MAUNDAY THURSDAY April 09, 2009

the Rev. Ken Kroohs

(Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 116:1 & 10-17; I Corinthians11:23-26; John 12:1-17 & 31b-35)

SERVANTHOOD

St. Christopher’s, High Point, NC

MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN

A new commandment I give you .... This year my reading of the scripture passages found the word “new” to be particularly intriguing. Most of us have heard this saying a hundred times. Well, at least a couple dozen!

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” .... What’s new about that?

Actually it was/is new. Remember Jesus had been asked by the religious leaders to name the greatest commandment. This was a common “exam” question – not particularly difficult for any student of Jewish law. Jesus answered that the greatest commandment was to love God and we did that by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

So when Jesus calls this a new commandment He is placing it with the commandment generally accepted as the greatest in the Jewish theology.

I always looked at this as simply a re-phrasing of “love your neighbor as yourself” but Jesus says it is not — it is new. So what is new about it?

I believe what is new is that Jesus has raised the bar. Loving our neighbors is difficult enough, but now Jesus says we must seek to do that to the standards HE set. A much more difficult standard.

Remember in this context “love” is about how we treat other people and not how we feel towards them. In this passage, Jesus first demonstrated what He meant and then went on to explain it. If Jesus was focused on feelings He would have demonstrated by going around and giving everyone a hug! Instead He washed their feet.

As I reflected on this act I was reminded of all the movies set around the Civil War that included a scene – not a major scene just an indication of life at that time. The master comes into the house after walking in the barnyard, and the slave bends down to pull off the master’s boots. The slave has to place his face into the mud and manure on those boots. .... Jesus does exactly that. .... What a standard to be held to!

Of course in the slave’s situation they had no choice. That makes it even more remarkable because Jesus had a choice. There was no need for Him to bend over and wash their smelly feet. Jesus did it because that is what He wanted to demonstrate. Jesus demonstrated that Christians should be willing to serve other people. Not be abused by other people. Religion has been used too often to justify abuse. Not to be abused by other people but to serve other people.

This week I came across two things that tie directly into this teaching. One was a news article about the impact of religion on health. What struck me was the finding that those who helped benefitted more than those who were helped. People who helped received more in psychological, and physical benefits then those they gave to.

I was pondering that Monday night as I waited for the basketball game to start. Flipping through channels I found the Rev. Rick Warren of Purpose Drive Life fame on the Larry King show. Warren and I agree on, not all but many theological points even if our styles are very different. He was asked about how people can survive these difficult economic times and he said the key was to look outside ourselves. He explained that people who focused on themselves became depressed and hurt whereas those who would make the effort to focus beyond themselves actually did much better. .... Same answer from two different sources.

But what does it all mean? Jesus certainly included the check to homeless shelter, or to the church in His understanding of servanthood. But His example .... His standard is to go much further. Yes it includes contributions of money and not just what is easy but what takes effort to do. But beyond that a true servant, the best servant does the little things that matter to other people.

It is not just about holding the door because your mother would rise up and slap you if you didn’t! It is about looking for situations where the door needs to be held open.

It’s about seeing that another person is confused and helping them understand. .... Most of all it is about seeing. Most of us will do the right thing when it is pointed out to us, but we just do not notice.

Servanthood is about a way of life. I was extremely excited a few years ago to discover the servant leadership model. I found it to the best teaching about how to be a Christian — how to do what Jesus told us — how to be a servant to all.

Two books which helped to begin this movement are: By Grace Transformed by the Rev. Gordon Cosby a Baptist minister, and Servant leadership for the new millennium by the Rt. Rev. Bennett Sims. As you might imagine the baptist preacher’s book is a bit more experiential and the Episcopal Bishop’s book a bit more intellectual!!

Another excellent source is the Servant Leadership School run out of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greensboro. I always put their flyers on the bulletin board and mention their classes. Great stuff!

All three of those sources are footnoted in the bulletin. All three of them attempt to explain what Jesus meant by “being servant to all”.

It is about seeing and noticing. It is about putting ourselves behind other people whenever that does not involve being abused. Good example — a friend was serving temporarily in a church near here and when we went to visit he mentioned that his car was in the shop so we would not see it. We turned into the church’s parking lot and it seemed like an acre of empty pavement! A far distance away we could see what looked like a sign. When we drove across the parking lot we saw the sign: “Parking reserved for rector”. ......

If you don’t notice what is funny there please recognize that the rector better be one of the first people in on Sunday and during the week there is not a lot of competition for the space!

More importantly though ... more theologically relevant ... when have you ever seen a sign saying: “reserved for house servant” ? A servant does not get a reserve parking space.

Another example ... Years ago I was visiting a church. I think I had met the rector once before. As we tend to do, I was observing her ways of doing communion. I noticed she did not take communion first but after everyone else finished she very quietly went to the side table and served herself.

I asked her about it later and she blushed a little. She she grew up in a house with servants. Those servants never ate first, they never ate at the main table, and no one ever served them. It was important for her to act not as the mistress but as the servant.

A couple things servants do not do. One of the ways I made it through college was working in a catering company so spent many hours and days as, effectively, a servant. So I know what REALLY happens ... the complaining, the kitchen gossip. But in Jesus’ model a servant does not complain about the other people.

Most difficult for us is that in Jesus model the servant does not do it for or expect appreciation. It is done because that is what Christians do. Expecting appreciation would be like expecting appreciation for breathing — it should be that natural. The true servant SHOWS appreciation but does not expect appreciation. Very difficult.

Lent is the time to reflect on difficult questions. I invite you to spend time thinking about servanthood. Thinking about what Jesus meant. Thinking about how that applies in your life. Thinking about what you do which is more like the master and less like the servant. Thinking about what you do which is more about yourself and less about others.

But I also invite you to spend time thanking God that Jesus never thought more about Himself than he did other people.

AMEN

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CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)