There will my servant be also

As you probably know, Jerusalem has seen a lot of bombs. 

Fairly recently, I learned about a group of people named the Zaka. After a bomb goes off, they put on their yellow visibility vests and rush to the scene. They often get there before the paramedics. 

They gather the body pieces of people who have been blown up. That is not a very nice job. Nor is it a job that a lot of people want to do. And yet, this is a part of how they serve others. 

Like many other Jewish people, they believe that it is best if a person can be buried with all of their parts together. They do their work to honour this belief and tradition, as an act of respect toward the dead, and to help grieving families through a horrific experience.*

Here’s why I mention the Zaka. You are probably not doing that kind of volunteer work. However, you are going to be called upon to do difficult things for your faith. This is a word that we all need to hear. 

You. Faith. Includes. Doing. Hard. Things. 

This doesn’t mean that everything is hard. In fact, some things seem rather easy. And yes, walking with Christ includes comfort, help and hope. But it also includes a narrow path, self-sacrifice, and things like loving enemies and trusting God in places that just so happen to be outside of your comfort zone. 

In John 12:26, Jesus said: “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

This verse makes us ask a question. Since we are supposed to be where Jesus is, where is he? He is where people are loved, where the truth is told, where our Father is honoured, and where his light forces back a darkness whose greatest power is intimidation and fear.

Don’t settle for a counterfeit Jesus who only every pats you on the back as you do easy things. Trust the real Jesus who died for you, calls you forward in triumphant purpose, and changes the world.

“…and where I am,” Jesus says, “there will my servant be also.”

Notes:

-“The Disclosure Day movie—aliens, demons, nuns, Hollywood, and other wild stuff.” Click here, or find it on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)

-*Told in: Mitch Albom, Have a Little Faith (New York: Hyperion, 2009), 88.
-Bible quotes, ESV.