The Master’s Work

“…Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49 NKJV)

While doing some school work today it hit me what this means precisely.  In those few, perfect words Jesus is telling each of us what is required to live more fully in His image.  It’s really pretty exciting and simple!  What has God done for you?  He has sent His son so that you might live.  He has sacrificed, voluntarily for all of mankind so that anyone that is willing to receive this free gift may once again have a relationship with the Creator.  When we deserved death and condemnation His response was love and a ridiculous amount of forgiveness!  Each day however, I sin and by doing so pile more and more of my grotesque obscenities against the cross.  I continue, sometimes consciously, and many times unconsciously to build a wall that will surely seem insurmountable between me and my Father.  Each time this happens I come before Him, trembling and waiting for the hammer to fall.  The response I get from Him, each time is the same.

“Do you think you surprised me with that one?  I already took that into account.  I want to forgive you.  Simply ask.  Please ask.  I love you.”

THAT is my Father’s business.  Jesus shows us how we can be like Him in a wonderfully simple way.  Emulate your Father!  That’s it!  He is the master, we are the apprentice.

Much as an apprentice picks up the idiosyncrasies of his master and can reflect this in his own work, God asks us to consciously imitate Him in our own work.  Just as any listener can hear Robert Johnson’s echo in Eric Clapton’s guitar, any person that knows us should likewise be able to say “Hey! I know that voice!” when they see our servant nature or hear words of love and life coming from us.  With that, it boils down to one question.  How has God handled me and my life and what can I learn from His actions?

I have found that the answer to this is that God is always, always patient, gentle, and quiet with me.  He always calms me at the very moment that I expect wrath and judgment.  He always forgives at the moment that I expect condemnation.  This gentle spirit that we feel should also guide us in our everyday steps.  When my son has come to me because he broke some precious bauble and he owns up to it, what should my response be?  Do I cuss in front of my six year old, shatter his heart with a glance, and than make him pay for it out of his backside in order to appease my fury? Or do I hug him, let him know how much he means to me, and reassure him that he is truly forgiven in every sense of the term?  When my coworkers bring up a failure on my part as a chance to slam me against a wall and make me look bad in front of my boss, do I claim abuse and keep a record of their wrongs or simply echo Jesus’ sentiment on the cross when He prayed “Forgive them”.

Joseph, after being thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his brothers did not respond by having them tortured and killed (though many would say that this would certainly be in his rights).  Instead he “broke down and wept” (Genesis 45:2) when he spoke to them again after not seeing them again for many years.  His response was “don’t be upset and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place.  It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.”  (Genesis 45:4-5)  This is truly what it means to be about My Father’s business.

If we tune out the distractions and watch the way God operates I am pretty sure that we will find the answer to the question “how do I respond” very quickly.  It is in His actions that we find the perfect model for our own.  Anything less is doomed to corruption.