Luke 8:1-3
After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
Have you heard of Susanna? She's the one with the banjo on her knee - right? But seriously, here we have 3 Biblical heroes that don't get any press but were vital to the ministry. We had talked in a previous blog on how the disciples were dependent on God for even every meal as they had left their homes, their money, and followed Jesus. In this passage we get a glimpse on how some of those needs were met. Although Jesus could have miraculously fed them every meal, He used people to feed them, thus the people would get rewards in Heaven, would be participating in Christ's ministry on Earth, would get the intimacy with Christ as they serve Him, would get the fellowship and love from others following Christ, and by giving of what they had would also see that their needs were met.
I was picturing dinner time with the disciples and it took me back to a mission trip outside of Haiti in Dajabon, D.R. We were staying in a tarantula and rat infested campground for two weeks. It was common to be woken up in the middle of the night by shrieks of terror from the girl's cabin as a rat was found looking through their luggage. During the day, from sun up to sundown we would do surgery at a hospital and then come back to our campground and eat at an elongated picnic table under a roof with a little kitchen staffed by Maria and two other women. There would be a gas generator running giving the kitchen light and power, and they would make some sort of meat with black beans and rice, some lettuce, and some plantains every night. When we were done eating, the generator would go off, the camp would be dark, and we would sit around a fire discussing what God had done that day and sharing from the word and praying. If we had dirty clothes, including underwear, we would give them to these three women and they would wash them by hand in the river and then we would take them down off the clothes line. I imagine that was somewhat similar to the disciple's daily lives.
Yesterday, I prayer-walked through a vacant field where our church is putting on a corn maze/fall festival next week. The field was mowed, the corn stalks were neatly aligned and the maze was cut out. There were covered wagons, wooden towers, ramps, bridges, gates, signs, and all kinds of preparation done by unnamed people who had spent hours at the field working behind the scenes, to make this event happen. Chances are that when this event happens, a whole lot of other people will be in the limelight but it couldn't have happened without the Marys, Susannas, and Joannas of our church.
Are you, am I, doing anything behind the scenes to serve? Are we giving of our time and resources sacrificially to allow the gospel of Christ to be preached to the world. If we aren't we are missing out on the fellowship with Christ and other believers as we serve. We are missing out on rewards in Heaven. We are missing out on being part of the harvest of ministries. We are missing out on seeing how God miraculously meets our needs as we sacrificially give to others. We are missing out on the mission trip that is called "life on Earth."
Lord, help me to serve without being noticed for the sake of Your kingdom advancing. Amen.
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