service in our own neighborhood. If you are looking for opportunities to serve others you will never be out of work to do. There are many community service organization that are looking for volunteers. My suggestion is you consider your training, skills and passions in life to determine where you serve. For example, I am handy with tools which led me to be a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity which builds affordable homes for low income people. There is a place for all of us to serve others and find purpose in life.
This is a blog for Conservatives and People of Faith.