Service and Hospitality: Ephrem the Syrian: Service as Hymn

Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373) saw all of life -- including acts of service -- as forms of worship. He wrote: "The sick are your song; the poor are your hymn." For Ephrem, serving the needy was not a separate category from worship but its most concrete expression. The community that ignores the poor while singing beautiful hymns has fundamentally misunderstood worship.

Ephrem organized charitable work among the people of Edessa during a severe famine, personally distributing food and caring for the sick. His example showed that contemplative poets and practical servants are not two types of Christians but one.

Practical application: The next time you serve someone in need, treat the act as worship. Prepare for it with prayer, perform it with reverence, and conclude it with thanksgiving. Ephrem teaches that the hands that serve the poor and the lips that sing praise are performing the same act of worship in different modes.