Four to hang
Three sent up for stealing
Woman found guilty or drug charge
Two on sex charges
Crime and violence are pervading our society leaving in its wake, weeping mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends. Those who crime does affect, vehicular accidents are affecting, and for those are not affected by either of these, AIDS, covid-19 and other types of diseases are having they toll.
In almost every community there are people who need comforting;
People who need words of cheer;
People who need a listening ear or a shoulder to rest on.
Who will comfort these people?
If not you or I, then who?
Who will provide the listening ear?
If not you or I, who?
Who will carry the words of cheer?
If not you or I, then who?
Who will provide the shoulder for them to lean on?
If not you or I, then who?
There is no one else!! It is you and I, we who have been given the commission to stem the tide of evil, to lessen its impact and bring relief for the suffering.
God provided our instructions in Isaiah 58: 6,7, 10
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?5 6 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
To fast is important
To praise God is important
To keep the sabbath Day holy is very important
But caring for people is most important of all.
Jesus reiterated it in Matt. 25:40 when he said… Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Jesus gave all that he had and we will be judged on how we give. The entire gospel is about redemption and reconciliation of people to God. The saving of people is the of the utmost importance to God and it must be the same for us.
Matt. 5: 13,14
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Ye are the salts of the earth.
We are the salt of the earth, we are not LIKE salt, we ARE the salt. We are the preservative. In a world which Paul describes as having men who are
Lovers of self and money
Boasters
Arrogant
Rivilers
Unholy
Unloving
Haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited
Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ..
We must have men women and children who
Are Lovers of God
Are Humble
put others before themselves
Are holy, and righteous in Jesus Christ
Men who are haters of evil,
Men who will not be corrupted, whose word is their bond
Men of integrity and honesty.
The salt preserves hearts from sinking into the cesspool of bitterness and hatred. It keeps hearts from succumbing to depression because of the ever-increasing tide of evil. In a world going insane we must maintain a level of sanity.
We ARE the light of the world. We are NOT like the light. We are the light, and our job is to shine in the darkness.
To bring hope into a hopeless situation:
To bring one from the brink of death to the Hustle and bustle of life. As men look for ways of escape out of the darkness we must be there to show them the way, by our daily acts of kindness and love.
The keeper of the spring was hirer to make sure the spring remained clean. So daily he would remove debris, dead leaves and the silk, which would otherwise choke spring and contaminate the fresh flow of water.
Years passed and the man became old. He however kept doing his job faithfully. A flourishing town developed around the spring. Tourist came and relaxed beside the quiet clean waters while swans glided on its crystal-clear surface.
One day the town council who knew not the man decided to remove the old man from their wage bill. A few months after, the stream began to choke, the birds disappeared, and the tourist found another place to visit. Disease and sickness took over the village until the council had the common sense to rehire the old man.
Without us the society will self-destruct. It is us who must stop the society from decaying and disintegrating.
In the face of vengeance we must place forgiveness
In the face of hate we must show love
In the face of selfishness we must show charity
In the face of godlessness we must demonstrate Godliness
In a time when people treasure their possession more than any thing or anyone else we must show that people matters most
A man once said” We only have three commodities in this life- time, possessions and abilities. Nothing else with which to serve God and others. Love is using these three commodities for the good of others”
Luke 10: 33- 36
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
The Samaritan was on his business; He was not just riding idly by. He was on a mission, a man with a purpose, but seeing the destitute and hurt he was moved with compassion. It was not just a rational decision; he did not debate the logistics of his action or what could be gained or lost. No his heart was touched by the situation and he was moved to do something about it. The man became more important than his mission.
It did not matter who the man was, whether he was Jew, Samaritan, Roman or Greek. It did not matter if he was old or young or whether he was rich or poor, black, white, or Indian, the bible gives not details on these issues.
It says a certain man. It did not matter who the man was, what mattered was a human being was in need in help and he was in a position to help him.
We cannot afford to focus on ethnicity, religion, gender or status of a person in order to assist them. What is most important is that God created them.
Many sacrifice their relationships with their family for the sake of economic success or some grand achievement, only to find that at end of it all it means nothing without family or friends.
This Samaritan sacrificed time and money to make a difference in this man’s life. He used the problem which presented itself as an opportunity to sow seeds of kindness and love.
We too can adopt this policy. Let us look for opportunities to plant seeds of love and kindness in the hearts of others.
The Samaritan bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast, and bought him to an inn and took care of him.
The Samaritan demonstrated a high level of care. He invested what he had for the betterment of the guy. We cannot expect to make a difference in the lives of people by being distant. We must be willing to use what we have. We must be willing to risk caring, loving
The Samaritan took him to the inn, but he did not just take him there and leave him. With the additional resources available to him he took further care of him. We must not be so eager to rid ourselves of those we are helping: Our heart must be as much involved as our hands.
When we genuinely care for people, we would wish to see that they get the very best that we can give.
1 Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my good to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
The kindness of the Samaritan must have made an impact on that the man and his family. He would never forget the Samaritan. This reminds me of another story about a young man called Teddy Stallard:
Teddy Stallard was one of those kids who smelled musty, whose hair was never combed or clothes pressed. He was one of those kids who always seemed to be lost in their own little world. When Miss Thompson spoke to Teddy, he always answered with one word. He was unattractive, unmotivated and distant, he was just plain hard to like.
Whenever Miss Thompson marked Teddy’s papers she got a perverse pleasure out of putting X’s next to the wrong answers and when she put the F’s at the top of the papers she always did it with flair.
Christmas came and the boys and girls in Miss Thompson’s class brought her Christmas presents. They piled their presents on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them. Among the presents there was one from Teddy Stallard. Teddy’s gift was wrapped in brown paper and was held together with Scotch tape. On the paper were written the simple words “For Miss Thompson from Teddy”. When she opened Teddy’s present out fell a gaudy rhinestone bracelet with half the stones missing and bottle of cheap perfume.
The other boys and girls began to giggle and smirk over Teddy’s gifts, but Miss Thompson silence them immediately by putting on the bracelet and putting some of the perfume on her wrist. Holding her wrist up for the other children to smell, she said, “Doesn’t it smell lovely?” And the children, taking their cue from the teacher, readily agreed with “00” and “ah’s”.
At the end of the day when school was over and other children had left, Teddy lingered behind. He slowly came over to her desk and said softly, “Miss Thompson … Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother… and her bracelet looks real pretty on you too. I’m glad you liked my presents. “When Teddy left, Miss Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her.
From that day onward Miss Thompson was a changed teacher. She was now an agent of God working for the children. She helped all the children, but especially the slow ones and especially Teddy Stallard. By the end of that school year, Teddy showed dramatic improvement. He had caught up with most of the students and was even ahead of some. She did not hear from Teddy for a long time. Then one day, she received a note that read;
Dear Miss Thompson
I wanted you to bee the first to know, I will be graduating second in class.
Love.
Teddy Stallard
Four year later another note came
Dear Miss Thompson
They just told me I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy but I liked it.
Love
Teddy Stallard
And Four years later
Dear Miss Thompson
As of today, I am Theodore Stallard M.D. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now: Dad died last year.
Love
Teddy Stallard
Miss. Thompson went to that wedding and sat where Teddy’s mother would have sat. She deserved to sit there: She had done something for Teddy that he could never forget, She had given him unforgettable memories because she came to realized that people matter most.
Perhaps you too could give someone a memory that they would never forget, we can give people memories that they would never forget.
Imagine the impact we would have on our community if we would
Remember people matters most.
