Devon Dick
THIS WEEK is being celebrated as Holy Week and it is that time of the year when the nation reflects on the meaning of service. It is important to recall the model of servanthood as recorded in Isaiah and demonstrated in the person of Jesus Christ especially as the nation prepares to elect servants in the upcoming general election. The country is in desperate need for volunteers in many civic organisations especially those geared towards young people. The nation would do well to look to the Bible for guidance in understanding what a true servant ought to be.
The Book of Isaiah is a good book to start with because Isaiah is a prophet that is recognised by Christians, Jews and Muslims and in that prophecy there are a series of passages termed "the Servant Songs" that can assist us to understand the call and purpose of God in calling human beings into His service.
The Servant Songs emanate from within the context of Israel being held in Babylonian captivity. For many of them all hope seemed to have gone and a nation which had prided itself in being a chosen people had now become a most "unfavoured nation". The prophets of God have been especially careful to say that Israel's demise has been the result of Israel's sin. Spiritual lethargy accompanied by its attendant sense of hopelessness pervaded the land. But in Servant Songs the scenery changes and God is promising to do a new thing and to set a new order into being. Hopelessness is set to become hope, despair is to lead to deliverance and lethargy is to be transformed into new life and God was going to raise up agents of this new thing that is to happen. In verse 1 of Isaiah 42 we read: "Here is my Servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight". Many scholars have tried to discover the identity of the Servant and many have been the debates surrounding the identity of the Servant. These have ranged from the prophet himself, the nation community of Israel, the remnant community within Israel, and even to some foreign king who was soon to release the captives and to send them home. I remember being given an assignment by my then lecturer, the Rev. Burchell Taylor to identify who was the suffering servant in the Servant Songs. And for the first time I went through the night in order to hand in the paper on time and at the end after giving up a night's sleep I felt that I was the suffering servant! However, the servant is a faithful individual or an obedient community. What then are the marks of this servant that will challenge us to real and sincere service? A true servant must recognise that he or she has been made in the image of God and should reflect those spiritual qualities of respect for life and liberty. The servant ought to have an intimate relationship with God, which is, strengthened through communion in prayer. A survey done by the Stone Polls some years ago found that the vast majority of Jamaicans want leaders who display spiritual values and virtues. This servant must be all for God and must sense that the Creator of the universe chooses, calls and commissions him or her to a noble task. There must be a sense of mission and a feeling that one has been divinely created, divinely appointed and divinely ordered. The servant must be like a lamb who is compassionate, gentle, patient and persistent.
The servant of God should be a gentle lamb like Mary who had a little lamb, which "followed her to school one day". It was Jesus who said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, but it must not be so among you--". The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. Jesus constantly reminded his disciples that the greatest person is the servant of all. It is then that God will delight in his servant and work through that person.
A true servant must not seek attention, accolades or prize; does not push over the weak in order to elevate the self, but pays careful attention to the desolate, despised and discouraged. This human being does not parade might, talent and power as if to overawe others or outdo them; and will not "lick off anybody's head" to gain position, power and prominence. This person does not entertain pessimistic approaches to life and does not readily abandon the path in the midst of adversity. But with a quiet, unassuming gentleness, the servant ought to be confident that God's order and design for the whole world can be and will be accomplished, by compassionate, selfless service.
Those who are offering themselves for service in politics, business, civic organisations and the Church should ensure that their lifestyle is characterised by God's portrait of a servant.
