“Who is my neighbor?” It’s a 2000 year old question asked of Jesus by a cynical man who was trying to defend his own selfishness. Jesus answered his question with the famous story of the Good Samaritan. After concluding the story, Jesus looked at the man and asked which of the three was a true neighbor to the injured stranger? “The one who showed mercy on him,” was the begrudging, but also accurate response.

Over the past week, we have witnessed many examples of neighbors helping neighbors. Most of the homes in our immediate area were without electricity for hours or days due to the ice storm. Many of us stayed with relatives or friends who had heat. I witnessed a great deal of concern among people for anyone who did not have power and might be suffering in the cold. I even had a person I barely know offer a spare bedroom to me and my family. The one who shows mercy is a true neighbor. Tragedies and crisis have a strange way of bringing out the best in us. The Bible teaches that we have a fleshly, selfish nature. But we are also created in the image of God and that benevolent God-side of our nature causes us to help others in need, give to charitable projects, and even travel to foreign countries to alleviate suffering.

Much of the time we deal with the selfish side of people’s nature. We are constantly on guard against being cheated in a business deal or becoming the victim of crime. So it’s refreshing and encouraging to see the good side of people shine on occasion.

There’s an interesting story from World War I that illustrates this dichotomy. The Germans and the British were entrenched for many months in fox holes fighting one another. The soldiers actually lived in the trenches only a few dozen yards from the enemy. On occasion, a soldier would stick his head up above ground level only to be shot at by the opposing army.

It was Christmas day. Both sides were ostensibly Christian countries and everyone was aware it was the Holy Day to celebrate the birth of Christ. One of the soldiers ventured out of the trench taking a chance that Christmas Day would be a day for a cease fire. Someone produced a soccer ball, probably confiscated from a nearby farm house, and the war weary soldiers began kicking it around. One by one, the soldiers of both sides emerged from their fox holes. A make-shift soccer field was laid out in the ground between the two enemy trenches. The British and German soldiers played a soccer game against each other on Christmas Day.

When darkness fell, they returned to their holes and the following day the fighting resumed as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. But something extraordinary had happened. For a little while, the angelic side had triumphed over the fleshly side of their humanity.

As the power is restored and life returns to normal here in Oklahoma, it behooves us to acknowledge those who chose selflessness over selfishness. Perhaps we can even return to normal a little bit better for the experiences of the past week.

Historians have chronicled the rise and fall of great world empires. Large volumes have been written detailing the growth of great dominating powers such as Assyria, Rome , Spain and Great Britain .

The patterns of rise and fall are so similar that virtually every historian recognizes them and they have been documented by such notable names as Arnold Toynbee and John Glubb.

Not only are the characteristics of an empire documented, but the length of world domination also follows a predictable pattern. The ancient Assyrians dominated the world for about 250 years. The Persian Empire that conquered them lasted a little over 200 years; likewise the Greeks and then the Roman Republic . Even more recent world dominating powers such as Spain and Britain have enjoyed periods of power lasting about 250 years.

In the final stage of world domination, all of the empires of the past have experienced eerily similar attitudes. Dr. Glubb calls the final stage of empires the “Age of Decadence.” This final stage of world domination is characterized by a decline in morality. The population, as a whole, becomes very self-centered and pleasure driven. Materialism and frivolity are the words that describe their way of life. Religion declines and is replaced by a love of money and hedonistic pursuits.

Too much wealth for too long is the cause of this cultural deterioration. As a result, the great empire loses its will to fight. It became a great power by conquering land and people. But in the final stages of domination, the empire no longer fights to gain territory but only fights to defend itself. It has lost the will to make war.

It’s not that the great nation is unable to fight, indeed it has great military might. But the people and the leaders no longer want to go to war; they now consider it immoral.

The inevitable result is that the great empire is conquered by some upstart young country that has no such moral compunction. Assyria was conquered by Persia , Persia by Greece , Greece by Rome , Rome by the Barbarians and so forth.

There has never been a world empire that has deviated from this predictable pattern. It happens because human nature fights to achieve domination and pleasure and once this is gained, we will only fight to defend what we have. Eventually we won’t fight at all.

When President Carter reinstated draft registration in 1979, protest marches broke out on college campuses. One young man carried a sign with the slogan “nothing is worth dying for.” That’s the mantra of declining civilizations.

The one bright spot for Christians in these times is that there are many opportunities to love and serve. The light of selflessness and sacrifice shines very brightly in a dark time of self-centered decadence.