Reclining with Jesus

After writing last week about Jesus being restored by spending time with His friends in Bethany, I was reminded of a talk I heard by Mark Buchanan. Buchanan points out that Lazarus had a powerful ministry.

John 12:9-11
9Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

People were coming to Jesus to the point the priests wanted to kill Lazarus. Buchanan points out that Lazarus only did two things. First he was raised from the dead by Jesus’ power. That is something all Christians have done as we were dead to sin. The second is he spent time with Jesus.

John 12:1-2
1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.

I need to recline more with Jesus and live out my resurrected new life. I was going to write a whole blog on the need for Sabbath but then I found Mark had already posted it as a bible study. Here it is:

http://www.smallgroups.com/articles/2008/comingforthwithlazarus.html?start=1

Much better for you to read it straight form him than to have me paraphrase further.

Mark Wallace

Relationships that fill us up

In the last blog I talked about recognizing who are those who take our energy. For Jesus, I argue, that would be the disciples (among others). He loved them but He needed time away from them. I believe that Jesus also had friends who were easier for Him to be around.

Matthew 21:17 (NIV) And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

There is a pattern in Jesus’ life (near the end of His ministry especially) where He hangs out in Bethany. For the most part He is doing work in Jerusalem during the day. Bethany was a special place for Jesus. It is where His friends Mary, Martha and Lazurus lived. In most of the stories of Jesus in Bethany He is being served rather than serving. (Admittedly the one exception is a big one. It is when He raises Lazarus from the dead. But still go with me here.) Most of the stories we see in Bethany have Mary, Martha and Lazurus either serving Jesus or just being with Him.

John 12:2 (NIV) Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.

In this story Mary washes Jesus feet. Martha is serving and Lazurus is reclining with Jesus. Jesus had relationships with people who cared for Him. He was still their God but when He was with them they gave to Him rather than taking.

As caregivers, (and when I say that I mean the personality type not just the job) it is hard for us to have friends that we don’t serve. Typically caregivers surround themselves with people who need them. It is one of the main ways I get my self worth but it is not necessarily a healthy way. We all need people who we can be with that energize us. This could be a formalized relationship like having a mentor. It doesn’t, however, have to be “one-sided”. It could be a reciprocal relationship where you encourage each other.

Think of that person who you would love to talk to but haven’t in a while. Not the person you “should” talk to but haven’t, someone you want to talk to. Odds are they are a person who gives to you. Odds are the reason you haven’t called them in a while is because they don’t “need” you. We deal with the urgent needs of others but often ignore our own. We all need friends. We need those who fill us up. Without them what will we have to give?

Of course the most important relationship that fills us is the one we have with our Savior. More on that next time.

Mark Wallace

Identifying Your Drainers

Jesus had friends. When He was a human He had friends on this earth. I am sure that they still are His friends but the relationship is probably different in paradise.

Those of you who have heard the Pastoral Ministries course “Soul Care for the Caregiver” may remember that we talk about identifying relationships that drain us and relationships that give us energy. We all have people in our life who take our energy. Sometimes it is our children, or our parents, or our spouse. It is very important to recognize who drains us. It doesn’t mean we don’t love them. We probably like giving them our energy but it is important for us to recognize where our energy goes because we have a finite amount of it. I often hear people say that they are looking forward to getting some rest on their vacation but I know full well they are going on vacation with their four young children. I am sure they will have a good time. They may even come back energized in one way or another, but rested? I don’t think so.

This is not to say that we need to avoid those who take our energy. I am not saying you need to take separate vacations. That probably is not practical. I am saying you need to identify that you will not come back rested. Going from one situation, where we are giving, to another with out stopping is not very healthy for us or helpful for the people we are giving to. I am not suggesting unrealistic things like, getting a day by yourself. I am suggesting that you drive the long way home. Stop by the side of the road and read for 10 min. Go for a 10 min walk.

The disciples drained Jesus. He loved them but they drained Him. He needed to be away from them every once in a while. In Mark 6 after Jesus feeds the 5000 we find these words:

45Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
47When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.

He needed some time to Himself. The disciples are so burnt out and in such a taking mode that they don’t even ask the obvious question: “Jesus, how are you going to get across the lake?” They are surprised to see Him come walking across the water later. That is how desperate the disciples are to get away. Any of us who care for others, need to take time to refresh. We are no good to anyone else if we burn out.

Jesus also had friends who filled Him up. We will look at those in the next blog.

Mark Wallace

Jesus Slept

I have had a particularly busy few weeks. Both work and my home life have had a lot going on. On Monday, at the Corporate Office, we were having a little celebration with Dave Petkau as he commemorated his one year anniversary of getting a gym membership that he actually used. (Dave is the Director of Ontario Operations and will be walking from Kitchener to Windsor to raise support for a CH Global project in Guatemala. For more info check out his blog http://davesdistrictdash.blogspot.com/ .) Since the theme of the day was to be on health, I decided, for our Monday Morning Devotion, to teach from the Soul Care for the Caregiver course that Pastoral Ministries offers. The key point was that it is all about putting yourself in the best position in order to better care for others. The first rule is you have to take care of yourself or you are no good to anyone else. So, I talked about the importance of taking care of your physical body.

Jesus slept.

Mathew 8:23-25
23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"

In this busy time, it was refreshing for me to focus on the fact that Jesus slept. For those of us who care for others the work never ends and it is difficult to know when we have done “enough”. There is always someone who needs us. But think about this - Jesus slept while there were still sick people in the world. He slept even though He knew there were still hungry people, possessed people, hurting people and people who didn’t believe in Him. Jesus slept anyway because He was fully human. He needed sleep. Like Jesus, we were made to need sleep. It is no a result of sin or Jesus wouldn’t have done it. I sometimes burn out because I try to do too much but I don’t feel like I can stop because I will let someone down. But, if I don’t rest I will let everyone down.

Jesus was accused of being uncaring. Mark’s gospel records the disciples saying "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" (Mark 4:38) That is one of my biggest fears and as a result, I want to please everyone. Did Jesus care? Of course he did. Jesus also sometimes needed sleep.

Our bodies are tools for ministry. God does not use us without using our bodies. Even if we are “just praying”, we need our bodies to stay awake.

Mark 14:37-38
37Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Often I ask God to give me energy while I ignore the way He has designed me in order to be
re-energized: I need to sleep.

Mark Wallace