Jesus reminds us that when we help others, we help ourselves

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A Reflection for Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Find today's readings here.

Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” (Lk 10:1-12)

At the end of the day, the Gospel is a message of abundance. There is more than enough to go around: that is one of the fundamental points of Christ’s message. Obviously, yes, those that have much more should reallocate that wealth to those without—but Christ points out something that should be rather obvious, though we sometimes forget it. “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few”—there is so much good to reap from the wheat of our lives, but we need to actually reap it in order to get it. And that requires effort; one does not get into heaven based on occasional donations alone.

That particular point gets heavy coverage in this passage from Luke. Jesus is sending out these seventy-two disciples with nothing: no money, no possessions, not even a pair of shoes to make the journey bearable. In other words, he wants them not just to look poor but to be poor, to experience poverty. And then, when they have finally reached civilized places, they will be exactly what they appear to be: people in need of help. Then and only then can they do the work that Jesus set them out to do.

Much of the time, before we can be of any use to anyone, others need to help us first. The road to becoming a better person, a more moral and ethical and virtuous and trusting person, requires work. But one does not exist in a vacuum. The positives and negatives of life are always around us, and nowhere are they better inhabited than through our fellow human beings. Strangers are the conduits by which we can test our own closeness to God. But they are people, too, going through all of the same struggles that we are. And because of that, when they help you, you help them, and so on and so forth.

The best thing Jesus did for us was make us recognize that helping others is helping ourselves. Creating a kind and compassionate environment, as well as improving the lives of those around us, is what makes for a better world. “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” he tells the seventy-two before they set out. The kingdom of God is here and everywhere.

Jesus instructs his disciples, if they were ever to be rejected from a Jewish town, to say, “The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake against you.” In New Testament times, “shaking the dust from one’s feet” was something that Jews did when departing Gentile towns, essentially to show that the two cultures were separate. It was an act of superiority. For Jesus to suggest that they do this to Jews themselves is notable—he is telling the disciples that others are only putting themselves at risk by not hearing his message. There is so much to go around in the kingdom of God. All you have to do is put in the work, by serving others, and then you can share in the abundance of the Lord.

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