The document discusses how experiencing God involves serving humanity through compassion and identifying with the poor, as Jesus did through his crucifixion; it emphasizes that true service comes from a desire to bring justice in the world and continue Christ's mission, and calls readers to empty themselves through voluntary poverty and acts of nonviolence to alleviate suffering.

1. Experiencing God in Service

2. Service
• St. Matt 20:28 – “Just as the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve.”
• We too must serve Humanity and God
• Manavaseva MadhavaSeva – Service of Humanity is
service of God
• Deaconate Ministry of the Church – to wait at the
tables, to care for the neglected. Deacon of the
Deacons

3. Service
• Service cannot be a program item
• Not a narrow minded social activism
• It is an attitude with flows out of love for
God and His creation
• It is an understanding of the true mission
of the Church to witness Christ in the world

4. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• “Either the Church preaches the Crucified
Christ or it crucifies Christ in its preaching”
• 1 Cor. 1:23 – “We preach Christ Crucified”
• Why was Christ crucified?
• Christ was crucified for the sake of the
World.
• “God so loved the world.”
• It was an act of compassion towards the
world.

5. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• Jesus identified himself with the poor
• His birth is into the midst of turmoil.
Palestine under occupation
• Born in a manger b/c there was not a
place to stay in
• Covered with swaddling clothes…
• Had to flee to Egypt as a refugee
• Grew up in the outskirts – people of the
Land. (can anything good come out of
Nazareth)

6. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• Raised by a single mother
• Did not own anything (Son of Man has no
where to lay his head.)
• Rode in borrowed colt. Last supper in a
rented room
• St. Mary recognized this : “He has filled
the hungry with good things” (St. Lk. 1:53)

7. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• Christ had compassion on the hungry
crowd – he was concerned about their
physical needs. Compassion is to share in
the suffering of.
• He did not see the suffering of another as
something exterior to himself.
• In fact his purpose was to alleviate their
pains….the cross is the culmination of that
effort

8. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• At the onset of his public ministry – “The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight
to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim
the year of the Lord’s favor.” (St. Lk. 4:18-19)
• “Go and tell John what you hear and see : the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the
poor have good news brought to the them.” (Matt.
11:4-5)

9. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• Christ emptied himself on the cross. He
poured out all that he was for the benefit of
humanity. (Philippians 2)
• We too are called to empty ourselves and
to die on the cross for the sake of
humanity.
• Life of voluntary poverty. – Monastic
tradition (Fools for Christ’s sake – Cyrus
Sir)
• Rich must live simply so that the poor
might simply live

10. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• Our mission in the world is the same as
that of Christ. Church is an extension of
the incarnation. God is enfleshed in
church. Feeling the pains of humanity
• St. John 20:21 “As the Father has sent
me, so I send you.”
• Apostolicity – sent to serve

11. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• Through the Cross – Christ reconciled
humanity and brought peace – “But now in
Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have been brought near by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he
has made both groups into one and
broken down the dividing wall, that is, the
hostility between us.
• Peace building mission of the church. –
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they
shall be called children of God.”

12. I. We must be crucified with Christ

13. I. We must be crucified with Christ
• Christ was crucified for creation as well (Rom 8)
• What is our response to the present ecological
crisis?
• Is it one of voluntary poverty seeking to renew the
creation
• St. Silvan the Athonite : “The heart that has learned
to love has compassion for all creation.”
• “Even if I cannot carry the cross let me at least walk
in its shadow.” – Baba Amte

14. II. God Desires Justice
• In service we experience God b/c God desires Justice.
• 6 With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
• 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
• 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:6-8)

15. II. God Desires Justice
• “But let justice roll down like waters, and
righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” (Amos
5:24)
• Christ’s salvific work is to bring justice to the world.
• “Thy kingdom come.” We are still living in our
kingdoms but the reign of His Kingdom is one of
Justice

16. II. God Desires Justice
• We need to bring Justice to others b/c God was just
to us.
• Exodus experience
• Kindness to strangers
• “to do justice for the orphan” – Psalm 10:18
• “the whole church must offer the whole Gospel to
the whole world, to those nearby and to those
faraway, and concern itself with the whole of man
and the whole of human life.” St. Athanasius

17. II. God Desires Justice

18. II. God Desires Justice
• In service of humanity we see the face of Jesus
• Mother Theresa – “Even in the Leper – face of
Jesus”
• The experience of worship should lead to this work
• Words of early worship related to service – deacon,
liturgy, sharing of the bread, koinonia,
• “Liturgy after the Liturgy”
• “let us visit Christ, serve Christ, feed Christ, offer
hospitality to Christ, honor Christ.” (Gregory
Nazianzen)

19. II. God Desires Justice
• Serving in the church’s ministry is a service as well
• Giving your time, energy and resources to Church’s
work.
• Ex. Small group leader – study Bible, study Faith,
devote time, pray for young, steps out to build them
in faith
• Ex. Music ministry – not performance but a heart of
worship.
• Ex. Becoming secretary of church. Not an
administrative position alone. An opportunity for you
to serve.

20. St. Matthew 25:31-40 :
• 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that
are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave
me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me
clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and
you visited me.” 37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when
was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and
gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you
a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?
39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited
you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you
did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,*
you did it to me.”

21. • I was hungry and you said, “Population explosion”
• I was sick and you built mission hospitals into which I
cannot afford to enter
• I was naked and you made costly clothes I cannot afford to
buy
• I was homeless and you built palatial house for yourself
and dehumanizing huts for me.
• I was in prison unjustly and you fought for human rights for
yourselves
• I was thirsty and you made Coca-Cola to exploit my thirst
• I was a stranger and you practiced apartheid and caste-
ism and racism against me
• O Lord, I am tired : I cannot endure it anymore
• O Lord, give me the strength to change the world

22. II. God Desires Justice
• Through our acts of service we become
the 5th gospel.
• God calls each of us to serve in the
capacity that we are in.
• 2 Cor 3:3 “you show that you are a letter of
Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink
but with the Spirit of the living God..”

23. Action
• Do we need to go to India or Africa?
• We can serve God here.
• Identification with poor, compassion for the
oppressed, life of voluntary poverty, peace
building mission which comes out of a
genuine desire to experience God by
being Crucified with Christ and ardent
desire to work for justice