Today is Palm Sunday, remembering the last week of Jesus' life, from His triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the bitter betrayal, the trial, crucifixion and then glorious resurrection. Tucked in the middle of these events are the last instructions Jesus gave His disciples. At one point Jesus said, "Do this if you want to be like Me." What could make us like Jesus? John 13 tells us what we are to do to be like Him.
Jesus "got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, 'Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.' "
Edith Schaeffer, in her book Common Sense Christian Living, described her motivation for being a servant to those in her home.
"How do I regard my having run upstairs with tea or having served breakfast in bed, or having continued for years to do this kind of thing for a diversity of people, as well as for my husband and children? How do I look at it? Do I feel like a martyr? Let me tell you.
"First I say silently to the Lord, perhaps not always, but really almost every time: 'Thank you, Lord, that there is a practical way to serve you tea (or breakfast in bed or whatever it is I am doing for someone). There would be no other way of bringing you food, or doing something special for You. Thank you for making it so clear that as we do things that are truly in the realm of giving of ourselves in service to others, we are really doing it for You. These things can be done so often!'
"Second, I go on remembering something of this sort: 'Now Fran really needs this. He is talking so seriously to this person, and right now this refreshment will pick up both of them. I'm sure they both need a bit of blood sugar. This wheat muffin and cheese will give good nourishment, too, for whatever is coming next.' I walk up the stairs, you see, really thinking of the individuals I am serving, whether adults or my children and grandchildren, in one or another circumstance of life. A flair of imagination gives me the idea of putting a rose on the tray, or adding some hot nuts roasted in the oven, as I imagine the pleasure the sight and fragrance will bring to eyes and nostrils! This is the fun of serving. If you have never surprised anyone in the midst of ordinary life, you've missed a lot of the satisfaction that can be spread through days."
Until I read Mrs. Schaeffer's words, I had not seen myself serving Jesus as I served others. But you recall His words in Matthew 25. "I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to Me. . . . Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me."
Brennan Manning in his book, The Rabbi's Heartbeat, said "Servanthood is not an emotion or mood or feeling; it is a decision to live like Jesus." May we live like Jesus, this week and every week.
~~Faith Himes Lamb
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