“In order to follow Jesus, we have to go through a carpenter’s shop in Nazareth”
These words of Zack Eswine, pastor of Riverside Church in St. Louis, MO, speak volumes of not only who Jesus is, but also who his followers are called to be.
When we read through the Gospel accounts, we see a beautiful picture of Christ and his work of feeding those who are spiritually hungry, healing those who are sick, liberating those who are oppressed, touching the untouchable, cleansing the unclean, and forgiving sin. We see Jesus Christ, God incarnate, entering the brokenness of this world to bring wholeness and restoration to those who have the eyes of faith to see who he really is. Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. The divinity of Christ is demonstrated in that he does things that only God can do. But we also see his humanity in the way that he interacts with people and creation, affirming the goodness of the world that was created through him.
All of this is so important as the way of Christ indeed emphasizes spiritual formation, fostered through prayer, thoughtful and prayerful reading of the Scripture, hearing God’s Word proclaimed through preaching, and ultimately living out God’s truth in every aspect of our lives as the Spirit of God conforms us to the image of Christ. While all these things are absolutely essential to the Christian life, equally important is being in the world and getting our hands dirty, so to speak.
One of the things that I have been thinking about is the reality of Christ as carpenter. From the witness of Scripture and from what we know about Jesus’ world in the 1st century, I believe that we can confidently say that the majority of Jesus’ life prior to the beginning of his ministry, was spent learning and utilizing the trade of carpentry. It doesn’t get any earthier than that. What is fascinating to think about is that Christ spent this portion of his life using the tools to shape the same material that he would one day be crucified upon. Christ lived a fully human life engaged in the day-to-day tasks and concerns that we are all too familiar with. There is an aspect of the ordinary that is sometimes overlooked as we look to Christ to lead us to our true home.
While Christ gives us our bearing as we journey towards the point in history when all things are made know at his glorious appearing, he also gives us our bearing on how to be engaged in the world around us.
We are called to love our neighbor, to love our enemy even. How do we show love to those around us? By showing Jesus to those whom we encounter as we live an ordinary life on this journey of faith. Providing a meal or shelter for those who are hungry and need a safe place to stay, taking an elderly neighbors garbage out to the curb for trash collection, sharing a meal, helping jump start someone’s car, even being involved in your kids’ sports leagues. There are countless ways in which we can demonstrate who it is that we follow when our actions are in line with the Master Carpenter who has shaped our lives.