In 1894 Lord Kelvin, a physicist, took the stage at the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Kelvin vocalised a claim being made much more widely in the field of science. “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.” I think that this was what Lord Kelvin thought that he had ‘dropped the mic’ when in reality he had dropped the ball! Eleven years later Einstein burst on to the scene and turned everything that physics had discovered on its head. It was a paradigm shift that transformed the way we see the world. That’s what paradigm shifts do, they change the way we see the world.

A Crown for an Apron

One of the last times that Jesus gathered with His followers we experience one of these paradigm shifts. In the upper room, with His friends, he turned on its head the long held belief that if you want to be blessed you need to look out for yourself and put yourself first. Knowing who He was, knowing whose He was, knowing the authority He had; He set His crown aside and picked up an apron. The one who sat in the highest position stooped down to serve. 

Serving a deaf man

Mark tells us many stories of people Jesus encountered on His travels. In chapter 7 we learn of a deaf man who met Jesus. We begin to see lessons emerge about how we serve others:

1.     Proximity

We read in 7:32 that the people Jesus served were right in from of Him. He mostly served those who were near Him, in close proximity. (We read in 7:31 that there were exceptions to this.) Almost without exception the people that God is sending us to serve will be in close proximity to us.

2.     Personally

In v33 we read that Jesus took the deaf to one side, away from the crowd. I’ve played enough rugby to know that being called to one side is not a good thing – most of the time! But that’s not what Jesus is up to here. I think Jesus knows that the deaf mans speech impediment would have caused the crowd to ridicule him. He spares him, before he heals him – he hears him and serves him personally. 

3.     Powerfully

Jesus then cries ‘be opened’ and the man is healed. When Jesus served, he accessed God’s power. We know that the New Testament promises that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. When we serve we encounter people who are sick, lost, bound and broken; our answer to that, our only real answer, is the power of God. When we serve, we also pray.

What do you need to put down to serve someone?

What are some of the things that we are holding on to that are preventing us from serving those around us? What is the crown that I need to put down? Is it my pride? Is it my time? Is it my comfort? Is it my convenience?

I think that when we begin with prayer, listen, and share meals with people we will be presented more opportunities to serve those around us than we can count. Almost without fail, because this has become so counter cultural, the question will arise – “what makes you so different?” At that point we finally have enough trust to share our story.