Sun. Oct. 18, 2009 (Henry Neufeld)

Henry Neufeld spoke on Servanthood and Leadership. Modern Christians speak freely and frequently about being servants, yet few of us have ever had real servants, those second-class unseen people who do things others don't want to do. When we do volunteer work or work within the family (which we consider a form of serving), we fully expect to be thanked and acknowledged for our work. But actual servants seldom enjoy being acknowledged or thanked, largely because they are seldom treated as real people or of equal status to the one being served. In Mark 10.35-, Jesus refused to grant James and John positions of power in compensation for their years of giving up income and serving the cause (those disciples were not unlike today's full-time campaign workers who hope that their serving the candidate will be rewarded with political appointments and favours). This makes us ask why we serve others. Is it for eventual reward (possibly in heaven), is it to ease our conscience, would we serve as willingly if we were never thanked? As for leadership, Jesus warned that some leaders will indeed use their power incorrectly (e.g., Bush when denying prisoners humane treatment). Jesus then asked that Christians not succumb to that incorrect model of leadership, but that we rather find ways to serve others, even when we have a position of power. Jesus also acknowledged that serving is not always fun or rewarding, yet it is the role he took on throughout his life, culminating in his symbolic washing of feet. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Oct. 18th, 2009 using your browser's preferred media player.