Giving to others; serving the Lord

Members and friends of our church met at the Cracker Barrel this morning for what is becoming for many of us our favorite Christmas tradition: Bless A Server. Karen, one of our members, saw this on Facebook several years ago and thought it was something we could do, too.

She contacted the manager of the local restaurant and told him what we wanted to do. Could he choose someone among his staff who could really benefit from a Christmas blessing? We came for breakfast together, and gave what we could over and above as a blessing, often several hundred dollars. Each time the right person was chosen. One young lady had that morning told her children there would be no Christmas for them; she had enough money for her car payment and their food. When she received her envelope she cried, and told us what it meant for her and her family. “This is Christmas!” she said. We told her who we are, and we reminded her Who Jesus is, and there were hugs and tears.

Each year is different. This year one of the servers went to the new manager and suggested he choose one of her co-workers for the blessing “if that church comes back this year.”

Sally (not her real name) has several children, works hard and is struggling. It was arranged for her to be the server and recipient of the blessing. but she wasn’t there today, and the server who recommended her waited on us, and promised to get the money to Sally. This year 24 people showed up for breakfast, and more donated for a total of $2,001. (One of our little boys gave $1)

Maybe it’s even better that we don’t know the server. We don’t do this for recognition or for “stars in our crown”, but we give because much has been given to us. Jesus gave His life for us, for me and for you too. We want the love He gave us, He gives us, to be shared and multiplied in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our world.

We have our issues, our struggles, too. Many of us have health issues, family problems, financial concerns. We give because we’ve been broken too, we give because someone helped us and showed love to us. We give because God loved us first.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4: 18-19 New International Version)

Where have you seen God today?