“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).
Heavenly Father, Exalted God, You are head over all (1 Corinthians 11:3). We praise You for the Son of Your love, whom You have seated at Your right hand...above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. You have placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything... (Ephesians 1:21-23).
Incredibly, He walked among us. In staggering, stupefying, amazing grace He walked among us as one who served (Luke 22:27).
Open our minds, O Father, to grasp the magnitude of a God who emptied Himself to become God with us—to understand that Christ Jesus...being in very nature God...made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness...humbled Himself... (Philippians 2:5-8).
This is the God who instructed us to follow His example, to adopt His mindset. O help us! We are so prone to pride, so pulled towards power! And yet the One who is Head of the table serves us, and calls us to serve.
Lord, give us hearts like Yours. Forgive our pride and entitlement. Forgive our demands for a prominent place at the table, our jealousies and disputes over rank and position. Forgive our expectations to be served.
Make us more aware of opportunities for service. Help us to see Your face in ordinary encounters—in the harried cashier, the exacting manager, the difficult co-worker, the unfriendly neighbor, the stressed-out mother, the anxious teenager, the lonely shut-in.
Help us to lay aside our labels and our judgments— to love sincerely and humbly. Help us to be present as one who serves among those in need—the foreigner, the outcast, the widow, the orphan, the prisoner, the oppressed, the marginalized, the different, the forgotten, the least of these...
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