Pierced Ear

"But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and

children and do not want to go free,’

 then his master must take him before the judges.

He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl.

Then he will be his servant for life. (Exodus 21:5-6)

 

        Have you noticed how some people change their profile picture for cause after cause, or share memes in their statuses because some cause is involved? Ever notice people in T-shirts that have the logos of some  person or group? Then there are the folks who paint themselves their team colors and attend football games half-naked so there can be no mistake as to which team they like, or the depth of their affection for that team. Finally, there are the serious  folks who wear name badges on lanyards, carry security cards, wear official uniforms or are otherwise identified as being one of some special team.  We may have some respect for most of these - maybe not the guys who paint themselves, but for most of the others. We may have a greater respect for the official crew who get to spend time in the presence of the person or group.

        When Pastor Mike talked about Exodus 21:5-6 on Sunday, I found myself thinking about the pierced ear. We tend to think of slavery as bad - and I'm not suggesting it isn't, but this is a little different. The bondservant chose to be a bondservant. The pierced ear was a symbol of his dedication to his master. It was the lanyard, security pass and uniform of the one dedicated to the team/group/person.

      For some people, the whole identification thing is second nature. Of course they change their profile picture, or whatever - only a horrible person wouldn't. It's an honor to be associated with those who __________.  Only those who are ashamed or afraid or otherwise worthless wouldn't. For most of my adult life, I was not one of those "wear my allegiance with pride" sort of people. I wouldn't wear a cross or a fish on my bumper. My reasoning was simple. It was not that I was ashamed of God. It was that I was ashamed of myself. You see, if I publically identified myself as a Christian, then  did something wrong, I would bring shame to Christ - and I knew I would do things that were wrong because quite frankly, there were things I had no interest in being strict about. I mean, going 1 mph over the speed limit is breaking the law, and I tended to do as much as 10 mph over. That means I couldn't put a fish on my car.

          One day, I found myself convicted about this. Was God so weak and small that I needed to defend Him from my own actions? Was He such a miserable god that  He couldn't survive my failures? It took some time, and a reminder, for me to go out and buy what is my pierced ear: a simple cross pendant. I'm not suggesting to you that you should wear a cross. Above all else, I believe that the pierced ear for the Christian is the love they show to God and to one another. For me, the cross I wear is a statement that my God is bigger, stronger and better than anything I can do to bring Him shame. It is a reminder to me that He is not ashamed to call me His, even if I continue to be an embarrassment.

      For some people, a cross is decoration. Perhaps today, we can both begin to consider it a badge of honor on par with the name badge, lanyard and uniform that mark those who are with some celebrity.