Celebrity Cruise Line used to run a pretty cool commercial. It showed different people wearing a T-shirt that said in bold, black letters, “CELEBRITY.” As each person appeared, a British-butler voice relayed an order. “A strawberry daiquiri with a pink umbrella for Miss Anderson.” “Sunscreen SPF 25 to the sitting deck for Mrs. Franklin.” “Mr. Johnson requests a pepperoni pizza, with mushrooms.” Then, the narrator breaks in, “On our cruise line everyone is treated like a celebrity.”
I’m a sucker for good TV ads, and I bought right into this. Wouldn’t it be nice to be treated like a celebrity? Wouldn’t it be great to have someone waiting on us hand and foot? How awesome would it be to ring a bell and get sunscreen or the beverage of our choice?
We would all like to experience service like this. It feels good; it helps us feel important and valued. This is natural, and there may even be a place for it on occasion. However, Jesus gives us a different perspective in the gospels. I’ve asked a few people to help me to help me tell a story from Matthew chapter 20 that illustrates Jesus perspective.
[This is a reader’s theater. The narrator should be the person who is giving the talk.]
Narrator: The story begins with a request from a mom. She reminds me of my mom. She wants the best for her boys, and she’s not above embarrassing them to get it. She comes to Jesus with her two boys in tow. Now, remember, her “boys” are full grown adults, soon to be two of the Twelve Apostles. She respectfully kneels before Jesus and probably hands him a plate of brownies or baklava. Jesus can see that she is buttering him up. He’s not one to beat around the bush, so he takes a brownie and says,
Reader 1: What is your request?
Narrator: The ever-vigilant mother appreciates his directness and comes right out with it.
Reader 2: In your Kingdom …
Narrator: She recognizes that he is a King; that ought to help.
Reader 2: In your Kingdom, will you let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one at your right and one at your left.
Narrator: Then, the Bible says, “But Jesus told them.” It seems that Jesus knew that James and John weren’t victims of their mother’s pushiness. They wanted the seats of honor, too. Jesus answers the men,
Reader 1: As much as I like you, a plate of brownies can’t get you those seats. My Father arranges the seating around the throne, not me.
Narrator: When the ten other apostles caught wind of this conversation, they were hot!
Reader 3: What audacity! What makes you think you deserve the spots right next to Jesus? I suppose you think you’re better than all the rest of us!
Reader 2: Well, as a matter of fact, that’s a distinct possibility.
Reader 3: Well, I never … I’m every bit as good as you and then some!
Narrator: Right about then, Jesus steps in.
Reader 1: Gather ‘round boys. I’ve got something to say. You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials make a big show of it and make those beneath them feel “less-than.” But among you it should be very different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave. For even I, the King of heaven and earth, came here not to be served, but to serve others and to give my life as a ransom for many” (slightly paraphrased from Matt. 20:20-8). [Bold on power point slide.]
Jesus’ life shows that he practiced what he preached. He is seen time and time again healing people, talking with people who have been rejected by the rest of society, and ultimately laying down his life for all humanity.
Jesus also asks his followers to live this kind of life. That’s what it means to be a Christian. It is to be a Christ-follower, to model our lives after Jesus.
Not long before Jesus went to the cross, he said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matt. 16:24-26).
That’s the beautiful mystery of life. You’ve got to give your life away to really live. If we live only for ourselves, if we hoard and work harder and push others out of the way and bury ourselves in entertainment, we will actually miss the fullness and richness of life.
There is nothing better than to know that we are actually making a difference in someone’s life. We give, but we receive just as much. Our giving changes us. We become less selfish. We become more aware of the world around us. We become more grateful for what we have. The world has more color.
Mike Warenky, a Christian comedian, explained this by saying we finally get our heads out of our belly buttons. Often we spend so much time turned inward and focused on ourselves that we miss out on so much beauty and wonder.
To be a Christian is to have an outward focus, to be involved in service to others. It means to have a conscious awareness that we no longer live just to please ourselves. It doesn’t mean we become masochistic and start eating bowls of rice for the rest of our lives. It does mean that we live with different priorities. It means we ask God what role he wants us to play in serving others in our world.
Today we get to spend a little time giving our lives away in service.
CHOOSE APPROPRIATE PIECE OR WRITE ONE APPROPRIATE TO YOUR SERVICE PROJECT.
Crisis Care Kits
We are going to assemble Crisis Care Kits. The Church of the Nazarene packs these kits into boxes and stores them until there is a crisis in the world. Then, the kits are shipped to that world area and distributed to people in need.
Churches I’ve attended have been putting together these kits for years, and I used to think it was pretty trivial. I wondered how much difference a little soap and some toothpaste could do.
A few years ago, I happened to be in Europe during the Kosovo crisis. Serbia was raging through Kosovo and kicking out and/or killing lots of people. Refugees flooded the neighboring countries. People left on foot, on tractors, in the backs of pickup trucks, carrying only what they could hold in their hands. The Church of the Nazarene in Albania started impromptu relief centers in their church buildings.
A few friends and I had the opportunity to go to Albania to help with the relief process. Part of the relief effort was to distribute Crisis Care Kits. That may not seem like much to us, but to those people who had been sleeping along roadsides or hiding out in the woods for weeks, hygiene supplies were great treasures.
I have a few pictures from one of the Churches. (Show pictures.) When the line was longest, I was too busy to take pictures, but the line that you see went for a long way down the street. The churches also distributed food, cooking utensils, baby formula, diapers, and clothes. A few days a week, doctors offered free medical care.
Somewhere in the world, people who are in need and in a desperate situation will get these Crisis Care Kits. This half hour or hour that we spend making these kits will make a difference in their lives.
Food Drive
We are going to collect and organize food for two local food pantries here in Olathe. Catholic Charities has told us that they can’t keep food on their shelves. As soon as it comes in, they give it out to families in need.
I called Catholic Charities on Wednesday to do little research for you, so that you will know what your efforts are going toward. I talked with Marcella Luetkemeyer, a case manager.1 She told me that they offer food assistance to four categories of people.
Retired people. “Often seniors don’t have enough money to pay for both their medications and their food, so they come to us for help with their food.”
Working poor. Many of these are just scraping by, and then they have an unexpected expense (like a car problem or a medical bill) that pushes them over the edge financially.
Single parents. “We have more and more single dads now. It is just so hard to make it as a single parent. A lot of people need a little help.”
Injured or laid-off workers. Often the workman’s comp. isn’t enough to pay the bills, or the unemployment or workman’s comp. runs out. Then, they really need extra help.
I asked Marcella to tell me about one individual who recently came in for assistance. Here is what she told me:
This week, a young woman came in. I started to ask if she just needed food today, but I sensed that she needed more than that, so I brought her back to my office. She had never had to ask for food before. They have an autistic child that requires one of the parents to be home all of the time. The husband had lost a job, and the income was just nonexistent. She was telling me some of the problems of raising an autistic child, and I asked how long they were planning to have him in their home. She said, “Oh, he’s always going to be with us. He’s such an important part of our family.” It was just such a touching moment. They just needed a little extra help to get them through this hard time.
The other charity we’re supporting is Second Mile Friends a holistic ministry of College Church of the Nazarene to single parents. They do everything from financial planning to yard work to spiritual counseling. Some of the single mothers in the Second Mile Friends program have access to the food pantry each week as something like a stipend to relieve money for other bills.
A few years ago, Sarah and I had the opportunity to baby-sit a few times through Second Mile Friends. One time we baby-sat for a single mother with three kids. I think she told us that, other than work, she hadn’t been anywhere without her kids for two years. She could never afford a babysitter. So we watched her kids while she went to a movie with a friend. I don’t know if she ever received food from the food bank, but I wouldn’t be surprised. She worked a low paying job in food service. Even if she didn’t need help every week, she probably would have needed help if she had some unexpected expenses.
O.K. now we have a few pictures to think of as we’re working tonight.
Let’s address the embarrassment factor. Most of us have plenty to eat. Unfortunately, I usually have too much to eat. Many of us work at good jobs. Some of us work at pretty high paying, and high skilled jobs. It may feel a little awkward to knock on someone’s door to ask them for food. It might feel like begging. Most of us would probably rather give money than go ask others for food. Here are a few thoughts that might help with this discomfort.
You aren’t asking for yourself. We are asking for food for the poor.
Remember the story we read two weeks ago. Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. He took the job that nobody else wanted. Washing feet was a disgraceful task in that culture. Jesus rose above the cultural prejudices to serve others. Then, he said, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).
Often our service for others becomes a “means of grace” in our lives. God uses our service to change our hearts. As we confront our discomfort and give of our time for others, God changes us. We become more humble and more tender toward those in need.
The people in the neighborhoods we will be visiting need to give just as much as the poor need the food. Serving others is a basic need of all humanity. We are enabling others to touch the lives of someone else and to get their focus off themselves and their lives, even if only for a few minutes. You will find that some of the people you talk with tonight will genuinely thank you for giving them the opportunity to help someone else.
So tonight, we’re going to beat the streets for Jesus. We’re going to collect food to give to people who cannot buy it for themselves. We’re going to help people give who would not give by themselves. We are going to make a difference in people’s lives.
This is part of what it means to be Christian. Being a Christ-follower means following Jesus’ example of humble service. We all want to be served. It’s nice to have an excellent server at a restaurant. It would be great to take a Celebrity Cruise. But tonight, it’s our turn to serve. Let’s have fun being Christian.
1 Marcella Luetkemeyer, Case Manager, Catholic Social Services, Olathe Office. Interview by phone. March 17, 2004.
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