Hands and Feet of Jesus
Hands
and Feet of Jesus
 |
| (Photo Credits Belong to Photographer: Amber Ginter, 2018). |
As previously mentioned in earlier blogs,
during the month of May, I was given the opportunity to serve High School
students at a Young Life Camp called Malibu, located in the inner depths and
seclusion of British Columbia, Canada.
Although I learned much from this camp including understanding the heart
of Just Jesus, something that was also revealed to me was what it meant to
truly serve with the authentic, raw, vulnerable, and difficult hands and feet
of Jesus.
When we think about Jesus, for instance, and
His service to the world, what are you reminded of? Him serving the masses with five loaves of
bread and two fishes? Him healing the
blind, sick, and bleeding? Him crying
out to His Father to take away the cup but still abiding to His Will at all
costs? Him spitting in the mud and
rubbing dirt in a man’s eyes to give him sight?
The list could go on and on, but one thing remains constant; the work
of Jesus was not only also consistent, but it was hard. Think about it. Have you ever truly thought about what it
meant to be a Disciple of Jesus? A servant of Jesus? To serve as Jesus? I know I thought I had, but that
was until I served so physically demanding with my hands and feet that I
realized I knew nothing.
Being assigned to work in the kitchen-bakery
staff while serving my time at this particular Young Life Camp, I went into my
job and this trip with the expectation that I would serve a lot, but I would
also get to know others and enjoy a lot too.
Hit in the head like a frying pan, however, you could say that Jesus
really whacked me a good one in the field of service when I found out that not
only was our work crew for the weekend highly understaffed and we would be
overworked due to an overpopulation of students, but that instead of having 3
people to serve alongside of me in the bakery, I would be given 1, which would equivalate
to spending 13 hours a day for three days in the kitchen. In addition, being an extrovert, it was
extremely challenging for me to function while the other individual I was
working with chose to engage with me very little for unknown reasons.
However, learning to make 27 desserts over a
span of 3 days and serving the High School students through a behind the scenes
bakery, really made me realize what it means to serve with the hands and feet
of Jesus in all that you are doing. For
example, although I was serving in the bakery, others at the camp were doing so
through cooking food, setting tables, burning and organizing trash, cleaning
dishes, doing laundry, and taking care of the land, all physically demanding jobs that offered a lot of service and very little
benefit for yourself. Even realizing
that the bakery job had one of the longest scheduled hours as opposed to those
around me who were receiving breaks made
me appreciate the experience of this Jesus moment even more. And why?
Because for the first time in my life, I
served and worked so hard physically with my hands and feet (can you say hello,
serving for 515 on every homemade pie, cookie, bread, cake, etc. we made from
scratch and by hand) that I felt like I was giving God literally every single ounce
I had left. I was serving like I
imagined Him serving, and when I had nothing more to give, He pushed me further
and provided in His way a true sense of peace and joy in just the opportunities
and circumstances He saw fit. So, although no, I didn’t get to read or
study the Bible much at all during the trip, I really felt like I was being
refreshed and renewed through Him, for at the end of myself, I found Him. Him who would give an energy that though I
was tired, would never leave my heart.
For you know what happens when you get tired? You are reminded of what it must have felt
like to be Jesus, serving day after day, and night after night, constantly
healing people, serving, and giving Himself away without any real long period
of rest. But even Jesus, remember, when
He got tired, weak, and weary, needed alone time with the Father because He
would be the one to give Him a true source of strength for the next day. As Luke 5:12-16 reminds us, Jesus, too,
despite the wear and tear of his hands and feet, needed time to recharge. After healing a man with leprosy, for
instance, his Disciples and those surrounding Him didn’t understand His need
for time alone:
“In
one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the
man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed.
“Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am
willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone
what had happened. He said, “Go to the priest and let him examine you. Take
along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed
of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.” But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report
of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to
be healed of their diseases. But Jesus
often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer” (Luke 5:12-16, NLT).
Here, the key is in verse 16, where the
Scripture notes, “But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer” and
something within me can’t shake the notion that perhaps Jesus was praying on
similar mountains as the ones now speaking to me and my heart while on this
trip (Luke 5:16, NLT). That it wasn’t until he was so exhausted physically,
mentally, emotionally, and socially that He went to the Father for renewal, because
He knew that as a man he couldn’t take any more, but through and as Christ, He
would someday soon take on the world in the full payment of nails through His
hands and feet that once served it.
So, as I laid in my bed each night, just
knowing that in a few short hours I would have to rise before the sun and work
until the dawn, I started to cherish the opportunity, because I knew that at
this moment, my strength was going to have to come from God alone. Although I didn’t get to read or pray like
crazy for a week like I originally anticipated, I did experience a side of
Jesus, perhaps the hands and feet of Jesus like I never had before. One that 100% gave everything of Himself away
and didn’t question when the next day’s tasks were requested of Him. He was utterly dependent on the Father, and
so am I now, as I am learning to be.
The hands and feet of Jesus man, that’s what
got me through this crazy weekend, and what’s even crazier is realizing that
Jesus felt as exhausted as I did for four days but that was every single day of
His life for Him, and even then, He continued to push beyond even His own physicality’s.
Talk about the hands and feet of Jesus, my
friend, because that’s where true servanthood was nailed to a cross for merely serving
humanity as a lowly carpenter, in the same hands that healed the leper, and the
same feet that climbed mountains just to make sure I was safe. Admittedly,
I too will now climb those mountains for others, and even though the walk may
be exhausting, I now know where my strength comes from; the hands and feet of
Jesus man, the hands, and feet of a King.
