I am sure that some of this has to do with the warmed heart we get when we do what we know we are called to do as Christians, to go and serve the poor and forgotten, but I would like to argue that something else is going on, something much more important….
The other day I had the great pleasure of volunteering at Capernaum in Nashville. Capernaum is a branch of the organization Young Life, and this branch is specifically created to server those who have special needs. I cannot tell you how excited I was to go, and had been trying to for a while, but it had finally worked out! Not only that, one of the teens in the youth group I work with who is called to work with those who have special needs was able to come too!
We arrive and there is a huge feast! We are each motioned by two different people to come and join them. The conversation is light, fun, and both I and they were excited to learn about the other. After eating we went into the worship area where we sang worship songs together, completely free from inhibitions and judgment, so freeing. We were dancing, laughing, running around, and swaying. If I could compare it to anything it was like was were all kids who didn’t know better but loved being in the presence of God and danced because of it.
Several more things happened like a game, message, and more songs. After leaving that night, both Blair, the teen from my group, and I were on a high and so excited to share our experiences!
We had gone to serve, but we came away as if we were the ones being served. It felt as if we had just gotten to hang out with God, which brought me to reflect more on this, and eventually find this passage:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Matthew 25:34-40
I think that the reason we feel served when we serve others is because by doing so we are hanging out with God. We are serving God, and by being with God we are served even more so. The beauty of all this is that above all love is shared, and this love redeems everything involved the server and the one served because God is there with us in that love. This LOVE REDEEMS...this is God.
