For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark 10:45
Speechwriter Peggy Noonan tells a fascinating story of Ronald Reagan in her book When Character Was King.
When I try to tell people what Reagan was like I tell the bathroom story. A few days after he’d been shot, when he could get out of bed, he wasn’t feeling well one night and went to the bathroom connected to his room. He slapped water on his face, and water slopped out of the sink. He got some paper towels and got on the floor to clean it up. An aide came in and said, “Mr. President, what are you doing? We have people for that.” And Reagan said oh, no, he was just cleaning up his mess, he didn’t want a nurse to have to do it.
It may seem a bit incongruous for a wounded President of the United States to be down on the floor cleaning up a mess, but here is something far more jarring: The God of the heavens stooped to become a human so that he could serve us. He served us in many ways, but primarily by dying on a cross to pay for sin.
Jesus did not become a servant at the Incarnation or at the cross. No, Jesus has always been a servant. His nature as God is to serve, because to serve means to love and God is a lover beyond imagination. God is a servant, and when he came to earth, he came to serve us. He came to serve you.
We who are his followers must be a community of servants. That’s what we do, that’s who we are. We are servants of the Servant.
In every situation, whether it’s home, work or play, we are thinking of others’ needs, not our own needs. We focus on others, not ourselves. We are givers more than takers, listeners more than talkers, the ones looking to serve and not be served.
If you count yourself as a follower of Jesus, that means you are a foot-washer. You are a servant. So in every situation, serve, just as he has served you and serves you still.