You are here: Home > News > The Harvest September/October 2009 > Sharing the Good News

Church’s mission is service

By the Very Rev. Steve Lipscomb

There they go, a group of men and women with Jesus at their head. No army, no mob, just men and women, disciples and followers, headed somewhere, marching into tomorrow, with Jesus leading the way.

They are a people who are campaign-tough and travel-ready, used to a life on the move and of trying to keep up with the one ahead. They are a group of men and women convinced that their time has come.

They had given up plenty to be here: their jobs, their families, their homes. Peter had finally confessed their hope —that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. And now they could feel the tension, the electricity, in the air.

They knew that the kingdom Jesus had proclaimed was about to become a reality. They were on their way to Jerusalem to establish the reign of Christ. And surely, they supposed, they would have their place in it. Surely, this was a glory march.

Oh, there had been some confusing talk along the way, some cryptic message from Jesus about dying and being raised again in three days. The excitement for what lay ahead was laced with an uneasy foreboding. Yet they followed. They wanted to follow; they had to. Their whole life was staked on it.

Why was it then that their feet seemed to lag and their steps shuffle as they came closer to their destination? And why was it that the one who spoke of “impending doom” strode ahead, undaunted, with his face set toward the holy city? If this was a glory march, why were they suddenly afraid, uncomfortable, taken with a sense of dread?

Somewhere along the way on that hot road between Galilee and Jerusalem, the disciples began to argue over who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Disconcerted with conflicting signals of triumph and disaster, they opened themselves to the burning temptation of personal ambition.

They truly did want to follow him. Yet, ironically, they weren’t following him at all. For to follow this leader into his glory, they would have to pick up more than their pace; they would have to offer more than their courage; they would have to suffer more than just the loss of self-pride.

The last thing servants need — whatever they may want — are places of honor. What the disciples wanted would have been deadly to the cause of Jesus and to the kingdom he proclaimed.

The disciples thought they were following Jesus, but they had lost their way.

Even the church itself seems to keep losing its way, too forgetful of what Jesus time and again told his disciples:

“If you want to follow me, if you want to be like me and to do my will — then serve. If you want to be first, then you have to become last. If you want to be great in my kingdom, then you have to become servant of all.”

Service, service, service, sacrificial service. It’s all through the gospels. Jesus’ intention and goal for all of us who claim to be his followers is clear. So why do we get lost, off seeking glory seats?

The Greek word for table servant is diacona. It doesn’t mean maitre d’; its much closer to “bus boy.” Those who would follow Jesus are people who, in response to God’s serving them, can do nothing less than live out their lives in service to God and God’s people. Service is not just one aspect of the church, it is the church in every aspect of its being.

The church is the servant body of Christ that is led by the Spirit to go beyond itself for the sake of others. We may falter. But like that original band of men and women who followed Jesus, we keep on going after him, and we strive to become more like him.

We may stumble along the way — trying to serve, wanting to serve — but what will keep us on his road is simply staying behind him. Following him.

And even with our sometimes mixed-up values and complex loyalties and foolish priorities, he accepts us as we are, does the best he can with us, and in his call to service, moves us far beyond where we believe we can go.

Steve Lipscomb is dean of Grace Cathedral, Topeka. This is an excerpt of a sermon he preached on Sept. 20, 2009.