Servants of All

Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)

 

Dear Friends and Members of IBC,

Happy New Year! I hope we have started the year off well. For this first ‘Word for the Week’ of 2025, I would like to reshare a conviction that God often seems to place on my heart, which is that as Christians, we are to be ‘servants of all’.

The German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer believed that one of the key acts of service that we should perform in a Christian community is that of ‘active helpfulness’. He said that we should always be ready to give simple assistance in seemingly trivial matters.  And the Bible also doesn’t overlook service in the everyday, practical things. There are many details mentioned that draw our attention to how the early disciples helped each other in external matters. A few examples are Paul’s request to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:13 for him to “bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments”, as well as the different items of clothing that Tabitha made for people (Acts 9:36-39). I also think of the boy who shared his lunch of bread and fish with the disciples, and the servants who filled up the empty water pots with water at the wedding in Cana. Thanks to these small, faithful acts, the world is still be talking about the miracles that were witnessed on those days.

There is an important spiritual principle that underlies service in the everyday, practical things. We often tend to place great value on large, time-consuming tasks, but the small things constantly require something from us, they require an attitude of always being willing to sacrifice. This is in line with the general heart posture of consistently being available to serve when we are called on or see the opportunity. This is hard! But it was what Jesus exhorted his disciples to be: servants of all.

Let me encourage us to consider how we might be such servants. It might mean volunteering to serve in an established or recently formed church ministry, such as in the children’s ministry or the breakdown crew. It might mean responding to a text for help on the IBC Community What’s App group. It might mean simply asking a friend, neighbour or spouse, ‘how can I help?’ or cheerfully responding when they ask us to do something mundane but meaningful. Let’s be servants of all.

God bless you
James