Sunday, April 11

He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.
—Matthew 27: 58-60

It was not only an act of generosity and a testament to the faith that had grown in Joseph of Arimathea. It was an act of honoring the dead, and in honoring Jesus who had died, he honored Jesus who had lived. 

Because he was a man of great wealth, Joseph had the resources to procure any tomb he wanted. But Joseph did not use his power and resources to show off what he could do for Jesus. He simply offered his own tomb, the one his hands had hewn, the one that would one day hold his own body. In that selfless act, Joseph modeled what all of us can do for God.

We are often tempted to think that we are not smart enough, or religious enough, or rich enough, or old enough, or young enough to be the hands and feet of God in the world. In fact, we don't need riches or fame, we don't need clever connections or brilliant credentials in order to serve God or give honor to others. All we need is a selfless heart and a willingness to share whatever it is that we have been given, or that we have provided for ourselves through the help of heaven.

When we have the courage to offer even what may seem small to us, we give flesh to the faith we say lives in us. Then hardly without our awareness, we find our soul has stretched and gathered the world in.

Gracious God, let me give without thinking that what I have to give is inadequate.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2008.