Thought for the Day: Grab a Broom and Start Sweeping

Dear Friends

A well-dressed woman on an African safari was part of a tour group that stopped briefly at a hospital for lepers. Amid the intense heat and filthy conditions with flies buzzing all around her, she noticed a nurse bending down in the dirt, tending to the puss filled sores of a leper. With disdain she exclaimed, “Why I wouldn’t do that for all the money in the world.” The nurse quietly replied, “Neither would I!”

From time to time it is important to remind ourselves of who and whose we are.  We are  nothing more than “Unprofitable servants”, who are only doing what our Master has called us to do ( Luke 17:10). Following Jesus may not take us to an African leper colony, but that doesn’t change the terms or circumstances of our service for once a servant, always a servant. Wherever we are, we are called to serve, and service is not always fun or easy. It can be hard and humbling and it can be dirty and demeaning. 

I remember the times when I was a senior pastor, and  I had no problem cleaning up  dirty bathrooms. When I saw something that needed to be done, no matter how menial it was, I did it. Because of this, I thought I had somehow arrived at doing this ‘servant thing.’. But when I became one of 17 pastors while serving at Calvary Chapel, Fort Lauderdale, and I was no longer atop the pecking order as a senior pastor, I discovered my servant attitude needed a severe adjustment. It is one thing to be a servant when you can choose whether to be one or not. It is another thing when you are told and required to be a servant, and someone above you is treating you like a  servant, the very thing you’ re called to be. 

A businessman in a bible study asked the leader. “How do you know if you are servant?” The leader wisely responded, “By the way you react when you are treated like one.” That hurt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Apostle Peter reminds us of our “servant job description”  when he writes we are to serve “not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock) 1 Peter 5:2-3).

So, l guess I need to grab my broom and start sweeping. Won’t you join me?

Yours in faith and friendship,

Pastor Tom