Sent to Serve

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 7,2011
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Third Sunday in Stewardship
Communion Mediation
Luke 22:24-27
“Sent to Serve”

This week I read an article which pointed out the simple fact that Jesus never says, “Worship me!” Compare that with the seventeen times that Jesus says, “Follow me” in the four gospels. This is rather odd since the history of the church is really a struggle over the “right way” to worship. Our modern conversations around contemporary, traditional and everything in between has created quite an industry. Denominations and individual churches are judged and categorized based on their style of worship. Worship is the central act in the church of Jesus Christ, but Jesus had nothing to say about it. I do not mean to suggest that worship is unnecessary or important. Worship is a vital part of our life of faith. However, vibrant worship without a vibrant servant mentality is not worship of the God we know in Jesus Christ. Worship should feed our life of service. The role of the church is to create disciples who create more disciples. Vibrant worship can attract people and bring people into the community, but if they are not told that the life of faith is about service, we are providing entertainment and not the gospel. Our passage for this morning is another one of the hard sayings of Jesus. It is easy for most people to see the trouble with the disciples’ conversation. There is an all out competition to see who the super disciple is. It is easy to beat up on the disciples because those of us who have grown up in the church know how to hide those kinds of impulses. We may not always do it, but we know better than to seek to be first. What is powerful about this passage is not that Jesus challenges their misdirected impulses. How Jesus responses is instructive. Jesus makes it clear that the calling of a disciple is to serve other people. The calling is service. But, the way he says this is pretty radical. The use of the term benefactor is important. It is a call to serve with a twist. The disciples are not really arguing about power and authority. They are arguing about who is the greatest at serving others and preaching the kingdom. Jesus says that the call to serve is not about helping those less fortunate. It is about changing social arrangements. The greater person in the kingdom of God is the person who serves at the table. Those at the bottom of the ladder in a service economy are the ones who God sees as great. When the one who we worship as king comes to serve the calling is not to worship but to follow. And that is the difficulty in the teaching. The trouble with worshiping Jesus is that it can lead us to forget to follow the pattern set for us to follow. When the disciples focus on the power and greatness of Jesus they fall into the trap of believing they should receive recognition as well. Jesus has to help the disciples remember to follow this servant who we worship. On our third Sunday of stewardship this has some important implications. Notice that Jesus uses the word benefactor. It was believed that only those people who had power because of position or wealth could take care of others. The social arrangement was such that the wealthy were give glory because of their generosity. And Jesus says that the glory ought to go to the nameless people who pick produce, wash dishes, and bring meals to those who can afford to go out to eat. So what does this mean? It means that the followers of Jesus are not called to help the less fortunate but to serve. So what is the difference? When the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation works to eradicate malaria we can give thanks. But, if they were to do so as followers of Jesus they would probably do it with less fanfare and distance from the people they are helping. The followers of Jesus are not called to be benefactors but servants and this is why the teaching of Jesus is so offensive. Being called to serve is not a call to help out those less fortunate, but a call to give up privilege, to walk arm in arm. In God’s kingdom, those with privileged position and status are at a disadvantage. In God’s kingdom it is those who clean houses, farm workers, wait staff, and those at the lowest end of the service economy will have the expertise needed to be faithful in the life of discipleship. The most important role of the church, particularly in the season of stewardship, is to help emphasis and grasp this fundamental shift. Stewardship is not about giving a little back or giving so we might have greater riches or even because it will give us pleasure. Stewardship is about learning to become a serving people. The distinctions of class no longer matter. The distinctions of expertise no longer matter. When Paul writes that there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, he is reminding the followers that being a disciple is the breakdown of social divisions. There is no job below your social status because in the household of God there is no social status that keeps you from cleaning toilets. How will you serve this year? How are you already serving? Where is God calling you to give up the baggage of the outside world in this place? This is not a call to make people more busy or guilt them into giving more money. It is a calling to grow deeper in our life of faith, to wade out into the deep waters, even if we do not know for sure what it will bring. It is a calling to give of our whole selves, not because of guilt or expectation, but out of joy. And, it is calling to move from religious consumer to co-servant in a community where we serve one another and are served by one another. This is the calling! Amen.