It’s tucked away in a verse in John ch 4. Jesus is meeting the woman at the well and in brackets (to emphasise to the reader how irrelevant this is) we are told that the disciples have gone into the city to buy food.
Lucy and I have come away to a lead retreat in North Devon. The preacher from LICC has sold me quite a lot of resources which I think could be useful for our TMP services. I wonder if I will still think that when I get home. We have all bought stuff on holiday which seemed just right but then later on we can’t remember why.
His first point is that there are no thankless tasks. If you spot someone doing one, then thank them. I like that but I note that so many people do small things in the church family and I am so glad that it’s been done and sorted and cleared up and refilled and so on. Thank you. Perhaps wherever you are you can keep an eye out for the thankless tasks.
His second point is about the brackets around this verse. They aren’t there in the Greek and he admits that in a normal setting a preacher would move swiftly on to the punchline about learning to worship in Spirit and in Truth. But let’s pause and note somethings here. Note that all 12, the whole group of them, women and all, have gone off shopping so that Jesus can be left alone.
There are dull jobs that don’t especially seem to advance the kingdom, but without the food, Jesus and the others would not have got far. These jobs should not be thankless but they are behind the scenes stuff. There’s no special need to spiritualise this point.
It wouldn’t be difficult to do so. You could say 12 go a-shopping and being new to the market place they invite people to come and hear Jesus, or they pray for the people in the queue in front of them and so on. You could make a mission out of this shopping trip. But the preacher’s point is about doing the work that we do do for the glory of God, as if serving the Lord, as if being the Lord in that place. See yesterday’s blog. It is about doing what needs to be done with good grace.
The preacher also points out that Jesus needed to be alone for the encounter with the Woman at the well to happen. So the disciples getting on and doing what they do, does enable the kingdom to grow, even if not under their nose. Someone has to do this work and this lot do even if our translators have decided it’s so irrelevant as to put it in brackets. Because of it we have this beautiful verse about the importance of worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth.
The preacher closes with an anecdote about cycling from London to Brighton. It’s not one that I can relate to until he mentions Ditchling Beacon. This is an incredibly steep hill a little to the west of Lewes at the top of which is a car park, fabulous views and an ice cream van.
His point though was about the banter between cyclists as they get off and walk up the last part of the hill. Some super fit types pedal all the way, including one at the front of a sort of tandem. Behind him is his little son with little pedals pedalling furiously. Someone shouts at the dad, “You’re doing all the work”. Dad shouts back “He’s helping!”
It’s not difficult to see Jesus at the front of this tandem and me behind with the little pedals. And it’s good to remember both that my contribution is not so big that I should be proud, nor to think that my contribution is so small that it doesn’t matter. Your bit is wanted, is valued, keep peddling. And yes there is a nice bit of free wheeling when you do get over the top of Ditchling Beacon.
(Photo of deer made out of wicker just cos I thought it looked pretty)