What Is Yours To Do?

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. Luke 19:1-6

Running the risk of being Captain Obvious, I find that the daily news is distressing. Without fail you hear or read about political unrest, racial tension, economic struggles, crime, wars, terrorism and more. On top of that is the global pandemic that makes all the other bad news even more difficult to take. All this bad news is so overwhelming that it often renders us frozen in response. Because we feel powerless to make any real difference, we are tempted to not even try.

Recently, I heard a pastor describe his own struggle with this. He was on a church mission trip to Haiti. There he found a pervasive sense of depravation and instability. During the day, he saw masses of people struggling to even maintain a minimum standard of living. At night were the burning fires of voodoo worshipers in the mountains. His efforts at good felt hopeless.

The leader of the ministry he had come to help noticed his distress and invited him to take a walk. As the made their way down a dirt path, this ministry leader told the pastor that he couldn’t fix the problems that he saw. He was right. There were just too many problems for any single person to address. But that didn’t mean the pastor was incapable of doing anything. This leader’s motto was simple: “love the one in front of you.”

It reminds me of something that St. Francis of Assisi was quoted to have said. “I have done what was mine to do; may God teach you what is yours to do.” I think Francis got this from Jesus. During His public ministry, there were tens of thousands of people suffering with all kinds of needs. Jesus made a difference in many of their lives, but He didn’t fix everything. He learned like the missionary to love the one in front of Him.

His interaction with Zacchaeus is an example. Jesus was passing through Jericho when he saw Zacchaeus in a tree. In that moment Jesus didn’t concern himself with the hoards of tax collectors in the region. Instead He chose to love the one in front of Him. And that act made an everlasting difference in Zacchaeus’ life and indirectly spoke to all the seeking Zacchaeuses in the world telling them that they did matter to God.

So if you’re burdened with the many sad stories in the news and feel that you just can’t do anything about it, remember the motto: love the one in front of you. It is what is yours to do.