A Servant Of Christ

A SERVANT OF CHRIST

a prayer to open

Here I am, Lord. Remind me who I am.

I am loved. I am known. I belong to you.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.

This passage can be hard for us to read in our modern world. It has been misused during the course of history to justify slavery and oppress Christians and non-Christians alike. What place does it have here in Paul’s letter about identity in Christ? The first paragraph makes us so uncomfortable that we often miss or underestimate the revolutionary statement Paul was making about masters: “Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. . . . [God] has no favorites” (verse 9). This would have been shocking to anyone reading or hearing Paul’s letter in the first century. His point was that whatever our social, political, and economic status on earth, we are all equal in God’s eyes. Paul was using an image that would have been common in his day to illuminate the relationship we have with Christ. We no longer have to roam around this world alone without a purpose, being driven here and there by our own desires and longings. Rather, we belong to someone. But not just anyone: We belong to the King, who sees us not as his property but as his beloved children he protects, provides for, and guides into lives of abundance.

• Most of us tend to consciously or subconsciously classify or rank people based on their social, political, or economic status. Reflect on a time you have done this. What impact did doing so have on your view of the person involved?
• What does it look like to be a servant of Christ where you work (whether at home, at an office, on a community board, or elsewhere)? What do you sense God inviting you to adjust in what you currently do?
• Take a moment to quiet yourself in God’s loving presence. Ask him to open your eyes and heart to the ways he wants you to lean into the security of knowing you belong to him. What did he bring to mind?

Father, thank you for loving me and calling me yours. Open my eyes to the ways I am thinking of myself more highly than others or failing to recognize your image in each person I encounter. I am your servant and long to serve you wherever I find myself: at home, at work, in my community, in my church. Empower me by your Holy Spirit so I can see what I do as service to you and not get wrapped up in trying to get the approval of others. May I find myself anchored in the truth of being your treasured child, created to love and be loved by you. Amen.