To Be A Servant

I was asked to preach at the Saturday evening worship service at the annual meeting of the Minnesota Conference, United Church of Christ. The annual meeting was held at The College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN June 10-12. The theme was "Come Listen, Go Serve, God is Still Speaking" and my focus was to be the go serve part. It was a real honor to be asked and I had to compete with a real Minnesota downpour, but I outlasted the storm. :-)

To Be a Servant
a sermon preached by the Rev. Sue Judson Hamly
on Saturday, June 11, 2005
at the Annual Meeting of the Minnesota Conference, UCC
College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, MN
Scripture: Matthew 9:35—10:20

How many of you remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull? I think he might be alive and well and spending summers in our back yard. At least the gull I’m referring to deserves a name like Jonathan Livingston because he certainly has personality!
My husband, Rowland, makes peanut butter sandwiches for raccoons, and feeds all the other animals and birds that frequent our yard on the bank of the Rainy River, and he has discovered that Canada geese and woodchucks like to eat the dandelions we have in profusion. Two summers ago he tossed a piece of bread out the kitchen window to some gulls and life has never been the same since!
We didn’t think much of it that first summer, but last year when the gulls returned and one of them walked right up beside the house and stood there staring at the kitchen window, we were amazed that he remembered and quick to respond by cranking out the window and tossing him some bread. It became a ritual. The gull stood there and stared at the window and we fed him. We even went to the store and bought special loaves of inexpensive bread for them!
This year we eagerly waited to see if our gray and white friend would return, and we weren’t disappointed. He stands in front of the kitchen window 2 or 3 times a day waiting for his meal. And we’ve been treated to part of the mating ritual – he starts working on the bread, while his mate sits quietly by watching and waiting for him to call her. When he does, she comes closer and he feeds her part of what he has in his beak.
But the real clincher happened on one of those rare sunny days about a week ago. Rowland was out mowing the lawn. The woodchuck was in hiding under the deck and the birds had left the feeder, but Mr. Jonathan Gull was sitting on the lawn demanding his bread! He wasn’t bothered at all by the noise of the mower, he wanted his food NOW! So Rowland had to stop and turn off the mower, walk into the house and fetch Mr. Gull a treat.
We have become servants to a seagull! Talk about giving without payment!
What does it mean to be a servant?
We might have many different answers to that question, but according to our text from Matthew’s gospel, I think it means to go serve as laborers in God’s harvest.
Jesus calls his disciples, who are also called apostles or “sent ones,” and tells them that “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” He has seen that there are crowds of people who are like lost sheep without a shepherd, so he tells the disciples to “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into God’s harvest.”
That is, as it turns out, a rather dangerous prayer to pray. No sooner has he given them this instruction, than Jesus gives the disciples the authority to cure every disease and sickness and to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is near – the same things that Jesus has been doing himself!
It’s kind of ironic. These people are told to pray for workers for the harvest and they can hardly finish doing so before Jesus is sending THEM out to do the work! Sometimes the answer to your prayer is “You go!” Sometimes a prayer is a prod. God seems to be saying, “I’ve already prepared the harvest, but you have to go and bring it in!”
We are all included. We, too, are apostles, sent with a message. That message is that God is still speaking and no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you ARE welcome here – in the Minnesota Conference… in the United Church… of Christ!
We are called to go serve, just as we have received – without payment. No expectations. No strings attached. Simply share God’s love, and remember actions speak louder than words. True service is doing or giving for the JOY of it! Jesus gave his disciples the authority to heal and to exorcise – pretty powerful stuff! But it is really only God who has this power. Human beings who share in it must recognize that it is God’s and not their own possession. It’s a gift to be shared; no payment, no strings. What a concept! In Jesus’ day, people would have been amazed, I’m sure, because in actuality, “in the Middle Eastern world there never was and still is no free gift. Every gift has strings attached. It expects repayment.”[1] But that’s not the case for followers of Jesus. We are called to give love out of our own love and generosity.
It’s a challenge, and that’s why coming and listening is so important before we go out to serve. We must remember where our power comes from. In order to be a servant, we must nurture our connection to the divine. We must fill up our spiritual center. We need to stay connected – to God; to our family of faith; to our spiritual energy core. This is true for individuals and congregations. If we revitalize our center, then we can let the spiritual energy radiate out to those around us. Oftentimes, the harvest is in our own back yard, but it’s essential to fill our center so our energy – and our love – doesn’t run out.
Where do we go to serve? Of course we can go all over the world, but we don’t all have to. Some of us are called to go to other countries, and some of us are called to do our ministry right here at home. God says “you go!” but the harvest may be in our own neighborhood.
Culturally, Jesus’ sending of the twelve was well-planned, even clever. People didn’t travel much in the ancient Middle East – they mostly stayed put, fairly close to home. Travel was also only possible during the dry season. That was the time when the roads were manageable, and it was when the most people were out and about. They were tending their flocks, waiting for their crops to mature or watching the vineyards. So Jesus sends his fishers of people out where the fishing is best! [2]
But even under the best of circumstances the big fish can get away, or the harvest withers from too much sun, or rots from an excess of rain. Not everyone wants to hear the message. Not everyone wants to be served.
So Jesus says, “As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.” We can share the good news of God’s love, but if it is not received, we should move on. Sometimes that’s one of the hardest things to do. We feel as if we’re giving up, or that we failed. But all we can do is our best. Some seeds don’t fall on fertile soil. Jesus says “be wise as serpents, innocent as doves.” You may not always be appreciated. But by the living of your life, you can still be a servant and a witness.
Jesus is sending us out to do the work that springs from a heart filled with compassion, with empathy, with doing our best to experience another's pain. We can never reach this ideal, of course; each person's pain is unique. But the heart of the compassionate Christ, which is and must be our own corporate heart, has no place for criticism, for judgment, even for merit. We help those who need help, not those we deem worthy of our help. It is not our own help we offer, of course; we are merely the vehicles for Christ's healing touch, saving grace, and word of hope. [3]
What does it mean to be a servant? What emotions do you feel when you’re called to “go serve”?
It can be like wandering in the desert. It can be frightening. It can give you a sense of excitement and exhilaration. Sometimes you feel incredibly connected to God and to all that is spiritual and good. Sometimes you may feel abandoned. But none of us is ever alone. That God has promised us!
We are called and blessed and sent. We come to listen, and go to serve, trusting God’s presence and this wonderful thing we have to share, called love. That’s what it’s all about – a journey of love. And in order to give love, we have to be able to receive it. Let me be your servant, and I’ll let you be mine as well. Together we are pilgrims on a journey – travelers on the road.[4] To be a servant of God is to walk the journey in faith, whether we have a clue where we’re going or not!
David Bartlett has written a poem that I think wraps it up. It’s even called ‘The Journey” …

The Journey
by David Bartlett (used with permission)

I send you forth to the land which has been promised
that is has been promised is all I know.
I do not know the shape of the land
the route which you must go
the dangers certain to befall.
My small experience leads me to suggest
you should expect your share of desert places
where oases vanish upon close inspection
and water springs up from unlikely places.
Also you should beware the Golden Calf
or any beast pretending to be God
the likely candidates will have immense appeal
and an unpleasant aftertaste.
The great advantage of the Promised Land
is that it will wait for you
if on the road a man waylaid by thieves
or startling beauty should distract you
there is time.
You will know when you have reached the land
by the sudden fear you feel
at the edge of grace
and the strong pull of familiar Egypt on your soul
and the knowledge that there is no turning back.
Farewell, beloved
put on the whole armor of God
but leave your heart exposed
since life, like death, demands a certain vulnerability.
And learn a song or two to sing in a strange land.
Be wise as serpents, innocent as doves
accepting the worst from people, expecting the best
You are less what you have learned than what you have learned to love.
Love is your journey's name
and your final rest. [AMEN]

Notes:
[1] John J. Pilch, The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday, Cycle A. 1995, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, p. 98.
[2] Ibid. p. 99.
[3] From the Rev. Katherine Merrell Glenn, “Sermons that Work” http://arc.episcopalchurch.org/sermons-that-work/020616sr.html
[4] from the hymn “Won’t You Let me Be Your Servant?” #539 in The New Century Hymnal, 1995, Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, OH