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          All good human relationships are based on mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual need. This is true of husbands and wives, parents’ children, employers and employees, friend and friend. It is true even of our relationship with Jesus. We     respect Him, that is clear enough. But it is also true that He respects us. We trust Him, and unbelievable though it is, He also trusts us. We need Him; this we freely acknowledge. For some of us, it is impossible  to imagine life without His presence and help. But has it ever occurred to you that Jesus also needs us?

         If you read the story of His life, it may surprise you how often Jesus needed the help of people. He  entered this world as a newborn infant. And like all little babies, He needed someone to feed, guide and teach Him. He grew from babyhood to manhood, and, like all growing boys, He needed someone to feed, guide and teach him. At the beginning of His ministry, He gathered around Him a group of twelve men. He needed them to help Him with His work.

        He needed a woman of Samaria to give Him a drink of water. He needed a peasant boy to help Him feed five thousand hungry people. He needed a man from Cyrene to help Him with His cross. He needed Joseph of Arimathea to provide him with a place of burial. And After His resurrection, He needed His friends to share the good news with our world.

        It is easy, I’m sure, for us to see our need of Jesus. But it seems almost irreverent to speak of His need for us. Yet, it is no less true today that it was when He walked this world of ours.

       Consider, for a moment, how something inside of us responds to those who need us. Picture yourself  in bed at night, sound asleep. Then suddenly the silence is shattered by a voice crying for help. I doubt that  anything would wake us up more quickly and more completely. However, selfish we may be, there is something within us that is   deeply touched by a cry for help. When we are needed and know it, most of us respond.

        Our mutual needs are the point where we really get to know and trust each other. We can play, and laugh, and have fun together. That is a good and necessary part of life. But we really get close to those people with whom we share our deepest needs. The need does not create closeness. It simply takes away the veneer, makes us vulnerable, and enables us to get close.

        None of us will ever get very close to another person who is always strong, always able, always  helping and never needing help. That is like a parent’s relationship with a small child. The need is all  one-sided. But if that child grows up and discovers that his or her parents have needs too, then the two of them have a chance to become real friends. If that never happens, they will never really get close.

         We can apply that same concept to our relationship with Jesus. There is no doubt that He is the teacher and we are the students. But by His own admission, there are some things today that He cannot do without your help. I remember a little poem that goes like this:

“He has no hands but your hands to do His work today.

He has no feet but your feet to guide folk in His way.

He has no lips but your lips to tell them how He died.

He has no love but your love to bring them to His side.”

 

        Throughout the remainder of the ordinary time of this year, let us all respond to the needs of Jesus to continue His work in our world. Jesus is counting on us to help Him. Please re-commit yourself to this task.

        Remember He is the Jesus who needs us today!