About Me

My photo
Born in 1950’s, Byron has three children, Elyse, Diana and Matthew. Byron and Candy married in 2006. Candy has two sons, Brad and Ben. Ben is married to Ashley and have two children. Brad is married to Sascha and have a dog and a cat.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

2020-02-23 Core Value, Serve

Core Value Serve
"In all, we say or do; we believe God calls us to serve the needs of a hurting world, thereby enriching our individual spiritual lives and the life of the church."
 
""Then those who are righteous will reply to him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?" Matthew 25:37 CEB 
"He asked a third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, "Do you love me?" He replied, "Lord, you know everything; you know I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep." John 21:17 CEB 
"Instead, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink." Romans 12:20a CEB 

"Instead, we are God's accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives." Ephesians 2:10 CEB 

"Someone's Front Door" 

A long time ago, in a place far from here, a group of 24 youth and adults set out for Appalachia Service Project in Iaeger, West Virginia. The group divided into four groups of six to work on homes in the mountains around Iaeger. Each group consisted of four youth and two adults. Upon arrival in Iaeger, we were given an orientation to the work we would do. Monday morning, we set out early to the projects. 
My team road in an old Pontiac station wagon that looked like it fit right in with the local mode of transportation. The rusty fenders were held together nicely with duct tape. I drove us up into the mountains on coal mining roads for half an hour before turning up a holler along a creek. With warning not to depart from the trail (for fear of disturbing an anxious moonshiner), we walked into the woods. Below us, a creek known for typhoid flowed. Resting on the bank of the creek, a twelve-foot aluminum Jon-boat waited to be used to ferry tools and equipment across the water. Of course, someone had to walk through the knee-deep creek and pull the boat to the opposite bank. Our guide to the site this first day walked the boat with our hammers and saws to the other side. Our work crew was instructed to take the long way by following the trail upstream to the hanging footbridge. 
Our supervisor instructed us to continue on the trail through a tunnel of an active train track. We listened carefully by placing an ear to the rails to listen for a train before entering the tunnel. With quick strides, we found the other side of the tunnel with relief. Up the trail another hundred yards, the path darted hard to the creek. Turning the corner, we were faced with a hanging footbridge that did not seem to have been repaired since Daniel Boone came through these mountains. The slates that were not broken or sliding freely across the supporting cables were cracked and split. We took turns crossing the bridge so as not to tax the suspension and end up down the holler up a creek. Comments, non-too gracious, came from our group. Most having to do with the quality of the bridge and its dilapidated nature. 
Once over the bridge, we headed downstream a few hundred yards and came upon a house built against the mountain, facing the creek. Paint on the siding, and porch, long peeled. A blue tarp wrapped the roof against the rain. Two rocking chairs sat on the porch with half of a 55-gallon metal drum on the ground in front of each rocking chair. Our mission was to put a new roof on the house. The couple who lived here could not habitat the house because the roof had fallen into the kitchen and bedroom. A previous group had begun demolishing the remaining roof and moved old materials off the house. We had to design a roof, create a supply list, obtain the supplies from the warehouse in Iaeger, carry the supplies out to the site across the river, and up the side of the mountain, then we could put the new roof on the house. For the first three and a half days of a five-day service project, we just moved materials and tools to the site, from station wagon, to trail, to the boat, over the bridge, uphill to the house. 
The footbridge is a constant hazard and created consternation when boards slipped, and someone would drop a hammer into the creek below. The colorful commentary about the bridge increased in intensity and variety until late on the second day. In the evening, the young couple having finished work came home to see the progress on the new roof for their house. With the agility of someone having lived a long time on this mountain, mom carried her baby on her hip as she walked across the bridge with papa and diaper bag behind. The crew stopped looked and saw the bridge for the first time. It was not a broken-down hanging walkway to a shack. It was the front door to Ruby and Ray's home. 
We did not finish the roof, two teams later, and the deed was done. We did, however, get the supplies on-site for the following groups to finish. Service opens our eyes to the reality of life around us. Service connects people and changes people. 
In all we say or do, we believe God calls us to serve the needs of a hurting world, thereby enriching our individual spiritual lives and the life of the church. 

The Call to Servanthood 

Jennifer Maggio, in her article "Why serve others," declares, "Too often we approach situations with What's In It for Me? By nature, we are self-absorbed and self-centered. Only Christ in us makes us self-less and servant-minded." (Maggio 2015)
We serve not to be saved but in response to salvation. The Apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Ephesus to instruct them on how to be a Christian community. Ephesus was known for entertainment, commerce and religiosity. Paul had to teach the basics of being a community of faith, Ephesians 2:10, "Instead, we are God's accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives." CEB 
God created us to make a contribution. God created us to make a contribution to the ones who live next door, down the street, and around the world. The world is our parish. Bob Adam's father operated a gas station that he built having come home from WWII, observed the reality of the Apostle Paul's words. "He made a living by what he got; he made a life by what he gave." (Adams 2014) Eugene B. Habecker says it just a little differently, "The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interests, and in so doing will not always be popular, may not always impress. But because true leaders are motivated by loving concern rather than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price." 
We know the supreme example of servanthood through the passion and ministry of Jesus. Jesus gave us a great example by wrapping himself in a towel and washing the feet of his disciples. We hear the call to service in Jesus teachings, Matthew 25:37, ""Then those who are righteous will reply to him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?" CEB Jesus lets us in on a secret, when we serve, we serve Jesus. You have to embody the thought by which Bob Adam's dad lived, "If you want to lead on the highest level, be willing to serve on the lowest." The key to understanding service in the name of Jesus goes like this, "Good leaders do good things. Their lives matter. Servant leaders do great things. They help others' lives to matter...." (Ibid.)  Service shows others, Christ, in a tangible way. Big ways. Small ways. 

Open Us to Others

The disciple Peter's story opens to me because Peter made grave mistakes. Yet, his mistakes do not matter in the end. All that matters are whether you love Jesus and what you are going to do about it. John 21:17, "He asked a third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, "Do you love me?" He replied, "Lord, you know everything; you know I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep." CEB When we serve, we love Jesus. To serve expresses gratitude for faith and forgiveness. To serve connects the server, the served and one who sent the server. Service interconnects people who make mistakes as well as people who have the intention of ill will. Service connects us even with our enemies. Romans 12:20a, "Instead, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink." CEB When we serve, we serve those hostile to us. In service, we host the hostile. In service, the server and the served are not only connected to the who sent us, but we are transformed by the one who sent us. 
To apply the core value of service, we simply open ourselves to others and do the next best thing. Truly the call to service needs no further complication. You can seek out the great crusades of our day; or, you may simply open your eyes to one next to you. Just do the next best thing in the name of Jesus. 

"Mouse in the House" 

Still not sure why you should help others? Many Christians do not understand why we ought to help even in the face of overwhelming scriptural mandates. To put it simply, by serving others, the one I save, just may just be myself. Jesus teaches, Matthew 10:39, "Those who find their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives because of me will find them." CEB Listen to this story from the hills of Appalachia, "Mouse in the House." 
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain? The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house! 
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it." 
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers." 
The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose." 
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. 
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. 
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. 
The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. 
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. 
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember.... the mouse in the house. In all we say or do, we believe God calls us to serve the needs of a hurting world, thereby enriching our individual spiritual lives and the life of the church.

No comments:

Post a Comment