The Church’s Household

What does it mean to serve? I see a bunch of different uses of the word. I think of some of the admirable qualities of the word which we use today. Like to “serve ones country.” Or how about the police motto, “To protect and to serve.” But there are plenty of other connotations for the word. How about to serve in tennis? Then, of course, there is room service – where food is brought to you. And “to serve dinner.” The power company provides a service. My grandfather owned and ran a gas station, or more appropriately, a service station. Sometimes politicians will refer to themselves as simply “a humble public servant.” Of course, we can also think of a more traditional role of a servant – something similar to a slave. During the colonial period here in America, there were such things as indentured servants, people who agreed to essentially be another’s slave for a set period of time in exchange for passage from Europe to the New World. Those who decided to be indentured servents were not seen in the best light by the rest of society. After all, they were willingly becoming slaves, if even for just a few years. But then, the point of becoming an indentured servant was not to serve, but instead to aquire a personal goal – to be a free person in the New World.

Quite frankly, as much hype as there is about the importance of service in this world, it really seems like the goal is not to serve, but to be served. Did society deem Bill Gates succesfull only when he stopped taking a salery and gave billions to charity? No, society deemed Bill succesfull when Bill could afford a lot of servants. How do we pick out important people in this world? Aren’t the world’s VIPs surrounded by servants? Often times celebrities will hire people to simply be around them and handle most of their basic interactions not because they don’t have the time for “trivial” matters, but because having servants is a social status symbol of superiority. Even our biggest “humble public servants” are served by others. In all actuality, success in this world does not mean being a servant, it means having the power to have servants. This was true for 1^st century Palistine and the rest of the Roman world.

Christ’s message in our reading from Mark is truly a radical statement. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” This statement really doesn’t make sense in the world’s terms. Think about those who often succeed in this world by the world’s standards. Sure, there are some stories about underdogs becoming victorious, but the reason those stories are so popular is because they are rather rare in actuality. So often, the ones who succeed in this world by the world’s standards are those who begin ahead. Our economy in this nation favors those who already have means. The other day, Cathy and I were offered a great deal at a resort – 3 days and two nights at a top resort for only $79. That’s $79 total for all three days and two nights! The catch was, they were only offering that to people whose household incomes were over $50,000 a year. Well, with Cathy doing an unpaid internship, that’s almost $20,000 more than our current yearly income and so we were not eligible for the deal. The interesting thing is, who could use that deal more – a young couple just out of school or someone who can afford much more? In this case, the more wealthy are favored because there is a better chance that they will come back to the resort at full price at another time. Let’s face it, in this world, it’s better to be ahead, to be first.

But that’s not the message that Christ told. Instead of having servants, we are to be servants. Instead of imposing our will on others, our reading from James calls us to submit ourselves to God. The world tells us that we must have power. God calls us to submit our power and ourselves to him.

But what does it look like to truly submit ourselves to God? What does it look like to be a servant to all? From an individual standpoint, we all have different ways in which we serve. These ways differ based on the gifts and graces that God gives to each of us. Our muscians serve by playing music in our worship. They have been given gifts and graces in music and use them to serve God through the Church. Others of us are good with finances and so use their gifts and graces on the finance committee. We have some who have received gifts and graces in teaching. They serve through the church in an education capacity.

However, we’re called to serve not simply as individuals, but as the Church, as a gathered body of believers, as the Body of Christ here on earth. What does that look like? The Church has been described as Christ’s bride. The relationship between Christ and his Church is often described as a marriage.

So, what does it look like to serve as Christ’s bride? Mercifully, scripture gives us the job description of a capable wife in our reading from Proverbs. During the time that this was written, wives were seen a subservient to their husbands. This concept continued in the New Testiment times. Fellow husbands, before you get too excited about being served and I get into some trouble from our better halves, remember that as husbands, we are to love our wives as Christ loved the Church. That means that just like Christ, we are to serve our wives. Our marriages are about mutual servitude and not about one controlling the other. So, at the time this passage in Proverbs was written, the wife’s role was certainly seen as a service role. But this description of a capable wife is not simply a description for married women to follow, but is a description for the Church to follow. After all, the Church is to be Christ’s capable wife. This is a description for the Church, and the Church is comprised of both male and female, both husband and wife, both married and single. This is a description for all of us.

This description speaks of faithfulness in service for the whole household. It speaks of making sure there is food for the household, that there is clothing for the household, that there is enough oil in the lamps to provide light for the household at night. It speaks of generosity to the needy and the poor. It speaks of having wisdom and teaching kindness. It talks of devotion to her husband.

This analogy is pretty easy to understand when it comes to the characters of the wife being the Church and the husband being Christ, but what is the Church’s household? Households are typically defined as the people who live together in a particular place. Where does the Church live? The Church is present in heaven, being comprised of the saints, those Christians who have gone on before us. But the Church is also present here on earth in us. And we live in creation. We live in this world. We live with those who are poor as well as those who are rich. We live with those who believe in Christ and those who don’t. This is our household. So, how are we to be a capable wife for Christ in this world? What might it mean to provide food for our household? What might it mean to provide tasks for our servant-girls? Could it mean that we should be concerned about food shortages throughout the world and employment issues? I think so. Look over this passage again and throughout the week. How can Mt. Zion do our part and contribute to the Church as Christ’s bride? How is Mt. Zion being called to help the Church be a capable wife to Christ?

These are not simply issues that the Church must face, or simply what Mt. Zion must face. They’re also issues that we all must face because we all are the Church. All Christians everywhere are the Church. And we all are responsible to be the Church, the capable wife of Christ.

SDG