The worship committee at First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto wanted to try something new….. They asked four folks in the congregation to get together and plan one worship service each month for three months. This would help the staff by giving them a week when they could concentrate on other ministry work and could also add a bit of new spice to the Sunday worship experience. I’m on that little team (I’m a good Jewbyterian*) and last Sunday was our first crack at planning and carrying out worship.

The theme for worship was being a servant. Several of us offered to share our own reflections on what it meant to be a servant and below you’ll find what I shared. Let me give you the context first, the lectionary reading for the day:

From the book of Mark (as translated in The Message):

James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came up to him. “Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us.”

“What is it? I’ll see what I can do.”

“Arrange it,” they said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory – one of us at your right, the other at your left.”

Jesus said, “You have no idea what you’re asking. Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink, of being baptized in the baptism I’m about to be plunged into?”

“Sure,” they said. “Why not?”

Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized in my baptism. But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. There are other arrangements for that.”When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served – and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.”

So, based on that reading, we planned the whole service around the idea of being a servant. Here’s what I shared with the congregation:

Totally Martha

Last Sunday as Derrick, Dave and I were walking back to church from lunch, I spotted an elderly blind woman struggling to cross the street. A family was behind her, two parents and two kids, and they had to go around her to get across the street before the light changed. I ran over and asked “Would you like some help getting across?” She said “Darned right I would.” I helped her to the other side and asked if she’d be OK now. She said yes, thank you. As I went back towards Dave and Derrick the valet parking guy at the hotel on Cowper said “That was really nice.” Instead of feeling good about the deed, I wanted to cry. No, it wasn’t very nice. It’s just what I do. I couldn’t help it.

Since I was very young I always found myself most comfortable as a servant-leader. At gatherings of any size, I love to be the one handing out cookies, or pouring punch, or ladling out soup. Serving saves me from the awkwardness and discomfort of just being. You’re seeing another side of that same coin right now. I usually feel comfortable standing in front of a group of people and talking, or singing, or acting. Again, this saves me from the awkwardness of just being.

These are the roles I love the most, the ones where I get to “do” and don’t have to worry about just “being.”

I really resonate with the story of Martha and Mary, when Jesus came to their house. Martha immediately went about preparing a meal for Jesus, and then complained that Mary was just sitting there with Jesus and not helping to make the meal. I totally get that! I’m totally Martha.

That’s what made two of the most influential experiences in my lifetime so unusual, trips to El Salvador, and a few years later, Afghanistan. People often asked about those trips, “What did you DO there?” as though “Doing” was the most important thing. But it wasn’t…. being was. My role in going was to simply “be.” I was to “be” present for the people I’d meet, the stories I would hear, the things I would see, and the spirit that might move through me. Of course having been there led to a whole lot of doing, but none of that doing would really matter if I hadn’t allowed myself, for a bunch of awkward days and nights, to simply be

These days I feel surrounded by people very busy “doing,” so busy that they aren’t really present no matter where they are. That family, rushing around the blind woman…… I’m sure they weren’t bad people, just in a hurry to get to the next thing they were supposed to be doing.

So for me, when we talk about having to be a servant first, that may not mean the same thing to me as it might mean to others. For me, the role of servant, doing stuff, comes naturally. I’ll serve you cookies any day! The roles of simply “being Craig” and “being present” are a lot harder, but I’m working on it.

How about you?

*Jewbyterian – A person (me) who is Jewish by birth, culture, training, and belief, who finds himself most spiritually nourished surrounded by a bunch of wonderful Presbyterians (including my husband) at First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto where I have been fed and led for around 20 years. And yes, you will often find me serving cookies there.