Tools of the Trade

 

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

—Philippians 3:10

Dr. Helen Roseveare, a missionary physician and iterant speaker of the mid-20th century, has written in her book, Digging Ditches,¹ about the three tools that she believes serious followers of Christ need to use. She suggests Jesus used a yoke, a towel, and a cup to symbolize the work of Christ’s ministry, and our own.

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus invites us with these words:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

To most of us, this heavy, clumsy object looks more like a mechanism of torture than something that will give us rest. In reading about yokes, I have learned that cattle wearing yokes spend a long time getting used to the idea of working alongside another cow, or even a farmhand.

From the Scripture verse above, it appears as though Jesus, too, wants us to spend time with Him, in order that we may learn how to conform more easily to the pressure of “wearing” this way of life. Quietly giving ourselves to Him enables us to submit fully to Christ and allows Him to share more than half the load, as He directs us in His pathway.

We read about Dr. Roseveare’s second tool of the trade in John 13 during the Last Supper. Jesus took a towel to use in washing His disciples’ feet. He took the opportunity to teach His disciples about serving. In John 13:14, Jesus said:

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

This second tool serves a most practical need. Dirty, smelly feet needed cleaning before a person reclines to begin eating a meal. Jesus saw the need and got to it. He never thought about this as below His dignity as the Son of God. Nor, did Jesus see this task as demeaning in any way. He put the towel around His waist, got down on His knees, and served the men in attendance by carefully, lovingly, and thoroughly washing their feet.

Jesus wants us also to serve without counting the cost. He looks for servants who see a job that needs doing and who will get to work doing it.

The third tool suggests true suffering as Christ did. During the last meal, He “took the cup.” After He gave thanks, Jesus explained to His friends that the cup represented the blood of the covenant given for them. They must have assumed this cup indicated fellowship with Him. “How wonderful!” they must have thought to themselves. Yet, as recorded in Mark 14:36, a few hours later in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed:

Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.

This cup Jesus took did not represent fellowship. Instead, it represented the terrifying cup of suffering, as He bore our sins in our place on the cross. Yet, Dr. Roseveare explains in her book, these “cups” are one and the same.

The Apostle Paul obviously understood this truth when he wrote of desiring the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings (see Philippians 3:10). In this statement, we find the true heart of the gospel for others—to feel as Christ feels for the lost in our world and to suffer with them and for their sake.

How do we respond to the use of these tools? Have we taken them up? Or, have we set them aside and allowed them to rust or rot while we go about our selfish way?

We should all take a look at our hearts and compare them to Jesus’ examples for us. May He teach us to use the tools He grants us, that we may become united in fellowship with Him.

______________________

1 Roseveare, Helen. Digging Ditches. Ross-shire, Scotland UK: Christian Focus Publications, 2005. Amazon Kindle eBook location 1870-1901.