Why is it so tough for us to serve others?
At least that is how I feel so often. Do you every resent having to serve
rather than being served? Serving others involves honoring them, lifting them
up, raising their importance above our own (at least temporarily).
We all like to be served, at least I do. I
like going to a restaurant and having someone ask me what I want and then
bringing it. No dishes to clean. No food to prepare. No shopping to do. The
food just comes. The drinks get refilled automatically. It all gets cleared and
cleaned up. I don’t have to do anything except pay the bill.
I want you to think about this. You have
really been the servant of the people in the restaurant. You earned the paycheck.
The hours you spent at work were service. You exchanged your service for cash. You
take your cash (service in paper form) and bring it to the restaurant and pay
their salaries. You are serving them just like you served your employer! We are
all serving. We get something in exchange for our service.
Jesus got nothing positive in exchange for
His service. He had the right to have us serve Him, being the Creator and King
of the Universe. But He chose not to exercise those rights. He flipped roles. He
served us.
And this was no “Occupation Makeover” event.
He didn’t just paint “Servant” on a t-shirt and wear it for a while. He became
a servant, our servant. He had no corporate sponsors who would pay the bill, no
support crew to do all the labor. Every act of service was His. He bore the
full burden of the service. He was a servant through and through.
The One who should be served, served us all.