Be happy for others who get the help they need

The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is be happy for others who get the help they need.

My primary takeaway from each of the passages was this:

• Numbers 1 & 2:  A census is taken, with exception being made for the Levites (priests). The camp is arranged by tribe. 
• Luke 15: Jesus tells three parables that describe the lengths that God will go to for our salvation. He also tells a parable that describes ways in which we can turn our ourselves around and make it easier for God to rescue us.
• Psalms 59: A prayer for help and rescue in a time of trouble and danger.
• Proverbs 28: A portrait of all of the personalities of society: good, bad, predatory, prey…and all of the outcomes of each type of behavior.

You have likely heard of the Pareto Principle, although you’ve more likely heard it called the 80/20 rule. The Pareto Principle states that 80% of effects result from 20% of the causes. When I read Luke 15, I can’t help but notice that (although the percentages are off–more like the 99/1 rule), he’s essentially describing the Pareto Principle.

I’m a public school teacher, and I completely identify with the stories Jesus is telling in Luke 15. Before I became a teacher, I didn’t really get it. However, every teacher knows that there’s always “that one kid” in every class who uses up most of our energy expended in classroom management. The rest of the students generally do what they are supposed to do, the way they are supposed to do it, when they are supposed to do it. But “that one kid” has to be constantly monitored, assisted, redirected, and requires a lot of one-on-one help. Sometimes they even leave to go to the restroom, never come back, and we have to send the principal or the SRO (school resource officer) out to retrieve them and bring them back. If not for “that one kid,” the class would go perfectly smoothly, our lessons and units would always go exactly as planned, and everything would run on schedule.

Additionally, while “that one kid” is doing his thing, the rest of the students continue to to do what they are supposed to do, unaided (usually). This can cause them to feel neglected and resentful. They are doing everything right but getting none of our attention, while “that one kid” sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

Many teachers write “that one kid” off and let the principal handle him, and are relieved when he’s finally out of the classroom so they can get on with their lesson. Most of the rest of us, however, never give up on “that one kid,” and continue to do our best to get him back into the classroom and engaged with the lesson; just like the shepherd in the parable that Jesus told. In the same way that God never gives up on any of us, we never give up on “that one kid.”

Jesus has two intended audiences for these lessons in Luke 15: those of us who are “that one kid” and need to know that no matter how badly we screw up God is never going to give up on us; and those of us who are pretty much doing everything right all the time, and feel we deserve better, or more recognition for our efforts. Jesus tells us in these parables that God will never give up on those of us who are “that one kid,” and that the rest of us should stop being so proud of ourselves. If we are so proud of ourselves that we resent the rescue and restoration of a lost soul, then we are no better than the Pharisees who pat themselves on the back for looking on the outside like they are doing all the right things according to the law while lining their pockets with the contributions of the poor who live lives of which they don’t approve. God judges the latter group far more harshly, apparently.

The lesson here seems to be that we should always maintain the attitude of “there but for the grace of God go I.” Any one of us could find ourselves in a lost state of one kind or another at any given time, with a slight shift in our circumstances.

Psalm 59 could very well be the prayer of “that one kid.” How many of us have strayed from the path set for us by our parents, our teachers, and society, only to discover that there was a very good reason that path was set for us? It was a safer way to travel, and having left it we may have found ourselves in various kinds of danger (financial, literal, or otherwise). What the 80% (or 99) don’t realize when they are feeling resentful of the attention “that one kid” is receiving when he is being rescued is just how desperate “that one kid” is feeling. They may look brash, willful, disrespectful, or whatever, but if they felt safe and whole they never would have left the safety of the flock to begin with. And if they had realized how much danger or trouble they would find themselves in once they were outside the safety of the flock, they probably never would have left at all. They need help, and it’s our job to help them. Psalm 59 is the prayer of someone experiencing that danger, trouble, and desperation.

Proverbs 28 provides an overview of all of the character types in the stories that Jesus is telling today, as well as the actual players of the time. There are those who follow the path God sets before them, as they should. There are those who stray. There are those who take advantage of those who stray, both criminals as well as well-dressed predators (wolves in sheep’s clothing, such as the Pharisees). This chapter of Proverbs paints a portrait of many different personalities and behaviors, as well as the consequences of each.

That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today?

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This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.”

To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts.

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