~ Jesus and The Servant

The servant culture of Christ is almost entirely opposed to the culture of the human servant.  God’s servants are called to seek the best for people regardless of their own feelings.  We each have the privilege of demonstrating the love of God in the lives of others through random acts of service to lighten their load.

In the older concept of servitude from a hundred and fifty years ago or more, was based on the idea that servants were a lesser standard of person than masters.  It was held that it was the servant’s privilege to serve the master’s family and that they benefitted from their work by receiving accommodation and income as well as being kept out of trouble.

Fortunately, today, the notion of servanthood has been humanised.  Today a servant now is an employee from whom the master, now the employer, benefits.  As independent people they would tend to have a better outlook on their work than was possible in an earlier time.

By our human nature, we are fiercely independent, we tend to look to our own interests first and then look out for others if it suits us, not whether they heed assistance.  We will do friends favours but ignore the strangers that we run into who are patently in need of a hand.  This is not what Jesus means by service or love.

In the time of Jesus service was deemed a cultural responsibility In the Parable of the Returning Son He describes the older son, the one who stayed, as being put out by the father’s acceptance of is young brother with a party when he had not been offered one in his brother’s absence.  He had served his father for that time when his brother had squandered his share of the family assets.

In a passage in Luke 12 Jesus teaches the disciples about how to life in the new life He was introducing, part of that teaching from verses 35 to 38 went like this.

 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks.  The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!  He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn.  But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready”.  Luke 12:35-38

Later in the same Good News the disciples lost the plot a bit and He had to admonish them like this.

Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: "Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It's not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant.  Luke 22:24-26 (The Message)

Finally, a word or two from Paul of Tarsus who called himself a servant for the sake of the Gospel”

“Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work”. Colossians 3:22-25 (The Message)”