Here's a devotional I got in an email. I thought this was worth sharing.
As the Jewish leaders plotted to kill Jesus, a woman entered the room where he reclined at the table for dinner, broke a jar of costly ointment, and poured it on his head - a gesture recognized in that culture as conveying great honor and respect. The disciples were dismayed, perceiving this to be a waste when there was so much need around them. The ointment could have been sold and the money used to feed the poor. Jesus responded by demanding that they straighten out their priorities: "Why do you trouble this woman? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me" (Mt 26:10-11).
This rebuke to the disciples seems unfair, especially since it immediately follows Jesus' teaching that those who will inherit the kingdom prepared for them will be those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoner (Mt 25:31-45). He had just said that serving needs is the way disciples show their care for him: "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me" (Mt 25:45). Aren't the disciples responding appropriately to the woman's wastefulness in the face of all the need around them? Wouldn't a follower of Jesus be expected to use such a resource to care for the needs of others?
Jesus' teaching about the costly ointment points us again to why we serve. We serve not just because the need is there, but because we love Jesus and want to communicate that love. Our service is to be motivated by our love of Christ, not just by the needs of our communities. The disciples had missed the point. They could serve Jesus directly as a sign of their ultimate loyalty and love. Later, they would serve the poor and the powerless as SIGNS OF THEIR COMMITMENT TO CHRIST. We serve through ministry with those who represent him in our midst - hurting and oppressed people. We are driven to serve by our mission, not simply by their needs. If we start with a focus on the need, then like the disciples, we will miss the point. If we serve only because the need is there, we will become discouraged and burn out, because the needs are so extensive. There will ALWAYS be family violence and divorce and inadequate parenting in this world; no mattter how hard and effectively we work, we will not make it all go away. We must stay connected to the source of our service, the vine of which we are branches (Jn 15:1-11). We serve because we love Jesus, and if we stay connected to that loving relationship, then we will not be overwhelmed by the enormous needs around us.
Jesus' description of himself as the vine, God as the vine-grower, and us as branches captures what happens if we forget that we are merely branches of Christ, expressions of Christ's love. We must "abide in the vine," otherwise we cannot bear fruit. When we lose focus on our connection to Christ and our service as expressions of that connection, we become disconnected: "Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned" (Jn 15:6). What a picture of burnout!
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3 comments:
Great thoughts. I think you would like an essay written by John White at Dawn Ministries (dawnministries.org) titled The Spontaneous Church. In light of the fact that the Lord is the vine and we are the branches, this essay helps bring clarity to how it works to let the Lord lead. You can find the essay by typing "The Spontaneous Church" (with the quotation marks) in the search bar and clicking the first link in the list. Scroll down until you reach The Spontaneous Church section and click on the Word document link.
great lessons there. "If we serve only because the need is there, we will become discouraged and burn out, because the needs are so extensive." So true. I think I tend to serve because the need is there instead of because of Christ. I'll try and remember this...
Jason,
Have you heard of Gail O'Day? I listened to her lectures at the Rochester College Sermon Seminar on the Gospel of John. Wonderful work. She demonstrated "friendship" as the motiff in the John. Working from secular Greek philosophy, she showed how true friendship was characterized by 1)a willingness to lay down one's life for another and 2) speak truth to each other. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the fulfillment of both characteristics. Secondly, in the last seen John clues the reader into to the notion that Peter is chosen to also fulfill the first characteristic of friendship while John, the writer, fulfills the second characteristic. Dr. O'Day left us with this question: Are we, as the church, willing to be true friends? Meaning, are we willing to lay our lives down for the sake of others and speak truth to otehrs for their sake?
As you can see, the lecture was powerful. I am sure that my synopsis falls way short of doing her lectures justice. However, I know she has published a commentary on the Gospel of John.
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