My name is Kevin Buch. I have finished 12 years here at MLHS and before that, I served for 12 years at First German. My wife Dona and I have been married for 35 years and we have three children that have all graduated from Lutheran High. All three are married and we have four grandchildren. Service to others has always been a big part of our family and so when our school year theme was picked, I was really excited about all of the applications that could be made for our Lancer Family.
Service comes in all shapes and sizes. You seriously never know when that opportunity for service will present itself. It can be as simple as holding the door open or helping somebody when they have dropped something. It can be standing up for somebody who might not be able to stand up for themselves. It can be major like comforting someone during a time of tragedy or saving a person’s life. You just never know what each day will bring. One thing I do know is that if you live a life that is very much centered on yourself, you might miss some awesome opportunities for service because you only see your own needs.
While there can be no argument that service to God and to others is good and right, sadly there still can be sin involved. Sin can creep into the motivation why we are serving others. If we help somebody out just so people will think better of us, that’s an example. If you contribute lots of money to church and make sure that everyone knows, that’s not the right motivation for giving. If you volunteer to help the disabled or do charity work at a nursing home just so people marvel at what a good person you are, that’s a sin.
So what is the right motivation? One idea people has is, “Let’s follow Jesus example. He helped others. Let’s do that too.” While those thoughts are not completely wrong, they seem a bit shallow and we are still open to serving others so people think we are Godly. Another idea is, “Let’s use the gifts that God has given to us to serve others.” Again, this is not wrong but it doesn’t go deep enough and it can still lead us to the “look what I did” mentality.
The real reason for serving other is, “We have an awesome God!” God loved me so much that He sent His Son to this earth to live a perfect life, suffer and die on the cross, defeat death and the devil, and rise again. He did all of that for me. I love God and thank God and I serve others because of how great my God is.
When the opportunity to serve God or to serve others, don’t miss it. Serve because we have an awesome God who has performed the ultimate service to us by His sacrifice to forgive our sins. For more on this, please read 2 Corinthians 9:10-15. May God bless and keep you all.