Servanthood is in the Pee Bottle

It was my turn to comb the easement alongside Taft Avenue for trash as our family slowly made our way north. Dave carried Anna in the Moby wrap and pushed the stroller with the other two and I picked up yet another soda bottle and started to unscrew the cap to pour out the contents before stuffing it into our bulging bag when I glanced at the Dew-like liquid inside. Yuck. I'd heard about other people picking up similar bottles near the highway as others from Element church served our city in "I Heart Cheyenne" month with cleaning, painting, feeding and other projects. I had finally stumbled upon a bottle that some person, presumably male, had peed in and thrown out the window of a passing car. And it was half a twist away from splattering on my sneakers. "What pigs live in this city!", I thought. half way through the 60 hours our family served this month, I admit my attitude was less than immaculate. We all know Jesus served all, including the ungrateful and those that made his job harder, while on earth. We also know serving is our life and mission here on earth; the very reason we exist.  I've heard it said that you can tell whether or not you are developing a servant's attitude based on how you respond when you are treated like one. Oh, ouch. I guess I have a ways to go. Serving should not be an annual event that comes from a challenge; serving should be the daily posture of our lives.  Don't believe me? Consider this, God created Adam and Eve to serve him, and to some extent all of creation, by working in the Garden. Humans failed in that service. To redeem mankind so they could fulfill their destiny, God chose Noah and started fresh. Again mankind failed to fulfill their destiny. God chose a nation from among the people and established the Israelites as his servants on earth. Israel failed. God chose a family from within Israel to serve him always - the line of David. David's dynasty failed. Finally, God prophesied through Isaiah that He would work out the  destiny of mankind with is own arm. The Servant Songs of Isaiah describe this perfect servant. Jesus fulfilled that prophesy. God himself  became a human and served as all mankind was created to serve. The God-man died and rose from the grave so he could pour out his Spirit on all of us that we might fulfill our destiny as well. Wow! All of salvation history points to mankind's destiny to serve. Let us all serve and glorify our Father in heaven and see what happens to our world! This article was originally published by Dave and Jenn Kelley on another site at the end of August, 2012.