I wear a Cleveland Cavaliers ball cap on days when they're scheduled to play. The Cavaliers played the Golden State Warriors last Friday night. So, I slapped on my Cavs hat, slipped on a pair of jeans, scooted into my sneakers, and steered my rusted steed toward the cafe to run the 3 - 6 p.m. shift in great anticipation for the game later that evening.
(BTW - The Cavs beat the Warriors 106 to 105. It was a nail-biter! I'm convinced that wearing the ball cap made the difference.)
It was a good shift. Lots of guests. Near the end of my shift, a few teens dropped in for bagels and hot chocolate. I asked them about their day at school and plans for the weekend.
A dear friend, and generous Cafe 41:11 supporter, walked in for a hot bowl of soup a few minutes later. My buddy sat down next to the teens.
Suddenly, one of the girls looked at the cafe supporter asking, "Do you own this place?"
"No," replies my friend. Then, pointing at me, he says, "He does."
The teenager looked at me. She was a bit confused.
I nodded saying, "Well, I don't own the cafe. I sorta' manage it."
My friend (sporting khakis, dress shoes, and a buttoned shirt) looked at the student asking, "Why...do I look like I own this place?"
"Yeah," replies the teenager.
The young person looked back at me with a smile and some hesitation, "But...you're...dressed...just like us?!"
"He's wearing servant clothes!" my buddy shouts.
I confess. My jeans, t-shirts, and ball caps do not make me look like a professional business manager. But that's not who I am or even what I want to be. My aim in this life is to connect with young people in the hope that they come to know and experience the grace and mercy, love and forgiveness, and eternal life offered by faith in Jesus.
A connection was made during that conversation last week. It was as if I was now approachable, knowable, and trustworthy simply because of my ripped up blue jeans and broke-in baseball hat. Something happened that afternoon. It's kind of hard to explain. You needed to be at the cafe to hear the conversation.
But a connection was made. It was a touching moment. I never thought of myself as someone wearing "servant clothes." But, I think my friend may have been accurate in his assessment.
Clothing worthy of being labeled "servant clothes" are not always worn out and ratty. You don't have to look homeless to carry this label. Servant clothes come in all types of fabrics, styles, and colors. Servant clothes can be made of the finest Italian suits or the most comfortable, faded, flannel shirts. What matters is the faith and actions of the person wearing the clothes which earns him or her this label. The Apostle John wrote, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:18).
Jesus put on servant clothes. The Apostle Paul reminds us that He, "made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:7-8).
I hope and pray that you have a few pairs of "servant clothes" hanging in your closet. The kind of clothes, that when you wear them, people see you as a servant of my great King.
The cafe is in need of more support to pay the rent due February 1st. We have roughly $1,200 in the bank. The monthly rent alone, not counting utilities, is $1,500. Will you consider giving this weekend so Janis Nazarian, the volunteers, and I can continue wearing our "servant clothes" at Cafe 41:11?