Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Making of a Servant

All authority has been given him, yet his knees touched the cold hard floor once again. Reaching, he takes the cloth from the basin beside him and wrings out the water. Like he had done to the several men before, he picks up the left foot of the man in front of which he kneels. As he begins to gently wash the top and then the sole of his foot, he notices that though it is not as calloused as the others, it is still very dirty, dry, and cracking. He rinses the rags often as he carefully washes ever inch of rough appendage. He then sets down the left foot, and prepares to lift the man’s right one. As he does, he looks up and lovingly locks eyes with the man, named Judas, one of his disciples. As Judas looks into Jesus’ eyes, his nervous conviction runs deep and he quickly diverts his eyes, for six days earlier; he had accepted the plot to betray him.

Silence fills the room except for the occasional rinsing of the cloth echoing in the cool dark room; the uncomfortable tension was palpable. After finishing Judas’ right foot, Jesus stands to move the basin to the next disciple. As Jesus kneels once again, Peter cries out, “What are you doing?” “You may not understand now, but later you will,” was Jesus’ answer. “You are not going to wash my feet, Jesus!” “Oh, but Peter, unless I wash you, you’ll have no part in me,” Jesus answered in that firm but calming tone. “If you have bathed, then you only need wash your feet to be clean. All of you are clean; except one.”

Jesus rises to walk back to his place at the table and reclines. “Do you know what I have done for you,” he asks? Their deafening silence communicates their ignorance. “I, your teacher and Lord, have washed your feet. You, therefore, ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, A servant is not greater than his master, neither is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” The Twelve continue to listen pondering these things in their hearts, but the conviction of one cause his heart to harden.

Where are you around the Lord’s Table? Do you have a servant’s heart? Are you like Peter, wanting to assert your will over Christ’s? Are you like Judas, in that God’s cleansing becomes a judgment and only hardens you? Jesus made it clear by a demonstration that if he be not above lovingkindness in serving the saints, neither can we.

One might learn by simply reading it, but notice Jesus said, “Blessed are you if you do them.” It is a theme made real in experience alone, by doing it: unprejudiced, humble, selfless service. To feel so small is to feel somehow failing, weak, unable. But there, right there, begins true servanthood, the disciple who has, despite himself, denied himself. And then, for perhaps the first time, one is loving not out of his own strength, merit, ability, superiority, but out of Christ; for he has discovered himself to be nothing and Christ everything. It is in this doing of ministry the minister is born.

Ask yourself, “Where is my ministry? Where is my love for the lost, the last, the least, and the lonely?” Have we truly explored our heart for service, to see if it one born of God? On your way to the Lord’s Table to meet Him this Sunday, won’t you consider this example? A phone call, a card of encouragement, stopping to help someone distressed on the side of the road, sparing a shoulder for someone to cry upon, visiting a shut-in, or a simple kind word to the grocery store clerk. In our rush about in this life, are we leaving behind those who need us the most? Jesus knew that Judas was conspiring to betray Him; He washed his feet. He knew Peter had a hard time conforming to God’s will; He washed his feet.

Your service and blessings start today.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

It’s an Autocentric World

A middle-aged woman exits the grocery store to the crosswalk that leads to the parking lot. This time, the cars going both directions in the busy thoroughfare courteously come to a stop. The woman continues her journey and then does something that leaves her spectators in wonderment. As her casual pace takes her to the middle of the road, she comes to a complete stop and begins to dig through her purse. She stands there, rummaging around, looking for who knows what as cars on either side of her sit, too amazed even to honk at her. As I observed the incident that seemed to last an eternity, but in reality was more like two minutes, I watched as the well kept wanderer finally retrieved the object and suddenly looked up and about in a disoriented manner and then continued across the parking lot.

That occurrence sparked me to begin tuning into what I have become all too accustom and numb: the rampant narcissism that pervades our culture. In my intra/international travels over the last month, I really began to be amazed at how much people are in their own little world. Now I am not talking about being lost in thought or occasionally being aloof, rather it is how we as a people seem to be acting as if no one matters but ourselves. Let me give you some examples.

While on my Jamaican trip, one of my fellow missionaries was sitting on the airplane next to a woman. First, the stranger aggressively pushed his arm off the rest and placed her own there. Now you might make the argument that it was hers as much as his, but then she took the blanket that was on him and put it on her. Add that the countless times I was pushed out of the way and ran into at the airports, the times people cut in line ahead of me, and don't even get me start talking about my road trips.

When I grew up, I was taught that I was not the center of the universe and that I was to be considerate of other people. I suppose then the difference is that we as a culture still has some Godly principles infused into our society.

Jesus said that the second greatest commandment was to love our neighbor as ourselves. It seems that we have the loving ourselves part down, but can we say that we love our neighbor equally as much. By the way, the origin of the word neighbor is one who is "near by." Yes, all those people in the grocery line with us, at your corner Starbucks, and sharing your commute to work are just some of the people that come near you every day.

Now that we know who we are to love, we can ask what God means by "love?" The only love that God ever commands in His word is agape love. Agape mean selflessness. It means wanting the best for the other person. This kind of love is often accompanied by affection, but it, in itself, has nothing to do with affection. In other words, you don't have to have feelings for someone to agape them. This is not an excuse not to have affection for people, rather it is an understanding that you don't have to know some well, or even at all before you can love them in this way.

Perhaps the key to this kind of love and remedy to our pervasive cultural selfishness is to take Paul's advice: "For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Romans 12:3). When people are near by, we need to be aware of them. Always ready to serve, give a kind word, and show simple politeness. I was taught that politeness was an effort to make people feel more comfortable around me. This is sadly lacking in the world, but remember, we are no longer of this world.

Let your light shine and let people see the joy that we say is in us. We have a great message of hope to tell people, but people don't care what you know until they know how much you care. Most people would rather see a sermon than hear one. Are you a walking talking sermon? Do people see Jesus in you or do they only see you caring about you. I have found that when you make the effort to demonstrate that you care about the people around you, people notice there is something different about you.

The good news is that Jesus takes everything that you do for others as if you were doing it directly to Him too; I love extra credit! Doesn't this show the selfless of God that He would consider you loving others as you loving Him? The key is that God's heart is that no one should perish but all to come to repentance. When we care enough to share the passion of God's heart enough to reach out to others, you have aligned yourself with God's abiding purpose for this world. Sure you think, "What good can a few kind words really do?" The truth is that with God as your ally, you can change the world; or at least your corner of it.

Once Jesus described God's floodgates as like a great field that was white for the harvest and then he said, "Go and pray for the harvesters." Are you a harvester?

"Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me. Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life." Matthew 34-46