Many years ago, my mother-in-law came to live with us. Just out of the hospital, she was quite fragile physically and emotionally. We tried to be kind to her, surrounding her with care and attention. “Mother Dear” took pleasure in our frequent outings. Sometimes it would just be going out for an ice cream cone. Deferring to her age, and because she was a special guest in our home, my husband would let her sit in the front seat of the car. He did this every time we went out. It got to the point where I muttered irrationally to myself, “Do I have to sit in the back seat for the rest of my life?” Terry’s action didn’t make sense to me at all.
Jesus often did things that made no sense. At a wedding celebration, the wine ran out. “Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’” ( John 2:6 NLT) The servants did so, even though the request was illogical. What would be the purpose of all that water? When the master of ceremonies tasted the water the servants brought him, however, he tasted wine! Jesus had demonstrated the power of God, “the first time Jesus revealed his glory”. ( John 2:11 NLT) Jesus was showing how He would go about His ministry – helping people and being involved in their lives.
Jesus asks us to do things that make no sense because He operated from an “upside down kingdom”, [a phrase coined by Donald Kraybill, author of a book by that name.] He did things that were the opposite of how we would think of doing them. “Though he was God, he [Jesus] did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8 NLT). Jesus willingly left His rightful place with God the Father, and became a human. He laid down His divine rights for our sake.
In my interactions with my mother-in-law, I did not lay down my rights for her sake. I was so focused on my right to sit where I usually sat, that I missed an important lesson. We needed to show my mother-in-law what the Kingdom of God was like, and by my attitude, I was hindering her from seeing this Kingdom in action. Despite my attitude, my mother-in-law eventually did become a child of God, part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Sitting in the back seat was a small price to pay in her journey to faith.
Prayer: Lord, help us not to cling to our own rights, but to defer to others, so as not to hinder them from seeing and embracing the Kingdom of God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Alice Burnett
Red Deer, Alberta
