What Are You Shouldering?

This past weekend I was part of a community of people that canceled our regular services and handed out groceries to those in need. We transformed our Worship Center into a huge grocery store. As pastor of this great community, I was deeply proud to be a small part in the "Kingdom coming on Earth as it is in Heaven"... and truthfully,what I believe to be what Jesus would be doing.

Before we began handing out food, I shared a quick devotion from the Gospel of Luke to those gathered. In case you missed it, the following is that devotion:

Luke 1:26-38
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. "For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

As we are preparing to minister to our community today by handing out groceries to those in need, I want to remind us all that we are doing so in the name of Jesus. We, like young Mary in this passage, are simply ‘bondslaves of the Lord’.

We’ve all heard and thought about how incredibly hard it would have been for a young woman to be pregnant outside of marriage in the time period we are talking about here. Yet, this girl had a deep passion to serve and be used by her Lord. She even considered it an honor. I see in Mary, what I see in all of you today, this attitude of someone that is living with a different Kingdom in mind.

The angel here begins to explain to Mary about the Son she is soon to have. He mentions that “He will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David”… and so on. The things the angel was speaking were things that Mary probably would have recognized as coming from passages of Scripture found in the Old Testament referring to the Messiah! This would have been extremely exciting… and maybe even a bit intimidating. However, Mary responds, “I’m sold-out to God, I’m His bondslave, so bring it on. Whatever He says, as weird as it may sound, I’m in!” Again, this is the attitude of someone that is “Kingdom minded”, not someone who is “of-this-world minded”.

Interestingly, one of the passages that the angel was referring to was Isaiah 9. Verse 6 of chapter 9 in Isaiah’s Book states, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” I’ve always loved that verse, especially around Christmas time!

Think back to all the stories you know about Jesus and ask yourself; “When are Jesus’ shoulders ever mentioned?” I can think of stories where His hands are mentioned, His feet, His breast, His head, His back, even His eyes. However, the only time I can think of where anything at all might have “rested on His shoulders” was when He was walking up the road to Calvary. We’re told that as they led Jesus to be crucified that they had to recruit the help of someone named Simon to actually help Jesus with the burden of carrying His Cross. However, we can assume that Jesus at least carried it part of the way. He would have done this by placing the cross-beam upon His shoulder and dragging the entire Cross behind him. It would have been incredibly heavy, and it would have been tremendously difficult considering the physical beating He had been taking all night long.

Now, follow my thinking for a minute: The prophecy was that “a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders”. Jesus was that Child. What rested on Jesus’ shoulders? The Cross.

Could the “government” of God be symbolized by the “Cross of Jesus”?

When we talk about the Kingdom of God, we’re describing, among other things, I believe, a mind-set. We’re describing a person, or group of people, that have determined to live their lives according to God’s rules. Although we may live in America, or Africa, or China, or some other physical local, we admittedly live under the rule of another King. We pledge our allegiance to another Kingdom entirely! I do not mean that we do not submit to the governing authorities of the land in which we live, but should they ever run contrary to the Laws of God, we’d submit to a higher authority (Acts 5:29). So, our mind-set is that we are true God-followers. We serve the King of all other kings and rulers. In a very real sense, we consider ourselves “governed” by God.

By the way, did you know that that is what Israel means, “Governed by God”? Pretty cool when you think that they are called God’s chosen people and that the New Testament describes all those that believe in Jesus as having been ‘grafted in’ to that chosen family. [Romans 11].

The idea that God’s government is symbolized by the Cross of Jesus is intriguing to me. You see, it means that God’s Kingdom is totally upside down when compared to the kingdoms of this world. In God’s Kingdom you have a King that gave His life for His subjects. You have a King Who became poor to make others rich. You have a King that leads His subjects by example by actually living His message, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13).

This is the attitude that I see in Mary when she responds to the angel’s outlandish announcement, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” This is the attitude I see in those here today to simply love others by practically meeting their needs.

May each of us always be those that are ‘Kingdom-minded’ and follow the example of our King, Jesus, in laying down our lives that others might live. At times it may be a difficult thing to do. At times it may be an uncomfortable thing to do. However, it’s the mandate of a bondslave. It’s the mission of a God-follower. It’s also the privilege of carrying God’s government on our shoulders.

Let’s pray…