IT is recorded in the tenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel that the Master, Christ Jesus, called together his twelve disciples and gave them power to cast out unclean spirits and to heal all manner of disease and sickness. He then sent them forth with the command to preach the gospel of the kingdom, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out devils. The Master reminded them (Matt. 10:8), "Freely ye have received, freely give"; that is, by reason of their having freely received the gift of the healing Christ, they now must give of it freely.
There was a wealth of significance in this admonition, for in its final analysis it meant that the disciples were to love, love their neighbor as themselves. In the talk to his disciples on the occasion of the last supper, Jesus said (John 13: 34, 35): "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
As in Jesus' time, so today there is the need for a greater love and a greater zeal on the part of those who are seeking to follow the Christ teachings. We, in Christian Science, find our greatest joy in the service of our beloved Cause. And we have the great joy of going forth to give freely to our fellow beings of the Christ, Truth, which has healed and saved us.
The call to service in this healing work is beautifully expressed by Mary Baker Eddy. In "The People's Idea of God," she says (p. 14), "O Christian Scientist, thou of the church of the new-born; awake to a higher and holier love for God and man; put on the whole armor of Truth; rejoice in hope; be patient in tribulation,—that ye may go to the bed of anguish, and look upon this dream of life in matter, girt with a higher sense of omnipotence; and behold once again the power of divine Life and Love to heal and reinstate man in God's own image and likeness, having 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism.'"
One of the finest ways to help give freely of the healing truths of Christian Science is to seek out students of this Science who are seemingly timid about acknowledging their convictions in the open. It is possible that there are those who fear they may be criticized for their religious belief. They, like us, are recipients of the healing and saving power of the Christ, Truth, revealed in Christian Science; they are waiting for the kingdom of God, not realizing sufficiently that this kingdom is at hand; they have not as yet learned of the sweetness and the fragrance of that faith which is linked with the moral courage of a solid conviction.
There was in the time of Christ Jesus a man who was a cultivated, earnest scholar. Because of his fine qualities, he was appointed to membership in the Sanhedrin, a body which was authorized to interpret and administer Jewish law in Judea. He was an honorable councilor in the deliberations of that august body of men.
This man was named Joseph—Joseph of Arimathea. He was "a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews" (John 19:38). He accepted Jesus' teachings, but he lacked the moral courage of his own convictions. He allowed fear and pride to keep him from openly helping to establish Christianity.
Those who have been healed by Christian Science and who accept its teachings but do not come out in the open and acknowledge that they are Christian Scientists may be afraid of what people may say. Like Nicodemus, another secret disciple, they come by night, as it were, seeking help, not wishing anyone to know of their quest. They have not as yet caught the vision of the Master, who declared (Luke 22:27), "I am among you as he that serveth."
Now it is not altogether fear and pride that cloud the thought of these disciples in secret. One thing is certain, namely that they have not yet strongly felt the desire to give this truth to others. Freely they have received. But it cannot be said of them that they freely give.
It takes love, the love of God and man, to want to give this truth to our fellow beings. Have you and I this love? If so, we shall let our love go forth and help those who are secretly living by the teachings of Christian Science to come out in the open and become one of us.
Had Joseph of Arimathea used his influence in the Sanhedrin when the mobs were demanding that Jesus be crucified, the outcome might have been quite different. But Joseph was afraid. Not until after the great tragedy on Calvary did he publicly acknowledge his discipleship. His heart crushed, he was then willing to be accounted a follower of the Christ. He acted. In haste, he went openly to Pilate and asked permission to take away the body of Jesus and place it in his own sepulcher.
The one who accompanied Joseph in this act of love and devotion was none other than Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus by night! How touchingly beautiful was their tribute to their beloved Master! But how much more beautiful would it have been had they been with him through the three short years of his earthly ministry.
Our mission as Christian Scientists is well defined by the prophet (Isa. 58:6), "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?"
Just what is it that causes us to want to rescue our fellow students of Christian Science from the yoke of fear? It is that we have learned to love with Christlike love, which gives us a fervent, irresistible desire to bless. It is this unselfed love which impels us to extend, with compassion, a helping hand to the timid ones who are greatly in need of our encouragement and help.
We have felt the healing touch of the Christ: pain has been lessened and obliterated; sins have been forgiven and forsaken, and a new life in Spirit has brought us the sweetest joys of heaven. With the fervency of affectionate desire to proclaim this truth of God and man which Christian Science has revealed to us, we seek out those who are receptive of the truth. It is love which prompts us to do this. Oh, for this love of divine Love!
In her Message to The Mother Church for 1902, Mrs. Eddy writes (p. 18): "No estrangement, no emulation, no deceit, enters into the heart that loves as Jesus loved. It is a false sense of love that, like the summer brook, soon gets dry. Jesus laid down his life for mankind; what more could he do? Beloved, how much of what he did are we doing?"
