Sunday, 21 November 2021
Title: Big Heart
By Elder Tan Seng Kee

Matthew 5:8

There is a young man in PBC who I named in my mobile phone contact as “B, Big Heart”.

There is a broad smile on his face most times. Totally unassuming, he serves God and people quietly. In a jiffy and at all hours he will attend to needs in a whisper. He will not think twice about driving many hours, sometimes alone to distant rural interior villages where thick jungle surrounds, even at late hours in the night. In the deep darkness or under the searing hot sun of interior Malaysia, you will find this brother, his legs deep in mud assisting villagers facing power outage, water shortage, clearing blocked muddy road tracks for motorcycles to pass, struggling with vehicles stranded in deep wet sludge or delivering needed food and sustenance provisions to places so far in the jungle only he by familiarity can find the way in.

This young man was a volunteer driver delivering essential medical aids and assistance to the recently privately organized Covid quarantine center in Kuala Lumpur to a place where some of us would even dread to drive past, what more to drive into the building on an almost daily basis.

I had the honor of sitting down with him recently and found out that in Subang, he helps out with a center that trains and teaches young people with minor incapacities to prepare and sell food so that they can eventually be independent in living their lives.

This Subang center is renting a very small commercial unit, and because of its small premise, not many young people can come on a daily basis to work and be trained there. He tells me with such enthusiasm that if there is a bigger space, more young people with minor disabilities can daily be at gainful work. Their parents will then be relieved even as they respectively age.

B, Big Heart works with children and people with needs and he draws (I assume) a modest income on a per case basis. He quickly agrees to charge less if his client is unable to afford it and I suspect he may not charge at all in some cases where the need is great but affordability is nil.

I have thought about asking him why as a young man he does what he does but I have not come to this as I fear his answer may just reveal how lackadaisical my own service may sometimes have been thus far.

Occasionally, I see him all brutally burned brown and tanned by the sun and distinctly with red blotches and patches on his arms, evident of mosquitoes and other insect bites sustained probably during one of his recent forays into the jungles. Yet, plainly on his face was his broad “impish” smile that assures us his labor was not prompted nor motivated by toil but by JOY. In PBC church and in his place of work, this young man will assist in any area when called upon, if he has the level of required competency.

I recently spent hours wondering what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:8 when he said, “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” I even researched each word Jesus used there and read several notable articles on this verse and not surprisingly, those words of Jesus took on life when I reflect on the service of B, Big Heart. It became clear that a life well lived in the service of people, all created in the image of God brings glory to God and only a heart driven and compelled by the presence of God (“…see God.”?) can sustain and motivate such depth and extent of care and concern for those in need (“…pure heart.”?). Souls need to be saved but lives need to be helped as well. It is timely to probe the ‘big heart’ of this brother to glimpse what moves him.

Prayer:
God, please help me to live a life in service to others more needy than myself and give me the boldness and the motivation to serve others in order that God my heavenly Father will be glorified. Help me to look into other people’s interests and in serving and blessing others, I may be blessed by Jesus as one with a pure heart who shall see God. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

班底浸信教会
每日灵粮
2021 年 11 月 21日星期日
主题：好心人
作者：陈诚基长老
翻译：林良億
马太福音 5:8

在班底浸信教会有一个年轻人，我在手机通讯录里把他命名为 “B，Big Heart (好心人)”。

大多数时候，他的脸上都挂着灿烂的笑容。他毫不张扬，安静地服事神和人。在任何时候，他都会轻声细语地满足人们的需要。他会毫不犹豫地驾车数小时，甚至在深夜独自前往茂密丛林环绕的偏远内陆村庄。在黑夜里或在马来西亚内陆炙热的阳光下，你会发现这位弟兄，他的双腿深陷泥潭，帮助面临停电、缺水的村民，清理堵塞的泥泞路轨让摩托车通过，解决滞留在深层湿泥中的车辆，或将需要的食物和营养品送到丛林中如此遥远的地方，只有他熟悉的地方才能找到路。

这位年轻人是一名志愿司机，为吉隆坡最近私人组织的疫情检疫中心提供基本的医疗援助。我们中的一些人甚至害怕开车经过这个地方，但他几乎每天都开车进入检疫中心大楼.

我最近有幸与他坐下来，发现他在梳邦帮助一个中心，培训和教导有轻微残疾的年轻人准备和销售食物，使他们最终能够独立生活。

这个梳邦中心租用的是一个非常小的商业单位，由于场地小，每天能来工作和接受培训的年轻人不多。他很热情地告诉我，如果有一个更大的空间，更多有轻微残疾的年轻人可以每天从事有报酬的工作。这样一来，他们的父母就可以松口气了，即使他们各自年老。

“B，好心人”的工作对象是儿童和有需要的人，他（我猜想）是按个案收取适度的收入。如果他的客户无法负担，他很快就会同意降低收费，我怀疑在一些需求很大但负担不起的情况下，他可能根本不收费。

我曾想过问他为什么作为一个年轻人，他会做他所做的，但我还没有问，因为我担心他的回答可能会暴露出我自己的服事到目前为止是多么的不积极。

偶尔，我看到他被太阳残酷地烧成褐色，手臂上有明显的红色斑点和斑块，很明显是在他最近一次涉足丛林期间被蚊子和昆虫叮咬过的。然而，在他的脸上明显地出现了他那明朗的 “无赖 “笑容，向我们保证他的劳动不是出于劳累，而是出于喜悦。在班底浸信教会和他的工作场所，这个年轻人会在任何需要的地方提供帮助，只要他有必要的能力水平。

最近，我花了几个小时想知道耶稣在马太福音第5章第8节中的意思，“上帝祝福那些心纯洁的人，因为他们必得见上帝”。我甚至研究了耶稣在那里使用的每个词，并阅读了几篇关于这节经文的著名文章，毫不奇怪，当我反思”B，大好心人”的服事时，主耶稣的那些话就生动起来。很明显，在按照上帝的形象创造服事人的过程中，活出美好的生命，这就给上帝带来荣耀。只有一颗与神同在的心（“……看见上帝”？）才能拥有对有需要的人如此深度的关怀（“……纯洁的心”？）。灵魂需要被拯救，但生活也需要得到帮助。正是时候探查一下这位兄弟的‘大心脏’，看看是什么打动了他。

祷告：上帝，请帮助我在生活中服事比自己更需要帮助的人，给我服事他人的勇气和动力，以使上帝我的天父得到荣耀。帮助我关注他人的兴趣，在服事和祝福他人的过程中，我可能会得到主耶稣基督的祝福，成为一个清心的人，可见到上帝。奉我主耶稣基督的名祈求的，阿门。