Giving Service

Advent Day 16

Third Monday in Advent

December 12, 2011

Reading: Psalm 72:11–12 (NRSV)

¹¹May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. ¹²For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.

Theme: Giving Service

Reflection:

May all nations give God service. What does service to God look like? Is it worship, respectfully coming on regular occasions to give praise and thanks to God? Is it doing community service in the name of God? Yes and Yes!

In the Gospels (Matthew 22:37-40 and Luke 10:27), Jesus tells us: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” We can serve God by honoring, loving and worshipping the Lord, and by showing, love, respect and service to our neighbors. The two are inseparably linked. Loving God, frees us to love our neighbor, and serving neighbor without loving God may turn into self-serving service, rather than a God-grounded love of neighbor.

In this Advent season, as we watch and wait, preparing for Jesus to come, preparation of our hearts opens us to full spectrum of service to God. The Christmas season is also a time when service to neighbors is desperately needed. As Charles Dickens writes in “A Christmas Carol”, this is a time when “want is keenly felt.” The secular Christmas season is a terribly difficult time to be poor in our culture. The media continually display extravagant “Christmas” celebrations, reminding those “without” just how little they really have.

Keep both aspects of service to God in your Advent preparations. Spend time in worship, prayer, meditation and praise to God. Then, look on your neighbors through Jesus’ eyes and heart. See where there is need and pray about how you might meet that need.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, help me to serve God through worship, prayer, and praise to God and through meeting the needs of my neighbors in God’s name. Amen