I feel as thought I've somewhat spun off a roller coaster and am sliding to a halt. This past weekend was our office's annual Family Retreat which is the biggest event of the year that I am responsible for planning. It was an amazing weekend of laughing, playing, learning from each other and spending time in God's Word together. The theme for the weekend was "Thriving, Not Just Surviving" and God showed each one of us things about Himself and ourselves. Many of the families in our office have made decisions to stay for longer terms here in Costa Rica, so it was a good point to discuss what it means to thrive on the mission field. Although I was energized from being around people and the weekend was very fun, we are now two days out and I still feel as though I could sleep 3 more hours. I know the Lord will regenerate me, but He has also taught me alot about resting in Him, and resting in general. It feels good to be able to use what I feel are my gifts and things I love to do to serve the Lord through serving EMI.
In the dust of the rabbi...
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
This past month, I’ve been attempting to lead our interns through a study called “The Dust of the Rabbi”. In this study, Ray Vander Laan takes the listener (it’s a podcast) back in time to the days of Christ and explains, through the cultural lense of Judaism, exactly what Jesus meant when he called his disciples. Standing in stark contrast to our typical ideals of discipleship: 30 minute devotionals in the mornings, Wednesday night Bible Study, sermons that barely reference the Word of God, and a cursory glance at prayer from time to time; Jesus’s understanding of discipleship was far more. The very definition of the word “disciple” has been skewed over the years since Jesus’s teaching. “Disciple” nowadays has come to be thought of as a mere student, someone who wants to know what the teacher knows. However, “talmede” in a Jewish since (hence, a Jesus sense) meant someone who wants to be what the teacher is.
In Mark, Chapter 3 (above), Jesus called his disciples, not to class or to a seminar or conference, but he called them “that they might be with him”. Why is this? Why couldn’t they just meet him in the synagogue for a few hours a week.....or better yet, a few hours a day?! Very simply, in order to be like your rabbi, you must be with him every hour of the day; to see how he walks, to hear how he talks, how he reacts in every situation, to learn his routines, his quirks, what he values, what he despises, where he finds joy, peace, comfort, and most of all, who he worships. To do this, you must be covered “in the dust of the Rabbi”; so close to him that you are covered in his dust.
How can you and I rearrange our lives to give us more time to follow our Rabbi? It’s not just a great suggestion...its a life commitment.
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