Serving From a Full Heart

“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’” 

Luke 17:7-10

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Serving Like the Son

In serving Christ selflessly, we share in his own obedience to the Father. As the Suffering Servant comes down from heaven to do his Father’s will, expecting nothing in return, his disciples do likewise. What greater reward is there than to be the Father’s Son? 

Being in the heart of the Father as his beloved silences all desire. In the divine union, the exhalation of a “thank you” only breaks the profound silence of love. One who serves from a full heart desires nothing more.

Yet surprises await the selfless. In the Parable of the Watchful Servants, the Lord lavishes an exuberant feast upon faithful servants who watch for him through the night (Luke 12:35-38). God, who is rich in mercy, fills us to overflowing (Isaiah 25:6).

“If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.”

John 13:14