LENT II
March 5, 2023
“The Heart of a Servant”
“I have one life and one chance to make it count for something. I’m free to choose that something. . . My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can.” Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States.
After the announcement of President Carter’s worsening health and his return to his home in Plains, Georgia to receive hospice care, a number of newspaper articles covered his presidency and the years that followed. The above quote particularly touched me, as this gentleman lived a lifetime of service to others in so many ways. He gave his famous name and position to publicize the mission of Habitat for Humanity, and showed up at job sites in work clothes and tool belt. Yes, he put in physical effort to help build houses, but how many pictures and stories about Habitat would have been published if he’d been just a peanut farmer?
Living a public life can surely be tedious and tiresome, but Mr. Carter found the upside in the attention from the media as he educated us on the importance of giving time and abilities to help others, and then proceeded to do exactly that. It’s been meaningful to me, too, that his Christian faith called him to serve as well as to encourage and enable others to do so.
At some point in history, servants slipped to the lower rungs of the social ladder. They were hardly worth noticing, and had value only in the tasks they performed. However, God’s people in ancient times held a very different view of servanthood. The “servant songs” of Isaiah speak of the great honor to be a servant of God, and throughout the Psalms we learn of both leaders and everyday people called to serve God by serving his people.
The importance of being a servant continues into the New Testament, where we read of the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary to tell her she would be the mother of God’s son. This young woman’s faith-filled response was, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.” (1:38). Jesus told his followers that he had come not to be served, but to serve. (Mark 10). When Paul wrote to the early churches, he often introduced himself as God’s servant, reminding his readers that serving one another was an honorable calling.
During these days of Lent, as well as throughout the year, there are opportunities all around us to provide loving care and support to people with a wide variety of needs. I have great appreciation for President Carter’s description of the many paths of service: “to do whatever, wherever, whenever, for as long as I can.”
I’m not familiar with ELW Hymn 659, but as I read “Will You Let Me Be Your Servant” I fell in love with the poetry and the message. I’ll just share the first stanza, asking you to take note of the last line, a new concept of servanthood.
Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you? Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too.
Always in need of grace,
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers