Occupational Hazards

My students often don’t believe me when I tell them this while assigning research papers, but limits can actually be quite freeing. And it’s been freeing to me lately to be limited in reading and focusing on biblical texts picked out by someone else. The past few months while teaching Sunday School our curriculum has had us look at Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And now we are going through Luke’s gospel together.

One of our biggest themes last week when discussing chapters three and four was temptation. John the Baptist preaches to a crowd and then Luke describes how people with frowned-upon jobs ask John what they should do. John tells the tax collectors they shouldn’t collect more than they are asked to collect. Soldiers shouldn’t extort civilians or even their bosses either. Different jobs call for different temptations.

Not long after this exchange Jesus himself gets tempted by the Devil in the wilderness. And his temptation is all about his job of being the Messiah. Would he be willing to bend the rules of being human like us and just gratify himself with food when he’s very hungry? How about receiving the praise of people here and now without encountering any suffering first? Or tempting death and fate on his own terms just to see what would happen hypothetically? Of course, Jesus passes all three tests, and Luke reveals that perhaps the Devil will try again at a better time (although what’s better timing than on the heels of a 40-day fast?).

While preparing for class I knew I wanted my students to ask themselves what temptations they face at their jobs. So I also had to ask myself that same question. What would John the Baptist say to me if he found out I was a missionary? What might the Devil come up with to see if I would falter?

I didn’t arrive at any answers quickly or easily. Vaguely I thought of pride and selfishness. There’s trappings in all ministerial positions of needing people to need you or inflating your own importance because of how important your work is. But what me now as a missionary? What would John say to us? I mean I’ve just got one sentence and maybe two warnings, tops.

“Don’t isolate yourself from everyone here or back home, and don’t get frustrated all the time – be content with your new, lower capacities.”

Maybe that’s more for me than for all missionaries. But, then again, I could only expect my students on Sunday to answer for themselves.

We all face our own occupational hazards. I don’t think any of us have it worse than Jesus, though. He took on our humanity and lived better than any of us have. And he never cheated, even when tempted. He did it all straight up.

I suppose that’s why we’re told to look to him when we’re weary. He even offers us a light yoke and easy burden. That is, if we’re humble enough to ask him for it instead of insisting we have to muddle through somehow under the heavy weight life often thrusts upon us.

This week we’ll look at the next two chapters of Luke’s gospel, and I can’t wait to see what will stand out. There’s always something new for this teacher to learn.