Service in the beyond

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Last night, or more accurately this morning I was woken up at a rather pleasant and vivid moment in what had been a long string of very strange dreams. In this dream, my wife and I where sitting at one of several long rough-hewn tables and young beautiful Ukrainian girls with broad smiles and sparkling eyes were serving us freshly cooked blini (thin pancakes, thinner than American pancakes but thicker than crepes) along with cirok (a soft slightly sour cheese that is kind of like cream cheese) and a rich dark fruit syrup that was rendered from some sort of blue or purple berry. In the dream I could see the detail in the texture of the blini, smell the fresh cooked aroma and see the steam rising from the plates. They served us and fed us until we were ready to pop. I think in part the dream came from our dinner at our dear friend Sveta’s that we had attended Saturday evening. There were no blini at Sveta’s dinner but we were filled to excess, with tasty Ukrainian cuisine.

But what struck me most about the dream was the joy that I saw in the faces of those who were serving us. Not that we were so worthy of being served but rather that it brought pleasure and joy to these young ladies to serve others. Now I have all kinds of thoughts about gender roles as well, but I will have to save that for another time. What I have discovered as I ponder this dream is that it shows what I believe is a deep spiritual truth. I am convinced that service is one of the most sincere forms of love.

Now before I explore this more, I would like to share some observations I have noted while living in Ukraine. On many occasions I have been privileged to experience Ukrainian hospitality, both in people’s homes and at social functions. I see at work a deep seated desire to serve and bless others working in the hearts of my Ukrainian friends and hosts. Sometimes I have thought that it is because we are “Americans”, but more recently I have experienced it because we are older as there is still a reverence for the elderly that is at work in some of my Ukrainian friends. But I have also seen something else at work. They serve me because they are grateful for my service to Ukraine. I must admit that I have not seen this kind of service and gratefulness at work in America as strongly as it seems to be working in the hearts of my Ukrainian friends. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by it. Sometimes I am a little embarrassed as I cannot remember being honored by young people like this before. Now maybe that’s because I turned 50, or maybe it’s because there is just something at work here that makes service to be seen as a virtue rather than a curse. But I digress.

What I am realizing is that when we serve someone else, it is one of the key ways to express our joy in their being created in the image of our God. It is a practical way to consider others more important than ourselves. This is a truly Christian value that is not exclusive to any country or any culture. I think other cultures do it better than some while a few cultures have turned service into drudgery, something lesser people “must” do for people in higher status. As I see it though, when we serve someone else, we lower ourselves (putting off our self-importance) long enough to acknowledge them as a person of value. Now I don’t care if a person is a president, a pastor or a drug addict, they all have one thing in common; they are made in the image of their Creator. I believe that by serving others, we reenact Christ’s work on the cross by dying to ourselves to serve others.

Additionally, before our Lord Jesus was crucified, He assumed the role of the lowliest of servants and washed the feet of his disciples. Then He told them (and us) to do likewise. I have been to churches where the pastors or deacons wash the feet of the people they serve. It is a profound and humbling moment. I think that many of our churches have lost sight of the value in this tradition. But I don’t think that Christ was just asking us to do some religious act. I believe that He is asking all of us to set aside our self-importance long enough to say those around us are valuable in the eyes of their creator and that we all should find practical ways to demonstrate that. Jesus did it by washing someone’s feet. Mother Theresa did it by tending to the lowliest and sickest of India’s poor. We each can find ways to serve others.

I know this needs further exploration, but let me just leave it by saying that serving others is one of the greatest ways of demonstrating God’s love for our family, our friends, the greater circle of faith and our neighbors. When Gandhi was asked what it would take for him to become a Christian he responded “For Christians to act as Christ!” Accepting and serving others is being like Christ. Service is not earned; it is a gift freely given, just as our salvation was freely given to us through God’s grace and mercy. Service is one of the ways that we can demonstrate how thankful we are to God. And we can do that by serving those made in His Image.

I also think I must also address the need to accept another’s service. Sometimes I have frankly been embarrassed to accept another person’s service. I don’t feel worthy or something about my self-sufficient American attitude makes it wrong to ask for or to receive help. There is part of my psyche that thinks accepting service makes me somehow weak. But I am realizing that by accepting another’s service, two things are accomplished. First we allow the other person the opportunity to acknowledge God’s handiwork in us. They are able to recognize us as His creations and that by honoring us (each other) they both demonstrate the worth in us and their thankfulness or respect for that. Secondly I believe that by allowing ourselves to be served, we admit that we are not all sufficient and it humbles us to accept such service and in so doing honor the one who serves us.

Lastly I would like to say that we should never expect service and we should never expect others to be grateful for our service. Service isn’t something we demand, service is something that we gratefully accept. Also service isn’t something that we do begrudgingly or because others are grateful, but rather it is something we do freely with joy and peace regardless how it is received. Now I cannot say that serving others will always be filled with joy or will be easy but I can say from personal experience that serving others is worth it.

In closing I would like to encourage you who are pastors, deacons, parents, and teachers, that part of our job is to cultivate the idea that service isn’t something that we must do, but rather it is something we get to do and further I would also say that we should work hard to avoid cultivating an attitude of entitlement. Service is an expression of the freedom that we have been given in Christ. We are free to serve others because we have been freed from the tyranny of “Me first!”

We are not entitled to anything; including service. If any of us begins to think we deserve service because we are a leader or an elder, a parent, a husband, a wife or some other sort of authority figure, then we risk making ourselves into little gods who demand that others worship us. Service must be freely given and just as freely accepted, but never demanded or expected of others. Service is an outflow of God’s love at work in our hearts. It is not done conditionally or with the expectation of gratitude or recompense. If we do it for any other reason we risk creating an idol that will draw us or others away from our relationship with our Creator and Savior. Service can be something we choose to do, but I think in its purest form it is the love of God, or the love from God manifesting itself in us and through us. Service then becomes a natural expression of the new creation that Jesus has recreated us to be.

Serving with Joy,

Alan

Addendum:

I would add in relation to couples and relationships that when one party demands service or gifts from the other it is a sign of their heart not being right.  When we feel the need to demand service or gifts from our spouse to prove their love, it is our own brokenness driving us.  Conversely if we refuse to serve or give gifts to our partner it speaks to a hardness in our own hearts.  Service and gifts should never be demanded in a relationship but still they should flow freely out of the Love that God has put in our hearts.

Service doesn't demean until it is demanded but even when it is demanded, a loving servant can serve without feeling demeaned.  Love covers a multitude of sins it can even cover over the sins of a demanding partner.