DEEPER WALK
SERVICE
Introduction: Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a scepter, but a hoe. – Bernard of Clairvaux - Having lived out a life of service before them, Jesus called his disciples to the same: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:14,15) - In service we must experience the little deaths of going beyond ourselves. - Service is a way of offering resources, time, treasure, influence, and expertise for the care, protection, justice, and nurture of others. Acts of service give hands to the second greatest commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Calhoun, p. 144) Self-Righteous Service Versus True Service - Self-Righteous Service comes through human effort. True service comes from a relationship with God, watching for opportunities He places before us. - Self-Righteous Service is impressed with the ‘big deal’. True service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service. The true servant is often drawn to the small service, not out of false modesty, but because he genuinely sees it as the more important task. - Self-Righteous service requires external rewards. It needs to know that people see and appreciate the effort. True service rests contented in hiddenness. It does not fear attention, nor seek it. The divine nod of approval is sufficient. “Only the eye of God ever sees the larger, hidden part of it” (Whitney, p. 116). - Self-Righteous service is highly concerned about results. It eagerly waits to see if the person served will reciprocate in kind. It becomes bitter when the results fall below expectations. True service is free of the need to calculate results. It delights only in the service. - Self-Righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve. Sometimes the high and powerful are served because that will ensure a certain advantage. Sometimes the low and defenseless are served because that will ensure a humble image. True service is indiscriminate in its ministry. - Self-Righteous service is affected by moods and whims. It can serve only when there is a ‘feeling’ to serve. True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need. - Self-Righteous service is temporary. True service is a life-style. “When God calls His elect to Himself, he calls no one to idleness” (Whitney, p. 117). - Self-Righteous service fractures community. It centers on the glorification of the individual. True service builds community. It draws, binds, heals, builds. 48
