Holy Week: servant to all

Who is it that is working under the table tonight?

Kneeling in the dust, breathing in the stink of sweaty unwashed feet?

Doing the work that no one else would voluntarily stoop to do?  The work of the lowliest of slaves?

It certainly is not someone in middle management, a person with degrees and diplomas.  It is not someone looking for creative and fulfilling work.  It is not someone with investment accounts and IRAs.

No it is that class of workers who lack papers and fear a knock on the door from the INS.  It is those workers who are paid in cash and often fail to receive what has been promised, who have no protection from the law.   It’s the sex workers we distain and the garbage workers we are sure to stay upwind of.

Not just those who work off the grid, it is also those who clean our offices at night and work in the freezing cold and boiling summer sun.  It’s those car wash kids who forget to dry off that last window or the pizza delivery guy who has someone else’s order.  It’s those workers who know how to say, “Would you like fries with that?”

These are the folks who are out of sight and therefore out of mind, at least until something is late or wrong or lost.  They are the invisible ones, flipping burgers, mowing our lawns and washing the feet of the elderly at our nursing homes, and washing us in the hospitals.  They are the laundry workers and migrant farm workers.  These are the ones we don’t want our children to marry or our grandchildren to grow up to be.

We have worked hard to get where we are and we don’t want to put aside our honors, accomplishments, pride and comfort.  We don’t want to put aside our fancy robes like Jesus set aside his outer garment and  stoop under the table with Jesus to help him wash the feet of those who called him Rabbi and Lord….the ones who would abandon, deny and betray him.  It was all well and good for Mary to anoint Jesus’ feet – it was her place, her job.  But not us.

Yet Jesus says, “If I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet….I have come not to be served but to serve….If you know these things you are blessed if you do them.”

So at the center of our confession is this:  we don’t want to leave the table to wash the unwashed, to serve the outcasts, to bring comfort to the unmentionables.  We not only don’t want to do this work, we don’t want to be reminded that this work needs to be done.

Jesus breaks the bread at the table and tells his disciples, “This is my body given for you”   He wasn’t talking just about the cross.  He gave his body first under the table with the invisible ones, doing the dirtiest of the work. 

Those who join him at the table are called to join him under the table as well.

A fire in my belly......

For Jeremiah, it was a fire in his belly...or bones depending on the translation.  Either way, it was way down inside of him.  The Word of God was more than story, more than white noise in his life, it was a fire and it was burning him up.  Called to be a prophet as a boy, Jeremiah was given a Word from God and it was his job to share that word with the people of Israel. It got him into all kinds of trouble with lots of powerful people.  His friends and neighbors plotted against him.  No one wanted to hear Jeremiah's Word from God.  Yet he had no choice, it was a fire in his belly and as much as he tried, he could not keep it in.

Now that's a Word!

God has planted a Word deep within you as well.  It is the Word which is transforming your life.  It is the Word that turns your face towards God again and again and the same Word which sends you out as a servant of God.  It is the Word which helps you see this world through the eyes of a loving Creator.  It is the Word which is also your vocation - your calling - your way of being in the world.

Am I talking about a literal word?  Like 'love' or 'compassion' or 'serving'?  Or is the Word more of the assurance of God's presence and my calling to live as a child of God?  Yes.  Both of these.

God calls us to live in deep relationship with the Creator; Jesus shows us how to do this (and in some very tight and difficult situations); the Spirit swirls around us with energy and life and power.  Add all that up and it equals the Word of God planted deep within you, calling you into the world.

But there is also a word that can describe how God calls you into the world, your way of being God's love in the world with friends, neighbors, and strangers.  I think it is worth the time to consider what that word might be.

Some are called to compassion (even when they don't want to feel compassion, don't want to see the other a sinner just like them).  Some are called to sacrificial giving, using the wealth they have (maybe large, maybe not) to bring about the light of life in Christ in lots of ways in lots of places.  Some are called to organize, making the ministry of others more efficient and effective.  Some are called to feed and are always 'putting some together' for the sake of the hungry or lost.

A Word from God, a Word of God, a word for you. The Word, our Lord Jesus.  The Word, the Bible.  A word for you?  What could that be?

Lord, keep us steadfast in your word;

curb those who by deceit or sword

would wrest the kingdom from your Son

and bring to naught all he has done.

(Martin Luther, ELW #517)

Sort of like 'jumbo shrimp'.............

Do you know what an oxymoron is?  It is a phrase that is inherently contradictory....like 'jumbo shrimp' or 'make haste slowly' or 'a cruel kindness.'

Serving others leads to just this kind of oxymoron for it is in 'giving that we receive', it is 'in serving that we are served'.

This applies to any and all serving, not just that done in Jesus' name.  Funny things happen when you open yourself to 'the other,' or provide for a stranger, for when you respond to a human need you begin to stand with this one who is in need.  You begin to erase the distance between yourself and him.  You begin to see yourself as a part of a much larger human race.


Of course, we have to fight through our own self-satisfaction and pride to reap these benefits and not everyone works hard at cracking their own shell of self protection.  For many of us, our first real experience of serving results in us feeling a whole lot better about ourselves.  It takes a while for us to get to the place where serving humbles us and opens our compassion for others.

Jesus is a model for this kind of serving.  He told his disciples, "I came not to be served but to serve."  God's love for us in Jesus began when Jesus stepped into this messy world, eliminating the distance between the divine and the mortal and standing shoulder to shoulder with us.  This God who knows us at our worst and loves us into new life has come to us to serve....and in so doing, reveals the path to truly loving others.  We need to eliminate the distance between us and them, getting close enough to see our similarities and the opportunities for bringing light into their lives.

I would think by now it is fairly easy to see how serving others helps to bring folks to faith in this one who loves and who gives.  When we give, we model Jesus' powerful giving to us.  Whenever our faith begins to falter, serving others brings it all back into focus again and we are strengthened for tomorrow.

Aren't sure about 'believing'?  Come and help out at Samaritan Center.  Come and work at 10 Tons of Love.  Come and lead worship at a nursing home.  You will find Jesus waiting for you....and you will find yourself as well.

In for a nickel, in for a dime

Do you know this saying?

It means, once you've decided to do something, there is no point in holding back.  Give it a good effort, a full effort. Do what needs to be done.  Spend what needs to be spent (penny wise and pound foolish fits here too).  If you're going to have fun, have fun!

Or, you could say.....if you are only going to spend what you aren't going to miss you'll probably end up with something that gives little pleasure.  In for a nickel, in for a dime.

This applies to being a servant of God as well.  If you are going to serve, serve.  Experience the power of giving more than just the leftovers, or the ends of the loaf of bread, or the broken cookies, or (my most famous example) canned peas.  Give.  Step out.  Risk that little bit more.  Serve.

When you are ready, let's sit and reflect on what it was like to give more than you planned, maybe even more than you thought was possible.  Good?  Too much?  Changed your perspective?  Left you exhausted?

What wonderful conversations these would be.  Let me know.