auxilliary society

A lot of schools, especially private schools, have auxiliary societies. Traditionally they used to be made up of women – moms and grandmas – but now most include both parents. The idea of these societies was to support the work of the school with funds and by volunteering.

I never realized until this morning that Jesus had one of those. Here it is, from Luke 8:1-3: “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women . . .” I’m going to break in here, because look at the qualification it took to be in this society: “. . . who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases . . .”

Imagine, this group of women who had been unable to lead normal lives but then suddenly could, thanks to Jesus. What they chose to do, rather than return to their families and towns, was to serve Jesus. And look at who these women were, in words taken straight from scripture:

·      “. . . Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out . . .” Seven! Imagine her suffering! Imagine the drama of their exorcism! 

·      “. . . Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household . . .” So, a woman used to living in Herod’s palace, whose husband depended on one of Jesus’ enemies for his living, chose instead to wander with Jesus.

·      “. . . Susanna . . .” We don’t know anything except her name. I like to think she represents all of us who work without recognition.

·      “. . . and many others.” This, I think, is to let us know that Jesus had helped many, many people beyond just the ones we read about.

And look what they did: “These women were helping to support them out of their own means.” These weren’t dependent people hanging on because they had nowhere else to go. They, out of gratitude and through hard work, were enablers in Jesus’ ministry. They went beyond pulling their own weight; they provided food and other necessities for the disciples out of their own pockets.

This is a passage I’ve skimmed over so many times, but this morning it strikes me as a great picture of what grateful living should look like. All of us who know Jesus have been saved from similar demonic influence; if nothing else, we bought some lies from the Father of Lies that led us to do some pretty stupid stuff. Now we’re free of that, just like these women. Shouldn’t we respond just like them? Shouldn’t we choose to follow Jesus, working with him and for him and contributing in any way we can to his work?

Would anything less be sufficient to show how grateful we really are?