Teach them how to serve

Jacob, my four year old, will ask for “Bunny”. People who hear him ask for this often look at him like, “What are you saying?”  Then we explain that on the Nesquik container, there is a bunny, and ever since Jacob has been little, he calls it that. “Oh,” they will say. Now Gavin, my soon-to-be two-year-old, has started to call it the same thing.  Funny what our kids perceive, and how these perceptions are imitated by others in the family.

I was fourteen, and it felt like we went down there every Saturday.  We headed to a place we called the mission.  It was on one of the dangerous streets in Kansas City.  Dad would load us up in the red van and we would be on our way to help.  Sometimes it would seem like hours had passed, and we would still be there. Sometimes my dad would lead the service, sometimes he would help stock the shelves; other times he just did any other needed task.  I would meet some of the most unique people.

One of my scariest experiences happened when I was talking to this guy, and he kept asking me to give him a high five.  I was trying to be respectful and just kept doing it.  Finally he said he wanted to show me the streets.  I followed him, and then Booker grabbed me.  Booker was a guy who had been at the mission for a long time.  He knew the streets and had gotten caught up in some crazy stuff.  Booker saved my life.

When I came home from college there was always chocolate milk in the fridge.  Mom knew I loved it.  It was one of the ways she reminded me how much she loved me by buying a gallon for me when I came home.  This was not shocking to me because my mom was always willing to help with Sunday School, VBS, or serving food at church.  I would watch her spend hours in the kitchen for a church event.  There were many nights when I just wanted to go home, but she was finishing up at church.  My mom always had this heart to help people.  Rod, my step dad always says, “It is her goal to feed the world.”

I heard that Booker died.  It made me so sad because I believe that God used him to save my life.  The mission impacted my life; my mom’s heart of service impacted my life.  My parents could have told me a million times to serve other people, but it would not have influenced me as much as their actions.  Without a doubt, my parents set an example that made a lasting impression.  I am the man I am today because of their actions and how they showed me what Christ meant when he said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

We were cleaning up at Mt. Calvary after VBS.  Mindy, my wife, had gone home to put our little ones down for naps, but Jacob, stayed to help afterwards.  I was carrying chairs and thinking about how hot it was.  I may be a pastor, but I am a whiner sometimes.  I hate being hot--ask my wife.  On the outside I was happy, but inside I was feeling the heat, and was thrilled for the relief of entering the building.  Jacob was helping Tracy, our Children’s Ministry Director, inside.  You always wonder how you are doing as a parent.  I pray that I set an example for my kids, and have my days when I feel like I get frustrated too easily.  Jacob said to Tracy, “I want to be a helper like my daddy.” At that moment I knew it was happening-- in spite of all of my weaknesses, he was imitating the example I had hoped to set for him.

You are that example for your kids.  It may have taken my dad fourteen years but he provided an example that impacted my life.  Servant Sunday is all about patiently setting the example for your kids and for the people in our community.  We may do things a little differently this Sunday, but it is for a reason: to impact Brentwood.  God sent us to love Brentwood.  It is Mt. Calvary’s calling to love Brentwood--even if our neighbors are sometimes crabby; even if people think we should take better care of our property; even if people don’t care about any church.  This Sunday we come together to do exactly that.  At 9 am we will have a short service with a different style of music; a time to reflect; and then we will head out to serve and love Brentwood.  We will celebrate as the Body of Christ in Lutheran tradition—with a potluck.  So wear shorts and a T-shirt; bring a side dish and an open mind, and let’s set a lasting impression on our families and Brentwood.