Doormats or Thresholds?

20th Sunday after Pentecost

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many - Mark 10:45

She's spent a lifetime putting others first. As a child she helped to care for her younger siblings. During her years in the workforce, she kept an office running smoothly. In her married years, she's cared for her husband and her children.

She's never assumed that the first piece, the choicest cut, the best seat, was for her. Her daughter has observed it all as the years have passed and she has a few opinions about her mom's humility. Sometimes she is infuriated to see her mom waiting on the "men folk" or her friends or her grandchildren and letting them place their orders with her like she is a permanent waitress.

Jesus washes the feet of His disciples

Sometimes she longs to walk in the door and just see her mom lounging in a chair and her father in the kitchen stewing over pots and pans and checking to see that her mom's glasses is filled and she is comfortable.

And even though she sometimes feels conflicted to see her mother word so hard and many to take her for granted, she understands that her mother doesn't do it because she feels inferior to anyone else, or because she has low self-esteem.

Her mom does it because that is how she loves. Her mom does it because that is how she serves Christ. Her mom does it because her own parents impressed upon her that greatness is measured differently in Christ's eyes. Excellence is found in being servant to all, because that is what Jesus himself did.

We call it humility and we often think that too much of it makes us into doormats. However, the truth is that real humility makes us into thresholds - places where others can enter and experience for a moment Christ's own nurturing presence and self-offering love.

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