Healing BLESS Communities预览

Day Four—Serve in Love

by: Nancy Sugikawa

Many people today do not have a positive view of Christians or do not know who Jesus really is, but they do understand kindness and generosity. As followers of Jesus Christ, we can point to a loving God by blessing and serving people in practical ways. Yet, for those who feel like outsiders, unseen, or rejected, simple acts of service may not be the blessing we think they are. We usually define personal needs in terms of material resources like food, education, and housing, but often what is at the heart of a person’s need is social, emotional, and spiritual.

In their book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor, authors Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert define poverty as “broken relationships that each person has with God, self, others, and the rest of creation.” It is therefore the ministry of reconciliation, the healing of one’s relationships, that brings true blessing to the whole person. This is the healing and loving service that Jesus offers the Samaritan woman he encounters in John 4.

In the NRSV, verse 9 includes the annotation “Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans,” as if to remind readers of the longstanding condemnation and rejection of Samaritans by their Jewish ancestors. Jesus invites the woman into conversation, asks her for help, and affirms that she has something of value to offer. With one request Jesus reverses the power dynamic between a holy Jewish rabbi and a sinful Samaritan woman and places himself at her mercy.

For many of us it is easier to give than to receive. To ask for help is to admit that we are not self-sufficient and to acknowledge our limitations, making ourselves vulnerable to rejection and disappointment. But it is precisely when we ask for help that we affirm the strength and autonomy of the one to whom we make our request. We invite them to be our benefactor and open the door to healing and reconciliation.

Our church was once invited to visit the local detention center to meet with six Hispanic women. They were imprisoned because they did not have the right paperwork to live in this country. A few Spanish-speaking volunteers came along to translate for us. When I asked what we could do to serve these women, the friend who organized the visit said, “Just look them in the eyes, smile, and say their name. Remind them that their identity is not their prisoner number or the crime they are accused of committing. Invite them to share their story, and show them that you care. Finally, thank them for sharing their time and experiences with you.”

When someone shares their story with us—their pain, their hopes, and especially their regrets—they entrust us with a precious gift. They become the one serving instead of being served. We become the ones being honored instead of doing the honoring. And we experience God’s healing mercy together.

Prayer

Lord God, show us how to serve in love by embodying the message of reconciliation you have entrusted to us. Give us eyes to see those who feel unseen and unvalued. Help us to bless them by offering tangible help in times of need and by asking for help in our times of need. In doing so, may your gracious love, kindness, and healing be experienced by us all. Amen.

Reach Your Neighbor

How might the kindness and generosity of Jesus be revealed through us as we serve those who don’t look like us, vote like us, listen to the same music, or worship the same God we do? How might we embody the deeper ministry of reconciliation when we humbly ask for their help?

Author

Nancy Sugikawa is an ordained pastor in The Evangelical Covenant Church and discipleship coach with the Pacific Northwest Conference.