What kinds of images pop into your mind when you hear the word towel? Drying dishes? Wrapping yourself up in fluffy terrycloth after a hot shower? Washing your car? Soaking up the sun out at the beach? Wiping the sweat off your face after a workout at the gym? Washing and drying someone’s feet?

They aren’t very glamorous images, are they? I’d guess that they’re probably not the types of symbols that most corporations would choose to promote themselves if they were going to make glitzy TV commercials. Yet, the towel is the symbol that Jesus chose … a towel in his hands: God on earth with a towel and a basin of water, washing away the dirt of sin. God on earth, kneeling before you and me, lathering up our feet, rinsing them off, and drying them so that we would feel soothed and cared for. Incredible! All the respectable values of authority and power turned upside down! A dramatic picture of servanthood, showing the full extent of his love. (John 13:1)

As believers, we understand that we have already been washed by the Lord of the Towel. Knowing that Jesus has served us so completely by giving up His life for us, we must take up the towel of servanthood! How? In unglamorous, yet esteem-restoring ways: in the phone calls we make to lonely, home-bound folks in the Salem family, in the encouragement that we give to strangers who are seeking to find a place to call their faith home, in the sensitivity we show to folks who have experienced recent losses or life changes, in the floors we mop, carpets we vacuum, food we serve, and rooms we redecorate so that others can see the care that we take in providing hospitality to everyone who comes to our church building, in the new eyes that allow us to see the value of each person that God wants as His own.

During this season of Lent - the days from Ash Wednesday (March 5) through Easter (April 20) – please take Jesus’ challenge of ministry seriously. Pray about your response and commitment to Jesus’ example of doing for others as Jesus has done for you. How will you serve Him as your Savior and Lord in the next 7 weeks? What will YOU choose to do for others in His name? Just think of it – we could dramatically change our community in less than 50 days!

When you decide upon your personal ministry, please e-mail me about it at salemchurch@prodigy.net. I’d like to pray for you and your towel.