Doing the Dishes

            I did the dishes last night. No big deal right? Sometimes I can fall into a pattern that my dad lived – maybe once every two or three weeks I remember seeing him do the dishes. He would be quite proud of himself for helping out. My mom was a very hard worker at home and then both at home and at a job she held at J.C. Penney for many years. I’m sure she appreciated when my dad would do something like that, but I’m also quite certain she wasn’t as impressed as he expected she would be. She probably felt more like saying, “Welcome to my world.”

            Actually I do the dishes more often than my dad did (He said trying to justify himself!). But growing up I never did. I had three older sisters and in those days the women did “those” jobs. We never had a dishwasher, so I’m sure they did more dishes than they ever wanted to. The clean up every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and most Sunday dinners was massive, but the men were always off watching football or sleeping the turkey and gravy off. Joanne has lots of stories about doing dishes when she was growing up. In a family of eight with a mother who cooked and baked profusely, I know she did them in the thousands – probably even tens of thousands as the years went by. She is, no doubt, not unique in this experience. So I’m sure whenever I do them she is not all that impressed. But she is always thankful.

            There isn’t much about doing the dishes in the Bible. Perhaps the story of Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha comes the closest. Mary was doing nothing but enjoying being at the feet of Jesus, while Martha was out in the kitchen doing all the work. She didn’t like it and got angry at her sister. Then she “used” Jesus to try to settle her feelings toward Mary. Jesus patiently told her that Mary had chosen the best thing to do and that Martha was fretting too much.

            But someone’s got to do the dishes... eventually. I don’t think it was wrong for Martha to be doing the work. Her real problem was her attitude about it. I understand her attitude. We can become frustrated when we feel like someone else is not pulling their weight and stepping up to help. Frustration can lead to feeling sorry for ourselves, which can lead to anger and resentment and any number of negative emotions.

            It does not have to be this way. There is a solution that takes us down a different path. It’s a way that ends in joy. I try to practice it and to encourage others to go for it. The Gospel makes it possible. It is doing the job – whatever it is – as to the Lord. Others aren’t doing their share? I will do it as to the Lord. People are neglecting their responsibility? I will do it as unto the Lord. Feeling overwhelmed? I will do it as unto the Lord. And whenever I do… things are different. It is a real attitude changer. And it ends up being an opportunity for joy. It’s amazing how the Gospel at work in my life will change my attitude and perspective. It’s no longer getting “stuck doing it”. It is now a way to serve Jesus. This doesn’t just happen by itself. It involves being open and sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, and being responsive to God’s Word.

            So… whenever I do the dishes… may I do so as an act of worship, conceiving of it as if I am either cleaning up after Jesus Himself or getting them clean for the next meal as if Jesus Himself was going to be there.

Luke 10:38-42 - ³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

            ⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Matthew 25:40 -  ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Colossians 3:23-24 - ²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

PRAYER:  Father, may the everyday activities of life that are for the sake of someone else... be opportunities for me to serve Jesus with joy. Be glorified in all of life – from the mundane to the sublime. Thank you for the privilege of seeing what I do in this way.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott