Does a servant stop serving because his master’s children are ungrateful to him or another servant is not doing her share?
As we were still pondering over the question, Ephesians 5:21-22 came to mind: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.”
Two expressions capture our attention: (1) “out of reverence for Christ “ and (2) “as to the Lord.” We understand that the two expressions reveal the main focus when it comes to submission, that is, not on “one another” nor on “husband”. And, submission is a means to serving the Lord.
In other words, we are not to focus on the object of our submission (one another or husbands) but on the One who calls us to submit. This is interesting because most of what we read and hear said about submission focus on the object of submission rather than God who asks for (mutual) submission. Consequently, we do not see submitting as out of reference for Christ or as to the Lord, which is a shame and quite unfortunate and detrimental to the expansion of the kingdom of God on earth.
Jesus our example
John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” It is important to understand that the Lord Jesus spoke these words as the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 49). See, He became a servant in order to teach us how to serve or be servants again.
Remember Isaiah 53:6a? Here Isaiah states, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;….” In other words, each of us doing his or her own thing (will, work). Hardly a picture of a servant, is it? Isaiah is saying that each of us is, if not was, his/her own master. See how it contrasts with “my food is to do the will of him [God] who sent me and finish his work”!
Obviously, I cannot finish his work if I don’t do his will, can I? Please note, using food as metaphor here conveys the idea that the Lord Jesus, as the Servant of the Lord, made doing the will of God what sustained his life on earth or what he lived for, as it were. Talking about a real servant….
We realise that as servant the Lord Jesus’ main focus was on the will (work) of the one who sent him. It was not on the people nor the religious system that was in place as both failed him. Hence, he was able to finish the work of the Father (God) who sent him even as far as dying on the Cross whilst the very people he was dying for chose a criminal named Barrabas over him and, as if it was not enough, mocked him even at the foot of the Cross of Calvary (Matthew 27:11-55).
Imagine what could have happened if Jesus were to focus on the people and the religious system in place, like most of us often do?….
Let’s go back to the question posed in the beginning of this meditation: Does a servant stop serving because his master’s children are ungrateful or another servant does not do her share? The answer is an emphatic no!
Anyone called to serve but stop doing so for the foregoing reasons has lost sight of the main focus in regards to true servanthood, that is, the master’s will or work to be finished for that is what he or she is accountable to his or her Lord. Everything else should be secondary.
No wonder despite fierce opposition and ridicule Jesus did not get discouraged as to give up. Undoubtedly, a lesson for us who tend to get discouraged when people disappoint us or are ungrateful and circumstances do not favour us…..
Interestingly, apostle Paul invites us (Christians) to have the same mind/attitude as that of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5) -In fact that is what defines us as Christians.
Extending this message to the whole of humankind, we hope all of us (human beings) can understand that birthdays and memorials are reminders that God sent us in the world to do and finish his work within a specific time frame. From kings/queens to the least in every country or community, we are all servants of the one who sent us to do his will (serve) on earth.
May God help us all!
