Invisible

It may seem like an interesting thing to choose2B, but it seems really appropriate. It is now less than a week before I head over to Sierra Leone for 6 weeks. As I have had time to think about my assignment, I have found myself really asking some questions similar to those asked by others in the Bible. Why me? Why would God wanna use me to share with others what it looks like to serve others and how to live a life of service to others. I wish I could claim that my life is about others, but I live it as though it is about me most of the time. I have taken comfort in the fact that God seemed to make choices that were crazy to us here on earth, but they worked out in the end. Let's hope he knows what he's doing by sending this idiot over to teach.

I have been working through the Gospel of Mark in recent days and was caught thinking about how Jesus started His ministry. In chapter one verses 21-28 is the story of Jesus driving out an evil spirit. Jesus orders the spirit to be quiet when it says it knows who he is. Versus 32-34 talk about how the people brought to him all who were sick and possessed and he healed them. It ends by adding that He would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Verses 40-45 tell the story of Jesus healing a man with leprosy and asking him to not share it with anyone.

Jesus spends much of His early ministry trying to deflect attention. In verse 28, the NRSV says that Jesus' fame spread throughout the region. I believe our Savior knew that the praise of men could become a problem. That people would look more to His fame than His mission. Jesus sought 2B invisible so that others could see the love he had for the Father and for others. The morning after Jesus has healed many Simon comes to him in verse 37 and says "Everyone is looking for you." Jesus' response is simply "Let's go somewhere else. I want to go to the nearby towns. I must preach there also. That is why I have come." Jesus is focused on the mission and so the other stuff doesn't matter and is a hindrance to the purpose.

Could it be that God has rarely chosen to use the famous or those we might choose because we might miss His power? We might become focused upon their fame and think it has to do with them. Could it be that God is using me because nobody knows me, that I don't want or need the praise of men. I'm sure He has His reasons and I may never know them, but until then I will choose2B invisible so God can be seen and not me. Thank you Jesus for being the example of humbleness so others would see through you and find the Father. May we all choose2B invisible!