Looking Beyond the Role
Scripture – Luke 17:7-10: 7“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
Reflection: As near as I can tell, Jesus is still talking to His disciples (Luke 17:1). Remember, the disciples of Jesus included far more than the twelve apostles. This larger group included all kinds of people who listened to and followed Him around. For the most part, they were quite ordinary people. That is, very few of them would have had much experience with servants. Some were probably servants themselves.
So when Jesus asks them to imagine having a servant their thoughts most likely would have gone to how they had been treated by people they had worked for. Would they thank their servant for doing what they were supposed to do? The implication is they would not. The application seems to be that when I do my job as I’m hired to do, I shouldn’t expect any special commendation for that.
Given all that, I find myself thinking about the people who serve me. There are waiters and waitresses, store clerks, service people, etc. How do I treat them? How do I see them? Or do I see them? No, I do not have to commend them for doing their job. That doesn’t mean I can’t.
For the past couple years I’ve been doing something with regularity. Lately I’ve gotten a little sloppy with it, so I’ll be more disciplined. When someone’s serving me I try to catch their eye and thank them. Sometimes they won’t look at me. (They don’t really see me, just a customer.) But quite often they do.
Try it yourself and see what happens. Practice looking beyond the role and see the person in front of you. If you look carefully, you might see Jesus Himself.
Reflection: As near as I can tell, Jesus is still talking to His disciples (Luke 17:1). Remember, the disciples of Jesus included far more than the twelve apostles. This larger group included all kinds of people who listened to and followed Him around. For the most part, they were quite ordinary people. That is, very few of them would have had much experience with servants. Some were probably servants themselves.
So when Jesus asks them to imagine having a servant their thoughts most likely would have gone to how they had been treated by people they had worked for. Would they thank their servant for doing what they were supposed to do? The implication is they would not. The application seems to be that when I do my job as I’m hired to do, I shouldn’t expect any special commendation for that.
Given all that, I find myself thinking about the people who serve me. There are waiters and waitresses, store clerks, service people, etc. How do I treat them? How do I see them? Or do I see them? No, I do not have to commend them for doing their job. That doesn’t mean I can’t.
For the past couple years I’ve been doing something with regularity. Lately I’ve gotten a little sloppy with it, so I’ll be more disciplined. When someone’s serving me I try to catch their eye and thank them. Sometimes they won’t look at me. (They don’t really see me, just a customer.) But quite often they do.
Try it yourself and see what happens. Practice looking beyond the role and see the person in front of you. If you look carefully, you might see Jesus Himself.
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