God Speaking

“The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”” (Matthew 25:40)

In every church community I have ever been part of, I have always been aware of a group of what I call, quiet servants of the Lord. Some readily spring to mind like one man who belonged to the same church I attended. He had just retired and as he now had more spare time on his hands, looked around for activities to fill his day. He would have been excused if he had taken up a hobby, played more golf, but he chose, quietly I might add, to see who he could help in the congregation. He began by offering during the summer to cut the grass for two widows who were struggling to keep their gardens tidy. He discovered that several elderly people still living alone in their homes, needed somebody to do simple tasks, difficult now for them, like changing light bulbs, fixing the broken fence. He became the man to call for several elderly parishioners. Most of the congregation were unaware of this faithful servant who quietly went about helping those who needed him. He didn’t win any awards, but I felt he fulfilled Jesus’ words

You did it for me!

Another lady in another church showed this same selfless servant hood in her life. She was a trained hairdresser and after volunteering to help in the kitchen at a mission for the poor, saw that she could use her training to help restore the dignity of some of the poor and homeless by offering to cut their hair, so she set aside one day a week to cut hair free for anyone who needed it. Very few people in her church knew she did this and she didn’t win any awards either, but I always thought she deserved a medal when I thought of the state of some of those heads she had to deal with. She also would have heard the King say

You did it for me!

Many others flood into my mind; one lady faithfully buying groceries for a shut in every week; a manicurist visiting an old age home and bringing a little joy to old ladies by painting their finger nails; ladies knitting socks for the poor. None of these faithful ones were seeking praise for their efforts, but were following Jesus command to all of us

Love one another as I have loved you

The common thread I saw running through all the activities of these quite servants was their genuine love for Jesus. If you had asked any of them what ministry were they involved in at their church, they would have been totally surprised, not seeing what they were doing as anything but a response to the love of their Lord. Unfortunately “volunteering” has become the buzz word for our society. My grandchildren tell me that any decent resume now must include significant evidence of some sort of “volunteering”. So the actual motivation for helping others is lost in a desire to impress others as to how compassionate you are. It becomes a means to an end. Not so in the hearts of true loving servants of the Lord.

As a young Christian I learnt many valuable lessons from observing these loving servants. When I remarked to the lady who was painting old ladies’ fingernails, how impressed I was with her, she surprised me with her answer. She told me that those visits were the highlight of her week. She told me of the fascinating stories she heard from these seniors. She told me she always left with a glow in her being. She did not need my praise. She was receiving it from the Lord.

I witnessed this verse coming to life in people’s lives.

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord….” (Psalm 118:26)

I found that the truly joyful in the congregation were often those involved in loving servitude for others. The Lord doesn’t need us to list our volunteering efforts for him to see, he already knows. When our motivation is our love for him, he is right there with us and we will also hear the whisper

Thank you for doing it for me!