Looking Through the Eyes of Jesus...We See Giving

PASTOR BURCHAM'S SERMON

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

When you go to a restaurant, how do you evaluate that restaurant? In other words, if you're going to give a recommendation to somebody else as far as how good that restaurant is, what would the criteria be used by you to explain that to them? It probably would be food quality and service, right? Those are the two criteria we use for a restaurant. A restaurant can have great food but, if it has lousy service, you're probably not going to go back. And I suppose it could have spectacular service but, if you really can't eat the food, then you're not going to go back. But really, when it comes down to it, you can even have a mediocre meal but, if the service is there, that says something to you.

Let's go a little bit deeper into that then. What makes for good service at a restaurant when you really stop to think about it? For instance, you could have a server that does everything correct. In other words, they could take your order in a timely manner. They could make sure your water glass is filled up. They could make sure they clear the dishes away at the right time, ask for dessert at the appropriate moment, present your check and are timely in getting it back to you. And yet it could still be lousy service. In other words, they just do what they're obligated to do. They simply go through the motions. They have a job to do. They have a task to complete, and they're going to do it. They don't smile. They don't talk. They do everything correctly, but it's still not very pleasant. You can tell that this is their job and they would prefer to be anyplace else besides there with you.

On the other hand, you could have a waiter or waitress who is overly friendly, just a little bit too ambitious, at least for me. Maybe you all have had them. They just seem to always be around the table. They're always talking to you. You take one sip out of your water, they're there to fill it back up again. They want to take your order, make suggestions to you, small talk, ask about the kids and the family and everything. You can tell they really don't care but what they're after is the tip. You know it. They don't think you know it, but you know it. So they're trying awfully hard, but they're awfully insincere. They're not genuine and, frankly, it can ruin a meal.

But on the other hand, if you find a person that genuinely likes what they do and they have a sincere and genuineness about them, they do all the things they're supposed to do but they do it in such a manner that it seems like it's not really a bother to them. It's exactly what they wanted to do. Then all of a sudden, even if the meal is so-so, you can just tell you're going to come back to this restaurant. A litmus test for me is when I dine alone. All of us have probably been there. This past week, I was at a conference so I had to eat a lot of meals alone. I remember one particular evening I sat down, and usually when you dine alone, don't expect good service. The odds are against you because the percentage is against you. Your bill is not going to be as large as the family of four. Therefore, even if you tip 25%, you're not going to make it, okay? So normally speaking, when I dine alone, I just resign myself to the fact that I'm going to have to hail the waiter down, I'm going to have to trip him if I want to get my check. Not so this night. This guy was terrific. You'd have thought I was the only customer in the whole place. And yet he had other tables, and he treated every table the same. He took a genuine interest. He was timely. He was friendly, but he wasn't obnoxious. I'll go back. You see a restaurant, I think, is known by its service. That's what distinguishes one from another.

Jesus said that it's service that sets a Christian apart from the rest of the world. It's our attitude, it's our giving, our selfless giving, our service that sets us apart from the rest of the world. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Through the eyes of Jesus, we see selfless giving, serving. That's what distinguishes Christians from the rest of the world. But serving, just like in a restaurant, can either be done well or not so well. It all comes down to the attitude, the attitude with which we give of ourselves, the attitude with which we serve others.

The attitude of Jesus was that serving is a privilege. And yet, I wonder how often we look at giving, giving of ourselves, serving other people as really a privilege. Don't we often times fall into that category of we do things out of obligation? We serve and we give because that's what's expected of us to do. We're obliged to do that. Jesus has set out the criteria for us. Jesus says we're supposed to feed the hungry. We're supposed to clothe the naked. We're supposed to visit the sick. And so we do that, and we check them off one by one. So we go ahead and, when the food pantry is collecting, well, it's not so much that we want to but we should. It's just something we should do. So maybe we'll put out some cans of food, the stuff we don't use in our pantry very much anyway, so we'll give that to the food pantry. Or maybe it's time to do something at church. Well, you don't really want to do that, but you do it because that's the thing to do. You feel obliged to do it. The motivation here is not one out of desire, but the motivation is one out of guilt. You do these things because it's expected of you to do them. Some of the snow flies and you see the neighbor's driveway is all full of snow. You sort of grumble to yourself, but you know they can't do it all themselves so you go over there and you do it. We do things motivated more out of obligation, out of guilt.

Now the other thing we can fall into, and maybe this one happens more, I don't know, we do things expecting something in return. Not necessarily something tangible in return, but we're looking for something in return. So we'll give or we'll serve or we'll do something for somebody else but all the while, at least in the back of our mind, there is an expectation there, the sort of “you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back” mentality. So, in other words, this summer we'll go ahead and mow the lawn of the neighbor. We'll be nice while they're on vacation. But in the back of your mind, are you thinking, “Next month, when we go on vacation, I don't feel so bad asking them to feed the cats.” You know what I mean? We'll go the extra mile for the guy in the office and we'll try to help him out with a special project but then we know when we're overloaded, well, we can call in a favor.

Believe it or not, I knew a person back in college that kept track of favors. I don't know if he wrote it down or if he just kept track in his mind, but he could remember them for years. He kept track of everything nice he did for somebody else because then, when he needed something, he'd just call upon that favor. And he wouldn't feel bad about it because, after all, he did this and that for them so they can do this for him. Expecting something in return.

I even sometimes wonder if that spills over into our relationships? Do we do things for other people expecting that something will come back in return for us? Maybe you've seen the bumper sticker. I've only seen it a couple of times. It says, “Be nice to your kids. They'll be selecting your nursing home.” I know it was written tongue-in-cheek, but is there a hint of truth behind that? Are we nice to our siblings because we want them to be nice to us? Do we sweet talk our wife because we want to go out and buy a new power tool? Is there always this reciprocating action when we give and when we serve? Even when we give in the name of God?

This past fall, I attended one of the Urbandale Caring Corps meetings and it was just before the Christmas season. And one of the things that was voiced, a concern, was, in the previous years, when some of the other church families had delivered the Christmas gifts, the recipients of those gifts didn't seem very grateful. They just opened the door, they took the gifts, and basically slammed the door in their face. And that left a pretty bad taste in the families that were delivering those to the point where they didn't want to do that anymore. Now I want you to hear me correctly on this. People should show some gratitude when things are given to them, but is that the reason we should give? Do we give so we can feel good about it? Do we give because we want to see that gratitude on their part? Is that the motivation behind it? How often have we slipped up even around here, and I'm sure I've probably done it too? Why don't you go ahead and teach Sunday School? You'll get far more out of it than you put into it. Is that the kind of giving, is that the kind of service Jesus is talking about when it says when we serve one another, when we serve in the way He served, that distinguishes us from the rest of the world?

You see, serving and giving is a privilege. Jesus demonstrated that. Jesus demonstrated for us what it is to be a true servant and have a true servant heart. He demonstrated what it is to give selflessly. It says Jesus came not to be served. Now think about that for a moment. He is the Son of God. He was there at creation. If anyone deserves to be served, it's Jesus. But He says He didn't come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. Jesus came to serve us. And the way He was going to serve us was He was going to lay down His life as payment for our sins. That's how Jesus was going to serve. That's what He was going to give for each one of us. Now did He do that out of obligation? Was there something that obligated Him to us, that somehow we deserved that? Is there anything about us that deserves God's love and forgiveness, that could even hint at the fact somehow God owes us something? Not even close. Was it obligation to the Father? We know Jesus followed the Father's will, but He did that because he wanted to. Out of His love and His relationship with His Father, He followed the Father's will. But it wasn't out of obligation. Well then, was Jesus trying to get something back in return then? Was He going to give of Himself and sacrifice His life knowing He was going to receive something in return for all He did? What could we give Him? What could we offer Him? What can measure up to the Son of God becoming a human being and then laying down His life? Even if you say, “Well, God desires that we love Him in return, which He does, God desires that we worship Him and we praise Him, and He does,” is that God's motivation, though? If that's God's motivation, He came out on the short end of the stick. Because if you remember, Jesus came for all people. And when Jesus was nailed to that cross, He suffered and He died for all people and for all of humanity throughout all of history. That means, throughout all of history, all those people who have rejected Him, Jesus died for them. All those people who work against Him, Jesus died for them. For Pontius Pilate who condemned Him, Jesus died for him. For the high priests and for the Pharisees and the Sadducees that railroaded Him through the system, Jesus died for them. He died for all people of all times.

Jesus didn't give to have something given in return. Jesus is the true servant, and He displays the true servant heart. He gives of Himself for the sheer privilege of giving, and the only motivation is the motivation of love, the love He has for each one of you, the love He had for Pontius Pilate, the love He had for the high priests, for the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the love He had for the people who rejected Him. Motivated sheerly out of love Jesus gives and Jesus serves. And through His service and through His giving, He brings honor and glory to the Father. So motivated by love, He brings glory and honor to the Father and let's not forget that, through His service, He brings us into His kingdom. That's the service Jesus has, and that's what He gives us the privilege to do. Jesus gives us the privilege to serve but to serve with a true servant's heart.

What it comes down to is this: We don't ask, “What do I need to do?” We don't ask, “What should I do?” We ask, “What may I do?” There's a huge difference. It's not one out of obligation or guilt. It's not motivated about what I'll get in return. It's simply motivated out of love, the love we've received from God and now the love we have for Him and for other people. We simply want to give.

What it means is this: It means we're going to go on the mission trip, but if they're not very grateful for the work we do in the Appalachian mountains of building houses, that's okay. That's not why we went. We gave because of the love of God in our hearts. We're going to go ahead and go downtown and we're going to feed the homeless and, if they just sneer at us, that doesn't matter. That's okay because that's not why we gave. We gave because of the love of God that's in our hearts. We're going to give food to the food pantry. We're going to give of ourselves. We're going to volunteer to teach the children in Sunday School and Midweek. We're going to work with the Youth Group and, if it's the worst experience of our life and the kids treat us with all kinds of disrespect, in one sense, that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether we get more out of it than what we put into it because we're going to give selflessly. We're going to give of ourselves and the only motivation for our giving is that of love. The same love God has for us, we're going to give that love to others. And in the end, it's going to bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ and to His church.

You see, in much in the same way, the genuine, sincere service, in my opinion, sets one restaurant apart from another. Genuine and sincere, selfless giving, genuine service in giving to other people sets Christians apart from the rest of the world. And that brings glory and honor to our God. Amen.

Copyright 2005 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church