Will You Let Me Be Your Servant, ELW 659
1 Will you let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant, too.
2 We are pilgrims on a journey,
we are trav'lers on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
3 I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the nighttime of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
4 I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we've seen this journey through.
5 Will you let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant, too.
Devotion
It is so easy to think of the other as the object of my benevolence. Then, to be the servant of another becomes the doing of something for someone else. But if life is a journey on which I am someone else’s fellow traveler, then servanthood has the potential to be a relationship with someone else. Then we can share our fears and joys together, weep and laugh together, and be graceful to each other.
The test of compassion lies in true companionship. In the literal meaning of the word, to break bread together. And when we break bread together there is always the chance that we will recognize the resurrected Christ in our midst. Then we don’t have to carry the burden of imitating Christ to one another, but can we participate in the transformative presence of Christ for both of us. Who are we called to join on a journey of servanthood in the presence of Christ today?
Prayer
We listen, because we know in deep ways that your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Come among us, because we are yours, and ours is a listening mood. Give us ears and then hands and hearts and feet for your good news. Amen.
(From a Walter Brueggemann class prayer on July 14, 1998.)