One person clears the table because they care. The other wishes they would leave the dishes and sit down.
Both may be expressing love. Yet neither may feel loved.
Acts of service matter deeply. Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, washed His disciples’ feet, and ultimately gave His life for us. Love turns intention into action.
But Jesus also gave people His attention. He welcomed interruptions. He listened to questions. He stopped for people others passed by.
We see this tension when Jesus visits Martha and Mary. Martha serves while Mary sits at His feet. Martha’s service was sincere, but it became tangled with distraction, worry, and resentment. She became so occupied with caring for Jesus that she struggled to be present with Him.
Loving well requires both willing hands and an attentive heart. Sometimes love prepares the meal. Sometimes it leaves the dishes for later. Sometimes it notices a need and quietly meets it. Sometimes it puts down the phone and listens.
Jesus shows us a love that is both active and present. As we spend time with Him, He teaches us to look beyond the ways we naturally show love and notice what the other person may need.
Read: Luke 10:38-42; John 13:1-17
Luke 10:38-42 —
38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
John 13:1-17 —
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.
5 Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 8 Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Reflect: Who might need your help, your presence, or both today?
Based on the sermon, “Quality Time & Acts of Service” by Pastor Russell Gibbins, Jr.
