My Ears You Have Pierced

I know a few people with a true gift for hospitality, and my mother-in-law is one of them. Most of us know how to be nice to people when they take the trouble to visit us. My mother-in-law takes her role as hostess to another level. The virus restrictions have been difficult for us, as one of the fallouts of it is that our family has not been able to visit inside their home since March 2020, for safety's sake. 

To compensate, at least momentarily, my mother and father-in-law hosted a "bistro" on the back deck of their home. They created a menu, cooked a mouth-watering dinner with all the fixings (think Thanksgiving, but with roast beef instead of turkey), carried our food "order" out to us on trays, refilled our drinks, visited with their grandchildren, and waited on us hand and foot. 

This was, of course, a special occasion, but the thing is, it's actually par for the course. Every time we are together with them, it brings my mother-in-law so much joy to serve, to willingly provide anything she can that brings joy and comfort. She reminds me of Abraham, who, in Genesis 18, sees three men approaching his tent, and he asks them to stay for dinner. He runs around overseeing meal preparation, and when everything is ready, in Genesis 18:8, "while [the men] ate, he stood near them under a tree." He waited on them, his attention attuned to every last need they might have. 

My mother-in-law and Abraham would have thrown the best party. 

Anyway, in Genesis 47, famine is hitting hard. The grain still remains in the silos where Joseph has stored it during the years of plenty, but all other thresholds of wealth and prosperity are slowly smothering under a chokehold as resources dry up. Egypt is now feeling the effects of the famine as much as Canaan. 

The people run out of money to purchase grain, so they cry out to Joseph: "Give us food! Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up." 

So Joseph tells them to bring their livestock in payment for the grain they need. The year goes by, and the Egyptians run out of livestock to purchase grain, so they return to Joseph. "Well, our money is gone, our animals are yours... let us sell you our land and ourselves so that we can have grain, and consequently, stay alive."

So Joseph purchases their land for Pharaoh and contracts them as slaves (this should not be taken as an endorsement of slavery). 

In Genesis 47:25, the people tell Joseph: "You have saved our lives! May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh." Note here: They rejoice in their servitude, because they have found a master who takes care of them, who looks out for their best interests.

Let me jump over really quickly to Deuteronomy 15:16-17 where we get a vivid definition of a bondslave. "But if your servant says to you, 'I do not want to leave you,' because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe and into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant."

This is no Claire's ear-piercing procedure that leaves a hole easily grown together again; this is a spike that leaves a significant mark, as life-long and permanent as branding. It signifies a person who becomes a willing servant, one who loves his or her master, one who is dedicated to studying the master, to notice every last wish the master may have and to immediately fulfill it. As Abraham did beneath the tree while the men ate, this servant waits expectantly, hoping to be able to meet the needs of the master.

Paul introduces himself to the Romans in 1:1 like this: "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus..." My footnotes tell me that the Greek word "servant" here holds two meanings: first, it means "slave," as in a slave who belongs completely and absolutely to his master and has no freedom to leave, and second, it means "willing servant," one who wouldn't leave even given his freedom. Love for his master is what keeps him in place, and this is the type of "servant" that Paul is calling himself. He displays absolute, total, committed, sacrificial laying down of any rights in order to serve his Master. "Paul, a servant, a bondslave of Christ Jesus..."

Galatians 2:20 is the best description of this type of relationship between master and servant, between Jesus and disciple that there is: "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."

I'm going to keep going, because I think this is an important aspect of our relationship with Jesus that can get overlooked: "...Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

This is not a one-sided relationship. This is not a picture of a master walking around with a trail of servants behind him, not noticing what happens to his servants who listen to him. 

His attention is fully fixed on us. His gaze is centered on us. He loves us and gave Himself for us.

This is a reciprocal relationship. We live to serve Him, He died to save us.

...

...

Sometimes (believe it or not)... words fail me. This is one of those times.

For God so loved me, that He sent Jesus, His well-loved Son... to die in my place, to beat death, to push back against the enemy's claim over me because of my sins, and to claim me as His own servant.

"I said, 'You are my servant.' I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand" (Isaiah 41:9-10).

How could I do anything less than serve Him with everything I have? I am His servant, His willing bondslave, marked for eternity as His. 

When grapes go through the winepress, their skins burst, and what is inside releases. The skins are pushed aside, and the juice is made into wine. Without the bursting, the product can never be made. Without the stripping of skin, the ridding of the shell, what is inside cannot reach its potential.

Oh Jesus, we surrender ourselves to You. Willingly. Drive that awl into the doorframe, mark us eternally as Yours. You love us, You gave Yourself for us.

How could we do anything less for You? Teach us today, Lord, how to serve You. Send us through the winepress, pressure us until the sweet wine pours from us. Crucify us with You, Jesus. Fill up these leaky, misshapen, warped vessels of brittle clay with the all-surpassing power that comes from You.

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced... I said, 'Here I am, I have come... I desire to do Your will, oh my God; Your law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:6-8). Lord, I'm hanging on Your every word.