Matthew 20:26b-28 Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
“Table for two?” I felt like the hostess at a fine restaurant, and yet here I was at the largest feeding centre in New York. Whether street people or the working poor, the guests at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen were receiving a nutritious meal—and they were being served kindness and hospitality and the message that they mattered.
Alternating between Church of the Holy Apostles (Episcopal) and Trinity Lower East Side (Lutheran), the dozen or so students we brought to New York for a spring break learned what it was like to serve in a milieu very different from their own. Filling plates, cleaning tables, mopping floors—they also learned the paradoxical joy and freedom of humility.
“Table for two?” I can’t hear those words without acknowledging the sense of dignity they convey. “I am here to serve you. You matter.”
MOVING FORWARD: Who can you serve today?
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