Written by Julie Long, Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life
In an article published in the Christian Century entitled “Donkey Fetchers,” Tom Long offers readers a new take on the Palm Sunday story. In Mark 11, just as Jesus was about to descend the Mount of Olives to enter Jerusalem, the gospel writer tells us that Jesus sent two of his disciples to go and fetch a donkey.
Long writes, “Though no one knows what these two disciples were thinking, I am fairly confident that they had imagined for themselves a grander and nobler role on this day than being on donkey detail….All of the disciples had been jockeying for advantage, angling for glory, arguing about who was the greatest. So it is deliciously ironic that on this very public and glorious day of Jesus’ ministry, a day when he will be welcomed into Jerusalem with joyous hosannas, they find themselves engaged in a most unromantic form of ministry, mucking around a stable, looking suspiciously like horse thieves, and trying to wrestle an untamed and no doubt balky animal toward the olive groves. For this they left their fishing nets?”
Tom Long, and Jesus, remind us that ministry in the way of Jesus is not always glorious and glamorous. “Preparing the way of the Lord” often requires God’s people performing humble and routine jobs that are exhausting, perhaps even feel demeaning, and earn little appreciation. Thousands of these little tasks done by staff and lay leaders alike happen week in and week out around the church– work like cleaning the kitchen and hauling trash to the dumpster, weeding flower beds and counting the offering. Jobs like stuffing choir folders and moving chairs and setting up microphones and buying groceries and filling communion cups.
Long calls these types of chores “the arrangements people make for the ministry of Jesus.” What a wonderful description of what we, as disciples, are called to do! When Jesus says, “Follow me!,” we may be hesitant to go where he bids us. But when we recognize that we are called to bring about redemption into the world through humble service and faithful care, we can find our sense of purpose. Even the most mundane work can be the source of grace and gratitude.
As Holy Week approaches, I challenge you to reflect not only on the grandiose tasks and the spectacular events that took place. Reflect on the small jobs of humble service and great faithfulness that made Jesus’ ministry possible. Remember those who were behind the scenes – cleaning up the palms left behind in the streets, setting the table for the Passover meal, emptying the basin after Jesus’ foot washing, and yes, even fetching the donkey – and remember that the good news of the Easter story – and the story of the church – is that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.