In church circles, Acts of Service gets a lot of play. But, that’s hardly unique to the world of faith. What does it mean to help? What does it mean to serve? Why do we do it?

We have the pat answers, of course. Golden Rule. It’s better to give then receive. I’m called to it, etc… I’ve found in my life, however, that there are all sorts of things going on here and many attitudes about who and how to serve, how much to serve, and why even serve in the first place?

As most of you know by now, I grew up in a household that really had no real attachment to a faith tradition other than the most loose connection to my father’s childhood Judaism and my mother’s vague secularized Christianity. In other words, nada. There was, interestingly enough, a sense that we were supposed to make a difference. We were supposed to do something with our lives and not just for ourselves. From my father’s side it was his WW II Marine Corps heritage. Child of the depression, member of the Greatest Generation. Also, I never felt far removed, as a young student of history, from the Holocaust and the question of why no one did anything! I actually felt that painfully and it’s never left.  From my mother’s side, it was that patrician Noblesse Oblige (sorry, look it up!) and a legacy of extremely high powered family members/public servants on the progressive side of the spectrum, dating back well into the 19th century. I’ll save you the ticker tape of accomplishments that were drummed into us with the spoken or unspoken message that we are called to serve. All very secular and all very good. Well, maybe. Try living up to that and you’ll have a shot at why I spent a number of years in therapy.

I entered college knowing I would have a life built around service. I entered law school with the same call.  While I left college and law school somewhat jaded, I didn’t have to go far to fall into teaching and later a profession built around service. In fact, I hardly knew anything else. I counted myself very fortunate that I got to spend my days in that kind of a place.

So, what’s the catch? There is a catch of course. One can say if I was a pendulum, I would have been pretty far to the upswing on one side. Not being saintly like a Mother Theresa or others with such special gifts, gravity took over.

Do you know anyone … teachers, missionaries, ministers and priests, police, fire fighters, others who enter with noble expectations but who burn out or worse? Of course. We all do or are aware that this is very common.

Why do we serve?

Jesus says we will be known by our love. Of course, he says we should serve. In fact, that happens to be in his top five reasons for breaking through one overarching reality and alighting in this troubled one. And, yes, this is a commandment … pretty clear about that. But, after that, it gets a bit dicey.

One of the great fallacies of the Christian religion is that people think they actually can earn God’s love. That God keeps score and holds back his love accordingly. Now, setting aside any other aspect of God’s score keeping (there happens to be real things called Justice and Evil but that’s a topic for another day), we can’t earn God’s love by working or serving. That’s just plain impossible. A corollary of that is that God keeps a report card going. Well, let’s see: Here, Brad gave $1000 to that charity that does really good stuff. Or, Brad went to prison today or agreed to lead Emmaus or help out at church this year, all of which are really good things that help others. Therefore, chalk up some points on the Brad ledger … he’s earning his way in there. Good thing Brad knows that that’s what’s happening here.

Or not.

We shall by known by how we love one another.

I think about that. Love and duty are two separate things. Doing something because we feel we have to is not the same as acting out of love. I’ve heard many times that the reason soldiers risk their lives is not for their country (which some of them love in an abstract way) but because they love the guy next to them. That they would do anything for that guy. Which is kind of the definition of love, I think.

Jesus washed the feet of his disciples which is not something your basic Rabbi or Lord normally did. In fact, it threw those disciples into something of a tizzy. Looking back it and, should we believe Jesus is who he says he is? That’s no small deal. God washed my feet. Because, of course, I’m one of those guys as all of us are. God washed my feet. So, if God washed my feet, what does that mean?

Well, presumably it means at least a couple of things. For starters, I guess I’m a pretty big deal. As in pretty important to God because servants wash the feet of the master. But, that’s only a bit of the story. Of course, he was modeling for us as well as telling us something. After all, he came to show us what the Kingdom is really like, and it’s like turning this world upside down. God came to serve man, even the most lowly among us … in fact precisely the most lowly among us … because they are valued as if they were the most mighty! We are all lords in God’s eyes, inheritors of the Kingdom. Lepers. Addicts. Misfits. In our brokenness, we achieve lordship.

But, then there’s the other thing. I’m also to be on my knees to serve. And, Jesus did not do this because he was ordered to or because he read it in a book or his church or community said get on your knees to wash the feet of misfits. He did it because his heart was soft and he loved them and it was the most natural thing in the world. The same as breathing. Let’s wrap our heads around that.

He actually just flat out loved them and his heart was so soft and tender towards them he couldn’t help it.

He couldn’t help it. It was his nature. It is the very essence of God and the central building block of all of reality.

I wish I could treasure other people the way Jesus did. I especially mean strangers or people on the periphery, not my dear family and close friends. I get that better.

I don’t think service is anything noble or particularly noteworthy. I’m sorry for people who think far more of themselves than how they can help the person next to them flourish.

Which brings up a kind a sore spot. I apologize but I don’t have patience for grand political gestures about restructuring our political or economic system to better help those who are needy, by those who have hard hearts and don’t take the time to actually connect with that needy person. I used to work very hard in that environment and saw way too much posturing for notoriety or political gain and all of that grandstanding about changing society by people who were just not nice people. Who were uncomfortable with simple acts of loving service. I’m not making a political statement here but an observation about the importance of personally submitting in love to bless the lives of another, real, live human being … not a cause. I ran out of energy for grand causes awhile ago. OK, forgive me, I’m on my high horse. I was a cause guy and there were many grand causes. But, I’ve learned that we easily miss the point. The needy person is right in front of our face and he or she is not a statistic or part of a group I should just write a check to. He or she is down and troubled and wants a hand and if I’m not looking for him or her, I will miss the opportunity to touch God.

Lord knows, I miss enough opportunities to touch God but I’d like to catch a few.

I readily concede that there are many people who commit their lives to service who do not believe in a God or follow Jesus. But, I do believe that he helps us frame the whole thing in a way that represents what is most important about our lives. I can only testify to what I’ve experienced and determined from a life of observing a great deal. We should all seek a heart that cannot help but to serve.

I’m really tired at the end of a long day. I’m going to post this anyway but may edit it tomorrow if i wake up and find it’s gibberish..

 
Lord, with that in mind, we need Your help. Our hearts are fickle things. Sometimes, we think we’d better get off our rears and give to others because, well, it’s apparently the right thing to do and we haven’t been very attentive to that. And then we look around and don’t even know where to begin. For goodness sake, there’s so much need and I don’t even know where to begin to be honest. And, I’m afraid, once I dive in, there’s no coming out. I’ll have no time to just enjoy the bounty you’ve provided for me. I guess it makes sense that service is not a duty but a calling and it’s a calling from the heart and that that heart is connected to your heart. Which is all kind of strange because I can’t wrap my head around my heart (literal or metaphorical) being connected to a God’s heart. It all gets very confusing which is why all of us need your help. So, please help us to see and feel what it means to wash the feet of another. A troubled person or misfit. A person we run into in the market or at work or in the neighborhood. This is not easy but it’s probably good. Amen.