As He That Serveth

“And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.” Luke 22:25-27

In a banquet setting, there are two groups of people: those who are sitting at the tables enjoying the banquet and those who are serving the food. The invited guests are certainly deemed more important than the wait staff, but that distinction alone isn’t always sufficient. At some banquets, there are reserved tables with name cards for important guests. The banquet planners choose the seating according to the host’s wishes, and the best seats are given to those who are the most significant to the host. The attendees at such an event may have occasion to look around the room and evaluate who was given the best seat in the house, but the servers see the room in a completely different way. They are looking to see who still needs to be served.

The disciples looked at Jesus’ coming kingdom as if it were a banquet to which they had been invited; but He wanted them to understand that they were going to be serving, not sitting. Jesus said to them, “I am among you as he that serveth.” If we are going to please the Lord, we need to be looking for needs to fill rather than trying to determine whether we have the best seat at the table. Let’s forget about getting a good seat and begin approaching our lives as those who are tasked to serve.