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For Your Weekend: A Servant’s Heart

Jeannine Yousif

Dig Deeper into this Sunday’s Gospel: Read Mark 10:42–45

My morning routine is similar to many other women's; there's nothing particularly special about it. Arising before dawn, I take our dog for a nice long walk and then return home to prepare for my family’s morning rush: ensuring backpacks are good to go, lunches are made, water bottles are cleaned and freshly filled, different breakfast options are prepared and ready for eager hands, coffee is prepped, uniforms are ironed, shoes are found, homework is finished and packed, and any school, doctor, or activity forms are completed. 

However, at the beginning of this school season, I found myself particularly attentive to my husband, who remained sound asleep while I was busy crossing tasks off my list. My ears were attuned to the sound of the shower turning on in our upstairs bathroom, signaling he was about to start his day, a full hour if not more, after I had already started mine. 

I began tallying up the scoresheet. Look at how much I’ve done, all that has been accomplished for everyone else, and he’s only just waking up! Wouldn’t I like the opportunity to sleep in for an extra hour. It became less about the acts of service I was performing and who I was performing them for and more about receiving acknowledgment and recognition for the sacrifice I made to do them.

I wondered if my husband would even notice the absence of certain tasks. Would he even think of feeding the dog? Would he even look at the dog bowl? I found myself giving in to the temptation to test him: would he notice all I had done? Would he offer to help? Would he get up earlier the next day to help?  

And when he failed my test—which he had no chance of passing, poor guy—how the martyr in me responded! It started with the loud sighs and the extra rushing around; maybe I slammed the refrigerator door just a bit too hard. And what had changed when he didn’t notice all I had done when his alarm still went off at the same time (well after mine)? The tasks still needed to be done. I still was the one serving, but not with a happy, content, and joyful spirit. 

Do you know who suffered from my little temper tantrum? My children. My resentment and frustration boiled over to snarky comments and rushing them out the door so I could finally sit down, get a break, and sip my coffee. My relationship with my husband suffered as well. Instead of leaning into the Lord, asking for His help to soften my heart and increase my charity, and keeping my focus centered on Christ, I remained completely self-centered. Instead of remembering in humility the opportunity I have been given to serve in love, I remained puffed up with pride.

I certainly didn’t emulate Jesus in those moments. I certainly wasn’t focused on His teaching from this week’s gospel, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). My heart was not one of a servant, but rather one filled with resentment, comparison, and score-keeping. What exactly was my service costing me—an hour of extra sleep in the morning? 

What did Jesus’ sacrifice cost Him? Did Jesus get huffy when the apostles woke Him up from His slumber to calm a storm? When the people kept coming to Him, crowding around Him, asking for more—more healings, more cures, more words of wisdom, more of Him—did Jesus stomp His feet and demand a nap? Did He sigh loudly and keep score? 

He served the impoverished, the broken, the wounded, the despairing, and the dead—those whom He could never profit from—and it cost Him everything. The King and Creator of the universe, in the ultimate act of humility, to serve all those He came to save, sacrificed Himself so that we could live. 

Jesus served—out of His great love for every person that God the Father entrusted to Him for that day. Jesus served—out of His great compassion and desire for all of humanity to come to know the Father’s character through His own. Jesus served because in His kingdom, “whoever wishes to be great among [them] will be your servant…the slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). 

The world tells us to keep score, harbor resentment, and let pride take root in our hearts. Greatness, the world says, is measured by what you do and how much others see you doing it. 

In contrast, Jesus tells us simply to serve, because in serving others in love, we grow closer to Him. Serving is an invitation to share the heart of Jesus with others. And, in doing so, our hearts, like clay in the potter’s hands, are shaped into a heart more like His. Greatness, Jesus says, is measured by how you serve. 

Maybe the call to action we can glean from this gospel is not necessarily to serve more. Because, as women—engaging the receptivity, generosity, sensitivity, and maternity of our feminine genius—we have the tendency to step in and serve…a lot. Instead, let’s ask the Lord to help us examine the posture of our hearts as we serve in all of the many ways we do. Do we feel willing or resigned? Do we serve out of obligation or can we consider it an opportunity?

What motivates us to say yes to service? Are we motivated to serve to build up our resume, to appease or impress others? Are we motivated to serve out of our own vainglory—as James and John were in this week’s gospel, seeking recognition and praise? Are we serving only to say that we serve, lording it over others, and making our greatness known? (Mark 10:42).

Jesus, as the Son of God, gave us the greatest example of how to be fully human, to live abundantly, with hearts full of integrity, charity, and compassion. We are called to bear Jesus' image to others as we serve so that through us, they may see Him. In whatever capacity we are called to act charitably, may we seek to always bear witness to God's glory, pointing away from ourselves and toward Him.  

(And Lord, help me remember to prep the coffee the night before.)

With you on the journey,
Jeannine

Food for thought or journaling...

As you serve this week—in all the big and small acts of charity—ask the Lord to align your will, emotions, and motives to His servant's heart. Ask yourself if you are serving with an open heart, willing, and full of compassion and delight for those entrusted to us to receive our good works. Can you imagine Jesus in the place of the person or persons with whom you are serving this week? Can you allow this image to increase the depth of love and compassion in your heart?

Lord, place in me a heart like Yours, willing to love, open to encounter, and committed to serving others. May I steward Your grace, compassion, and mercy to others. Search my heart, Lord. Let Your peace rule in my mind so that when I serve, I will be filled with a joyful and generous spirit. May whatever I do, in word or deed, be in Your name, Jesus, bringing glory to You and glory to the Father. Amen.

 

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