‘Connecting Sundays to Mondays’ … and the rest of the week is challenging! Last week we were confronted with the need for love as a key distinctive in the life of a genuine disciple of Jesus. A deep love for God and our neighbour is foundational in being a disciple who will stand out from the crowd. In fact, we are told that everything, that is all we do, hinges on this love! How then are we to live this love out?
This is where find ourselves today as we discover the next distinctive in being an active and faithful disciple of Jesus. It is the distinctive of service! The Bible reading we investigate today is an interesting one in so many ways. We see a couple of Jesus’ disciples behaving in a ‘cringe worthy’ manner and we witness how Jesus counsels them. In actual fact, we learn of a great paradox in the way we are to live out our lives. Our study series is titled ‘In God’s Service’. Today we learn exactly what that service looks like. It is so counter to the way we have been raised and what we have learned. God’s strategy in serving is so different to what is expected of us in the world.
We must remember that as Christians we are not of this world. We have been enlisted into God’s service or His army. We must also remember that we are presently involved in a war, or more precisely, a great spiritual battle. The battle is for our souls and the souls of our family, friends, work colleagues, school and university friends. They are caught up in spiritual chaos and, as we have already learned, our work is to bring order to this chaos. Our task is to assist, or be coworkers, in ushering in God’s kingdom into their lives by serving them as well as others.
Today we will learn from Jesus exactly what is required in this act of service. He became a servant and slave! We are therefore to be servants and slaves of others as we seek to bless and encourage them. Such a paradox when you think about it!