Always Busy, Never Rushed

I had a long day yesterday.  A very long day.  The day began by getting up at 5:00 am and then leaving for school by 5:30.  The Seminary was doing a Faith in the Marketplace breakfast which is often targeted to businessmen seeking to integrate their faith into their businesses.  It's a great program with interesting speakers and thought provoking conversations.  They also provide scholarships to students, so despite my disdain for early mornings, off I went.  Immediately following the breakfast, I headed to the library in order to write a small paper on a book that I had finished the night before.  With the paper out of the way, I still had another meeting to go to, along with a Hebrew Translation to start and finish, a vocabulary quiz to study for and another class to attend.  Needless to say at 6:45 pm when I walked into Hebrew I was already tired.  Another four hours later, I was finally home and ready to pass out on my bed.  Now I say all this not to earn your sympathy or even to vent, but rather as a confession.

I'd be willing to bet that my schedule above resembles the days of many other people.  The particulars may be different, nonetheless the congestion is undoubtedly similar.  There's a serious problem with this however.  In the midst of our cluttered lives, we miss the opportunity to connect with people in powerful ways.  We miss the opportunity to demonstrate love and compassion and to provide a listening ear to the hurting, or to simply give encouragement.

During my day, I interacted with many people.  As the day began, I was intentional about listening to them and really hearing their hearts, but by the end of the day, I had lost that ability and was completely inward-focused.  As I sat there in the library finishing my translation a few minutes before Hebrew, a friend of mine came in from the picnic that I was missing out on.  He sat down across from me with his plate of food and began working.  My books were scattered over the table and I barely made an effort to make room for him.  My compassion had gone out the window, especially as I eyed the, not one, but two cupcakes on his plate.  I went ahead and moved some things, briefly apologized for my untidiness, and went back to work on my translation.  I got up a number of times to go find commentaries or various other resources.  Then as I was about to finish up, I looked next to my computer and there sat one of the cupcakes from my friend's plate.  An act of compassion when I had given none.  I was humbled and grateful.

I share this story because we need more acts of compassion like that.  My friend's day was just as busy as mine, just as hectic and he was just as stressed, yet he chose to continue to be outward focused rather than being focused on self.  Dallas Willard once said that Jesus was often busy but never rushed.  He's right.  If you look through the Gospels, Jesus was constantly doing something, whether he was on his way to share some word, or perform some miracle, yet he always seemed to have time for someone else to intrude on his personal space.  Look at the story in Luke 8 of the woman who has been bleeding for 12 years.  It says that while Jesus was walking, "the people pressed around him."  I always imagine something like I-95 around D.C. during rush hour when I hear that statement.  He was also on his way to something rather important, a 12 year old was dying.  Then all of a sudden he was touched by this woman and she was healed.  Jesus could have just kept going if he wanted to, but he didn't.  He stopped and asked who touched him.  His disciples thought he was crazy, but he kept asking who touched him until finally the woman stepped forward.  Then he did something even more powerful than the healing.  He restored her dignity.

One of my favorite examples of Jesus' lack of being rushed comes in Mark 10 where he encounters Bartimaeus.  Jesus was headed toward Jerusalem when he is interrupted yet again.  Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, is calling out to Jesus by the roadside.  Now consider what Jesus is about to do.  He is headed toward Jerusalem to die on the cross.  Just a few verses earlier, he foretells his death for the third time.  You could say that he has some things to think about.  Yet, in an incredible moment of compassion and humility, he tells the disciples to bring Bartimaeus to him and asks him, "What do you want me to do for you?"  The King of Heaven and Earth asks a blind beggar what he wants him to do for him even in the midst of his greatest trial.  It seems that no matter how busy Jesus was, he always had time for someone to interrupt.  I think the reason why is because Jesus was concerned with people and with offering hope and restoration.  Jesus understood that if he was too rushed to restore someone's dignity, then he wasn't fulfilling the purpose for which he came.  So why is it that we, as his followers, have somehow missed this point?  We certainly have bought into the busyness of life and have become rushed as a result.  We may carve out time here and there for people and service projects, but how often do we take the time to really hear the person we're talking to?  Do we hear the pain in their voice or the stress communicated through their body language?  I speak of these things as the chief of sinners.  May we gaze together upon the life of Jesus and learn how to be busy, but never rushed.