“The greatest among you shall be your servant.” Matthew 23:11
Powerful spiritual lessons often come in unexpected ways. Such was the case in our church in Georgia when a young couple with two children began attending. They were polite, unassuming and interacted well with our people. Nevertheless, it was clear that they were different. They dressed more plainly than the other couples their age. Their children seemed to have fewer social skills than their counterparts. Most of all, they were very conservative in their religious views beyond that which most conservative folks have.
Our people were welcoming to them and certainly kind in every way. At the same time, however, they weren’t quite sure how to take them. It did not appear that any overtures were being made by church members to develop friendships with them outside of church. I must confess that I was right in there with them in terms of reluctance.
They had been coming several months when a child got sick during a social event at church. We were in a multi-purpose room that served both as a worship center and as a fellowship hall. The child apparently had some kind of stomach virus and was trying to get out the side door before the inevitable happened.
Sadly, she didn’t quite make. Vesuvius erupted all over the door spilling onto the carpet in front of her. Her mom made her way through the lava flow to take care of her sick and now humiliated child. It took a moment for the rest of us to fully realize what was going on.
What happened next was very telling or better stated what didn’t happen next. Everyone just sat there. It was clear that somebody needed to clean up the mess the child had made. But for a few moments you could feel the tension in the room as each of us hoped that someone else would be moved to do it.
It was then that this couple, who had no relationship with the child in question and no position of leadership in the church that would have compelled them to act, went to a nearby restroom to collect paper towels and started cleaning it up. You would think that the rest of us who witnessed this would have joined them. But as I recollect the experience, I don’t remember a one of us who did. We just watched.
As different as this couple was from the social norms of the rest of us, there was one difference that put us all to shame. They were willing to be servants. Not servants in theory. Not servants when convenient. Not servants in a sterile environment. But servants who were willing to clean up the stomach contents of another family’s sick child.
I don’t know what was going on in the hearts of anybody else in the room, but I know what was going on in mine. This couple was willing to be what I wasn’t – a servant. And according to Jesus, being a servant is the way of the Kingdom. It is a lesson that still needs to be refreshed in me from time to time. How about you?