John 13:15-16
“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
How often do you take the opportunity to serve your community? Does your school require you complete service hours as part of your curriculum? If so, have you done them whole-heartedly, or have you put in half the effort needed simply to get them done? As someone who went to private, religious schools their whole life, I was required to complete service hours every year from middle through high school.
In middle school, I was so annoyed I had to serve. I went to church…wasn’t that enough? I prayed for my family and friends, homeless, military—so why did I have to go out and do something? Thankfully, my high school, my mindset had changed, and I began to serve at my local church, assisting with youth groups and retreats. I was putting in about 100 hours a year, and I loved it! One of my favorite things about being part of a church community is how no one feels they are above service. Why is that?
Christ set multiple examples of service throughout his time on Earth. One of the most humble, selfless acts of service he had performed was the night of Holy Thursday, prior to the Last Supper. Before Jesus and his apostles broke bread together, our Lord filled a bowl with water, sat down, and washed the feet of the apostles. Keep in mind, these feet have walked miles in dirty sandals and were not regularly cleaned. Basically, these feet were probably less than appealing to touch and smell. Why would our all-knowing, all-powerful Lord and Savior want to wash the feet of these men?
You would think the events of this night would have been the other way around, that the apostles would have washed the feet of Jesus. In fact, Peter felt the same way and openly protested the idea. But instead, the Lord told him, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”
This doesn’t mean you have to go wash your parents’ feet or your friends’ feet, but it does mean that in order to follow the teaching’s of Christ, we must serve those both above us and below us. In these times of uncertainty, service can look like something as small as a call to a friend, or a letter to a family member. It could be a bag of non-perishables to a shelter, or a bag of old clothes you now had the time to sort through.
During this quarantine, find a creative way to serve those around you. Friends, family, homeless, and hungry. During your next small group meeting, share your ideas with your friends, and start a chain of kindness together!