St. John of Ávila reminds us that because God is so great, He deserves the highest service from His people. In this powerful passage, he calls Christians to imitate Christ’s example of humble service and sacrifice, rejecting comfort and pride to live truly as His devoted servants.
Christians Must Shine Like Stars
Like the stars shining in the darkness of night, so Christians are to shine among other peoples, among other nations, and, among Christians, the religious are to shine more, for they are to be always at vigil, and among the religious, those of the order of the glorious . . . Who is a better watcher than our father?, etc.
A Great King Deserves Great Service
We men who are called to do good, to love our friends and enemies, to suffer blows and not avenge ourselves, to be pure—does this seem to us like a little thing, like a little matter? “Does God ask so much of those who follow Him?” Yes: since He is a great King, a great service is owed Him, and He wants to be highly served. Let the novices, my brothers—for I’m talking to them—see what master they have entered into service with. When we are baptized, we establish ourselves as servants of that great Lord, of that great King, for a great God and great king is the Lord. A great lord requires a great service.
No Sin Is Small Before Such Majesty
One establishes himself with a great prince: what care one has for what he says, for what he does, for his person, for his customs! However great be the majesty of this Lord, so great is the offense done against Him. No sin can be small against so great a Lord. Saint Jerome: Although it is not a light thing to offend God, even in light matters, yet he is most prudent who considers not so much the breadth of the empire as the majesty of the emperor. Death before offending so great a Lord!
Every Act Should Serve the Lord
A most high lord asks for a most high service. It is not licit to think otherwise; if one is in choir, he is before so great a Lord; if in prayer, [he is] like someone speaking with the Lord; if at Mass, [he is] like someone who is making offerings to the great majesty of God. If you do anything whatsoever, think that you are serving such a Lord, who wants to be most highly served in everything. And He makes such a fuss about our staying awake so that the great good He gained for us, the many labors that He suffered for us, would not be in vain.
Christ Shows Us How to Serve
Let our minds understand how great a thing it is that God became man for men, that He was affronted and lashed, etc., for us. Oh brothers, and how great a danger there is here! God commands me to serve Him. So that man would learn, the true Master comes to teach. He comes to serve men, so that men would learn to serve God, not like the masters of the law who speak, teaching by word and not by work. Lord, may You Yourself help us by Your mercy, so that Your good would not become evil for us, Your medicine not become poison for us, Your sweetness not [become] gall and bitterness!
Imitate the Humility of Christ
If God, in His majesty, lowered Himself so much, with what face will a little worm so puff himself up with pride and command? How? Seeing his Lord lower Himself to serve His servants, who will not serve Him, who will despise Him? Then how are you embarrassed to serve your neighbors for Jesus Christ, who served all for you? Seeing your God so poor that He sometimes, for hunger, gleaned the ears of grain in the fields to eat, why does the slave want to enrich himself with good and bad, with licit and illicit dealings?
Do Not Flee the Cross
Seeing the labors that Jesus Christ suffered in His body for you, with what face are you thinking of your delights of the flesh, of your bed, while the eyes of God see your filthy deeds? Do you dare to call yourself Christian, Christ having put His body out in the cold and labors for you, and you, when you have a little bit of cold, [say], “give me the hides, the furs,” running away from looking like Christ, running away from what we need to do to be Christians? Oh, shame of Christians! The body of Jesus Christ was so maltreated, and that of His servants and slaves is so regaled!
Serve as Christ Served
What do we have to do with Jesus Christ? How are we like Jesus Christ? Let us understand it through your life. How should we understand it? The Son of the Virgin did not come to be served, but to serve. May the angels bless You for this, Lord! “And through what service, and in what ways, do You want to serve and have You served?” By giving His soul; by giving all of Himself, by dying for us. A boy serves you with spurs, you pay him; another with shield, you pay him. And You, Lord, have served us by giving Your life for us. May the heavens bless You. Amen. Pardon us, Lord, by who You are. He came to serve so that we might learn to serve, so that you would burn with love every time you see Jesus Christ serving you, pouring forth His blood for you.
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This article is taken from a chapter in My Burden Is Light by Saint John of Ávila which is available from TAN Books.
