Luke 17:7-10

As a disciple of Jesus Christ our Lord, I am reminded who I am serving and why I am serving.

Luke 17:7-10 7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”
It has been more than three years since I am posted to serve the Lord in Kum Yan Methodist Church as a pastor. A lot of things have happened over the three years especially in the Mandarin Congregation. Attendance in Mandarin Congregation has gone back to pre-covid levels. I have witnessed four graduation of Disciple Class and will be witnessing one more in September. We have served together in two Alpha classes, including one online in 2021, and the third one just started this week. We see that birth of Mandarin Children Ministry has blessed both Mandarin and Cantonese congregation. I give thanks to God for allowing me to participate in His Kingdom and give all honour to Him.

So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ” (Luke 17:10)

One day, I was praying and reflecting on the ministries that I am involved in so far in Kum Yan Methodist Church.
As I was praying and reflecting on what has happened so far. God led me to this passage in Luke 17:7-10. As much as I hope for some recognition and appreciation, I am reminded that there is no place for boasting. As a disciple of Jesus Christ our Lord, I am reminded who I am serving and why I am serving. As much as we hope for some recognition and affirmation, and also the knowledge that God delights in our service and bless his servants (Luke 12:35-37); as much as we know and experience that we are also a child of God, it is important that we cannot serve with an “expectation” from God to receive blessings, recognition and appreciation from Him. We serve with the knowledge and experience that we have already received the gift from God which is the gift of salvation. We serve with the knowledge and experience that we are not even worthy to serve in the first place. We serve because of our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord. And our service is only a reflection of our humble response to the great gift of God in Jesus Christ. Thus, when we come before the Lord, we can only say, “We are unworthy servants, we have only done our duty.”
May the Lord help me, and all of us, to serve with distinction to expand His Kingdom, but also without the need and desire for recognition because we have already received the greatest gift from God in Jesus Christ. May the Lord help us to remember who we are that, even at our best, we are only forgiven sinners.