The Act of Serving

Song of the Week: Do Something by Matthew West

“So, I shook my fist at Heaven

I Said, "God, why don't You do something?"

He said, "I did, yeah, I created you"

Acts of service have been no stranger to me in my life growing up. Spending time volunteering at my church and in the community, service has been a way of life for me. But even though I have spent my life serving, I still find challenges every day that remind me that I need to serve more. When people think of serving in the context of Christianity, there is conflict on whether someone is driven to serve by reflecting the character of God or just trying to get to heaven by works. I have seen many use the title of Christian to convict others and tell people they are going to hell because they haven’t done enough, people who list or promote their services to show why they are going to heaven, and more. The reason that there is so much confusion is because many can take a passage or a verse and twist it to their own view. One example can be drawn from Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus speaks of the Final Judgement:

31“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.33He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

37“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

40“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

41“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

44“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

45“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

46“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

What this passage is describing is that Jesus cares for how you act to others. To be a Christian isn’t to do the work because it gets you to heaven but it shows that because we know Christ, you know to care for those who need it, to know when the opportunity to serve comes and grab it. When you serve someone else, you are serving the Lord. When you look away from the needy, you are turning away from Jesus. But many draw from this that those who do good works, go to heaven. As I studied the Word, I too had confusion because growing up I thought that we were just supposed to serve because we need to show the character of God. In one of my classes, I have been put into a small group. This week’s session was about acts of service and doing the work of God. What I learned was that we aren’t supposed to do good works to be saved but to show God’s kindness, grace and love to each other. Jesus sat with prostitutes and tax collectors, he healed the sick and poor, he forgave our sins. What we tend to forget is that as Jesus did those things for us, we should do for others. Jesus told the disciples that the two greatest commandments were to love God above all else, and love our neighbor. What helped me understand the idea of this was from reading Luke 10: 30-37, the Good Samaritan:

“A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

31“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

33“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

36“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

37The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

The priest who is supposed to represent God, left the man who needed help more than anything. But the Samaritan, who was hated by Jews, was the one who stopped what he was doing and helped the man and even used money out of his pocket to pay for long term treatment.

A week ago, I had felt drained in my service towards others. I felt like I had been giving so much and

wasn’t receiving anything. But then God reminded me that while I feel like I have done enough, there is more to do. On Friday evening, an ice storm hit mine and surrounding neighborhoods, causing power outages everywhere as branches and trees fell. By Saturday morning, my whole community’s power was wiped out. After learning that my aunt’s house had been hit pretty badly, my mom and I layered up, and walked the few blocks to her house. This was only a day after I had felt like I wanted to stop serving but at that moment I was excited to help where I could! A large amount of my family was there with chainsaws and supplies as we worked to cut and move the many limbs that were on the ground. Neighbors from all around used wagons to wheel their own chainsaws and supplies and got to work also. My uncle, who was supposed to host a Bolt Action session with some men from Albany, had to cancel the event. But that didn’t stop the men from Albany from driving an hour to his house to help out. One of them even worked in the ice in a kilt.

Watching the community come together to help each other in a crisis was astounding. It reminds me of the Good Samaritan. I have no idea how many of those community members were truly Christian, but they were sure acting the way that God calls us to. The power was out for a week. And throughout that whole week, I saw people offering each other help through labor or offering food or heat. What I have learned about this last week was that the reason why Jesus wants us to serve is so then we can be His light and show others His love because He can’t be here to do it Himself.

While I have been serving my whole life, I am still learning. And it’s okay if you are too. What I want you to learn from this is go and find where God is calling you. Whether it’s being a listening ear to someone, caring for a neighbor, volunteering locally, and more. God will give you the opportunity to serve and I challenge you to take it. Fear can lead you to turn away from the opportunity but it takes courage and faith to grab it and run.

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden”

Matthew 5:14