Spiritual Formation Lesson 7: Service Purpose: To define and discuss the importance of service as a spiritual discipline Opening Question: Describe someone you know or have known who was an example of Christ to you? How did the person treat others? Were they helpful to others? At Broadway, our mission statement is Pursue God, Build Community, and Unleash Compassion. As we have studied spiritual formation the last several weeks, we have talked about how to pursue God through silence and solitude, prayer, and Scripture. We have talked about the importance of community as we pursue God - how we are called to community, even when it is difficult. Today, we will talk about unleashing compassion, for our final spiritual discipline that we will talk about is service. When you hear Unleash Compassion, what do you think it means? What actions do you think of? The spiritual discipline of service is a way to unleash compassion on those around us - in our community and around the world. The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible defines service in this way: [Service is the] loving, thoughtful, active promotion of the good of 1 of 12
others and the causes of God in our world, through which we experience the many little deaths of going beyond ourselves. 1 What do you notice about this definition? Do you think it is a good description of service? Robert Mulholland Jr. defines spiritual formation as: a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others. 2 Describe a person who spends a lot of time pursuing God without any thought to service. What dangers do you think there might be in focusing on spiritual disciplines without any thought of others? What about focusing on service without spiritual formation? If we focus only on growing our relationship with Christ for ourselves, then we can easily become a people filled with self-righteousness. In the prophets in the Old Testament, we see the results of what happens when a people tries to pursue God without paying attention to the needs of others. God constantly reminds His people to care for others. Here are a couple of examples: 1 2 Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible, 2309. Robert Mulholland Jr., 15. 2 of 12
Read Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. What does it mean to act justly and love mercy? Read Isaiah 56:6-8, Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? What service does the Lord want from His people in this passage? Here service is linked with the worship of God - God would rather us do what is just and act with mercy than simply acts of worship. Worship and service are connected. Loving God and loving others are connected. This reminds us of what Jesus told the expert of the law about the greatest commandment. Matthew 22:37-39: Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. 3 of 12
Just as God connected worship and serving others, Jesus links loving God with loving neighbor. It starts with loving God - our love for God can overflow into love for neighbor. But, if we did not have to put forth any effort into loving our neighbor, then I can t imagine that Jesus would have given the commandment to do it. Adele Calhoun says that acts of service give hands to the second greatest commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. 3 So, we start with pursuing God through silence and solitude, prayer, and the study and memorization of Scripture. We move on to building community and loving those in our community even when it is difficult. This is a part of loving neighbor. But, in Luke 10:30-37, Jesus expands the definition of neighbor through the parable of the Good Samaritan to be a stranger - or even an enemy. Read Luke 10:30-37. What do you notice in this parable about service? Who is open to serving others? Who is not? Why do you think the priest and Levite are unwilling to help? What does the Samaritan do to serve the man? Do we see an obvious motivation? 3 Adele Calhoun, 167. 4 of 12
The priest and Levite may be examples of people who pursued God but did not have eyes open to helping others - Jesus call us not simply to pursue God but also to take care of others! The Samaritan was the one who took care of the Jewish man who had been attacked. It could not have been convenient for him, and it was not something that helped further a career or reputation - he was able to put aside his own needs to help someone else. It is common for people to point out today that before we can love our neighbor, we must love ourselves. And, it is certainly true that we need to have a healthy self-love. But, it is possible that in our American culture, we have become a little consumed with how to better love ourselves and take care of ourselves. It can sometimes take up all of our energy doing this! We start with loving God, spending time with Him - recognizing HIS love for us, filling ourselves with his love - and out of the overflow of that love, we love and minister to others. Let s look at the example of Jesus again in Luke 6:12-19. (Read) Once again, we notice that Jesus started in solitude with God. Then, he moved into community. What happens in verses 17-19? Here see we Jesus move into ministry - he is about to start teaching but before he does, he heals people of their diseases. How does he do this? 5 of 12
Power just came out of him to heal others. When we spend time with God, when we spend time with Jesus, ministry should flow out of us. When we follow God, we spend time in the spiritual disciplines - we sit in His presence and live life with a community of believers. We realize our love for Him and His love for us. As we grow closer to God, we are better able to reflect His light to the world - we are more full of His mercy and compassion. We can trust that God is working through us and His ministry will flow out of us. However - that is not to say that it will not require any effort on our part. As our definition indicates, it involves being thoughtful, proactive and often involves us experiencing the many little deaths of going beyond ourselves. 4 What often keeps us from serving others? Here are some things we can do to help us serve others: 1. Ask God to give us the eyes of Christ - to help us see people with His eyes of compassion and to notice others needs. So often, we are oblivious to the needs of those around us. We become preoccupied with ourselves and do not pay attention to others. How can we better notice where we are needed to be of service? 4 Adele Calhoun, 167. 6 of 12
2. Place ourselves in situations where service is needed - this requires being around people, sometimes around strangers - at schools, food banks, etc. It is difficult to loosen the chains of injustice if we are never where there is injustice going on; it is difficult to feed the hungry, if we are never around hungry people. Where can we go to be where service is needed? What can we do here in Lubbock to serve? 3. Let go of the resentment in our lives and turn it over to God, giving thanks for what He has done in our lives. Resentment happens when things do not go the way we want them to go, and we are angry. Instead, we must choose to be grateful for the work God has done in our lives if we want to be able to minister to others. 5 Why would it be difficult to minister to others if you are filled with resentment or anger? 4. Be willing to be last - to be the last in line, to be in the slow lane, to not be the best. This will help us to take on more of the mind-set of a servant, loosening the hold of self-importance that we often have. Nouwen writes, As long as we want to be interesting, distinct, special and worthy of special praise, we are pulled away from the deep realization that we are like other people, that we are part of the human race, 5 From Henri Nouwen, 134. 7 of 12
and in the final analysis that we are not different but the same. 6 In doing this, we follow the example of Jesus. Read Philippians 2:4-8 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. How does loosing our own self-importance, recognizing that we are the same as everyone else, help us in the discipline of service? 5. Gather the courage to join people in their pain. This is not easy. When Lazarus died, Jesus wept with Mary and Martha in their pain - even though he knew that Lazarus would be raised from the dead - never mind that he knew Lazarus would have eternal life! He also knew that Mary and Martha would see him again in this life! Yet, he was with them in their pain - he did not dismiss it. He was able to solve their problem, but we often cannot - We have to realize that we may not be able to solve everyone s problems, but we can be with them in their pain. 7 Do you have any experience with this? What was it like to have someone with you for us to be with people in in your pain? Do you have any ideas for how it is best pain? 6 7 Henri Nouwen, 140. Henri Nouwen, 136. 8 of 12
6. Trust that God can use us to minister to those around us even if we do not know it. As we open ourselves up to others and are available to help others in their pain, we can trust that His grace and mercy will flow through us. When we depend on God for the grace to minister, He fills us up and what flows out of us is better than what we could have come up with on our own. Can you think of a time when you ministered to someone and found out later that it was helpful without knowing it at the time? Or a time when someone ministered to you without even realizing it? Service is not easy, and it can be tiring. As we read through the gospels, we see there are times that Jesus is exhausted - even Jesus got tired from ministry! What did he do when he was tired? We have examples of Jesus sleeping, but we also see that when he is tired, he withdraws to lonely places to pray. The idea of spending time with God then moving into community then into ministry 8 is not a linear process but a circular one - it is constant - as we spend time with God and with community, love should flow out of us to minister to others. When the work of ministry or service wears on us, we move back into rest and time with God. 8 The idea of solitude to community to ministry has been written about by Henri Nouwen in many different places including in Spiritual Direction. 9 of 12
It also helps people to not get overwhelmed when they do ministry in community. In the Luke 6 passage, we see that Jesus gathered his disciples around him before he moved into ministry. Our community can help minister with us, support us, help us, strengthen us. Our life in community teaches us how to love and forgive others and accept love and forgiveness from them - which helps us love and forgive others better. What kind of ministry/service can be done in community? What benefits can come from doing ministry in community rather than on one s own? We may be inclined to think of service projects - which are great done in community! More people can be helped by many than by few. And, there is strength in numbers when trying to make a difference. Supporting people within our community and outside our community is also great to do with others - (ie: bringing food to people, providing emotional support, etc.). When we minister together as a community of Christ, it is more likely that Christ will be glorified than when we minister alone and the credit is given just to one person. Ministry in community also helps our egos stay the right size - it helps us to not think of ourselves as more important than we are when things go well and keeps us from being crushed when things don t go the way we think they should have gone. 9 9 Henri Nouwen, 132. 10 of 12
Conclusion: Mother Theresa said, Jesus does not call you to be successful, but to be faithful. 10 The world may tell us to be successful, to make lots of money, to be very smart, to be famous. God calls us to be faithful to Him. We must be faithful to him in individual spiritual disciplines, in community, and in service. We are to have the courage to be faithful even when it doesn t make sense and even when it is difficult. There is no one picture of what it means to be a servant - service is needed all over the world, in every community, in every arena. Some people may be called to serve all over the world - some people may be called to serve in their backyards. But everyone who follows Christ is called to serve. We are spiritually formed to be like Christ in order to bless other people with the love of Christ. We are the presence of God in this world - and the only way they may get a glimpse of Christ is through the way that we serve others. If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. - I Corinthians 13:1-3 10 As quoted by Henri Nouwen, 136. 11 of 12
Bibliography: Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us, Revised and Expanded. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015. Mulholland, M.Robert JR. Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993. Nouwen, Henri, Micahel J. Christensen, Rebecca J. Laird. Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006. The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible, NRSV. Edited by Richard Foster et al. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. 12 of 12