YOUNG ADULT
THE BLESSING OF BLESSING
My friend, Sonya, loves to tell the story of her arrival at Southern Adventist University, in the United States, several years ago. It had been a long ride from Texas to
Tennessee, squished in the backseat of an over-loaded Buick. The car was barely
parked before Sonya bounded into the dorm to check-in, with all the nervous
enthusiasm of a college freshman. After finding her
room, she took her first steps of independent adulthood—carrying loads of her
stuff from the Buick to her new home.
Sonya’s dad helped with the moving, while her mom sorted everything in
her room. Soon, an older gentleman wearing a “We-Haul” T-shirt came by and
asked if he could help. Sonya thought it
was really nice that people came out to help students move in, and she
definitely needed it. There were lots of
stairs, and she had lots of stuff.
Gradually her dorm room filled with piles of random clothes still on
hangers, her huge ancient desktop computer, giant stuffed fish, and everything
else so important to college-freshman Sonya. “Is that it?” the
older gentlemen kindly asked on one of the last trips from the Buick. Sonya and her parents assured him they could
get the rest, and thanked him for his help.
After he left, Sonya’s dad asked her if she knew who that was. “No,” she said, a
little preoccupied with taking in her big, scary freshman world. “That was the
university president,” her dad said.
He taught about a kingdom where one must have the humility of a child to get in, and where the least are greatest, and the greatest are least. In this Kingdom, the only way to be a person of influence is to serve."
Sonya nearly
choked. The university president had
just finished helping her move all her crazy clothes, huge computer, and giant
stuffed fish into her dorm room! He had never
introduced himself as the president, as someone who deserved her respect and
attention. He had just helped her move
in. Needless to say, Sonya has been a pretty big fan of Dr. Bietz ever
since. Jesus taught about
a kingdom where university presidents help nervous freshmen move into their
dorm rooms. He taught about a kingdom
where one must have the humility of a child to get in, and where the least are
greatest, and the greatest are least. In
this Kingdom, the only way to be a person of influence is to serve. Jesus, the greatest
Influencer of all time, said it best after He humbly washed His disciples’
dirty feet: “Do you understand what I
was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and
‘Lord,’ and you are right, because it is true.
And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to
wash each other’s feet. I have given you
an example to follow. Do as I have done
to you. How true it is that a servant is
not greater than the master. Nor are
messengers more important than the one who sends them. You know these things—now go do them! That is the path of blessing” (Jn 13:12-17, NLT). We are not greater than our Master. That is why He gives us the privilege, as
stewards of influence, to walk the path of blessing through service.
Random
thought...When last did I do a spontaneous act of kindness, or even an intentional
one?
