“The Christian with the heart of a servant, serves out of love for Christ.”
In the season of Lent we are called to deny ourselves. Our call to fast, and pray, and give alms is intensified for these 40 days as we meditate upon the great sacrifice of Christ who denied Himself His very life, for our sake.
When we deny ourselves lesser things, we do so with the intent to achieve something greater. We deny ourselves, that is we “give something up” during Lent in order to grow closer to our Lord.
“I gave gold for iron, 1813”
In 1813, Frederick III, the King of Prussia, was at war with Napoleon Bonaparte. At stake was independence from the French empire. Frederick was not only faced with fighting the imperial army but he was at the same time trying to build an independent nation. The war proved costly and Prussia’s finances were stretched to their limits.
Responding to this crisis, Princess Marianne of Hesse-Homburg, donated all her gold jewelry to the state treasury. This prompted the women of Prussia to respond in kind. It is said that every woman, excepting perhaps the poorest of peasants, donated their gold and silver jewelry to be melted down in service to their country.
In exchange the women were given cast iron jewelry that came to be seen as highly prized tokens of gratitude from their king. The iron jewelry became a visible proof that the women had sacrificed personal splendor, a self denial of beautiful adornment, all for their king and their country. It was not long before it was considered unfashionable to wear any other adornment than iron..
The wars of 1813 established the foundation of what would become the modern state of Germany, and the iron jewelry became the basis for the Order of the Iron Cross. Members of the order wore no ornaments other than an iron cross for all to see.
The Heart Of A Servant
Christians who fully embrace their faith, likewise exchange the trappings of their former lives for a cross, all in service to their King.
But as Christians we do not practice self denial for its own sake. Self denial and sacrifice are a help toward greater charity. We give up the trappings of our earthly lives in order to use those resources to help others in need. We sacrifice a lower order of life that we may embrace a higher.
This is the law of self denial which Jesus continually calls us to. It is the law of all servants and ministers of Christ to follow their Master.
Such servants as these the Father will honor and crown.
Servanthood is one of the hallmarks of the Christian. Indeed it is in our nature to serve and the privilege attached to service runs through our language. The faithful in Christ are sometimes called the “servants of God.” Pope Saint Gregory the Great styled himself the “servant of the servants of God” while he was still a deacon, (the word “deacon” comes from the Greek diaconus and means “servant”) a practice followed by popes down to this day.
We place such great value on service that in many cultures the word “servant” is linked, not with the servile functions of a slave, but with the honor due those who are willing to deny themselves everything in service to their king or their country.
The word “samurai” evokes the thought of skilled warriors in service to a lord, as does the word “knight.” Both words have their origins in the word “servant” in their respective cultures.
In our own time it is now common and laudable to thank our veterans for their “service.”
The Christian with the heart of a servant, serves out of love for Christ.
In our personal relationships when we are drawn to someone, when we like or admire them, we want to do things for them. When we find the love of our life we want to serve that person. We are willing to put all of our wants and desires aside, in order to serve the one we love.
If we are willing to set aside even our own lives for the sake of another person, how much more should we be willing to set aside for the love of God, who is all love?
The gain we seek, in denying ourselves, is nothing less than to be with Jesus, and share in His glory. To achieve this it is necessary to follow after Him in the way of the cross.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Mark 16:24
Saint Paul compared such sacrifice and self denial with an athlete in training. In his first letter to the Corinthians he wrote:
“Do you not know that, of those who run in a race, all of them, certainly, are runners, but only one achieves the prize. Similarly, you must run, so that you may achieve. And one who competes in a contest abstains from all things. And they do this, of course, so that they may achieve a corruptible crown. But we do this, so that we may achieve what is incorruptible. (1Cor9:24-25)
Jesus shows us the only way to salvation. The one who saves His life will lose it. The one who loses it for God’s sake will save it. That is the wisdom Jesus leaves us, and the challenge we are faced with. Do we save our lives for ourselves only to lose it, or do we die to self for the sake of another and have our lives restored to us by God?
Pax Vobiscum
5th Sunday in Lent