Lent: A Time for Renewal of Servanthood

In 1980, Mac Davis scored his first top ten single with the song, "It's Hard to be Humble." Here's the chorus: "O Lord, it's hard to be humble/when you're perfect in every way/I can't wait to look in the mirror/cause I get better looking each day/to know me is to love me…"

What makes the song so funny is that the character in the song really believes it. He's bought into his own hype. And dare we admit that we recognize what he's talking about? Do we laugh because this song diagnoses how ridiculous sinful pride really is?

Pride is so irresistible that it twists our attempts at humility into something else. As soon as our hearts go in the direction of "Look how humble I am! Look at how much of a servant I am," the whole thing is ruined. Humility does not advertise itself. What a struggle this is! Although we are often proud and want to control others, the Son of God, our Savior Jesus, calls you and me to be humble and to serve other people, just as He humbled Himself for us.

Imagine with me that it is the night that Jesus was betrayed. It's a few days after the ugly scene when Mrs. Zebedee came to Jesus and asked that her two sons be given positions of honor in His kingdom. Now they were all in the Upper Room where the Passover was to be celebrated. Since there were only the Twelve plus Jesus, somebody had to take on the servant's role, because their feet had to be washed before eating. Nobody moved. The food was getting cold. The one who moved would be the doormat, the fool, the loser. The servant would give up his claim to rule over the others.

Finally, someone did move. Jesus took a towel and a bowl, knelt down, and began washing their feet one by one. He did the task of a slave. And, so there could be no doubt about why he was doing this, he told them, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

Is that what happens in your life today? A couple sits in a counselor's office, arms folded, looking away from each other, saying nothing, because they know someone has to speak. Someone has to give in, and giving in means failure, admission of guilt, humiliation, and losing. A woman walks into the church and sees the flowers neatly arranged by another member of the congregation. She arranges them flowers the way she would like them. Power. Control.

A man talks to a few friends and cons them into voting for the person he wants as head of a committee. Power. Control. A group of high school students excludes a lonely classmate from their "cool" group. Power. Control. A check for a healthy sum is given to worthy cause with the understanding that the gift-giver gets to call the shots now. Power. Control.

Are you in any of those pictures? What are the ways that you and I lack humility and look to control the action? You and I may think that our little manipulations here and there are no big deal, but they betray a much deeper problem in our hearts—the problem of being self-serving, first and foremost.

Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us a totally different picture in what He expects from us. At the beginning of this Lenten season, Jesus calls you not just to think about His action of humble service, but to be like Him in every area of your life. Think of the power plays we engage in every day: as parent over child, spouse to spouse, single person with our friends. Think of the people you work with that you try to control in little ways. Think of fellow Christians in this congregation we try to manipulate so we can have it our way in the things that are planned. DO we really want to serve—or be served?

Truly, seeing how far we fall short of being like Jesus, we need to repent; to change direction; to return to the Lord in sincerity, saying, "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner."

It is time for renewal. It is time for a whole new orientation of your heart and mine. Tonight Servant Jesus bends down from heaven to earth to wash you clean from sin. The One crowned with thorns comes to crown you as a prince or princess of His Kingdom. The One exposed on the cross comes to wrap you in His robe of righteousness. Jesus volunteered to become a slave in order to set you free! Voluntary slavery is the way that Jesus saved you. It is the way of Christ, and it is the way of the Christian.

What does that mean? It means that if you are a parent or a child, Jesus is calling you to serve your parents or to serve your children in love, gladly doing what is best for them not out of duty or obligation, but willingly! It means that if you are married, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, not keeping score but forgiving each other from the heart and moving on together. Members of Trinity, it means, by the Holy Spirit's power, making your church a community of care, a haven from selfishness, a place where people actually serve each other with the love of Jesus.

Servanthood means imitating a God who bends down into our lives; a God who kneels down to serve us; a God who loves us even to death on a cross.

Servanthood means changing; being renewed; learning that whoever wants to be great must be a servant of Servant Jesus. The power for this renewal will come to you again and again through Jesus, as you search His Word in daily devotions; as you reflect on what baptism did to you; as He gives Himself to you at His Table. That is precisely why our worship is often described as "The Divine Service"—Servant Jesus comes to serve us with His priceless gifts. What we call a Christian life is, simply, how you respond to being served by God. That is going to look and feel a lot like the voluntary slavery that set us free.

A well dressed woman from Europe was on safari in Africa. One day she visited a leper colony. There she saw a nurse bending in the dust, tending to the sores of a leperous person. The heat was intense; the flies were buzzing as she filled his infected wounds. The well-to-do woman was so taken aback by this scene of suffering that words slipped out, "Why, I wouldn't do that for all the money in the world!" Without looking up from her work, the nurse quietly replied, "Neither would I."

Are you like that nurse? Our Lord says, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." May this Lent be for you a time for renewal—a time where your sense of Christian servanthood is renewed. It begins and ends with Jesus. Tonight he hands you a towel and a bowl. He points you to where you should go. Most important, He goes with you…to serve. Amen.