Crossroads Fellowship

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

You want me to do what!?!?!

What is growing in Christ all about? We think as we grow up to "spiritual maturity" that we will continue to have more and more responsibility in the church. We think that the longer we have walked with Jesus, the more trusted we are in the Christian community. I think that all of this is right, but I think that perhaps we perceive what it should actually look like a little wrong. All too often we think that "being more spiritually mature" means that we will have special privilege and benefits in the church, never realizing that those special benefits and privileges really amount to us being the servant of everyone else in the church. Special privilege means you get the cruddy job that no one else wants, and sometimes it doesn't feel so special. Don't believe me? Ask Jesus then.

Matthew 20:20-28
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."


You see being "great" in the Kingdom of God means being the humble submissive servant to everyone else. What better way can we learn that lesson than from what happened this past Sunday after church here at Crossroads Fellowship. After service we were having lunch getting ready to go to a Christian Rock concert when one of my kids came in and told me that there was raw sewage pouring out of a pipe in back of the church. Frustrated I went out side and sure enough feces, used feminine hygiene products, urine, and all sorts of nastiness was flowing out of a sewage cleanout into the yard. So I get tools and get to work. But you know this story isn't about me, it is about one of the teenagers at the church. So anyway there I am trying to get it flowing again. Eventually I get it working somewhat and notice that someone has thrown a metal bar down the cleanout. I measure down with a stick and figure out my arm is just long enough to reach it. So as nasty as it is I stick my arm in the hole, and BAM it won't go in past my forearm. So now other men are offering to stick their arms in, but they all have arms like me. What we need is someone with a skinny arm, but long like mine. Where are we gonna find that?

Then it dawns on me. Our teenagers might work for the job. As we survey the teens left at church it comes down to only one choice - - - Jessica! Jessica is the only one with long enough arms that are skinny enough. So I ask this 15 year old girly girl. AND SHE SAYS YES! So here is Jessica laying with face mere inches away from raw sewage, arm shoved in the sewer pipe trying to get this bar. And she just barely can not reach it. So she tries with pliers to extend her reach, but can't get that to work. So we cut some of the pipe off, which gets to move her face even closer to the raw sewage on the ground, and eventually she fishes it out. Is this what Jesus meant by being a servant to everyone, and a slave of all? You be the judge.

7 Comments:

  • Praise GOD for teenagers like Jessica!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:38 PM  

  • That is either child abuse or servanthood.

    I'm goin' with servanthood!

    By Blogger Rick Frueh, at 6:05 AM  

  • So ... let me understand this. Instead of getting a professional to do the job, you had a child do this for you? I hope the fix works or she will be back down in the muck again. Does your church not have enough money to pay for repairs and or emergencies?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:27 AM  

  • Anonymous 1 - You have so missed the point. Yes, the church does have enough money to pay for repairs. The point is that Jessica (a teenager, not a child)was willing and eager to serve, even when the job that needed to be done was disgusting.
    - Darlene

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:05 PM  

  • Darlene,

    The point I didn't miss is the one that my husband and I discussed regarding this. He has worked in hazmat as a first responder before and was absolutely aghast at the irresponsibility of allowing a child to be put in such a hazardous situation. His response to this was ... the pastor did what?!?!?!? Diseases, some more nasty than others are shed in feces as well as blood. Raw sewage is considered a biohazard for a reason. For raw sewage, they were instructed to use tyvek biohazard suits, gloves, eye protection and at the very least a mask, if not a respirator. Hopefully the child remains healthy afterward but it galls me when an adult knowingly puts a child at risk.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:32 PM  

  • Thanks so much for the comments. Sorry that you and your husband feel this way.

    By the way, instead of remaining anonymous, would you care to share your identity?

    Also she never stuck her arm in raw sewage, she stuck her arm in a pipe to pull a metal bar out after we had gotten it drained, so I think perhaps you are over reacting a bit, and she did it only after I had personally stuck my arm in it, using the same safety gear she was using and mine got stuck because the raging bulging muscle in my forearm...or my fat forearm...whichever you prefer to call it :-)

    It is amazing to me the Jesus reached his hands out and touched lepers even though it was a bio hazard and we get all excited about sticking our gloved arm in a 4 inch sewer clean out pipe.

    By Blogger Pastor Jerry, at 9:43 PM  

  • Jerry - its times like these that even as an Arminian I'm tempted to believe in TOTAL depravity.(other comments) Please tell that teenager that I admire her service for Christ and that even doing what she did was done for Him.

    Anonymous has no idea what children do on the mission field without complaining and in Jesus' name. God bless you, Jerry!

    By Blogger Rick Frueh, at 9:58 PM  

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