"Yose ben Joezer of Tzeredah used to say: Make your house a meeting place for sages, be willing to be covered by the dust of their feet, and drink in their words thirstily." (The Legends of the Jews - Sefer Ha-aggadah, 429:269)

"...Bialik and Ravnitzky in Legends of the Jews -Sefer Aggadah explain that 'being covered by the dust of the sages' feet' means either to follow the sages closely or to sit on the ground while they teach. Lastly we are told to drink their words thirstily. This means we are not to approach the teaching of the sages in a lackadaisical manner but rather with great passion."
Source

I was reminded of this concept by the Nooma video yesterday morning.  I've studied this concept under the direct teaching and/or books of Ray VanderLaan, Rob Bell, David Bivin, Dwight Pryor and Ben Patterson among others.  I decided to do some personal research into the source of the phrase, "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi."   The idea originates, from what I can tell, from the above quote from a book of Jewish writings called the Mishna, in the book of Avot 1:4.   Obviously, the three key aspects are "making your house a meeting place for the sages," "be willing to be covered by the dust of their feet,” and “drink in their words thirstily.” I’ll  break each of them down…

“Making your house a meeting place for the sages”

Our culture has largely lost the value of hospitality and sharing our homes and lives with each other.  Some are better at it than others, but it’s a dying art.  I wish we spent a lot more time in each others’ homes pursuing spiritual matters and not just hanging out.  I can barely remember more than a couple times since I’ve been at South when we’ve just gotten together informally in someone’s home and just worshipped together or shared communion or studied the bible or discussed spiritual things in depth.  I really hate when we bottle up our spirituality into programs and events and time slots and leave so little room for the spontaneous movement of the Holy Spirit or bringing those things into our “leisure” time together.

On a more personal level, we also need to make our own selves a meeting place for sages – a place where we interact with other spiritually minded people and those who have gone before us.  I love reading books by deeply spiritual people and interacting with the “sages” who truly “get it.”  It’s a sacrifice to pull yourself away from entertainment opportunities, other important responsibilities and lesser things to meet with and spend time in the richness of the sages and our Teacher/Rabbi Jesus.  Yet, the rewards are rich, and without it, we could never reach the second point.

“Be willing…to be covered…by the dust of their feet…”

This phrase has value from two perspectives.  One perspective is that of following your rabbi so closely that you are covered in his dust.  The other is that of sitting humbly at the feet of your rabbi.

From the first perspective, we have the essence of discipleship: The passionate desire to become just like your rabbi in every possible way.  I believe the quest to become just like Jesus, our Rabbi, is the essence of everything Christianity is about.  Jesus is the perfect representation of relationship with the Father, pure intention and sacrificial love. He’s the balance of Truth and Grace, strength and gentleness, confidence and humility, tolerance and intolerance.  Living out my Christianity as a passion to become like Jesus makes my faith alive and dynamic, freeing and real.  Seeing discipleship as striving after a perfect, relevant example of someone who can relate to my own life experience is so much more alive and engaging than simply playing by the rules and evaluating myself against some lifeless standard.  We should follow Jesus so closely, as best we can, that the “dust” and residue of the way that He walked is readily apparent in our lives.

The second perspective is one of humility, reverence, adoration, and receptiveness.  Young Jewish disciples would, apparently, spend a great deal of time sitting and listening to their rabbi’s teachings.  Their physical position at the feet of their rabbi was one of meekness, humility and a willingness to endure the dust to receive any spiritual crumbs that might fall.  This was no place for the proud, the self-sufficient or the stubborn. It was a place of listening and opening oneself to everything the rabbi instructed, taught, or revealed to them.  This is also the position we should be in with our rabbi.  A place of humble willingness, learning, and receiving.  Most of us rarely, if ever, take a good deal of time to just sit and be still and open ourselves to whatever we can learn from our rabbi, Jesus.  You can’t be like someone you don’t know and you can’t know someone without spending time seeking them out and intentionally listening. Sadly, many of us would rather sit in front of the TV and absorb the messages of our culture.  It’s no wonder we are becoming so much like it and so covered with its dung.  Instead, it should be obvious to others that we have been at Jesus’ feet, not through the dust on our clothes and faces, but through the application of his teachings in our lives.

“May you drink in their words thirstily”

This world is full of gossip, mindless chatter and the ramblings of the ignorant.  There is something that draws us to all of that and we often drink in thirstily the entertainment and distractions that this world offers us.  We are all born with an intense thirst that demands to be satisfied.  We can take that thirst to the things of this world and choose to relentlessly seek to satisfy our cravings with the “Here I am, now entertain me” culture, shallow relationships and consumerism.   Yet, we have within our reach the teachings of the great sages and wise men who “got it” and can help direct us with intentionality to true discipleship.  But, we make excuses and fill our lives with so much of the world that we have little left to devote to the serious pursuit of wisdom, learning and application.  Wisdom cannot be pursued casually, in the same way you can’t pay off debt making minimum payments.  We need to make sacrifices, get intentional and really turn our thirst toward wisdom and revelation that will lead us to a greater understanding of ourselves, of God and the way we were meant to be and to live.

Well, not sure if any of you read all the way through to this point, but those are my thoughts!  I haven’t arrived at most of this in my own life, but I’m learning and realizing that this is the direction I need to keep moving. I hope you are encouraged to do so as well!  Feel free to comment!