Matthew 20:25-28
Jesus called them
together and said, “You know
that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials
exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become
great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be
your slave— just as the Son
of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many.”
One day last week the weather was
finally good enough to enjoy being outside so I sat on our porch watching three
of our boys playing basketball in the driveway. At one point I got a cold can
of root beer from the refrigerator in the garage and sipped it while I watched.
When I finished my root beer I took the can in to throw it away but when I
pulled out the recycle bin there was no plastic garbage bag in the bin. It
looked like someone had recently emptied the bin and hadn’t replaced the plastic bag.
So I had a choice to make. I could
dig around under the sink to find another plastic garbage bag to put in the
bin, or I could assume that there was no liner in the bin because we were out
of garbage bags. If I assumed that, I quickly reasoned, I should just toss my
empty can in the regular garbage and be done with it. The added benefit of that
assumption was that it would be easier and quicker, and I could get back out to
my perch on the porch. So...that’s what I did.
Not long after that my wife came
out to watch the driveway basketball as well. When she came out she said, “Who took out the recycle bag and forgot to replace it?”
One of my sons stopped playing
ball and raised his hand. He said, “Oh,
that was me, sorry, I forgot!’
Then she said, “And who put a root beer can in the regular garbage?”
I sheepishly raised my hand and
the boys started laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world!
They knew exactly what I had done!
I had chosen the way of laziness rather than the way of service; effectively
leaving the task of replacing the recycle bin liner to someone else...namely,
my wife.
You would think that someone who
has read and re-read Gary Chapman’s “The Five Love Languages” would know better! You would think that since I know
one of my wife’s love
languages is what Chapman calls “works
of service”
I would go out of my way looking for
opportunities to serve her by doing small things like replacing the recycle bin
liner! While I often will do those things, on this particular occasion failed
to do so in spectacular fashion!
It seems to me that sometimes the
place where it can be most difficult to serve is at home. Why is it that we can
be more inclined to serve total strangers than those we live with and love the
most? I think it probably has to do with taking family members for granted; or
with just assuming someone else will eventually do that task that we don’t particularly want to do.
In any case, read again what Jesus
has to say about serving one another:
“...whoever
wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be
first must be your slave— just as
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as
a ransom for many.”
What
does service look like at your house? Do the people who live in your home look
for opportunities to serve each other or do they hope someone else will take
care of the recycle bin liner?
What
about you? Do you look for ways to serve or do you wait for someone to serve
you?
Remember
that Jesus’ teaching
on true greatness doesn’t just
apply to serving the poor or the homeless, although it certainly includes such
acts of compassion; Jesus’ teaching applies to our homes and families as well.
Serve
one another as he has served you.
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