Called to
Serve
by Iris Barta
A
s God’s people, God chooses to work through
us in the world and in the Church. His Word
says: “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your
God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God,
to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul?”
(Deuteronomy 10:12).
The word “serve” often has negative connotations.
It is not our human nature to serve others. It has the
implication of someone else being our master, of doing
somewhat menial tasks for little or no reward.
A similar word with a more positive connotation
is volunteer. Volunteerism is very popular in Canada.
Students in some provinces are required to complete
forty hours of volunteer service to graduate from
high school; some corporations offer a day off with
pay for employees who are willing to spend that day
volunteering for an organization of their choice. Even
volunteer vacations have become somewhat trendy.
One online advertisement I’ve seen offers time spent
“working hard, travelling, and having a good time while
achieving worthwhile goals.” Some universities offer
credits for these vacations. While all of these things are
very good and certainly commendable, they are not quite
what God had in mind when He directed us to serve Him
with all our heart and all our soul.
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THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2014
The requirement in Deuteronomy 10 first of all is
directed to God’s people. In the Old Testament, this
referred to the Israelites. The Israelites were a people
set apart to receive the covenant promises of God. These
promises were fulfilled when God sent His Son, Jesus
Christ. Jesus, true God, humbled himself to become a
baby in a stable, to live through all the temptations and
hurts of our world. He came to defeat Satan and the sin
of our world, on the cross. He did that for each of us
because He loves us, His people.
In our baptism we are marked with the cross: He
puts His name on our forehead and on our heart to
mark us as His own. In gratitude for all He has done
for us, we answer His call to serve Him with all our
hearts and all our souls gladly, empowered by His Holy
Spirit at work in us. It becomes a joy, not an obligation.
Serving the Lord is not so much what we do, but who
we are.
Women in the Church
In His infinite wisdom God created us as men
and women—equal in His sight but not the same.
Women have unique gifts to serve the body of Christ.
Throughout the history of the Church, there are many
examples of women serving, women who act as models
for our service today. In fact there are 188 women
mentioned in the Bible. This number alone tells us
the important role women played in God’s plan for
salvation; most writings of this time period in history
did not mention women at all.
Women do not serve in pastoral ministry in Lutheran
Church–Canada (LCC), a position we take based on the
teachings of Scripture. That might sound unfair to some
but we recognize that God calls His people to serve Him in
different ways. This is called the doctrine of vocation. We
all share certain vocations—we are all called, for example,
to serve God by being good citizens in the country in
which we live. But other vocations are specific to only one
group of people. Only men are called to be fathers; only
women are called to be mothers. The vocation of pastoral
ministry works similarly: God calls some men—but not
most—to this type of service.
In the same way, God calls women to serve Him in ways
unique to their own individual vocations. Some of these
callings are in “traditional” female roles—like raising
families, teaching children, and building community in
congregations—but many others are in roles our culture
might call more “contemporary”: as church workers, as
organizers of mission and social ministry projects, and
as leaders at the congregational, district, and synodical
level. Women are called by God to serve the Church in
a variety of different ways, and it’s worth reflecting on
some of these at length.
Only women, as we have noted, are called to be
mothers. In 2 Timothy chapter 1 we hear about Lois
and Eunice, Timothy’s mother and grandmother. Like
young Timothy, many of
us recall the faith of our
mothers or grandmothers.
Your mother is often the
first person who whispers
in your infant ear that Jesus
loves you. She probably
taught you to sing “Jesus
Loves Me” and to say your
first prayers.
Another “traditional”
role that women fill in our
congregations is making our congregations extensions
of our homes by serving in the kitchen. Imagine one
of those potluck dinners we love without the service
of the women of the Church. The work done in the
kitchen goes beyond making and serving meals. In the
kitchen, women of multiple generations work together,
building relationships—deep, loving, and supportive
relationships that are formed by women who love each
other because Jesus first loved them.
Creative women also enhance our worship by serving
on altar guilds, preparing and maintaining the sanctuary
for worship.
Women also have a special gift when it comes to
sharing the care and compassion modelled by our Lord.
They care for the ill and the aging. Often women are
the people who spearhead the food bank collections and
the mitten trees in our congregations, and the collection
of care kits to be sent overseas. Women of Lutheran
Church–Canada have made thousands of quilts to be
donated and distributed by Canadian Lutheran World
Relief, as just one example.
But many women serve in official church work
capacities too, as deacons. They serve as teachers,
directors of parish services, youth leaders, and in various
other forms of ministry. Other women, both lay and
deacon, transfer their skills from their workplace to serve
in leadership positions at the congregational, district, and
national levels. They serve on our boards, lead in our
auxiliaries, and share their vocational expertise with the
wider Church. Recently we saw one of these deacons serve
as an essayist for Lutheran Church–Canada’s national
convention. Without the service of these women, the
work of the Church would suffer.
Your Call to Serve
When you think of faithful servants in your own
congregation, your district, and the national body of
Lutheran Church–Canada, I have no doubt that many
women come to mind—women who are instrumental in
the work being done to support God’s people and share the
saving message of Jesus. God has blessed our synod with
gifted women who are eager to use their gifts to serve in
ways more numerous than can be mentioned here.
A word to my female readers: those gifted women include
you too. You don’t need to be
on a board or committee to
serve the Church. God has
blessed you with special gifts
of your own to be a blessing
to others where you are.
Embrace that calling.
Most importantly, the
women of LCC understand
the importance of being
immersed in the Word.
We are called to follow the
example of service shown by other women “in the Word”—
service exemplified by people like Sarah, Miriam, Ruth,
Esther, Martha, Mary, and many others. They, and we
too, are called to follow the example of Jesus who humbled
Himself, coming not to be served by to serve others,
ultimately with the sacrifice of His suffering and death.
Thanks be to God who created and called His people
to be members of the body of Christ, complimenting each
other in service to Him.
We are called to follow
the example of Jesus who
humbled Himself, coming not
to be served by to serve others.
Iris Barta is President of Lutheran Women’s Missionary League–
Canada.
Did you know?
- Women serve LCC on the Board of Directors, the
Commission for Adjudication, the Commission on
Reconciliation, the Committee for Missions and Social
Ministry, the Committee for Communications and
Technology, on numerous District boards and committees,
and in many Auxiliaries and Listed Service Organizations?
- 71% of all LCC’s deacons are women (65 of 91 total)?
- Women play major roles in LCC mission work around the
world, serving in Costa Rica (one deaconess), Cambodia
(four deaconesses and ten female evangelists), and Nicaragua
(22 deaconesses and 17 deaconesses-in-training)?
- Lutheran Women’s Missionary League–Canada has
committed to raising $421,860 dollars for LCC missions
over 2012-2015?
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2014
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