Good Service
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV, Cycle B
Object:
Good Service
When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (vv. 41-45)
In 1995, when my wife, Hadley, and I moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to a small town in rural southwest Oklahoma, we discovered the cable service had inadvertently been disconnected at the parsonage. After moving in on a Thursday, we called first thing Friday morning to get the cable reconnected. We were told the worker responsible for servicing our area only came to town on Thursdays. We would have to wait another week to get cable.
Living in Fort Worth, we were used to good service and instant gratification. The competition was so fierce in the "metroplex" that businesses went out of their way to ensure the customer's happiness. A week seemed like a long time. We had no antenna other than the one built into a twelve-inch black and white television. We had to place the television in just the right spot in the house to get a fuzzy picture of the only available channel -- an ABC station forty miles away. But we could be patient and wait.
Thursday rolled around, and Hadley waited at home patiently for the cable guy to come and flip the switch that would connect us to the outside world. He hadn't arrived by 4:30 so we called the cable company. Bad news. They didn't show a work order for the job. They also asked with whom we had talked because the workday scheduled in our community wasn't even Thursdays -- it was Wednesdays. We would have to wait another six days for the serviceman to arrive.
The next Wednesday Hadley waited around again for the anticipated visit from the cable guy, and then came a phone call from the cable company. Bad news. They were calling to tell us that they forgot that the service man for our area was on vacation that week. He would be in the following week to hook up our cable.
Hadley called me at the office, and I stormed home. I was not pleased. I was tired of our one fuzzy television channel and not happy about a third week of it. I phoned the cable company and asked for "the person in charge." I let them know exactly what I thought about their terrible customer service.
I don't know that my phone call did any good, but they did actually show up the next week and turned on our cable. However, we then discovered the quality of the cable system matched that of the customer service. The picture was as clear as my face as a teenager. We later learned the reason for our poor cable quality. The cable company was pirating the signals from a satellite. They were charging us for a bad signal they were stealing.
I think at one time or another; we have all received bad service. It may not have been the cable company, but instead, a restaurant, a grocery store, or an auto shop -- whatever. The bottom line is that we expect good service. I believe that good service happens when the management sets a tone and models it to all its employees.
Such is the tone Jesus sets for the disciples in Mark 10:35-45. In the scripture, James and John are concerned about a promotion. They asked to rule beside Jesus in his kingdom, which they still believed to be an earthly kingdom instead of a spiritual one. They were looking for power, perks, priority, privilege, and position. They were trying to get their piece of the pie -- calling for their just desserts. Well, if they really received their just desserts, it would probably be a pie in the face.
Jesus told them that leadership in his kingdom requires suffering. He told them in order to be great, they must become a "servant" -- "a slave of all." Jesus reminded them that discipleship is not a direct ticket to an eternal easy street -- neither is it tyranny. Instead, discipleship means giving good service. Our goal as Christians is not getting good seats of power in the kingdom, but giving good service to those in need.
To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, we should ask not what your church can do for you, but ask what you can do for your church. In his book, Power, Partnership, and Passion: Marks of a Faithful Congregation, Bishop Bruce Blake offers a different analogy. Borrowing a phrase from a friend, Blake says we should spurn a "bib mentality" in which we wait to be served. Instead, we should embrace an "apron mentality" in which we do the serving. There is a real growth pattern here. When we are young, we are served. As we mature, we become the servers.
It is when we serve that people see within us the God that we serve. People can see God through us. They also see God's love and concern for humanity.
When we call the cable company, we want good service.
When we go to a restaurant, we want good service.
When we leave our car at the auto shop, we want good service.
Likewise, the world is crying for good service from us as disciples of Jesus Christ. Our churches are crying for good leaders who will serve Christ for the joy of serving. Jesus tells us not to jockey for power, but to put the kingdom first -- to put the needs of others first. That is how we become great.
So let's become great and give the world -- and Christ -- our good service.
When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (vv. 41-45)
In 1995, when my wife, Hadley, and I moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to a small town in rural southwest Oklahoma, we discovered the cable service had inadvertently been disconnected at the parsonage. After moving in on a Thursday, we called first thing Friday morning to get the cable reconnected. We were told the worker responsible for servicing our area only came to town on Thursdays. We would have to wait another week to get cable.
Living in Fort Worth, we were used to good service and instant gratification. The competition was so fierce in the "metroplex" that businesses went out of their way to ensure the customer's happiness. A week seemed like a long time. We had no antenna other than the one built into a twelve-inch black and white television. We had to place the television in just the right spot in the house to get a fuzzy picture of the only available channel -- an ABC station forty miles away. But we could be patient and wait.
Thursday rolled around, and Hadley waited at home patiently for the cable guy to come and flip the switch that would connect us to the outside world. He hadn't arrived by 4:30 so we called the cable company. Bad news. They didn't show a work order for the job. They also asked with whom we had talked because the workday scheduled in our community wasn't even Thursdays -- it was Wednesdays. We would have to wait another six days for the serviceman to arrive.
The next Wednesday Hadley waited around again for the anticipated visit from the cable guy, and then came a phone call from the cable company. Bad news. They were calling to tell us that they forgot that the service man for our area was on vacation that week. He would be in the following week to hook up our cable.
Hadley called me at the office, and I stormed home. I was not pleased. I was tired of our one fuzzy television channel and not happy about a third week of it. I phoned the cable company and asked for "the person in charge." I let them know exactly what I thought about their terrible customer service.
I don't know that my phone call did any good, but they did actually show up the next week and turned on our cable. However, we then discovered the quality of the cable system matched that of the customer service. The picture was as clear as my face as a teenager. We later learned the reason for our poor cable quality. The cable company was pirating the signals from a satellite. They were charging us for a bad signal they were stealing.
I think at one time or another; we have all received bad service. It may not have been the cable company, but instead, a restaurant, a grocery store, or an auto shop -- whatever. The bottom line is that we expect good service. I believe that good service happens when the management sets a tone and models it to all its employees.
Such is the tone Jesus sets for the disciples in Mark 10:35-45. In the scripture, James and John are concerned about a promotion. They asked to rule beside Jesus in his kingdom, which they still believed to be an earthly kingdom instead of a spiritual one. They were looking for power, perks, priority, privilege, and position. They were trying to get their piece of the pie -- calling for their just desserts. Well, if they really received their just desserts, it would probably be a pie in the face.
Jesus told them that leadership in his kingdom requires suffering. He told them in order to be great, they must become a "servant" -- "a slave of all." Jesus reminded them that discipleship is not a direct ticket to an eternal easy street -- neither is it tyranny. Instead, discipleship means giving good service. Our goal as Christians is not getting good seats of power in the kingdom, but giving good service to those in need.
To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, we should ask not what your church can do for you, but ask what you can do for your church. In his book, Power, Partnership, and Passion: Marks of a Faithful Congregation, Bishop Bruce Blake offers a different analogy. Borrowing a phrase from a friend, Blake says we should spurn a "bib mentality" in which we wait to be served. Instead, we should embrace an "apron mentality" in which we do the serving. There is a real growth pattern here. When we are young, we are served. As we mature, we become the servers.
It is when we serve that people see within us the God that we serve. People can see God through us. They also see God's love and concern for humanity.
When we call the cable company, we want good service.
When we go to a restaurant, we want good service.
When we leave our car at the auto shop, we want good service.
Likewise, the world is crying for good service from us as disciples of Jesus Christ. Our churches are crying for good leaders who will serve Christ for the joy of serving. Jesus tells us not to jockey for power, but to put the kingdom first -- to put the needs of others first. That is how we become great.
So let's become great and give the world -- and Christ -- our good service.
