Sunday, July 17, 2011

John the Baptist Taught Us to Serve One Another

Today I read Luke 3, which deals mostly with John the Baptist. In this chapter, some people wonder about John and if he is the promised Messiah or not. I can certainly understand where the confusion comes from, after all, John the Baptist is the forerunner for the Savior. In that capacity, John is preparing the people who come to hear him to accept the Savior after him. He does this by teaching the higher law to the Jews.

We know that the natural man is an enemy to God. The natural man looks out for his own interests instead of those of his/her fellow man first. The commandments the Jews were given with the Law of Moses reflect this: an eye for an eye and such. What John, and later Jesus, were teaching was radical new doctrine for the Jews. Those that have two cloaks, give to those who have none. That was not a concept that most people had in those days. It's not a concept that most people understand these days either.

Just the other night, my wife and I were talking before going to sleep about giving to the poor and the homeless. She and her little brother had an opportunity earlier that day to assist someone they saw standing on a corner of the street asking for help. She mentioned how happy and good it made her feel to help that woman and how she was glad and fortunate to be able to assist her. We went on to talk about assisting those we come in contact with and she reminded me of a story that one of the General Authorities of the church had told during the last session of General Conference. He told a story of how he and his family were going out to eat and a homeless person came up to their car asking for money and he sent the person away. But the General Authorities father asked the man to come back and gave the man some money. The General Authority asked his father why he did that and that he had no idea what the man was going to use the money for. The father replied that it did not matter, it was not his place to decide what the person did with the money, it was only his place to give what he had.

All too many Latter-day Saints like to read the scriptures, especially scriptures like Mosiah 4, where we are commanded to assist the poor and somehow twist the scriptures so that, at least to them, it means help them in all ways other than monetarily. And yet, in Mosiah 4, King Benjamin blatantly states that we are to give of our substance to those that ask if we have it to give. And if we don't have it to give, we should say to ourselves that if we had it, we would give it. Every time in the scriptures we read about a Zion society, it states that there were no poor among them. But the reason there is no poor among them is because they made it that way. It's not like money rained down from heaven and bam everyone was equal and had enough for their needs. It is because those who had, gave and helped in every way they could. And those that had not, gave and assisted in other ways. When we die, I guarantee we will not be thinking to ourselves, I wish I had earned more money while alive. But it is extremely possible we might think to ourselves, I wish I had helped so and so when I had the chance. I will never forget a time I passed up an opportunity to serve someone in need and passed them up because I felt I did not have the time because I was running late. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive myself for not helping that man when I had the chance. I honestly don't know what I'll say if Jesus looks at me and asks me why I did not help that man who He had put in my way to assist. I doubt I'll be able to look Him in the eye.

In most instances we are not blessed with the gift of being selfless, we have to cultivate it through experiences and through our actions, just like all spiritual gifts. Some are born with it, but most of us have to earn it by doing it. For some, it does not even occur to them to think of others before themselves. It is really sad, but I recognize that it is true. John is trying to teach the Jews that very principle in this chapter. Jesus spent His entire ministry trying to teach others to serve one another. Our modern day Apostles and Prophets still spend all their time trying to get us to serve each other. We need to learn that lesson before it is too late to learn it and we spend an eternity regretting it. Until tomorrow.

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