13 years ago today. 5 days after Diana died, someone else died. I remember it quite clearly. I remember watching the funeral procession. I remember the flowers. But I also remember thinking, that unless I was looking for this I would have thought that Princess Diana was the only person who died this week.
Do you know who I am talking about? Mother Teresa. But, for some reason, Mother Teresa’s death didn’t receive nearly the same level of coverage that Princess Diana’s did. Now the media pundits defended this by saying that Princess Di’s death was somehow more tragic and shocking because, at 37 years old, she was so much younger than Mother Teresa who was 87 years old when she died. They would say that Mother Teresa would definitely be missed, but that she lived a full life. But I think that there was something else going on there.
I think this is a typical example of the difference between the world’s definition of greatness and Jesus’ definition of greatness. I’m not trying to trample on the memory of Princess Diana. But let’s be honest. It wasn’t like Cinderella It wasn’t a story of a young woman going from rags to riches. Di came from one of the riches families in Europe. It was more a story of a young woman going from one level of riches to slightly higher level of riches.
Mother Teresa, on the other hand, led a life that would never be considered “fairy-tale.” She began her service as a nun at the age of 19. For her first twenty years as a sister, she served as a teacher in Calcutta, India; one of the poorest places on earth. On September 10, 1946 she heard what she referred to as a “call within a call.” She believed that God was calling her to renounce everything so she could follow Christ to serve in the slums, to serve the poorest of the poor. She said that in a quiet prayer she heard a clear and distinct message that she was to “leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.” She felt it wasn’t a request but an order.
When she left the comfort of her teaching job at the convent she ended up on Creek Lane in Calcutta with no shelter, no company, no helper, no money, no employment, no promise, no guarantee and no security. But she held tight to her faith. She prayed “God, You only, only You. I trust in Your call, Your inspiration. You will not let me down.”
Before long, she had found a place to stay at the home of Michael Gomes. In 1952, she opened “Pure Heart,” the first of many homes for sick and dying street people. Former students of hers began to join in her work. By 1953, 28 had joined her. Here, along with her helpers, she cleaned maggots off the faces of leprosy victims, washed the emaciated bodies of the malnourished and held the hands of the dying. She continued the work of serving the poorest people of Calcutta that began in these humble beginnings the rest of her life. And the work that she began, continues today.
Now, I don’t want you to think that I am trying to over-exalt or detract away from either of these women’s memories. The point that I’m trying to make is that often there is a huge difference in what the world sees as greatness and what God clearly lays out as greatness in His Word.
Philippians chapter 2 says
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Jesus came not as a king, not as a master; but as a servant. When Jesus saw someone in need of healing he stopped what he was doing and healed them. When Jesus met the hungry, he fed them. When Jesus encountered the grieving he comforted them. When Jesus saw outcasts, he loved them. When the disciple’s feet were dirty, he held up dinner to wash them himself. Jesus made a habit of stopping whatever he was doing . . . Setting aside the important tasks of the day in order to help those who needed help. In mark 10:45 Jesus says For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." His death on the cross was the ultimate act of servanthood.
And again in mark Mark 9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
And so we come back to the Philippians passage:
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
Jesus does not call us to a fairy tale life of power and riches. He does not offer us promotions and raises. He does not call us to a life of the rich and powerful as the world understands riches and power. Jesus calls us to a life of servanthood. And if we want to connect with Christ we are more likely to find Jesus in the weak and weary than then wealthy and wonderful. We are more likely to find Jesus among the children and elderly than among the powerful of our day. We are more likely to find Jesus in a food pantry, a hospital room, a nursing home, a soup kitchen, or a homeless shelter than with the powerbrokers in the halls of congress or the smoke filled rooms of wall street
You may wonder how I got here from Colossians. In this series of sermons we have been talking about how to connect to Christ. We have talked about prayer, worship, Repentance, community and scripture. Those are all ways to connect to the heart of Christ. Today I want to talk about servanthood. I read Chapter 3:
18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
I read that and I realized that servanthood has to start in the home. If we can’t serve those we love and those to whom we are closest, how can we serve those who are hard to serve, and how can we serve Jesus?
I am not talking about enslavement. I am not talking about abuse. So what am I talking about?
A servant is one who is under submission- under authority- under the control of another. As Christians, we are not servants of one another. We are servants of God. As servants of God we place the needs of others before our own desires.
· You desire to read the paper, but you know that your wife has had a long day and needs to rest too, so you get up to do the dishes before she gets home from her evening meeting. Servanthood.
· You desire to go bowling with your friends, but you know that you husband hasn’t felt vey appreciated lately so you take him out for a nice quiet dinner for two. Servanthood.
· You desire to play video games, but you know that dad needs to rest his back that he hurt playing softball with you so you get up and mow the lawn. Servanthood.
· You desire to eat the last piece of your favorite kind of pie, but you know that your brother or sister has just been dumped by their boyfriend or girlfriend, so you split it in 2 and enjoy it together. Servanthood.
o Obey and love, not in order to gain favor of others, but in order to serve the Lord.
o Have this mind among yourselves that was in Christ Jesus. He did not count equality with God something to be guarded. But took on the form of a servant.
When servanthood is practiced in the home, it will spread outside the home.
It will spread to the church.
· You will read the newsletter with an eye for things that need to be done. And you do them. Servanthood.
· You will start to read the prayer list and look at the person next to you in the pew thinking about their needs. And you decide to do something. Servanthood.
· You will watch the parents with children and you see that you can offer to watch the child in the nursery for a while. Servanthood.
· This weekend’s need for chores to be done in the classrooms is a perfect example. When I was painting that ceiling yesterday, I started to get grumpy because it was an unpleasant job. Then I remembered what I was preaching today. And it shone a whole different light on my day. Servanthood.
Servanthood is contagious. From the home to the church to the world. Servanthood is contagious. That was the premise of the book and movie called “pay it forward” Middle school students- who in the opinion of many in society are among the least of the least-were asked to do three good deeds. They must be something the other person could not accomplish on their own. The idea is that this servanthood will spread exponentially and change the world.
It certainly did in the movie, but in the real world, not so much.
I think Jesus would have liked the idea of “pay it forward.”
Our conspiracy of Kindness is along those same lines. We, as the church serve in unexpected ways, in order to spread the love of Jesus to those we serve. The truth is we are all the least of the least. We are sinners among sinners. We are servants.
As we serve, two things happen. We spread the love of Jesus, and we are consumed by the love of Jesus.
I have referred to the story before of the rose in the living room. A social worker tried and tried to get a client to clean the house. (These days we might call the client a hoarder). Nothing seemed to work until one day she cleared off the coffee table and placed a vase with a rose on it. When she came back the coffee table was clear and so was the couch. She put a fresh rose on the table. When she returned the whole living room had been cleared out. She placed another fresh rose on the table. Then the kitchen and the bedroom were cleaned up in turn. Each time she put another fresh rose on the coffee table. And as each part of the house became clean the need in the next area was made more obvious. One day she went back with a fresh rose and someone had already purchased one and placed it in the vase. The change was complete.
Jesus calls us to be servants.
I want to put a little twist on that today. I want to call you to be roses. Be a sweet smelling servant rose among the stinkweed of this world. Be a beautiful servant blossom among the thorns of this life. Be a servant for Jesus Christ in a world where people seem to serve only themselves. And you will discover that in serving the least of these- in loving the loneliest of these, in caring for the overlooked and the overburdened- you will find Jesus. And you won’t have to look very far.
amen
No comments:
Post a Comment