I remember the old witness joke about the Pope going to heaven. As the joke goes the Pope dies and goes to heaven. When he gets to the pearly gates they are locked and he demands entry. The angel on guard says, “who are you?” I am the pope! The angel says just a minute and goes away for a few minutes. When he gets back he asks, “God said to ask if you ever did anything good.” The pope replies, “Well two Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door and I gave them 25 cents for their little magazines, how about that?” The angel said, “just a minute” and leaves again. After a few minutes he returns and the pope says, “well what did God say?” The angel replies, “God said here’s your nickel, Go to hell.”
When I read the article out of the 1-1-02 Watchtower it caused me to remember this joke. Why? Therein Wt described the great work they sought to accomplish after the WTC disaster. The great "comfort" work could be summarized into two scriptures, a tract, and a bible study. As I read how they patted themselves on the back for this meaningless effort all I could think of was:
“HERE’S YOUR NICKEL GO TO HELL!”
Anyone else have any thoughts?
From the 1-1-02 Watchtower
"Comfort All the Mourning Ones”
13 The year 2001 had its share of disasters, and as a result, many individuals were in need of comfort. Last September saw an outstanding example in the United States, with the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. What a shock those attacks were for the whole country! In the face of such events, Jehovah's Witnesses strive to fulfill their commission to offer 'comfort to all the mourning ones.' A few experiences will illustrate how they do this.
14 A Witness who is a full-time evangelizer approached a lady on the sidewalk and asked what she thought about the recent terrorist attacks. The lady began to weep. She said that she felt bad and wished she could somehow help. The Witness told her that God is very much interested in us all, and she read Isaiah 61:1, 2. These divinely inspired words made sense to the lady, who said that everyone was in mourning. She accepted a tract and asked the Witness to visit her in her home.
15 Two Witnesses who were engaged in the work of evangelizing met a man working in his shed. They offered to show him words of comfort from the Scriptures in view of the recent tragedy at the World Trade Center. With his consent they read 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, which includes the words: "Comfort. ..abounds through the Christ." The man appreciated that his Witness neighbors were sharing something comforting with others and said: "May God bless the wonderful work that you are doing."
16 A Witness calling back on interested people met the son of a woman who had previously shown interest and explained that he was concerned about how the neighbors were doing after the recent tragedy. The man was amazed that the Witness had taken his own time to visit people and check on them. He said that he was working quite close to the World Trade Center when the attack occurred and saw the entire event unfold. When he asked why God permits suffering, the Witness read verses from the Bible including Psalm 37:39, which says: "The sal- vation of the righteous ones is from Jehovah, he is their fortress in the time of distress." The man kindly asked how the Witness and his family were doing, invited him to return, and expressed heartfelt appreciation for the visit.
17 Another of the thousands of mourning comforted by Jehovah's Witnesses in days following the terrorist attacks was a whom the Witnesses met while they visiting their neighbors. She was extremely upset by what had happened and listened as they read Psalm 72:12-14: "He will deliver the poor one crying for help, also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper. He will feel sorry for the lowly one and the poor one and the souls of the poor ones he will save. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul, and their blood will be precious in his eyes." How meaningful lose words were! The lady asked the Witnesses to read the verses again and invited them into her house to continue the discussion. By the end of the conversation, a Bible study was under way.
18 One Witness works in a restaurant in rather affluent community where people have not previously shown much interest in the good news of the Kingdom. After the terrorist attacks, the community appeared shaken. On the Friday evening after the attack, the manager of the restaurant invited everyone to go outside and hold candles, observing a moment of quiet reflection in memory of the victims. Respectful of their feelings, the Witness went out and stood silently on the sidewalk. The manager knew that he was a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses, so after the period of reflection, she asked him to represent everyone in prayer. The Witness consented. In his prayer, he mentioned the widespread mourning but said that the mourners need not grieve without hope. He spoke of the time when such terrible events would no longer happen and said that all could draw closer to the God of comfort through accurate knowledge from the Bible. After saying "Amen," the manager-followed by the more than 60 people who were outside the restaurant came up to the Witness, thanked him, and hugged him, remarking that the prayer was the best she had ever heard.
A Blessing to the Community
19 In these days especially, communities where Jehovah's Witnesses are active benefit from their presence as many have remarked. How could a people who promote peace, honesty, and clean morals not be a force for good? In one Central Asian country, Witnesses met a retired officer of the former state security agency. He said that he was once assigned to investigate various religious organizations. When he looked into
Jehovah's Witnesses, he was impressed by their honesty and good conduct. He admired their firm faith and the fact that their teachings are based on the Scriptures. This man agreed to a Bible study.
20 From the few experiences related in this article, out of the thousands that could be related, it is clear that Jehovah's Witnesses were very busy during the 2001 service year. * They spoke with millions of people, they comforted many who mourned, and their evangelizing work was blessed. There were 263,431 who symbolized their dedication to God by getting baptized. Worldwide, the number of evangelizers increased by 1.7 percent. And the fact that 15,374,986 attended the annual Memorial of Jesus' death indicates that there is much more work to do. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) May we continue to seek out meek ones who respond to the good news. And as long as Jehovah's year of goodwill continues, may we continue to comfort “the broken- hearted.” What a blessed privilege we have! Surely all of us echo Isaiah's words: “With- out fail I shall exult in Jehovah. My soul will be joyful in my God.” (Isaiah 61:10) May God continue to use us as he fulfills these prophetic words: “The Sovereign Lord Jehovah will cause the sprouting of righteousness and of praise in front of all the nations.”-Isaiah 61:11.