Servants

Passage:

Luke 22:24-27

Talk:

Imagine that as you leave church today you pass the kitchen and you see someone is doing the washing up… and then you realise it’s President Obama!

And then imagine that you find out that before we all met, early this morning the Queen was here cleaning the room before we came. And she’s coming back to tidy up after we leave!

In today’s reading the disciples were arguing over “Which one of them was the most important”.

How important are you?

When you think about the people around you, the people in your city or the rest of the world where do you fit on the ladder of importance?

At times we all can find it easy to rank ourselves or other people by how rich, famous, clever, good looking, cool, gifted they are. It is something that we do almost without thinking about it.

The disciples were arguing over “Which one of them was the most important” but Jesus isn’t impressed. In fact he takes apart their understanding of who is important and paints a completely different picture. He says the greatest is like the least, the leader should be like the servant.

It is important to remember that Jesus is not giving us permission to treat other people like servants. Nor is he saying that you should feel like you are a no-body.

Instead Jesus is saying we can know who we really are to God are and then choose to serve. Just like he did. He left the throne room of heaven. And the king of kings came and humbly served. And he says that is true greatness.

We’re going to take a good chunk of time this morning to think more about that and allow it to sink in. So there are different options for you. Something to read, something to talk about, something to look at and something to do. Choose whichever you want and then when we come back together we’re going to take some time for anyone to say what struck home, or what they feel they learned about the way Jesus defined greatness and how he calls us to serve others.

So for those who would like to read and reflect there’s a sheet with the passage and some questions to ponder. Just take you time. There are some pens too if you’d like to underline part of the passage or write on the sheets.

If you’d like to talk about it then just use the same sheet and find a corner or a table and chat through the question with someone else.

Or maybe you would like to look. Well there are some photos arranged on a table. Half of them are of famous leaders. Some are examples of really good leaders. Others are reall bad leaders. And some we could debate about! Then there are also some pictures of people who serve. Choose a picture that sticks out to you and take time to sit with it and keep looking at it. And let God prompt thoughts and feelings about how he sees greatness and serving others.

Finally you might like to do. We’ve got some bin bags here. For the next 10 minutes you can go outside and pick up litter. It’s a good thing to do but can also be done prayerfully. 10 minutes of litter picking isn’t very hard but we can use it as an action to let God speak to us about serving. (Make sure children are accompanied and encourage people not to pick up anything which looks sharp, dangerous or too gross!)

When you re-gather at the end of the stations take some time to allow people to share what struck them from the reading, chatting, looking or doing.

(We did this within the context of a communion service and collected the the bin bags and arranged them by the altar. It was a powerful symbol of Jesus laying aside heaven’s greatness and serving in the ultimate way by laying down his life for us. Alternatively you could use them as a visual aid in your time of intercessions.)

Stations:

Resources Needed:

  • Pens
  • Printed verse and question sheets (see below)
  • Printed pictures of famous leaders and people in serving roles (see below)
  • Bin bags

Explain that for today’s stations there will be opportunities to read, talk, look and do:

  1. Read: Read through the sheet with the passage and questions. Take time to think. Pens are provided if people want to underline or write or draw on the sheets.
  2. Talk: Use the same sheet but find a table or a corner and chat through the questions with someone else.
  3. Look: Print some pictures of famous leaders, some of them good, some of them bad, and some the people can argue about and some pictures of people who serve. Invite people to look over them and choose one that sticks out to them and then just sit with it and keep looking at it as they think about Jesus’ words and allow him to speak to .
  4. Do Explain that for the next 10 minutes people can go outside and pick up litter. It’s a good thing to do but can also be done prayerfully. 10 minutes of litter picking isn’t very hard but we can use it as an action to let God speak to us about serving. Encourage people not to pick up anything which looks sharp, dangerous or too gross!

When you re-gather at the end of the stations take some time to allow people to share what struck them from the reading, chatting, looking or doing.

Famous Leaders:

You can find images of these people by searching for them on Google Images.

Nelson Mandela

Mao Tse Tung

Margaret Thatcher

Winston Churchill

Barack Obama

Richard Branson

Kim Jong Il

Mother Theresa

Pope Francis

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby

Steven Gerrard

Queen Elizabeth II

School Dinner Lady

Bin Man

Someone washing another person’s feet

A Waiter/Waitress

A Shoe Cleaner

Worksheets:

Luke 22:24-27

The apostles also began to argue about which one of them was the most important. But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the non-Jewish people rule over them, and those who have authority over others like to be called ‘friends of the people.’ But you must not be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the leader should be like the servant. Who is more important: the one sitting at the table or the one serving? You think the one at the table is more important, but I am like a servant among you.

Why might Jesus link servant-hood with greatness?

Who do I admire as a “great” person? What do I admire about them?

What does it mean to be a servant leader?

When have I been served by others?

How have I served others? How do I want to serve others in the future?