We practice spiritual disciplines in order to grow in our relationship with God. We open ourselves to hear from, experience, and deepen our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through our actions and our thoughts. As we grow in such a relationship, our desires and hopes begin to look a lot like those of the One we are growing closer to.
Any reading of the Bible, even a casual one, will reveal that one of the closest things to God’s heart is justice and loving those who have been oppressed, cast out, abandoned, or placed at the bottom of the system. It only makes sense then, that as we grow in our relationship with God we will become people of justice and service. We are invited to share God’s love with family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and people we have never met. Some ways may take money and others might take our time, but it’s all about loving God and loving others.
The spiritual discipline of serving others may appear quite a bit different than the other spiritual disciplines, but underneath the surface it opens us to the same results. Serving others creates space for us to experience God, hear from the Holy Spirit, and model the life of the Son, Jesus.
Justice and Serving Others is Central to God’s Heart
Just turn to a random page in the Bible and you won’t be far from a statement about God’s heart for justice. God’s people are told over and over that central to being in a relationship with God is loving those around you, especially those who are struggling, oppressed, or have become your enemy.
God cares about this so much in fact, that God says if you are doing all the right “religious” stuff, but aren’t loving the poor and oppressed, you might as well stop! In Amos 5, for example, God says,
The reconciling work of God, therefore, isn’t just about people getting to heaven one day, but about bringing this shalom back to the creation now.
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”[1]
Basically, we can pray, meditate, read and memorize Scripture, tithe, sing praises, and fast, but if we are not living as people of justice, God says it’s meaningless. The reason for this is rooted in God’s creation of the universe. When God created everything, God calls it good seven times. Seven is the number of completion, meaning God created the world completely good. It was good for all people. God created the world to be a place where everyone and everything can thrive. Anything that causes this perfect shalom of God to be broken is called sin.
The reconciling work of God, therefore, isn’t just about people getting to heaven one day, but about bringing this shalom back to the creation now. God cares about people while they are alive on this planet, and calls us to care in the same way. This is why James 1 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.”[2]
God desires a relationship with people who care for, serve, and love everyone, with a special eye out for those who are lacking love and care. Serving others and living justice is not an extra add on that is a nice thing to do once in a while but is actually part of what it means to know and love God. God created a world where everyone can thrive and we are invited to help create and maintain that world.
If we aren’t living a life of service to others, God says all the rest of the spiritual disciplines, sacrifices, and “religious” stuff we do is meaningless.
God Identifies with “The Least of These”
It isn’t only others we are serving when we live lives of justice, however, but we are actually serving God as well! God doesn’t keep the poor and oppressed at arms length, telling us to serve “those people” who are “over there.” God actually joins people in their struggles.
To the extent that we make space for the other in our lives, we make space for God.
This is part of the meaning of the incarnation of Jesus when the “Word became flesh” as John 1 tells us. God didn’t remain in heaven and pronounce that everything is now ok. God became a human, lived a life of openness and service to everyone, especially those who were on the margins of society, and then died on a cross for it. God identified with the lowest of the low, and through the resurrection, offered a way into fullness of life.
Just look at the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25. Jesus says He will separate people in the judgment based upon how people fed the hungry, gave drinks to the thirsty, invited in strangers, and clothed the naked. He will sort people in this way because when someone served another person in this way, they served Jesus Himself. While people on both sides of the judgement will wonder what he means by this, Jesus will respond, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”[3] Similarly, what people did not do for the least of the brothers and sisters, they did not do for Jesus.
Part of the spiritual discipline of serving others is learning to see Jesus in and through the image-bearing human in front of us. Again, serving isn’t just a nice add on to our life, but is central to literally experiencing God and growing in our relationship with God. When we create space for someone else in our life, especially someone who has really faced injustice or been pushed to the margin, we literally make space for God in our lives. To the extent that we make space for the other in our lives, we make space for God. To the extent that we fail, or refuse, to make space for the other in our lives, we fail to make space for God.
Serving Our Neighbors
Serving isn’t just about larger justice issues, however. Service also includes being open to the opportunities to love the people we come into contact with every day. Maybe it’s doing the dishes for your family, talking to the older couple who lives next door, or watching a neighbors children so that they can have a break. It could mean listening to someone who needs a person to share in their pain or making a treat for a random coworker.
We are invited to see the potential that exists all around us each day to share the love of God and the goodness of God’s Kingdom. Sometimes we are invited to engage in larger justice issues, or move overseas to minister alongside people in difficult situations, but sometimes we are invited to simply offer our time to our neighbor we have known for many years.
We Aren’t the Savior
There is a danger inherent in serving that we need to be aware of, however. This is the danger of believing or acting as if we are the savior. We can believe that it’s our goal to make people more like us or that it’s our job to pick others up. That we have all the answers and it’s our job to teach others.
The invitation to serve, however, is the invitation to join the Holy Spirit in the work God is already doing in the world. Our call is to open up to be in touch with the movement of the Spirit so that God’s love, mercy, and grace can flow through us to others. It’s not about what we have to offer others but how we can channel the Good News of the reconciliation of all things to others.
We are invited to see the potential that exists all around us each day to share the love of God and the goodness of God’s Kingdom.
When we serve in a way where we believe we have all the answers or that we have something to offer in and of ourselves, the service becomes more about us than about God or the other, and we can end up hurting people more than helping. The more we learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, know our own story and what makes us tick, and see how to join in the work of reconciliation around us, the more we will see the invitation to partner with people to create a more just world and come alongside people and love them where they actually need to be loved.
In this way, all the glory goes to God and we get to experience the joy of God’s love flowing through us. We experience what it’s like to love God and love others in the way of Jesus.
The Invitation to Serve
When we open our lives to love others, we discover the presence of God in and through those we serve. We experience God’s love and desire for the redemption of all people and all things. We find that the more God opens our eyes to see and our ears to hear those around us who need the Good News, we discover that our eyes and ears are also more open to God’s voice and presence in our own lives.
So brothers and sisters, may you accept the invitation to serve others. May you join the Holy Spirit in the movement of justice and reconciliation that is happening all around you. And by doing so, may you experience a deeper connection to God, your own story, and the person God created you to be.
Grace and Peace
[1]Amos 5:21-24 (NIV)
[2]James 1:27 (NIV)
[3]Matthew 25:40 NIV
