Service in Faith

Good morning. I want to begin by telling you a little bit about myself. My name is Jamie Johnson, and my family and I first came to Hyde Park in 2000 before I went into sixth grade. As most of you know, we regularly attend the 8:30 chapel service. I enjoy coming here and seeing all the familiar faces. My favorite part of the chapel service is that we take communion every week. That’s very important to me because I feel like my sins are washed away, and I have a fresh start for the upcoming week. While I like the traditional service, the 9:30 contemporary service is more my style. So, when this service is over, I go to the 9:30 service and enjoy the more upbeat music. From sixth grade to now, I’ve been involved in the youth group here at Hyde Park. Over the years, my youth directors, youth counselors, and friends have made a huge impact in the person I have become today and the relationship that I have with God. In less than two weeks, I’m heading off to Stetson University in Deland. I’m going in Undecided, knowing full well that God is going to be with me, and help me fulfill the calling for my life. I plan to become actively involved in the Wesley Foundation on campus, and find a new church home. My expectations are pretty high after coming to Hyde Park, so I’ll try to have an open mind.

In the summer of 2003, before I started my first year of high school, I had the unique opportunity to join the youth group on a mission trip to Costa Rica. This was my first mission trip, so going into it I had no expectations. I had decided to go because I had heard from all my friends how amazing the mission trips were, and I felt like I was missing out on something. I was just hoping to somehow make a difference in the lives of the Costa Rican people that we met.

When we got to Costa Rica, we were split into two groups: one group was building a school for the local children, and the other group was working in a small village doing repairs and whatever else needed to be done. We were assigned a group, and in the middle of the week, we switched places, so everyone had the opportunity to experience both.

I started off working at the school. Now, let me tell you. If you’ve ever had to tile a floor, you know what I’m talking about. But if you haven’t, I can honestly tell you that that is the hardest physical labor I have ever done in my entire life. Tiling a floor may seem easy, but let me let you in on a little secret: it’s really not. This is what the tiling process consisted of: We poured dried cement into a wheelbarrow and mixed it with water. Then, we took a tile and spread cement on the back of it and carefully placed it on the ground. Then we took a rubber hammer and pounded it into place. It doesn’t seem that bad, until I tell you that we were tiling the floor in the entire school.

Now, I’m not here to complain about the work I did on the mission trip or to brag about what I did either. I’m just telling you what my mindset was the first few days of the trip. I was only concerned with how much tiling there was to be done and how much we would be able to finish before the day was over. I was completely focused on getting the tiling done, instead of realizing the real purpose of the trip. It wasn’t about how much work we got done, it was about the testimonies we shared with each other and the relationships that we built with the people we met. It wasn’t until later that week that all of this seemed to come together for me.

I was sitting against the wall taking a break, and I looked up at a Costa Rican man standing next to me. He was leaning against a shovel, and he was looking at the beginnings of the school, and he was just smiling. I looked at him for awhile and realized that this meant so much to him that we were here. And, he was working right alongside us, not just watching us do all the work. In that moment, I knew that God was trying to teach me about the importance of serving others and what an invaluable lesson that is.

The purpose of serving is not to see how much you can get out of it, or what you can personally gain from it. When you serve, you should do it whole-heartedly, expecting nothing in return. Surprisingly, this selfless act is so much more rewarding than anything you could ever expect.

The youth group’s theme verse for this summer was Isaiah 1:17 which says, “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Punish those who hurt others. Help the orphans. Stand up for the rights of widows.” This summer we looked at injustice and how we as individuals, as Christians, and as a youth group, can somehow make a difference in the world around us. Last week, Dave Sippel, our youth director, talked to us about making a change now. It is our job as God’s people, to reach out and serve those around us, no matter what our age or where we are in our walk with Christ. It’s important to realize that while all of us may have our different callings in life, God has called each and every one of us to use our time, our talents, and our resources, to help those around us.

Every Sunday morning in this service, we recite the Lord’s Prayer together. Part of that prayer says, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Just looking at those few lines, we can see what God is calling us to do. He’s asking all of us to be like Him and show His love by humbling ourselves and being servants to others. We are to take the characteristics of Heaven, and, like Jesus, bring them into our sinful world to spread the word of God. So, from now on, whenever you speak the Lord’s Prayer, listen to what God is calling you to do. Open your heart to all the opportunities you have to serve God’s people.

We live in a world in which the word “I” is slowly drowning out the cries of the needy and smothering the helpless. We live in a world in which the only way to find true happiness is not in helping and serving others through Christ, but through finding the next quickest, easiest way to help ourselves benefit, no matter what the price. As a society, we have become blinded to the needs of the world around us, whether it’s AIDS in Africa or the homeless men and women who congregate here in the Activities Center every Sunday morning. We selfishly consider ourselves the top priority in our lives, and that is precisely what God doesn’t want us to do. Instead, He wants us to use the gifts we’ve been blessed with to build up our brothers and sisters around us.

In 2001, a survey was conducted to determine the priorities of the generation before WW2 and the generation after WW2. The generation before WW2 said that their priorities ranked in this order: God, family, country. Of the generation after WW2, 98% listed themselves first before anything else. So clearly, people are becoming more and more self-centered.

In the Bible, many references are made, instructing us to be humble and to serve others. In Philippians chapter 2, it says, “In your lives you must think and act like Jesus. Christ himself was like God in everything. But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit. But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant. And when he was living as a man, he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death - death on a cross.”

Matthew 12:18 says, “Here is my servant whom I have chosen. I love him and I am pleased with him. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will tell of my justice to all people.”

A few weeks ago, my family and I participated in a Second Saturday mission project with Hyde Park. There were a few different work sites, but we went to a Haitian church called Faith Community United Methodist. There was a lot of work to be done, from yard work to moving chairs to sorting out clothes for a yard sale. Well lucky for us, we got to start right away on cleaning the bathrooms! After working for a couple hours, our missions group had gotten so much done. Vicki Walker took the preacher of the church from room to room to show her what we had accomplished, and she was so grateful. She wore a big smile on her face and kept thanking everyone. After we left, I felt so good knowing that I had been able to help serve that church and represent Hyde Park. I must admit that at first, I was a little unhappy about giving up my Saturday morning, but after we left, I realized that it was the best use of my time.

In the Disney movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmeralda, a gypsy, finds herself in a cathedral, singing a prayer to God:

God help the outcasts, hungry from birth

Show them the mercy, they won’t find on earth

God help my people, we look to you still

God help the outcasts, or nobody will.

I ask for nothing, I can get by

But I know so many, less lucky than I

Please help my people, the poor and down trod

I thought we all were, the children of God.

God help the outcasts, the children of God.

Our mission in life, as individuals and as God’s people, is to give of ourselves completely to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. He has blessed us with so many things that we are to be grateful for. But instead of keeping these gifts to ourselves, we are asked to use them to reach out to the poor and less fortunate.

Once a month, the youth group goes on a local mission trip to help churches or families in need. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to go on one to the Good Samaritan Mission, where we were helping a migrant church repaint their youth room. It had been built for them a few years before, but due to a lack of money, they were unable to keep it looking nice. So, we painted the walls inside, while Dave pressure-washed the walls outside. I have to admit. It wasn’t all work. After awhile, we were too tempted with our paint brushes, so we moved from painting the walls to painting each other. Eventually, our fun moved outside, where we attacked Dave. It didn’t last too long though, because he did have the pressure washer. After we left, I felt like a true servant of God. I realized how blessed I am to have this amazing youth building here for whenever I need it, and I was glad that those kids could also have a place to call their own. We helped make God’s love real to that church by giving our time and talents to give them a place to come and worship God together.

So, let’s leave our selfish ways behind and not spend so much time talking about “I.” We need to now focus on the “you?” What can I do to serve you? What can I do to improve your life? How can I show you God’s love through my actions and my words? Before I go, I would like to challenge each and every one of you to ask yourselves, “How do I leave behind my selfishness, my ego, and my pride, and begin to show everyone that I have chosen to rearrange my priorities?” Let us now decide to offer ourselves to the service of others; to serve God in a way that others may come to Him and experience His peace and His love through our actions and our service. Thank you.