True Commitment

Luke 8:1-3

          If I asked you to write down three things that you truly value, and then asked you to write down beside those three things, how much time and resources you spend on them, would what you believe you truly value, line up with your actions? Answering a question like that makes us realize that we sometimes have our priorities a little mixed up.

          An example of that would be, if someone said that they valued spending time with their family, but they only did it when time away from work or friends allowed it, what does that person really value? I would say that they value work and friends over family. Actions speak louder than words and today we are going to look at some people who acted on what they truly valued, both with time and resources.

          Turn with me to Luke 8 and we will continue our study in the first verse; “Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.”

            This passage begins what is known as the “tour” but what I call the “Jesus tour”. From this point on until Jesus starts heading back to Jerusalem, our Lord spent all His time traveling “through cities and villages”. It is interesting to note that during His tour it is never recorded that Jesus taught in a synagogue again. That does not mean that He could not have, but because of His controversial teachings, it is possible that He was not invited to teach again.

          For the next couple of years Jesus spent His time “bringing the good news of the kingdom of God” to the cities and towns of Judea. This was His commitment to the Jewish nation and he never wavered from it. All of the time and energy that He had went into this ministry. This was what He truly valued and was committed to. Our Lords actions demonstrated what He really believed, but He was not alone.

          Like any big name tour, there has to be a support team to keep things running, the Jesus tour was no exception. First of all there were the “twelve” that had been hand picked by Jesus. These guys were the roadies. They looked after things like finding boats to cross lakes with, looking for kids with baskets of fish and bread, and preaching and healing people when Jesus wasn’t around.

          They also spent time arguing over who was the best among them and making off the wall statements that sometimes seemed ridicules, but through it all, they stayed committed to Jesus. They were always with Him unless He sent them somewhere else. They dedicated their lives to Him and valued their time with Him, but it did not end there.

          We know that at least one of the apostles was well off. Mathew was a tax collector and would have had many resources. At least four of the apostles were fishermen and, as businessmen, would have had some money put away that would have been used for traveling expenses. All of the apostles probably brought something into the group that would have helped get the tour off to a good start. They gave their time and their treasure but some gave much more.

          We know that at least one and possibly more of the apostles were married. They left their wives and families to follow Jesus. There is not one place recorded in scripture where these men complained about being away from family. Many of the apostles were young men who, if not married, were probably helping to support their parent’s households. Never a complaint! There is no doubt that these men were committed to Jesus and His ministry, in fact it was something they truly valued.

          This brings us to the group of people that I really want to focus on today, the women. Luke goes into more detail about the women in Jesus’ life than any of the other gospel writers. And this passage gives us more detail than any other as to the great responsibility these women had. Let’s look at a couple of these women for a moment.   

          Mary Magdalene has gotten bad revues for centuries and all of it unfounded. So today were going to set the record straight. First of all, many have suggested that the woman, probably a prostitute, that washed Jesus’ feet and was forgiven of her sins, was Mary of Magdala. This is totally unfounded and is pure speculation. Just because this woman is written about in the verses preceding this passage, that does not mean that Mary is the same person. We cannot know this from scripture.  

          The second speculation is this, because Jesus had cast seven demons out from Mary that she was an evil or immoral person. I’m not big into demon possession but we know that it does exist because the bible says it does. So here’s the question, if a person is possessed, does that make them intrinsically evil? And if they do do something evil, is it because of their sin nature or the evil influence in their lives? I’m not here to answer these questions today, only to defend Mary Magdalene. That she would have suffered from a troubled past is not in doubt. That she was evil or immoral is. The point is this, whatever her past was; she was now totally committed to follow Jesus no matter the cost.

          Luke also mentioned a woman by the name of Joanna who was the wife of Chuza. We are told that he is Harod’s household manager. The word in Greek is epitropos and it refers to an official that looks after the financial interests of the Emperor or in this case, his proconsul. Chuza was the most trusted and important official Harod had and his wife was probably one of the biggest financial supporters Jesus had.

           We don’t know anything about Susanna or the other women that were with Jesus other than that they provided for Jesus and the twelve “out of their means.” If you are reading from a King James or New King James translation you are probably wondering why I said that the women were providing for Jesus and the twelve when your bible says that they were only providing for Jesus. The most reliable Greek manuscripts use the plural “them” rather than the singular “Him” and from this we see that the support from the women was for the entire ministry, not just its leader.

          Using my analogy of a rock tour we must never look at these women as groupies, they were the force behind the tour. They provided the support needed, both moral and financial, to make this tour a success.

          Could Jesus have done it without them? I’m sure He could have, but that is not the way He does things. He wants us to be involved in his ministry. He wants us to be committed to His ministry. He wants us to support His ministry with our time, talents and treasure. If we are not giving in these areas of our lives then we must ask ourselves the question, “Do I really value what God has given me and what Jesus has saved me from?”

          Last Friday Drew, Anna, Kathy and me had the opportunity to spend the evening with the folks from St. Stevens REC in Montrose. Fr. Jerry had invited our churches up to listen to the Venerable Dr. Joe Omeokwe talk about how to grow our churches. What struck me and stuck with me was that without conviction and commitment from the members, the church is not going to grow. And if we don’t grow, we will die. That’s just the way it is.

          I have asked Fr. Joe to come to visit our churches and he is willing to do so, but there must be conviction in these churches that we must grow, and the commitment to make them grow. He can give us the tools we need but we have to have the commitment to use them.

          If you need to be inspired to make that commitment, just look at the women in our Lord’s life. They understood the meaning of commitment. They were there when Jesus and his followers needed financial support for His ministry. They were at the foot of the cross with Him when all the men, except John, had run away to save themselves. They were the first to go to the tomb of Jesus and find it empty.

          Commitment is an understatement when it comes to describing these women. Their dedication and loyalty to Christ was immeasurable. There faith, steadfast, and their love for him undying.

          True commitment means there will be sacrifices made, time given, talents used and treasures spent. What we value will dictate where these are directed. Following Jesus always carries a cost with it, but the rewards will be eternal and more than we can ever imagine, that is Christ’s commitment to us.            

                                                                                                      Amen……