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Thursday, April 01, 2010Don't Give Up
Have you ever experienced reading a story which you have read more than 100 times and you think you know everything what the story says and when you read it again for the 101st time then you see something so striking and new that it makes you wonder, how in the world did I miss this?
It may be you read it so fast that you've missed the message of the story. Or perhaps it's because you heard it from a speaker and he gives emphasis at a place where you normally wouldn't and BAM! It hits you.
The great thing about it is that it sheds light and leads you to discover several things on top of what you just found out.
This happened to me a couple of days ago when I was working on this blog.
For 33 years I have been reading the story of our Lord's resurrection, it was only now that I found out something new (maybe not for others) in this story.
"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, 'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?' Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large." (Mark 16:1-4)
Did you notice something peculiar in this verse?
Before I tell you what I found out, let's examine what's happening.
First, three women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus.
Who are these three women?
They were the same women who were in Calvary during the crucifixion (Mark 15:40). They were the last to leave Calvary (Mark 15:47) and the first to arrive at the tomb.
They were there to come to anoint the dead body of Jesus and probably to say goodbye to the one man who gave reason to their hopes.
Regardless of the lost hope, what could have motivated them to wake up early in the morning to go to the tomb?
I mean, really, what's the use?
Is it duty?
Is this what they call devotion?
What can they expect from a dead person?
One thing is for sure, they were not there to ask for something or get something. They are not going to the tomb to ask for a miracle either. They are going to the tomb to give. Period.
There are times when we are called to love or to serve or to give, expecting nothing in return. There will be times when we are called to give money to people who will never say thank you, to love those who cannot love us, to forgive those who won't forgive us, to come early and stay late in our gatherings or in our church even when no one else notices.
You are willing to give everything even when it hurts.
I believe this kind of love can be achieved if you have an intimate, personal relationship with the other person. This is what our Lord Jesus expects from us. This is not a call to a program, or a system of religion, nor to a church, and certainly not to the discipler, or some human leader - it is a call to discipleship.
The three women knew a task had to be done. They did not wait for others to do it but they decided to do it.
It is easy to give up, lose hope and be grumpy if you do not love, believe or worse if you have another agenda for serving another person or even serving our God through your church or community.
If one of the three women had a shallow relationship with Jesus, probably right in the middle of their journey she would start arguing and questioning the other two by saying, "What for? Jesus will not recognize my actions anymore, He's dead. I'm tired of being the only one who cares, it's always me. I'm just wasting my time here. I'll just go home. I'm not going to get anything anyway."
Whether or not one of them or all of them thought of quitting, I'm glad they didn't.
In this story, we know something they didn't. We know they were motivated by their love that even though our Lord Jesus is already dead and would no longer recognize their actions; they still did what they had to do – to anoint Him. They continued their journey even when they knew they are going to a dead end. And since we know the end of the story, we know that God was smiling at them throughout their journey and thrilled at their devotion.
Our Lord God is also smiling at us when he sees our continuous effort to keep standing even though we face discouragement in our journey through life, even though we are busy we still take time to help others, even though our financial resources are drained but we still give – simply because it is the "wise" thing to do.
Secondly, the three women asked this question - "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
Okay, what happened here?
Maybe the three women did not plan about this. They should have contacted at least one of the disciples to help them roll away the stone.
But here's the thing - hope does not easily die especially for a person who knows Jesus. I think that's what these three women had. That's what kept them walking. Although they knew this is going to be a concern, it did not stop them in their journey. They kept walking towards the tomb.
And finally, the peculiar thing that happened in this story, "they saw that the stone had been rolled away."
Why did I say peculiar? If you read the Gospel of John after the resurrection it says, "So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." (John 20:19)
After the resurrection, Jesus can walk through walls.
So, why is the stone rolled away from the tomb? Was it for Jesus to get out of the tomb? For the past 33 years, that's what I always thought. I always assumed that the stone was rolled away for Jesus to come out.
If not for Jesus, for whom then was the stoned moved?
Going back to the concern of the three women when they were walking towards the tomb – "who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
The stone was rolled away not for Jesus – but for the women. Their concern was addressed way ahead before they reached the problem.
This is a bonus - it was not rolled away for Jesus to come out but so the women could see in!
God does that for the faithful.
God loves to awe us.
Just when the womb gets too old for babies, Sarah gets pregnant. Just when the failure is too great for grace, David is pardoned. Just when the road to the tomb brings sadness and uncertainty, Mary and Mary experienced the resurrection of Jesus Christ first hand!
The lesson? Don't give up.
Is the road long? Don't stop.
Don't quit. For if you do you may miss the answer to your prayers.
Your closed tomb could be your finances, your broken relationship, your broken spirit, your addiction, your married life, your work, your family, your son who does not behave properly, your daughter who ignores you or anything. For all we know at this moment he may be telling his angels to roll the stone.
God is smiling at you.
Advance Happy Easter to all!
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