I like my hunker-down-in little world, my little nucleus of
family, friends and activities. I don’t really like the outside world now.
There is so much bickering and so many people who think so very differently
from me. Right and wrong seem subjective now—what a cheery start to a Christmas
message, or as political correctness in these times dictates, a “holiday”
message, which proves my point.
The problem is, I live in the big world. I am a small dot in
the huge population. What do I matter?
This fall we attended a Mennonite church and we heard a
great sermon. I told Rev. Roman Mullet that it was so good, that I would be
sharing some of it, so here is a blend of his thoughts (his is the research of
Bibical people) with mine woven into it.
Everyone in this world is merely a small dot in the
population but some step up their actions leaving an impact sometimes big and
sometimes small. We all know the story of the boy with the fishes and loaves.
It was Andrew who noticed the boy and he drew their attention to him. He did what he could do. The boy then
gave up his fishes and loaves. He did
what he could do. Rev. Mullet had a theory that the boy’s mother gave him
extra food to try and sell for some money. A thought that came to my mind was
maybe she was a caring soul who told him to share with someone, never knowing
he would be sharing with the multitude. Maybe she was doing what she could do. Imagine her surprise when her son came
home!
In the account of Ruth and Naomi. Ruth stayed with her
mother-in-law instead of leaving and she gleamed from the fields. She did what she could do.
In the book of Corinthians, a woman gave all that she had left to the collection. She did what she could do.
In I Samuel 25, Abigail fed David’s army. She did what she could do.
There was a woman in Mark 14 who anointed Jesus with perfume
worth a year’s wages. She was ridiculed but anything done for Jesus is not
wasted. She did what she could do.
When Elijah asked the widow who barely had any food, to cook
for him, she did. She did what she could
do. When she went back the oil and flour jars were refilled. (I Kings 17).
Dorcas made clothes for the poor. She did what she could do.
Priscilla and Aquilla, (my new favorite Bible couple) worked
together, had people in their home and taught people. They did what they could do.
I then thought of other “heroes” of life. I just learned of
Janusz Korczak, a children’s author and director of an orphanage in Warsaw
during the Nazi invasion. Although offered a chance to escape for just himself,
he did not. He told the 200 children they were going on an outing and had them
dress in their best clothes. He didn’t want them to be afraid as the Nazi’s led
them all to the gas chambers and Janusz sacrificed his life with them. He did what he could do.
There are so many hero stories about the holocaust. There
are stories in all wars when soldiers were heroes saving others. There are the
people who helped slaves escape in the underground railroad. There are
firefighters and policemen who risk their lives. There are people helping
anyway they can during the floods, volcano eruptions and wildfires. They do what they can do.
Then there is the kid who sets up a lemonade stand to raise
money for a charity. There’s the person who volunteers at the soup kitchen or
the person who stops to help someone when their car is broken down, the person
who lets someone in front of them in the grocery line or hold a door open for
them. There’s the person who pulls over instead of getting angry at the
tailgater. Even in the little things, we
should do what we can do.
I hate the negativity in this world and I don’t think one
person is to blame. This has been going on for a long time and it just keeps
building.
But I do feel, there is more good in the world than the news
shows us. When presented with a situation, we need to look inside ourselves and
do what we can do. Even the simplest
of gestures, a smile, can change one person’s day and can change their attitude
toward others that day. We are all precious pebbles tossed in the sea of life.
Some are big heroes who make huge ripples into the world, but even us smaller
pebbles can make ripples that have a lasting effect. How different we could make
this world if we all just do what we can
do.
Of course, the biggest sacrifice was God sending his son to
live life on earth like one of us. Jesus had to die for us, so that we may
enter heaven one day. He did what he
could do and that is why we celebrate this Christmas day.
We are told “whatever you do to the least of them, is as if
you did it to me”. Anything we do for Jesus, is never wasted. I know that some of you don’t believe like
I do, but I hope in 2019 we all do what
we can do to make this world a
better place. I also believe that most of you already practice this way of
life—you try to be courteous to others, even when they don’t acknowledge your
actions. I know if the world was just made up of my friends and family, this
would be a wonderful place. I just want you to not be discouraged. Don’t tire
of doing good. I know you are a precious pebble
and that you can make a good difference in this world. Keep the faith and keep
on doing what you can do. I will add another favorite movie quote. This one is
from Camelot. We are all “less than a drop in the great blue motion of the
sunlit sea. But it seems that some of the drops sparkle. Some of them do
sparkle!” May God bless you in 2019 as you sparkle.
Merry ChrisTmas!
