Seek and serve

If you ever receive a work email or letter from me, my parting challenge (in place of "Sincerely", "From" etc.) is "Seek and serve". Earlier this week, as I was chatting with a Sleep Out participant and his wife who were helping to serve our Thanksgiving feast at Covenant House, he made reference to it and I told him the back story.

It must have been 10 years ago…Each year, usually for our staff giving campaign or some other once a year event, the staff would receive coveted Covenant House tee shirts, or "Cov gear" as it's called now. Nothing fancy…just the logo on the crest and we'd all vote for that year's color, if we had a choice. Someone decided we should have a logo or catch phrase contest to go on the back of the shirt. The morning the entries were due, I hadn't come up with anything. I sat down to do my morning devotions and began to read the story of Zacchias in Luke. Familiar story, nothing fancy, short guy in a tree, etc. But the last line of the story jumped out at me: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost". "Seek and save"…I thought to myself, "Well…we can't save every kid that comes to Covenant House…and obviously that's not our call--that's Christ's commission…but we can seek them (which we do, via outreach and other methods) and while they are with us, we are called to serve them". Thus, "Seek and serve". I remember going back and forth with a "higher member" of our staff about their entries (he/she had many!) and when I shared "Seek and serve"I was met with ridicule. 

How ironic that a few days later it was announced that "To seek and to serve" had won the contest and would grace the back of that year's tee shirt. 

Since then, it has become not only my signature phrase but had been incorporated into posters ("Seeking and serving youth in New Jersey for over 25 years!") and I often hear it sprinkled in speeches, sometimes from some of our top folks. I try not to be prideful of this and, when possible, explain the origins of how it came to be, less it ends up being "something Jen made up".

I took some time to read through the story of Zacchias again and browse through a few commentaries. I did not know that Zacchias is highly considered in Eastern Orthodox churches (I'll have to ask Father Steve about that!) so much so that the Sunday beginning their Lenten season is called "Zacchias Sunday". I thought about this little guy…tax collector, "sinner", despised, hated…Yet he made a choice to try and see Jesus, to learn what this Christ-guy was all about. There he was, up in his tree, and Jesus looked at him, called him by name, and said he was coming to dinner. WHAT!? Think about that…Although Zacchias was a rich man, I can can create a parallel that makes sense in my circles. I imagine it's be like the mayor of Atlantic City or President Obama or Donald Trump seeing some homeless derelict or gang member or scantily clad prostitute and telling them, "I'm coming to your house". The highly regarded choosing to mix with the lowest of the low. How the crowd must have reacted…

But that's what we do every day…Kids come seeking help, seeking answers, refuge, safety, to learn what we're all about…We invite them in, ask them to stay a while, break bread, regardless of their background, occupation, orientation, class…And although we are more often lauded for the work that we do, occasionally we get the naysayers…"You serve gay kids?" "Aren't your kids a bunch of drug addicts?" "Are the girls all pregnant?" I go into Mama Bear mode when I hear that stuff…and depending on the audience I might add some shock value with, "Yes, we do…we also serve transexuals, sex offenders, kids with HIV, and convicted felons". The look on some faces…The fact is, we serve those who need us…just as Jesus served those who needed Him and hung out with folk others barely considered human. One of the commentaries said that for Jesus to enter Zacchias's house made him ceremonially "unclean" which was a huge deal for the Jews. But he did it anyway. And we serve whom we serve…no apologies, no discriminations…

It's funny how some kids will say that Covenant House "saved" them. I like to redirect their thinking if I can and suggest that it was Christ saving them through us…We were just a conduit, a vessel…We served them and we'll accept thanks for that. But it was the Lord that arranged their life's circumstances to intersect with us…the Lord that provided the resources to keep our doors open so they had a place to go…the Lord who blessed us with skilled and compassionate people to help them heal and grow. Sometimes they can see and accept that…sometimes it's just planting seeds. Either way, every time I sign off with "Seek and serve" (or sometimes I change it up and write "Seeking and serving"=oooo!), it's a humble reminder to me that I/we can only do so much. We need to trust the Son of Man, in His way, His timing, to implement His saving grace.