February 3: Of Magic, and the Joy of Service

Exodus 17:8-19:15

Matthew 22:34-23:12

Psalm 27:7-14

Proverbs 6:27-35

"And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." - Mt 22:39

"The greatest among you will be your servant." - Mt 23:11

Sometimes pop culture can still be very instructive, even to a gradually aging curmudgeon such as myself.  Consider the celebrity culture today - besides the bling (flashy jewelry, to those of us older than 40) and the wheels, or "whip" (flashy cars, again to the same audience), the necessary accessory is a posse.  A gang of constant companions enjoying the celebrity spillover, the price of membership a willingness to do the celebrity's bidding when asked.  The celebrity was the center of attention, and the posse served so they could hang with the celebrity, not because the service was necessarily a source of joy.

This seems so different from what God wants from us.  He doesn't want us to be the master, the center of attention, the object of glory.  He doesn't even seem to want us to regard ourselves with paramount importance.  What does our Lord say?  He asks us to love our neighbors as ourselves - which to me says that we should be joyful doing for them and seeing them enjoy the benefit as we would be joyful if we were the beneficiaries.  He asks us not to want to be served, but to serve, and to do so with joy. 

Is it possible?  Of course - and you and I probably know of many examples.  I'd like to share one of my favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cEYGS8rc3I

In basketball, the superstars are the ones who score the points.  I talked about Larry Bird a couple of weeks back; Kareem, Mike, the Dr., Steph, KD, Lebron - all these guys are or were great because they could score.  But Magic - he assisted.  He served. He made other people the star.  And check out the video - he did it with such joy, such jubilation at seeing the other person score.  He ended his career with some 21,000 points, but his 14,000 assists meant he helped someone else score a total of at least 28,000 points.  

Father help us to take Your Son's words to heart.  Teach us to be servants.  And as we learn to serve, show us what joy is to be found in such service.