HOW IS YOUR SERVE?

Galatians 5:13-14

Philippians 2:4-8

I remember on summer break during my college years when my good friend Sherry, an elementary physical education major, attempted to teach me how to play tennis.  I thought that if she could teach kindergartners how to skip, she could teach me how to play tennis.  How wrong I was.

I still remember some of the basics.  First, no talking during the game.  My hope was that the experience not only would give me a sport I would continue to play for the rest of my life but it would also give us another opportunity for female bonding.  Imagine my disappointment.  How can you put two good friends together in one space and not allow them to talk.

I also remember the importance of having the correct grip and to follow-through, especially when serving the ball.  When I stop and think about it, grip and follow-through are equally important when it comes to serving others as a disciple of Jesus.

As Christians, we need to have a firm grip on, a clear understanding on three things:  our mission (Matthew 28:19-20), our vision (how we are going to carry out God's mission in our local community) and our identity as servants.

First of all, don't confuse being a servant with being a volunteer.  The word volunteer never, ever appears in scripture. The Bible is very clear: we are called to be servants, 24/7, 365 days a year, every day of our lives.

Let’s take a look at Philippians 2:4-8

“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.  Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.”

Service is a response to Christ's unconditional, other-centric love for us. Christ put aside his interests to serve ours, so we are called to serve others in ways that are relevant to their needs, not according to ours. Called to think like Christ, to take on the identity of a servant in all aspects of our lives, and to serve and love another with a commitment that goes far beyond the requirements of any volunteer commitment.

It's obvious in the picture above that this gentleman has put everything he's got into the follow-through of his serve We can talk about serving others, but how good are we at following through on our commitments?

Follow through can be hard. It’s not always convenient and it may ask us Hard ask us to take some risks and get out of our comfort zone. Following through on a commitment to be a servant of God will cost us in time and resources.

While we have the freedom of choice, being a follower of Jesus means that we are called to love others, whether we deem them deserving of it or not. And sometimes, following through on that can be really difficult.

Let’s take a few moments to sit and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. How is our serve? How is Christ calling us to improve our serve so we’re not just sitting up in the bleachers, so we’re down on the courts of the world making a difference in the lives of other through love and service?