Losing yourself to find yourself
The following story comes from the time of the Persian Gulf War, about the resistance efforts in Kuwait. Najeeb Bastaki, a twenty-four year old Kuwaiti living in Kuwait City, was a member of the Kuwaiti resistance. But he told a reporter, “The word resistance doesn’t mean I carried a gun and fought and killed. What we did mostly was get food and money to families who needed it.
“The system worked like this: every week, resistance workers would meet at a secret point and collect rice, sugar, butter and other food staples from the main food co-ops. At night or early in the morning, the resistance members would fan out around the city, delivering to designated homes a ‘main store’—a shipment of ten sacks of rice, fifty kilograms of sugar, cans of butter and so on. Each home that accepted a delivery was responsible for distributing the food to nine neighboring houses.
“Money was distributed on a more informal basis. It is our way that no one in need should ever know who gives the money. So if you knew a family that needed money, you would just slip out of the house early in the morning and put an envelope under the door...The wealthy people did this. I myself have money, so I did it. I gave away about $10,000.”
The reporter comments that in the midst of the horrors surrounding them, the Kuwaitis became a community. Through sacrifice, generosity and selfless service, they “resisted” the evil around them.
More recently, during the war in Ukraine, there are similar stories of selfless courage. Adrian shares the story of Vasyl*, a Ukranian who drove his extended family across the border into Romania.
A local partner helped them to find a host family, who welcomed them into their home. But as soon as his family was settled, Vasyl returned to Ukraine. He has been filling up his van with supplies to distribute to anyone in need. ‘His sacrifice is inspiring,’ says Adrian. ‘It takes a committed heart and deep trust in the Lord to be able to make these kinds of choices which put the needs of the others above your own.’
There are countless stories like these: stories of hope, of human kindness and of God’s provision in the midst of pain and loss. But the war rages on and the future is uncertain. Those working daily to assist the people of Ukraine ask that we pray for the war-ravaged people of that nation.
One of the local churches sent this message: ‘We continue to do what we were called to do as a church: serve the people and preach the gospel. What it means to serve people is now very clear – to respond to their needs. And the needs are also clear: to be near, to listen, to encourage, to cry together, to clothe, feed, heal, take into the house and into the heart. But in order to share all this, you must always be strong, filled and ready to give, to sacrifice.’
As we approach the celebration of our nation’s Independence Day, we recall stories of courage, of common, ordinary people who decided they didn’t want to be bullied anymore. And so they took up arms against one of the strongest military in the world at that time; they endured hardship, never quite having the arms and supplies they needed; many nearly starved and froze to death.
I share these stories, not to glorify war or to exalt violence. We’ll leave that to God and history. But what I am doing is providing some examples of courageous people who dared to serve their neighbors in need, or a cause greater than themselves. In today’s gospel Jesus calls for that kind of courage and self-sacrifice through teaching that sounds like a contradiction. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan? Jesus describes the plight of a man on a dangerous stretch of road. The man gets beaten up, robbed and left half-dead on the side of the road. Two religious guys walk by and do nothing. But a despised foreigner, a Samaritan, is moved to pity at the sight, and dares to do something. So, what Jesus is basically saying to us is this: Don’t just sit there! When something needs to be done, do it! It takes courage to resist evil, or not to be part of the silent crowd that sees injustice and does nothing about it. You don’t have to wait for war to come your way; there are all kinds of people who are desperate for help. Jesus asks that we inconvenience ourselves, stop thinking only of ourselves, and do something to make life better for someone in need. It doesn’t have to be dramatic: look around, there are people who are lonely, people being neglected, people who don’t have enough food. Lose yourself by helping these people and you will find life, you will find God. Remember what Jesus says: “Whoever gives only a cup of cold water will surely not lose his reward.”