“Obscure Tasks”

Tom Barnard

 

he year was 1916. World War I was churning on in Europe. Britain had mobilized troops and assigned them to numerous zones where fighting raged. Oswald Chambers, a minister and Bible teacher, gave up his plan to develop a Bible Training College in England, to volunteer with the YMCA in their work with military personnel in Egypt.

 

Chambers was assigned by the YMCA to Ismailia, a small Egyptian town at the midpoint of the Suez Canal. Protecting the water-way of the Suez was a major goal for the British, and they established camps for thousands of their troops along the Suez. A British detachment was assigned to the area near Ismailia.

 

To minister to the British soldiers near Ismailia the YMCA directed Chambers to oversee the construction of huts for British soldiers—open-air buildings that helped shield them from the relentless, late June desert sun that often reached 130 degrees. Construction of these shelters was considered part of his primary work as a spiritual advisor and Bible teacher to the Brits assigned to that area of Egypt.

 

An entry in his journal (which he called his Diary) for June 21, 1916, includes a reference to a sermon preached by Dr. John Hutton entitled “The Fear of Things.” A phrase in the sermon caught Chambers’ attention. In it Hutton spoke of the responsibility of the call to minister: “It is the lonely calling of each one of us that we fall not out of contact with God … It is laid upon each one of us …to take up the obscure tasks within ourselves which we know must be attended to if we are to live on happy terms with Jesus Christ our Lord.” Hutton spoke of obscure tasks “within ourselves,” but I like to think of “obscure tasks” as those that accompany the work we do for the Lord, whether we are clergy or lay persons. You know—“things.”

 

“Obscure tasks.” Every leader has them. They are the ones that are never spelled out in a job description but just “come with the territory.” Typically they are shared privately with a new employee well after a contract is signed but never in time for the person to change his or her mind about the position.

 

Jesus took on “obscure tasks” throughout his ministry. One that stands out in my mind was the foot-washing incident in John 13. Jesus had gathered with the twelve disciples to celebrate Passover. Someone forgot to employ a servant to wait on the table, so Jesus “got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him.” This was not his job; normally a hired servant would take care of the social custom of washing the feet of dinner guests. When no servant showed up, Jesus took on the task himself.

 

Simon didn’t think it was appropriate for Jesus to assume the role of a servant, and he protested, “Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?” Peter was really saying, “Lord this isn’t your job to do this, and it certainly isn’t my job either.” Jesus replied, “Unless you let me wash you, Peter, you cannot share my lot” (Phillips, 13:8). In other words Jesus said, “If you don’t let me wash your feet, you cannot be my disciple.” An “obscure task”? Not in the mind of Jesus. Every task had meaning for Jesus.

 

Oswald Chambers supervised the construction of huts for British soldiers. But that wasn’t all he did. He led Bible studies, encouraged those who were homesick for England, counseled, fed soldiers in their off hours, welcomed them into his home, and basically shared his life with the men. Many were led into an experience with God that would never have happened if Chambers had remained in England.

 

Wherever you serve today, there are no “obscure tasks.” One of my early mentors, Dr. Paul Culbertson, called these tasks part of the “sacramental” view of life. All “tasks” are sacramental—even those secular things that “come with the territory.” Thank God for them. He has chosen them for you, and you for them.