07
Setting The Table For The Savior
Jon Burgess“So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.” Mark 14:13-16
Its a good thing they were paying attention to the detailed instructions from Jesus on how to prepare the Passover meal. Passover was always important to the Jews but they had no idea that this would be their last time together before Jesus faced the Cross. It would have been easy to think this to be an insignificant moment. They were about to see that this small act of obedience would literally and spiritually set the table for one of the most powerful moments in scripture with The Last Supper. These detailed instructions from Jesus were very similar to the ones He gave earlier to two disciples in Matthew 21:1-3: "When you enter it, you will find a young donkey. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me. If any person asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell that person, "The Master needs these donkeys. He will send them back soon." Just as with the Passover meal it would have been easy for the disciples to underestimate the importance of these instructions. They had no idea they were preparing the way for the Triumphal Entry of Christ! It turns out there's no such thing as a small act of obedience when it's in response to the instructions of a big God!
God will often give us the "what" without giving us the "why". The small acts of service He is calling me to walk out today is a Divine Set Up for something big in the future. I can't see it. I don't know it. What matters most is that I obey it no matter how trivial it seems. My obedience to Jesus is not predicated upon the explanation from Jesus. Just as in these two examples from scripture, I can walk with expectation that I am not wasting my time when I am walking out His instructions. My obedience in what is seemingly small is preparing the way for something unbelievably large that God wants to do. My acts of service are setting the table for Jesus to have a life changing conversation with His people. Is it picking up trash or stacking chairs? Is it diligent study of scripture or praying for a need in the moment? Is it giving away something I want to keep or giving credit to someone else for something I did? Whatever He is asking me to do is setting the table for something He's about to do that will change the atmosphere around me.
Its so easy to judge the worth and value of something by how many have seen it or noticed it. So much of what You call me to do no one with ever notice but You! It's so easy to limit my obedience to that which makes sense or fits in my plan, but then that's not obedience to You it's just agreement with You. I want to prepare the way for Your entry into this city! I want to set the table for intimate life changing conversation with You! Let me be true to what You've asked me to do whether I understand it's significance or not. It becomes a significant act of service the moment You ask it to be done!
