Sunday, February 4, 2018

Jesus as a Model of Service to Others

Mark 1:29,34,38 (NRSV): Jesus Models Service to Others
Jesus came and took [Simon’s mother-in-law] by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. . .

And Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. . . 

Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”
Healing and serving others, expelling evil, and bringing forth the message of hope seem like impossible tasks. Throughout the gospels, however, Jesus models them. As the body of Christ, we are called to imitate Jesus’ actions. At first glance, this call appears problematic: We are all not faith healers, exorcists, or preachers. Or are we?

My grandmother lived a life of clandestine Christian ministry. She was a devout Roman Catholic from Italy, emigrating to the US after she married my grandfather during the second World War. She was a brilliant entrepreneur, and with little language and cultural knowledge, she started with almost nothing and built a successful produce business that served her community for decades. I never knew a person who worked harder than she did. She was up before dawn and worked all day and into the night. She was not a person to sit still. In the midst of her buying, travelling, retailing, and conversing with customers, she always took the time to serve those who struggled to serve themselves. 

Mrs. H was in her eighties and had difficulty getting out of her apartment. I vividly remember my grandmother taking her orders over the phone. And it was not a business transaction. Those conversations were about family and health, and the theme of caring concern flowed over the receiver. My grandmother was known to add, gratis, a few special items like her homemade fruit salad. And believe me, there was no better fruit salad than that of my grandmother.  

I was often the delivery boy, and I dreaded the third-floor climb with that towering box full of produce. I would say hello, drop off the box, and look for my egress. But Mrs. H was always full of words. She thanked me and always talked about how good a person my grandmother was by delivering the produce she no longer had the mobility to get. 

As a spiritually blind ten-year-old, I did not get it. I saw those deliveries as a hassle, as an undesirable chore. But what was happening around me was miraculous. Through God’s grace, my grandmother was bringing healing, joy, love, and smiles to those around her. She was, whether she knew it or not, offering her Christian ministry to others, imitating Jesus’ model in the gospels. 

What is our ministry? How does our vocation allow us to be Christ to those we encounter? We are called to heal, to expel hopelessness, to serve, and to bring good news to those we encounter. 
Heavenly Father, grant us that, like Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, we all rise up in the healing hands of Christ, your Son, and serve others with all our hearts. And we pray in Jesus Christ’s name, amen. 
Have a blessed week!
Stan

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