17 December 2023
THE SPIRIT OF SERVANTHOOD
(Growing in Faith, in Truth & in Spirit: GFTS 25)
The Lord Jesus, after washing His disciples’ feet said: “I have set you an Example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15). Christ, the Lord of Glory, left Heaven to become a Servant to serve and save mankind: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His Life as a Ransom for many” (Mrk 10:45). Christ is teaching us that His followers should be humble in attitude and to serve others. Washing feet was the duty of a slave in those days and it was a “dirty” job. Paul wrote to the Church, “Serve one another humbly in love” (Gal.5:13b). The Greek text says, “By love be slaves of one another”.
It is the power of God’s Love that enables us to serve one another in such a humble way. Our Lord has shown us and set us the Example, so we must follow Him in doing so. The Bible says, “Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6). The love of Christ in us will compel us to do so (2Cor.5:14). Peter tells us that Christ has left us an Example that “we should follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). May we desire and aspire to be like Him!
In teaching about Christ’s humility and servanthood (Phil.2:5-8), Paul mentions about Epaphroditus who came to serve him while he was in prison. He wrote to the Church, saying that while serving him, Epaphroditus fell sick and almost died: “Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow” (v.27). What expression of love – to serve with such dedication because of the love of Christ in him. That was what Jesus did: He loved us undeserving sinners and was willing to suffer and to die in order to save us.
John writing to his readers about Christ’s Love, gave this exhortation: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His Life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). This is radical love! Only those who truly love God dearly can love like that – to the extent of being willing to lay down their lives for others. We have many examples of such in the History of Missions. Many western missionaries gave their lives and died on the mission fields to preach the Gospel in Asia and Africa. Some were even martyred for the sake of Christ and the Gospel. Some of the missionaries our Church is supporting are also in places where their lives are always in danger.
If we are supposed to lay down our lives for the brethren, then the least we can do is to show our love to the poor by blessing them generously with our giving. That is what John said: “We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brothers in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with action and in truth” (1 Jn. 2:17-18). It is hypocritical to say we love God and willing to die for Him, when we are not even willing to give a helping hand to the poor and needy!
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