Living Faith Lutheran Church

October 18 2015 Sermon

Let us pray … All seeing and all gracious God … we search your word for truth and seek to find our way … place your grace in our hearts and our footsteps in yours .. that we may fulfill your gracious will and follow your Spirit … Amen.
Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and from our Lord Jesus the Christ.
You know Christians are really good at “not doing anything” or to be more brutally honest “doing nothing” Let us consider today’s gospel lesson.
Jesus said “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” In that simple declarative statement Jesus gave us his definition of “ministry”. What does he mean we cry out? What are we supposed to do or not do? Where is Jesus leading us?
The answer to those questions is contained in today’s gospel lesson. “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant” But what does he mean? Are we all to become Mother Theresa and live and serve in the squalor of a Calcutta slum? No - Jesus knows that sort of service is not for everyone. So if we cannot do that then where do we serve? Let us take a look at some of the servant examples Jesus gives us. First and foremost, of course, is his willingness to suffer and die on the cross – a fate shared by many of the apostles – many of the martyrs of the church - but we are probably not all called to serve in that way either.
People like Peter, Paul and Stephen gave up their lives because they could not give up their faith – would that we could all be as determined in such a crucible of crisis. There are more modern examples of those who served in martyrdom – Bishop Oscar Romero – of San Salvador – tireless campaigner for the poor and the oppressed – and he was shot as he consecrated the host at mass in the chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence on March 24th, 1980. Then there is Dietrich Bonhoffer, and those beheaded by ISIS and others – but these are extreme examples. What about ordinary people? People like you and I? Those of us who wish to live faithful lives but to serve in some way as well – quietly – without fanfare or recognition.
This Thanksgiving weekend I was in Powell River for the holiday and on the Monday holiday was spurred out of bed by my loving spouse at 7:30 a,m, because we had to be at the church by 9. Dutiful, unquestioning, husband that I am, despite the fact it was raining, I clambered out of bed and got ready to go. Breakfast was had (a nutri-bullet and a muffin) and at the church I observed six others were waiting for us so we could make bagged thanksgiving lunches. Each bagged lunch contained a turkey bun [spread with butter, then mayo, then cranberry sauce, layered with turkey and lettuce then popped in a sandwich bag], a pumpkin square, a pumpkin cookie and an apple.
These bagged lunches were placed in larger bags – then loaded in a roomy SUV and five of us were off to deliver them. What was surprising to me were the destinations our food wagon. The first stop was the RCMP station where we were greeted by a young constable and two others. We told them where we were from and offered the lunches as our thank you to them for being willing to serve on this Family holiday. The smiles on their faces were worth every ounce of effort which had been put in.
From the police we proceeded to the ambulance service, and the fire-hall where our “mission” was received with equal enthusiasm. Then it was on to our final two stops.
The first was at the emergency department at the hospital. When we walked in the room was moderately busy and when the on-duty nurse looked up and saw the five of us – her face betrayed her fear that we brought with us some sort of disaster which would make an already busy day – five times worse. We moved over to a different side of the service desk – held up our two bags of lunches and explained to the amazed people what we were doing. Their concerned faces transformed to smiles and one lady even had a tear in her eye. Here was a group of people who didn’t want anything from them but instead were delivering a little compassion and understanding. Hugs were given all round and we were on our way to our final destination.
It began raining as we pulled up in front of the Powell River Recreational Centre, grabbed the last two sacks of bagged lunches (14 in all) and proceeded into the center. Now this was about 11:30 a.m. – the place wasn’t officially open yet but we knocked gently on the closed door and asked if we could make a delivery. The door to the polling station was cautiously opened and we walked in and presented the lunches to 14 of the most surprised people you have ever seen. These folks had been generous enough with their time to work on a huge family holiday so people would be able to exercise their franchise. Yes – all the people we visited with lunches were getting paid to be where they were doing what they were doing – but we tend to forget – because they are always there - that they are making a sacrifice by doing so – and it is in soothing and easing that sacrifice that we can be the “servants of alI”
Faith Lutheran in Powell River didn’t do this for the publicity – the media weren’t even informed it was happening – it was a simple act of service – given graciously and freely without expectation of return – except the smiles and the welcome we received. That was reward enough. They didn’t expect it – so any reactions we received were genuine. The smiles and the disbelief were real. We ministered to them. We shared God’s hospitality with those who were ministering to us – even though they most likely would not have described what they were doing that way. And Jesus said “Love one another as I have loved you.” Christ lays before us – many opportunities to serve – we merely need recognize them and throw ourselves into them. What was wonderful about this ministry was it came out of the congregation and it was focused on “the other” – which is where our call to ministry lies.. Yes we care for each other .. but we are also called to minister to those around us.
God calls upon us today to “quit doing nothing,” in response to the Gospel. God calls upon us to stop seeking greatness and to start seeking to serve. We are called to give ourselves for others as Jesus gave himself for us. We are called to care about others as Jesus cares about us. We are called to live lives of obedience to Jesus’ call to us to take up a cross and follow him into the world with hope in our hearts, with acts of love in our hands and with words of grace and promise on our lips.

“whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Amen