Archaeology is sanctifying.

I am having a lot of trouble writing these words. Not because I am tired (although I am), or because I can’t think of anything to say, but because I have been working for two days straight in an archaeological dig, and now I can hardly bend my fingers. To be completely honest, I had been dreading this day… I know how helpful archaeology can be for biblical studies, but I had this image in my head of bending over in the hot sun all day with a pick axe, an image which did not particularly appeal to me. I tried to have a good attitude about it, though, and was ready with my water bottle and baseball cap at 6:15am for the bus. A half hour later I found myself being ushered down an unstable wooden staircase to a narrow tunnel in the City of David, dating to the Second Temple Period (around the time of Jesus). “Oh, wow,” I thought, “This looks neat. Kind of like Indiana Jones. Maybe it won’t be so bad after all.” Next thing I knew, someone tossed me a plastic bag full of heavy rocks and dirt and told me to pass it to the next person in line. And then another. And another. “You have got to be kidding me,” I thought. This is what they’ve brought us here to do? Manual labor? I kept on tossing bags, trying to think positively: surely these bags contain dozens of pieces of potsherds and other pieces of important clues about what this tunnel might have been used for, and archaeologists will later be able to examine each piece because of our labor. But when I asked someone about this later on, I was told that no, this was just rubble that needed to be cleared out of the tunnel. Those big tractors outside were taking them to the garbage dump. Sad day.
Sometimes the job would change a little bit. Like being the first in line, and getting to play “Jenga” with an enormous pile of bags, hoping the rocks that held them down wouldn’t fall on top of you as you pulled one out and passed it to the next person. Or hauling bags up the stairs outside, and actually being able to breathe again. Or my favorite part: catching the buckets of dirt and rocks that the Arabic workers threw to you, and swinging them to the next person, who loaded them onto the tractor. And eventually we thought of creative ways to make the bag-hauling a little more entertaining. Like giving each bag a ridiculous name, or playing telephone as we passed the bags, or singing Christmas carols as we worked. Fun stuff, right?

At this point you might be wondering about my title… how on earth does sanctification relate to archaeology? Believe me: it does. For eight hours I hauled bag after bag, trying to work as a team with thirty-eight other sinners, thirty-eight of whom wanted to give their own input about how it should and should not be done, fighting my own frustration and complaining spirit, as well as dehydration and physical pain (I still have a lump on my head from hitting the ceiling of the tunnel so many times!) And I won't even mention how disgustingly filthy we all were. If all of that is not sanctifying, I don’t know what is. I had to do everything I could to replace my thoughts with Scripture and to find joy in Christ even in the midst of such a tedious job. To smile at my fellow laborers and encourage them, instead of complaining that they were going too fast or too slow. To redeem the time and engage in profitable conversation with other students I don’t get to talk to very often…And to force my aching body to get up the next morning at 5:30 to do it all over again, this time knowing exactly what I was getting myself into. But with every bag it got easier, and I can truthfully say that I not only enjoyed the experience, but profited from it. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Col. 3:23-24)
Besides all of this, I have a newfound respect and appreciation for archaeology, because I know how much labor goes into every project, and how tedious the work really is, no matter how exciting the final product.
Yes, friends, archaeology is sanctifying. And every other job we are given to do can be, too, if we look as it as an opportunity to serve Christ wholeheartedly.