The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1963-03-08
Service Is All 4e
Lesson for March 10, 1868

used on less than first-rate occa-
sionS. For example, a hotel adj
vertises Service with a Smile. =
What they mean is that the bell
boys will do just what you want
done and ask no questions. Ser
vice there means that your
whi1nS will be attended to.
Again. service" is used by
manufacturers and statesmen all
over the place, meaning simply
that when the thing you bought
breaks down they'll send help to
get it started again; they will
make right what should have
been right in the first place.
Service Can be Herioc
One of the more astonishing
facts about Jesus was that He
could take an old word and give
it a new meaning which it has
never entirely lost. One of these
is this word Service. For one
thing He made it a term of
honor. He told His friends that
the way to greatness is the way
of service. He who be greatest
Of all. let Him be servant Of all.
He Himself consciously fulfill
ed the prophecies Of the ser
want songs in the latter half
of our book Of Isaiah, in which
the Servant of the Lord is des-
cl-ibed in moving and tragic
words. He told His disciples in
one Of their last hours together:
Il am among you as he that
Serveth."
Service. as Jesus saw it and
performed it, was no trifle, no
humdrum job. It became a mark
OF honor. Not only that. it rose
at times to the heroic. When
James and John came asking to
sit on thrones beside His flor
it was long before they got it
through their heads that Jesus
was not aiming for the tradi-
tlonal crown and-scepter bust
nessl-Jesus asked them first
if they could be baptized with
His baptism. They said yes very
easily; but only because they
did not realize what He meant.
It was baptism in blood He was
talking about. The aim Of His
life, He had already said. was
not to be served but to serve.
and to give His life" Service
and sacrifice, service and hero
ism, service and honor: Jesus
linked these together once and
for all.
Serving the Whole Man
Some people spend their lives
(and make money! by looking
after sick cats and dogs. Others
spend their working hours
sweeping and hopping; and
some people are garbage tip
pers. Now there is no work so
humble that it cannot be under
aiken in a spirit of Christ-hke
service. But there is something
n this world more important
han cats or floors or garbage:
people. Jesus was a car
oenter for many years: but the
line came when He could leave
and ox-yokeS to others.
He would go out to mend some
hing more fragile than OK yokeS,
more enduring than benches.
human beings. Any one who is
capable of "servicing" human
beings, in the way Jesus did.
IS wasting his talent on any les
ser material. What would we
link of a Savior Of men who
an a cat shop? Jesus put men
.ogether as He formerly put
wood together. He treated men
as whole men. or if they
we're not, He set out to make
hem so. Jesus was healer,
eacher and preacher.
Higher Serves the Lower
In the ordinary use Of the word
Service" people think of the
,ne who serves as on a lower
evel, a lower grade than the
me who gives the orders.
Jesus idea of it was quite diff
erent from that. To Jesus mind
and who Is ever nearer the
ruth than Hep it is the mark
# the superior person to be a
servant. His very superiority
avs an obligation on Him to
lelp others. There was once a
brilliant scholar who was also
IN able doctor. and a great
musician on top of that. This
nan buried himself" in the
nreStS of Africa to be a ms
doctor TO the back
ward people III a hackWaSh Of
he world. His friends tried TO
1eep him from going You are q.
hyperion man. they argued. Stay
rheere you will have recognl-
ion and honors! But the young
loctOr went on out TO his jun
lie. and today the world honors
nm. Albert SchWeitzer, far more
han they would have, if he had |
lot devoted his superiority, in
name. for those who |
we're in need of all things.
Based on outlines copyrighted
" the Division Of Christian Edu-