Early in my ministry, I started a Saturday evening ritual
called “shaving my legs for Jesus”.
The name pretty much describes it accurately. Every Saturday night, I
would draw a bath and go through the painstaking process of shaving my legs. I
know that people all over the world do this on a daily basis, some even
awkwardly balancing themselves as they stand in a shower stall to do so, and
they do this without thinking much about it and never realizing its
theological significance. But stick with me, there is some.
Now here’s the obvious question: does Jesus care if my legs
are stubbly? I don’t think so. I have never heard the still quiet voice of God
whisper to me on Sunday morning, “your legs are smooth—good and faithful
servant”.
That’s not why I do it.
I hate shaving. I started doing it because I felt that was
part of looking my best for church on Sunday. As if somehow smooth legs represents a clean heart, a
prepared message or a holy demeanor.
But shaved legs represent a cultural preference, not a
Biblical mandate. There is no “blessed is she with the smooth legs, for she
shall glide smoothly in the waters of Life”. It’s not there. I looked.
So, that is not why I keep this tradition alive. I do it
because I hate it.
Yes, I do it because it is no fun. It is time consuming. It
can be painful if you don’t pay attention or if you don’t use the right cream.
It can burn when you are finished if you put the wrong things on too soon.
Sometimes ministry, whether it is ordained or lay, calls us to
do things that we do not like: to go where we are sent, to stay when we want to
leave, to talk to people unlike us, to show grace when we are angry, to be
peaceful in situations of unrest. So every week, I do this thing that I don’t
like because it reminds me that God calls each of us, including me, to do
things that we don’t want to do. Obedience is often not convenient. It’s often
not comfortable. So, every week, at least once, I remind myself that it is not
about me. That’s it about a God who made himself more than uncomfortable for
me.
