Yesterday, I mailed three boxes of things to my relatives and I was shocked when the post office clerk told me the cost for mailing them was almost $200. “Wow! Oh man…that’s way out of my budget at this time,” I thought. I desperately wanted to send the things overseas for them, but honestly, I had no idea the boxes would have been that pricey. It was toward the end of the month and $200 extra was not what I wanted to spend. I would have been content to spend a hundred dollars, not two. I took a deep sigh as I sat in the van with my husband relaying the events of the day. He took my hand, squeezed it and said, “Jesus loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His life for us. You love your relatives a lot, and this is a big sacrifice and God sees it.” I looked at him with tears in my eyes and nodded. A conversation about the Father’s love for mankind ensued, and we were both filled with a gratitude that was quite apropos in this Holy Week.
What is love? What is sacrifice? What is a gift?
God is the embodiment of love. He loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to give His life so that we can be experience forgiveness and unity with the Father. Jesus’ willingness to be crucified and humiliated—albeit wrongfully and without retaliation—is the epitome of grace and submission. His death was a sacrifice and a gift to us. He poured out His life so that we can live. So, what are we to do with this gift?
I believe every Christian is called to do the following:
- Love God and his/her fellow man
- Serve God and his/her fellow man
- Give to God and his/her fellow man
In the Gospels we are given a vivid picture of the crucifixion and we conclude that God’s love for man caused Him to send Jesus to redeem us from eternal damnation. That same love propels Jesus to clothe himself in humanity and walk the dusty roads of Israel and embrace mankind. During that time, He healed the sick, touched the unclean and outcasts, embraced the sinners, and loved the unlovely. He broke with social etiquette and took water from a Samaritan woman (John 4:7-26). He allowed another (who was a former prostitute) to anoint his feet and dry them with her hair (Luke 7:36-50). Talk about risqué behavior. Although Simon the Pharisee objected, Jesus did not. It was His encounter with the woman that led her to change her lifestyle. He offered her hope and God’s love, and she seized it. Jesus’ love for mankind is phenomenal; we were and still are His main objective. You are a priority to Him. The decisions you make today matter to Him. He is concerned about all that concerns you. John 13:1 states, “…having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end [to the fullest extent].”
Jesus’ love for mankind beckons Him to serve us. In John 13:4 Jesus, knowing that His death was imminent, and that one of His twelve disciples would hand Him over to the Pharisees in betrayal, rose up from the dinner table to wash the dirty, grimy, smelly feet of the all the men. The men wore sandals, so their feet were not clean at all. The entire supper event seemed out of order. First, Jesus was the host of the supper so He should not have been washing the men’s feet. Also, He was greater than them; He was their teacher and it was not fitting for Him to be kneeling down before them and drying their calloused heels. To make matters worse, He had poured His life into theirs and yet they had not aligned themselves to His Father’s plan. Some of them were following Him for the wrong reasons as they thought He would oust the Roman regime and set up His own kingdom with them as subjects, and reign as God’s true king. They wanted that plan, not the agenda that sets Christ on a Cross in the midst of a jeering crowd. And, to make matters worse, there was a devil among the twelve. Nothing is worse than disloyalty. When you embrace someone and take her into your inner circle and give her your heart, only to have her turn on you out of sheer jealousy, it hurts! It really hurts. David felt the pang of betrayal as his own comrade with whom he had shared sweet fellowship, turned on him like a rabid dog (Ps 55:12-14). It broke David’s heart. However, Jesus knelt down, and taking Judas’ feet in His hands—washed them. He served His disciples until the very moment He was taken into custody on false charges.
I believe it was Peter’s sense of inadequacy that led him to question Jesus’ desire to wash his feet. Peter was probably astounded because he did not expect such an act of humility from One so great. Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ and he knew that God has sent Him. He knew he was in the presence of Deity and somehow his own sense of unworthiness must have pushed him to ask, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” When God places gifts in my lap, I sometimes ask the same question. “Why, Lord, I don’t deserve this.” But I am reminded that nothing I could ever do could earn His love for me. He loves me simply because He chooses to do so. The writer quips rightly when he penned the following words, “The love of God is greater far, than tongue or pen can ever tell…” So, in light of Jesus’ example you and I are called to serve God first, and then do the same to those around us. We must do what we can to help the sick, the poor, the needy, the discouraged, and the debilitated. Jesus pointedly states that greatness begins with service to others, (Mark 10:43). He reminds us that if He were willing to serve in the lowliest position, so should we (John 13:14).
Service requires us to give of ourselves. God gave. Jesus gave. We should do the same. What can we give when our eyes are open to the vast love basket God sets before each of us? The first thing we should give is our thanks. God appreciates our thankfulness. When we acknowledge that He is good and kind and loving, it warms His heart. When we take the time to thank God we show that we are dependent on Him. He wants us to depend on Him. He wants us to want Him. He longs for us like a married couple longs to hold a baby of their own. He loves us. He takes us into His arms and breathes on us. He holds us firmly when we are apt to squirm out of His embrace. He balances us when we think we are able to steady ourselves without His help. He comes alongside us when we take our focus off Him and place it on the wrong things. God is always giving to us. He is always finding ways to bless us. How, then, can we live without offering to others some of what we have received? How can we keep it to ourselves? We cannot. God’s blessings are so magnanimous that even if you were to spread your arms as wide as you can and try to hold it all in, some would surely fall from your grasp. It is too much for you to hold for yourself—because you were never meant to keep it all. God’s blessings are meant for you to share, not hoard. Paul urges us to give liberally and joyfully, for God loves a cheerful giver. Give and it shall be given to you, pressed down and shaken together shall men give unto your bosom (Luke 6:38).
Prayer: Oh Lord, my Father, when I think of the goodness of Christ the Savior, my heart melts like ice on a hot August day. Thank you, Lord, for choosing to breathe life into me. My heart cannot adequately express just how much I appreciate You. My mind cannot grasp the intensity of Your love, and my soul is overwhelmed when I feel Your closeness. Thank You for remembering the nameless and calling the forgotten. Thank You for calling me and my many friends. Our hearts will one day sing, “How great is our Lord…” as we lay our crowns at Your feet and bow in complete obeisance to You—the One who was, and is, and is to come. We love You Lord Jesus and we say, “Come quickly!”