Living in grace through obedience, the same obedience that Jesus showed us by being obedient unto death, even death on a cross, all for the sake of love for us, to give us grace of an eternal nature.

It never ceases to amaze me how God works. He is an example to us in all we say and in all we do. When James and John wanted to be No. 1 and No. 2 in Heaven (Mark 10:37ff), Jesus reminded them of their real place in the pecking order of life.

If they were to be disciples of Christ, they must not be in positions of authority where they received the glory that the Pharisees and chief priests demanded, rather as lowly servants, obedient to their brother; for as a servant to our brother, we become No. 1 in the eyes of the Lord.

But that is tough duty! When you are an obedient servant you must accept the reality that there is no glory, there is no life on easy street, there is no fame or fortune, and that you are no better than the next guy; essentially it means becoming a slave to servanthood.

There is no doubt that when we live in grace through obedience, we will gladly accept the need for absolute humility, absolute servant-hood, absolute dependence on the very grace of God.

Unfortunately, that is against everything the world wants us to be; a society that believes the world revolves around me in a me-centric culture.

What the world needs to revolve around is the cross of Christ and the very obedience, servanthood, and humility that goes with being a follower of the one who was nailed to that cross.

That kind of servanthood must be the basis of the recovery of Lake County.

Can you imagine what would happen if we applied the same principles of serving Lake County as Jesus did serving others throughout His ministry?

What might we imagine and how can we apply those principles here and now to approach the imaginable possibilities?

Jesus is a risk taker of the highest order. We need to ask ourselves, can I remain in my comfort zone and truly serve him right here, right now? Am I willing to put others ahead of myself? Am I willing to take the risk?

Consider this, in the parable of the workers in the vineyards (Matt 20:1-16), Jesus ends the parable by saying, “the last will be first, and the first last.”

Can we do that here in Lake County?

And my answer is a resounding, “In Jesus’ name, yes we can” by being servants.

Bottom line, our task here is significant, but if we all become servants, willing to be obedient, willing to take the risk to respond to God’s word, and then working collectively towards the common goal of the restoration of a beautiful town like Lucerne as an example, it will happen.

But we must first be last.

We will dig deeper into this at First Lutheran Church on Sunday, March 18, so please join us for Bible Study at 9:30 a.m., worship at 11 a.m. and a hot lunch immediately following the worship service.

This week we offer the community our monthly food cupboard from 1 to 2 p.m. If you are in need of food, personal hygiene products, clothes or even diapers, please come and join us and let us be your servant in providing this much needed assistance.

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572.