What Elephants Can Teach Us about 'Spy Wednesday'

This morning, despite living a long and (what I like to consider) educated Christian life, I read something I knew nothing about:
 
Spy Wednesday.
 
Spy Wednesday? What the heck is that? And then it became clear, ah yes, this was the time Judas betrayed Jesus. I hadn’t thought of Judas that way before…a spy. He wasn’t a spy we like to glorify. He wasn’t James Bond or Jason Bourne going after the bad guys.
 
Judas was targeting the good guy – Jesus.
 
Judas was that kind of spy. The kind we really like to disdain. He was working on behalf of those who despised what Jesus stood for. Judas made the decision of his own free will to approach the Sanhedrin and take their reward money in return for ratting out Jesus.
 
Jesus knew it was coming. Surely his disciples knew it too.
 
I’ve recently been transfixed watching a 45-second video of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo. On April 14, San Diego experienced a 5.2 earthquake. The Zoo’s video camera captured the elephants quickly organizing themselves and forming a perfect circle around the elephant calf in order to protect it. It’s mesmerizing and beautiful.
 
I wish Jesus had disciples who similarly could have “circled the wagons” and protected him.
 
But can we – modern-day disciples and the Church – be more like those elephants, circling to protect and defend those whose voices and bodies are literally and figuratively being crushed?
 
As Jesus' disciples, how can we respond to the injustices that we are seeing? Should we wring our hands and say, “I can’t do anything?” Surely, we are not like Judas – spies who would intentionally turn on Jesus. Maybe we need to learn a thing or two from the elephants.
 
Holy Week ends in the glorious resurrection of Jesus. It is our hope. It’s what buoys our faith.
 
But our history dictates that we must remember “Spy Wednesday.”
 
How will we respond when we meet a modern-day Judas? What will we do to safeguard those whom Judas is after?
 
Oh Lord, I’m praying we’ll be a lot more like those protective and beautiful elephants.
 

Photo credit: Annabel_p @ pixabay.com

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Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a Stewardship Consultant for the OR-ID Annual Conference. She is also a Senior Ministry Strategist with Horizons Stewardship – helping with capital campaigns and encouraging more generosity. For 25 years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she has helped raise over three million dollars for numerous churches and non-profit organizations.
 
You can reach Cesie at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com, at CesieScheuermann.com, or at cesieds@horizons.net. Want to schedule a meeting? She’s got you covered! BTW…the spy did not prevail. Just listen to the Royal Choral Society belting out the Hallelujah Chorus.
 
Schedule a meeting now.
 
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