The Sooke Campus is currently one week away from our day of serving alongside the Sooke Community Association at All Sooke Days, a massive community event that takes place each summer in Sooke. This is the second year our Campus will be able to serve at this event and show the community our love and care. This is a real and practical example of our church value of Serve.
Serving is not just something we do; it is a part of who we are; a pretty substantial part taking up a quarter of our core values. Serving is one of those odd components of being a follower of Jesus that is very opposite to the ways of the world. In our culture, or maybe our workplaces, we see the exact opposite of the way of Jesus. The higher up the ladder we climb, the more mature, the more authority, the more status we have, the more removed we are from serving, the higher we make ourselves, the more prideful and arrogant. This friends, is not the way of Jesus.
If we were to map the Spiritual journey, to take our lives devoted to looking like Jesus when we die, we see that the further down the road, the more Christ-like we become, the lower we become. As our spiritual growth and maturity move up and to the right, our pride turns to humility and our need to be served becomes a compulsion to serve others, to mop floors, scrub toilets, hold babies, wash dishes, and love Jesus with it all.
To follow Jesus is to be on a journey of making ourselves low, of taking jobs that we feel to good for. The Spiritual Discipline of service is an example of Jesus’ teaching, “do not let your left hand know what your right hand does”. We serve not for recognition, we serve because we are called too, because it was modelled for us. When was the last time you did something and did not tell anyone? An anonymous act of Generosity, a quiet service of cleaning up the paper towel on the bathroom floor?
Serving is a simple way for each of us to bless the Lord with our time, energy and talents, whether it is as a greeter with a warm smile, an usher, a kid’s helper, a hub leader. But it is challenging because You must make it a priority. You must choose to do it, no one else will make that choice for you, no one will force you into it. It’s on You. So, this fall, will you serve? Will you go to the leader of Sunday morning expression and give your time? Will you serve and clean toilets? Do something and not tell anyone about it? It’s a simple way to look more like Jesus.
