The Price of a Mitzvah

The soldiers took him into their headquarters and called out the entire battalion. They dressed him in a purple robe and made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head. Then they saluted, yelling, "Hail! King of the Jews!" And they beat him on the head with a stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. – Mark 15:16-20

A certain man was a church deacon in a small town. He was well respected and had been chosen to be the one responsible for the distribution of benevolence. One day, after he had already collected quite a sum of money for a serious need, a man knocked on his door. “Sir, please help me, I have nowhere else to turn,” he begged. He had a large family and a child who was sick. The medical bills had pushed his financial condition over the edge. The deacon went out to collect money and people did help, but not like the first time.

He returned home exhausted, but satisfied that he had done the right thing. But he had no sooner sat down than someone knocked again. A man’s roof had caved in. His family of ten was without a home. The deacon knew he couldn’t go collecting three times in a single day – but he did anyway.

He went to see a group of rich young men who were known to play poker at a local pub. There on the poker table was enough money to take care of this poor family. But the young men mercilessly mocked the saintly deacon for constantly asking for money. Suddenly one of them had an idea. “We’ll give you all the money on this table if you agree to dress like a fool, dunce cap and all and walk through the streets babbling like an idiot.”

Though he was by nature a serious and dignified man, for the sake of the needy the deacon agreed. He put on the bizarre costume and walked through the city streets with the young men all walking behind him singing and hooting at him. Others soon joined, shouting curses and pelting him with eggs. But when it was over, the deacon got the money he needed and more. He went home rejoicing that he was able to help the poor and to shoulder a little of the world’s sufferings.

A man can be measured by his understanding of the value of a good reputation and his willingness to give up his own for the right cause. The Master met this standard and surpassed it. In fact, he IS the standard by which all other men are to be measured. He was willing to take the insults, the mocking slurs, the spit and the slaps. The question is what are we willing to undergo for him? Do we tone down our testimony lest someone be offended and mock us? Do we try to be a little like the world so that we can fit in? Or, are we willing to sacrifice, not just our time, our resources and our lives – but even our good names for the sake of Christ? What are we willing to pay in order to accomplish a mitzvah?