Gotta serve somebody
by Dianne Eckermann
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But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15b).
Read Joshua 24:1,2a,14–18
In the late 1970s, Bob Dylan wrote a folk song titled ‘Gotta serve somebody’, to which John Lennon cynically responded with a song called ‘Serve yourself’.
Dylan lists all sorts of people: an ambassador, a gambler, a dancer, a boxer, a socialite. No matter who you were, he says, you gotta serve somebody. Dylan offers a simple choice to either serve the devil or the Lord. He also subtly suggests we need to take care who we choose to serve; will it be somebody or something? If we don’t choose well, we may end up serving money, fame, power or influence.
John Lennon, on the other hand, comments that no one is going to do it for you, so you have to serve yourself. These two songs come from opposing points of view and have different understandings of what it means to serve.
Like today’s reading from Joshua, Dylan uses service in a broad sense. In the reading from Joshua, the children of Israel are reminded how God has taken them from a distant land where their ancestors served other gods and has given them a new land. This reminder, Joshua suggests, is the very reason he will serve the Lord. His concept of service includes following the Lord, trusting in the Lord and serving out of gratitude.
John Lennon’s idea of service is all about self. It is appealing in a culture in which the individual is more important than the community, but it’s not really about service; it’s about getting what you want for yourself.
Joshua’s words, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’, are about commitment. This passage is often used as a wedding text as a new couple commit themselves to each other and to the Lord as a new household.
In Joshua’s time, God has freed Israel from forced service to the Pharaoh. In response, Joshua is committing to the Lord, willing to lead his life trusting that God, who provided a new land, will continue to provide for those who serve him.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of family. Help us to remain committed to you as we serve you by following your wishes and honouring you for all you have provided for us. Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.
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