Make Me A Servant
April 26, 2004
The words of Jesus fly in the face of a generation
that urges us to think of "me" first. Nowadays everyone wants to
be the sun, not the moon. We want to radiate light not reflect
it. Yet, Jesus taught us to look out for others first and
ourselves second.
The Lord summed it up when he said, "The Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve" (Matthew 20:28). A
short time after he uttered those words Jesus walked toward two
blind men who were sitting at the side of a road. When they
discovered it was Jesus passing by they clamored for attention.
The followers of Jesus acted like the maître d' in a five-star
restaurant who just had a bum request a table with a view. They
looked down their arrogant noses and told the blind men to be
quiet.
Jesus could have passed by without a glance in
their direction and nobody would have given it a second thought.
After all, why should a man with such insight and power concern
himself with a couple of worthless blind men?
Of course, Jesus didn't consider the men worthless
and he didn't quickly slip past them like we might do to a
panhandler on a downtown street. Instead he stopped and asked,
"What do you want me to do for you?" (Matthew 20:32). In
essence, Jesus wanted to know how he could serve them. The
leader asked two men who weren't even followers, "How can I
serve you?"
They wanted the one thing only Jesus could give
them--their eyesight. In that moment something happened inside
Jesus that translated into a miracle of service and healing. The
fact that Jesus healed those men wasn't an isolated incident.
Every moment of his life was spent serving others (while Jesus
did make a practice of breaking away from the masses and
spending time alone, those times were no doubt aimed at spending
time alone with his Father and restoring his energy so he could
serve more effectively later on).
Jesus' followers knew he was there to serve them.
They understood he always had their best interest at heart.
Whether he was healing them, teaching them, feeding them, or
rebuking them—they knew he was serving their highest good.
Servant leadership wasn't something Jesus did—it was the essence
of his being.
Ask God to enable you to lift others higher than yourself. Make
an effort to help someone who doesn't expect your help. Follow
the lead of Jesus and serve.
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