Friday, August 10, 2012

Serving Your Judas (and a few other things)

In a conversation during bible study the other night, someone said:
"Your quest to become more like Jesus is not complete without a Judas."
 I've been mulling this over for the past several days. It's a big bite to chew, no? I mean, when we talk about serving like Jesus, it's easy to be magnetized to the shiny jobs of service. You know, serving in the spotlight at church, or feeding the homeless, or helping the widow. Those jobs, even if they aren't in the spotlight per se, give me the warm fuzzies. Make me feel good inside. And that's not to say they are bad, because Jesus definitely implores us to serve those people. But if you go to the scriptures, specifically the gospels (Matthew is what I've been reading), you'll find that he also serves his inner circle. And among that inner circle are two men who he KNOWS will betray him. He knows Peter will deny him not once, not twice, but three times. He knows Judas will sell him out to the chief priests. He even goes so far as to say that it would have been best if Judas had not even been born (Matthew 26:24). 

You know, I've had a lot of people hurt me in my life. And when I think of those people, I'm not sure I wish they had never been born, but I certainly don't think of serving them. My flesh screams out to retaliate, to push away, and to build barriers. But when I look at Jesus, the ultimate example, I don't see him building barriers. Instead, He speaks the truth, that they did indeed deny him. But he still serves them just as the other disciples. He still washes their feet, something that in that time was one of the most intimate things you could do, and was normally a job reserved for servants. Apparently I'm missing the mark, big time. 

When I think about myself, my strengths and my weaknesses, I think this is a big area for me to grow. Maybe my "least of these" is not just the ones that are obvious, but the ones who are not so obvious, the ones that I would never in my own power be able to pour love upon. It's a lofty goal, this thought to serve those who have hurt me. But I think it's what Jesus wants of me. May I be able to love my Judas' the same way that Jesus loved His.

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In completely unrelated fashion, I'd like to just say that I've been REALLY busy this week, which is why I haven't posted much. We've stayed at home mostly, just because my nights have been crammed with stuff.  Plus, I feel with me reading all of these deep books, that my thoughts are SO deep, and I'm generally someone who has to think about it a while before it comes out on "paper" (I wish I had that problem with my mouth, which tends to move far more than it should). Bear with me as I try to chomp on the deep things of life, and wade through the busyness that is the back to school season. Hope yall have a fabulous weekend (the temps here are all hovering below 90 degrees, so I know we will!)
 

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