Serving

Our annual preacher’s meeting is coming up. I LOVE this meeting. It’s the most special church meeting I have ever been to, and I look forward to it all year. Even more than our candlelight Christmas Eve service which is saying A LOT, okay.

It’s autumn around my house these days.

I love the preaching, but especially love the singing. I love to close my eyes and listen to everyone else just belting it out. I feel like surely this is the closest we get to heaven’s singing here on earth. The Spirit is so moving during those songs. If I ever miss the meeting for any reason, it’s the singing that I’m most disappointed to miss. 

The number one thing that this meeting has taught me over the years is the importance of being a cheerful servant. When I was growing up, my mom was a servant. Still is. Her love language is acts of service and if she isn’t able to serve other people, you can kinda see her visibly shrivel up. She taught that to us kids. Think of others first. Do for others. Esteem others over yourself. Be kind to others. Help others. And she is faithful to serve in her home and in her church. Her job right now is as a caretaker for an elderly lady. That is so my mom! And she does this without much complaint. I mean, she’s a human being so there are those days we all have. But I only remember my mom serving us kids and serving at church with a smile.

When I became an adult and moved here to Idaho, I also served at my church. But not with the attitude that my mom has. More like with a let’s get this drudgery over with attitude. An attitude of why aren’t other people serving as well? An attitude that critiqued who served and who didn’t and how much they did. If they would just do more I could do less. And I would love to do less. 

Several years back we happened to have a much bigger, and unexpected, work load for the preacher’s meeting. So I missed the entire two days working in the nursery and kitchen and cleanup crews. This was totally out of everyone’s control. I knew that, but also was really mad about it. Like just mad to miss the meeting. How about someone else miss it so I don’t have to? It was 100% a selfish and ugly attitude, and I wish so much I could just take it all back. That kind of attitude is nothing but discouraging to everyone else. And why would we ever want to discourage people? And what about esteeming others over ourselves? As Christ does for us. It’s one thing to be a bit disappointed. It’s another thing entirely to want other people to miss out on a blessing so that I don’t have to. Anyway, what an ugly, ugly heart on my part. And I got my selfish wish when I got sick and could suddenly no longer serve in any capacity at all.

I was also rebuked by few people in my church. Not verbally and certainly not intentionally on their parts. But I watched their actions and felt hideous myself. They served and served and served. Cheerfully. And they had their own sicknesses, tragedies, trials, physical limitations, etc. But still they faithfully served and without complaint or puffing themselves up. There are many examples of this that I can give, but this particular one meant a lot to me. When I got sick and could no longer teach my Master’s Club class, my friend Kelley stepped up and did it. Not for me because I didn’t even ask her to; Mrs Hoover did. And Kelley has chronic illness that makes mine look like a walk in the park. A family and kids and a business to run. She faithfully taught it for the next year or two. I cried so often over that and can’t even write about it without crying now. Just to have that example. It rebuked me. And it helped me to see that serving is such a beautiful blessing that we can easily give.

Those experiences opened my eyes to how wonderful it is to serve with a cheerful heart. Whether you love the work you are doing or not, it can still be done cheerfully and for the Lord and without murmuring or complaint. 

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man accordingly as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” 2 Cor 9:6-8. I really love that those verses end with “every good work”. I tend to always think of money when I read a cheerful giver. But service should be given just as cheerfully. We sow bountifully, we reap bountifully. What a beautiful thing.

When I read about Christ’s ministry on earth, it’s filled with service. With work. The disciples and the early church Christians served and worked together. God created us to have fun and laughter and there is goodness in those things, but I think often we miss out on the fellowship of service because we are too busy wanting the fellowship of fun. Fellowship and service go hand in hand. We have that example in Christ himself. I wonder how much more unity we would have within the body of Christ if we were more willing to serve together. And to view it as fun while we’re at it. I think I have this mindset that only entertainment is fun. But I have so much fun doing yard work with my husband and doing housework with my nieces. Getting together with my brothers and sisters in Christ and serving in the kitchen or wherever, can be fun if I choose to have the attitude that it is. If that makes sense?

An apple pastry for Aaron. In honor of fall.

Service should not be avoided and it should not be “grudgingly, or of necessity”. It should be cheerful and it should be because we love the Lord and wish to serve others in order to please Him.

“… But by love, serve one another.” Galatians 5:13

“So after he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Verily, verily I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” John 13: 12-17

Happy are ye. I really love that. To serve is joy and happiness. And because we are fleshly humans we won’t always be happy about serving. But we should get up, repent, and serve for the love of the Lord.