The Discipline of Service

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:3-8 ESV).

 

Have you noticed how some of us who are older still call “gas stations” by the older name of “service stations”. The nostalgia of a full service gas station is still appealing in many ways. And, I am old enough to remember those stations. You could drive your vehicle into the area where the pumps were located and someone would come to your car asking how much fuel you wanted and without a thought checking all the fluid levels, air pressure on the tires, and washing your windshield. All of those “services” were performed without thought of compensation. It was a part of our way of life. Those stations virtually became extinct in favor of the convenience of “easy-in-and-out” and a desire to spend less time actually interacting with consumers of our products. I miss those days.

 

As I began to think through the next essential discipline in our little series, I was drawn to our reading today. That brought back the memories of the gas stations of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. There are many other examples of customer service. However, today I want to expand your thought a bit as I include a spiritual truth concerning how God has created and gifted each of us. All of these gifts are designed to equip us to serve others.

 

When I think about all the good things a person can do, I get a little overwhelmed. We have so many possible ways to volunteer our time and resources. We have opportunities to serve lunch at school, deliver food baskets in the evening, read to children, rake leaves for senior citizens, teach Sunday school, serve on a church committee, write letters to prisoners, give money to different organizations, invite our neighbor to church, help build a home for someone… the list could go on and on. But when God calls us to serve, he doesn’t mean for us to get overwhelmed. He doesn’t tell us that we have to do every good thing that we can possibly do. He tells us to use our gifts. God has a lot of people who are working to serve him. This means each of us can use our individual gifts to serve God, without feeling guilty about other opportunities we may have missed. Our reading Bible describes the church as a group of people who focus on using their gifts to serve the Lord. When we walk with God, we are called to action. We are supposed to show his grace to a world that desperately needs it. We recognize that our actions will not address or correct every problem that exists, but we can use our gifts and abilities to reach beyond ourselves to show God’s grace through our actions.