“Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve …”   (Matthew 20:28). 

I sometimes hear words that strike me as particularly saddening: “I’m too old / poor / sick / whatever / to help others.”  Now I understand that our circumstances often do impede our ability to do things. But they shouldn’t ever impede our ability to serve.

The One we follow was dying on a cross when he made final arrangements – not for his own needs – but for the welfare of his mother (John 19:25-27), and there really are not any circumstances in which we cannot serve those around us in some way.  We can always serve – we can always fight for good. 

Too old? Let’s take just a couple of examples from the United States.   Although 87 year old Virginia native Anna Taylor has no special training in serving others or special opportunity to do so, she has worked tirelessly with a pair of knitting needles over the past nine years and has knit over 1,000 sweaters for needy children in impoverished areas around the world.  Likewise, Iowan Lillian Weber in similar circumstances has used needles to sew over 1,000 dresses and other garments for impoverished children in 47 African countries and 31 other countries around the world – and Lillian is 100 years old.

The organization “Little Dresses for Africa” coordinates the efforts of individuals like Anna and Lillian and has helped provide over two and a half million garments to children in need of basic clothing.  If you can use needles, check them out – they have easy instructions on such things as quickly making girls' dresses from pillowcases and boys' shorts from Tshirts.  And the end result is larger than just the clothing itself. In many African countries where the clothes are distributed, there are huge numbers of AIDS orphaned children. In those areas, well-dressed children look cared for, part of a family, and are much less likely to be abducted by human traffickers.

If you are  like me and are not sure which end of a knitting or sewing needle is the front, you can still help spread the word and support work like this. It’s all part of service, it’s all part of the ongoing fight to which we are called.

And the truth is, Christian service is a demanding calling.  It has no overtime bonuses, no vacations, no seniority benefits, and absolutely no retirement. But that just means countless opportunities to serve. The Christian fight is also never over in this life – but that just gives us endless opportunities for victory. The examples given here are just two out of a constellation of opportunities to fight and serve. 

So too old to serve?  Remember Anna and Lillian.  Too poor to serve? Remember you are just as rich in time as the richest person in the world – we all get 24 hours a day.  Too sick to serve?  Encourage those around you – nurses and doctors as well as visitors and other patients.   If we are developing a serving attitude, we will see opportunities to serve in almost any circumstances. The truth is, we should never be too anything to serve or to fight for good. 

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.  He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.  One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said … “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God” ( Acts 10:1-4).

Two aspects of Cornelius’ faithful walk before God are shown in these verses – twice over: his generous gifts to the poor and his prayer.  Now we may not be able to prove it, but given the fact of Cornelius’ evident  concern for those with needs, the final verse in this section of scripture seems to indicate he was praying  for the poor as well as giving to the poor.  If that’s the case, doubtless the poor were not all Cornelius prayed about, but the story of  this centurion reminds us that prayer and giving are both important in helping others and in learning the spirit of true giving ourselves.  Just as we can give without a concerned attitude, we can pray without actual giving, and in either case our concern is limited as well as our effectiveness.

This is a point the apostle James makes so clearly in his Epistle: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?" (James 2:15).  It’s a vital combination:  we should not speak without doing.  James doesn’t suggest that our words of comfort are not important, just that they should not be alone.  This applies as much in terms of our words spoken in prayers, of course, as it does in our direct relations with others.

The Book of Acts shows us that Cornelius understood the importance of both speaking and doing.  He reminds us of that other centurion who told Jesus “… just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Matthew 8:8-9).   Both these professional soldiers understood the relationship between speaking and doing; both understood that speaking of itself is not enough. But while the one story stresses what God does as a result of our requests, the other story stresses what we should do as a result of our requests.  Words and deeds are always interrelated, in prayer as in other areas of Christian life, and the more we remember that, the more we can accomplish.

William Riley is a relatively new Christian blogger whose work we are pleased to feature today.  In his article "Why God Why?" he takes a candid look at a question that puzzles many people – Why do some believers lead comfortable lives while other, equally sincere, believers suffer in their Christian service?  Life can produce its share of difficult questions, and "Why God Why?" is one that is often asked.  Is there an answer to this perplexing question – or at least something that we can understand to render it manageable?   To find out, read his article "Why God Why?" here.

This post is excerpted from our new free eBook, Lessons in Christian Living from the Early Church. You can download a copy of the book, without charge, here.



Like most of us, the apostle Peter made his share of mistakes.   He certainly showed an undeniable lack of faith on more than one occasion.  We have only to remember the time that he, along with Jesus and the other disciples, was crossing the Sea of Galilee and the huge storm came up. We remember how Peter and  the rest of the disciples frantically woke Jesus, who was sleeping peacefully in the ship, to tell him they were all going to drown (Matthew 8:23-25).  And then, of course, there was the time Peter loudly proclaimed he would never desert Jesus, only to deny him and flee within a matter of hours (Luke 22).  It’s no wonder Jesus called Peter “you of little faith” on more than one occasion.

But it is amazing to see the difference the strong indwelling of the Spirit of God makes when it comes into even those of “little faith.”  In the Book of Acts, after the apostles and many others received the Spirit of God (Acts 2), we see an interesting change.  Acts  12 tells us that after killing the disciple James, the brother of John, King Herod Agrippa had Peter arrested, intending to put him on trial.

We need to think about how Peter must have felt in this situation. He had been arrested during the Passover season – the anniversary of the death of Jesus – and the awful fate of his Master must have been very present in his mind, especially after James had just been killed.  But notice the details of how Acts describes Peter’s dramatic rescue from prison: 

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.  Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.   He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.     Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.  Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision (Acts 12:6-9).

Now think about everything we know about Peter from the Gospels – his frequent lack of faith and propensity to “crumble,” as well as his obvious fear.  Given the dire circumstances of his imprisonment and the fate that likely awaited him, we would presume that Peter was probably lying sleepless in his cell – worrying over his situation and his possible martyrdom.  But Peter was sleeping. 

Even after the rescuing angel “turned the light on” in his cell, Peter continued to sleep, and we can almost hear him snoring peacefully.  Acts tells us that the angel even had to poke him in the side (the Greek word pataxas means “striking” – not a gentle nudge) to wake him, and Peter had apparently been sleeping so soundly and deeply that even when he was awakened, he was still unsure of what was happening.

Can we even compare the Peter who woke the sleeping Jesus in terror in the storm on the Sea of Galilee with this Peter who likely faced death and yet now slept peacefully like his Master?  Clearly, the powerful indwelling of the Spirit of God had transformed Peter, and his story can be an inspiring one to us all if we can recognize the amazing change that enabled this example of Christian faith under persecution.

We need not doubt for a minute that Peter was humanly concerned regarding his circumstances and aware of the danger he was in.  In that ancient culture, guards were usually given the penalty awaiting prisoners they allowed to escape, and Acts tells us that when Peter was not found in his cell Herod had his guards executed (Acts 12:19). 

Peter had every reason to be afraid. But just as the light that shone in his cell was not of his making, Peter was doubtless “reflecting” additional faith he had been given, and he knew that God would deliver him if it were not against his will.  With that truth in mind, Peter was sleeping well – even when he was sleeping in Herod’s cell.

If we find ourselves anxious or losing sleep regarding the outcome of difficult or potentially dangerous situations in our own lives, we can remember the example of Peter.  Like the formerly fearful apostle, we too can come to the faith that deals confidently with times of uncertainty and trouble. Like Peter, we too can develop the faith needed to sleep soundly.