What does it mean to be a servant? The closest I have ever come to having a servant is having someone serve my dinner in a restaurant. Even with something so simple as that, it’s nice to be served. I think we all like those times when someone else serves us. However, in scripture we are not called to be served, but to serve others. The prophet Isaiah calls all of Israel to be servants of the Lord, and the people of God. So, the real question for all of God’s people is not What is it like to be served? But rather, “What does it mean to be a servant?”
This Sunday’s first reading describes a servant of God (and God’s people) as one who: teaches, sustains the weary with a word, listens, is open to hearing and does not fight back against those who insult. That all sounds like a lot of work, and it can be. However, the God who calls us to be servants has also come to the people of God to protect them in times of danger and preserve them as a people. In other words, God who calls us to serve others has also been a servant of those who serve God. Those of us who have come to know Jesus know the God who serves!
Thanks be to God.
Pastor Bill