S3 E38 - It's My Pleasure

After five years of living without, Danville finally has it's very own free standing Chick-Fil-A! We are so excited and have been already like, 5 times lol. During the grand opening, one of the workers was serving us and when we thanked her she said, "My pleasure! I keep forgetting to say that." It's part of their script to respond with that expression, but should it be more for us? Well...as Christians, we are called to be genuine in our love and service to others. To show mercy with cheerfulness. That means that for service to truly be service, it will always be our pleasure. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths?

Would you believe me? 
 Hi, I’m BJ Sipe – and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast. 

I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father.

Thanks for tuning in!

Thanks for being so patient with the delay in the podcast! It was my turn again to catch whatever bug has been going around last week, and I was down for the count from Wednesday through Friday. I’m finally getting caught back up, so I’m dropping last Thursday’s episode today, and we’ll drop one more this week as well before we take a short break for the holidays. Anyway, on to our episode. 

At long last, it finally happened. The past few weeks has been a dream of ours since Kylie and I moved here nearly 5 years ago. Danville finally has its very own free-standing Chick-fil-A! For the last five years we have had to rely on a food truck that came into town once a week, or drive the 40 minutes to the nearest free standing CFA. But now, much to the dismay of our 2024 budget, we only need to drive 10 minutes down the road to partake of the most wonderful chicken sandwich in the world. Despite what some might say about the fast-food chain, it is the best chicken on the planet – hands down. I actually never had Chick-fil-A until I was in my twenties, as there were none in the Northwest where I grew up until the past few years. My very first experience was down in Tampa, Florida at when I had first arrived for college. When my friends learned I had never had it, we dropped everything and went right away – and I’ve never looked back since. I love everything about Chick-fil-A. I love their food. I love what their founders stand for. I love how efficient, courteous, and generous they are. And before you ask, yes, I’ve already been…five times. 

Two Friday night’s ago we caught an early dinner there with our dear friends the Coopers before the annual Christmas parade in downtown Danville, and it was an incredible experience. We met the operators, met much of the team, and spent some time just taking it all in as we watched them work through an incredibly busy grand opening. Per usual, there will always be a few hiccups here and there as they get the ball rolling – and one of the things I laughed at came from the mouths of one of the employees. She had served me several times already, with drink refills and getting sauces for us – and each time when I had thanked her she would say something back like, “No problem,” or “of course!” in return. On the final time after bringing me my refill I told her thank you and she goes, “My pleasure! I keep forgetting to say that – I’ll get the hang of it.” If you know anything about the chicken chain, you know that every single one of their employees is trained to respond with that exact phrase – “it’s my pleasure” whenever they are thanked. I’m sure for some of the workers, those words are simply a script that they follow. I’m sure that if you say it enough times, it becomes just a mindless response that you repeat out of habit. But for others, it is not just a script, but it is a goal to aspire to – for it truly to be your pleasure to serve others. 

I want us to ask ourselves that question today: as Christians, is it truly our pleasure to serve others? We read the following in Romans 12:9-11: Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. 

What does it mean to let love be without hypocrisy? Perhaps there are two ways to answer that question. One is by looking at another translation of the text, and another is by looking at the context. 

The ESV translates this as let love be genuine. We are called in this text to be busy about our service to God and our service to one another. But what happens to that service if we do it half-heartedly or begrudgingly? Like something we have to do, but we hate it, so we do it all while kicking and screaming, huffing and puffing? It destroys everything about the “service” that we have set out to do.  As Christians, it is not simply what we do that is important – but the attitude with which we do it. Are we called to serve others in love? Yes – but we are also called to be genuine in how we do it as well. If we don’t get that right, then we have failed in true service to one another. Service is only service and love is only truly love when it comes from a genuine and willful heart. 

Let us also look at the immediate context of this passage. Among the many gifts Paul describes that others have through which they serve others, look what Paul caps it all off with before telling us to let “love be genuine.” He writes, “showing mercy with cheerfulness.” (vv. 8) The quality of mercy is an ongoing work in our lives, as we put on the very nature and character of God. But allow me to ask you this question…do you think God extends his mercy to us with a scowl on his face? That he’s willing to do it, but he hates it! Or did God with a cheerful and willing heart extend salvation to us? John would tell us it was his love that moved him to mercy in John 3:16. Genuine love. The kind of love that has no hypocrisy, but the kind of love that extends mercy from a cheerful, willing heart.

Please don’t misunderstand me, loving & serving others, especially our enemies, is hard. I’m not suggesting Jesus died on the cross with a big smile across his face…but he did do it with a willing & gracious heart. He did it all while begging for this Father to forgive those who were responsible for putting him up on that cross. God served & loved us while we were enemies (Romans 5), so how can we not be willing to do the same for others? It is his mercy for me that is the foundation for showing mercy with cheerfulness to others. I’m not cheerful because it’s easy, but I’m cheerful because I have the opportunity to extend to others the same kind of genuine love that has been shown to me. Service is work, but if we know genuine love from the Father above, then it will always be our pleasure. 

Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I invite you back each Thursday for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for future announcements or even some special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, share it with someone else that you think would benefit from it also. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.