To Be Served

Notes from a sermon I gave this past Sunday...

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“To Be Served”
Luke 10:38-42
-Take note of the cultural background of this short story
-Mary chooses to be served by the words & teachings of Jesus

John 13:5-9
-Peter was confused by this act of Jesus
-He couldn’t understand why the Master would be washing his feet
-Peter initially wouldn’t allow Jesus to serve him but realized that he needed to give Jesus the opportunity to serve
-Sometimes we ask for assistance or service and other times it asks us

Mark 14:3-9
-Jesus allowed a woman to serve him by anointing him w/expensive perfume
-He saw that this was an opportunity for this woman to show her love for him through her devotion, sacrifice and service

A couple things to point out about being served:

It requires humility to allow someone else to serve us
-We shouldn’t be too arrogant to think that we can’t be served or that we don’t need help

It is important for us to recognize people’s need and desire to serve
-Just as we have a desire to help and serve others
-Who am I to take someone’s opportunity to serve away from them, even if that means the person they serve is me?
-Think of the times when you have let someone help or serve you knowing that you could do whatever it was yourself
-There is not an expectation of service that thinks or acts as if service is deserved or somehow we are “worthy” of being served

We are reminded as we take communion that we need to allow ourselves to be served by Christ
-We need to be served by Christ, not because we deserve it but because without it we are hopeless
-It is a choice you and I have to make to allow Christ to serve us through His sacrifice