Matthew 20:28
1Peter
4:8-11 says “The end of all things is near. Therefore
be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each
other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality
to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has
received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various
forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.
If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in
all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”
“You, my brothers, were
called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature,
rather, serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13) However, “No servant can
serve two masters.” “Whoever serves me
must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be…and My Father will
honor the one who serves me.” (John 12:26) As in the parable of the talents -
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts
with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five.
‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five
more. His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I
will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
(Matthew 25:15)I believe servanthood is more than actions or something we do, it is an attitude stemming from the heart…
Let me say once again; “servanthood is more than an actions or something we do… It is an attitude of the heart – It is who we are and it is what we are.” In other words we have made the choice that this will be our purpose in life; to be a servant…to strive to have a servants heart and eyes that look for ways to serve rather than complaining because we are not served.
However, let me also say that we are always servants, and we are always serving. We are either serving ourselves or we are serving others. With one God is pleased…with the other he is not. So, let’s look at this scripture as it relates to the topic of being a servant;
#1. Check your motives. If we want to improve our serve, we must first learn to check our motives. A servant does not serve to impress others ( That’s selfish in that we are serving our ego.)…Nor does a servant try to gain favor with God…(That’s legalism – the motive is to gain favor by what we do.) Even the Apostle Paul struggled with this in 1 Cor. 4:4-5: “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”
When faced with this mother’s mixed up motives, Jesus asks a question to reveal what she was thinking: “What is it you want?” A truthful answer to this same question can help you and I in our serving as well. “What is it you want?” “Why are you doing this?” “Who are you serving?” “Who do you want to impress?” Gives this a little different emphasis.
We find this same emphasis also in - James 4:1-3 which says; “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on YOUR pleasures…“Your pleasures”… not on what would bring others pleasure. Which leads us to point #2 –
Put others first. There is something else that becomes the “fruit” of selfish motives…In case you’re wonder-ing how the other ten felt when they saw that James and John were trying to grab the power positions, look at verse 24: “When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.” This word “indignant” means, “to be greatly afflicted.” They were really mad, upset, that these two were trying to get special treat-ment from Jesus, They were appalled at the fact that Jesus might give James and John more attention. But they also had a lack of understanding of true servanthood; and the spiritual attitude of the ten was not any better than that of the two. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to be angry at something we see in others, while we indulge in the same things ourselves? Why is it that we condemn in others what we excuse in our own lives?
Here we see truth that selfishness always results in dissension. When we think only of ourselves, community breaks down and unity is replaced with division and back-biting. That’s why one of the best things we can do as a church is to serve together. A church that serves together stays together… Again let’s look at the example of Jesus in this scripture;
I love what Jesus does next in the first part of verse 25: “Jesus called them together…” That’s exactly what needs to happen when there is tension and strife. We need to come together. When Jesus calls them to Himself He does so with tenderness and gentleness and love. I picture Him calling a huddle and saying something like this, “Guys, please come here. Let’s form a tight circle… Get a little closer so you can hear what I’m about to say… ”
He knows their default systems are set on selfishness and so he calls them together. He doesn’t take the two brothers aside and blast away, nor does he slam the ten for being indignant. He brings them together and then gives them a lesson in how differently things are to run in His kingdom. There is a sharp contrast between the servant-hood philosophy of the Savior and the world system in which they lived: …”You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.” The world’s way teaches that we should spend all our energy to get to the top; to reach for success; and do what-ever it takes to get there; because then we will be happy…
The disciples knew the Gentile model of authority very well. History was filled with tyrannical kings who showed little regard for the Jewish people. When Jesus reminded them that seeking power was a “Gentile” or “pagan” practice, He was in essence telling them they should not operate this way, and Jesus reframes their understanding: “Not so with you...” A Christ-follower must not operate this way. The meaning here is: “It shall not be,” “It must not be.” In the family of God there is only one category of people: servants.
Have you ever noticed how a conversation with Jesus usually doesn’t turn out the way we thought it would? We have so many things that need to be changed in our lives because we’re more wowed by the world than most of us care to admit. We have more of a worldly perspective on life and living than we know… God’s ways are very different than our ways. Here are a few contrasts just from the Book of Matthew:
· To gain your life, you must lose it · To experience eternal life, you must have the faith of a child. · To receive, you must first give. · To be great, you must be a servant.
And, in case we’re wondering how to do this, He offers Himself as the perfect role model. Look at verse 28: “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” This verse has been rightly regarded as one of the most precious of Christ’s sayings. Jesus is both our example and our motivation.
In Philippians 2:3-7, it says “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” He served the needs of others and then demonstrated the ultimate act of servanthood when He gave His life as payment for our sins, so that we can be set free.
The true standard of greatness is the Savior’s pattern of self-sacrifice. Yes, Servanthood requires sacrifice! By put-ting others first we are sacrificing self. We don’t like that word… In fact, we don’t really like the word “servant”… It not easy to put others first… It’s not easy to give our lives away… But, Jesus said; “What ever you did for the least of these, you have done for me.”
In John 13:4-5 we see that Jesus and His disciples are sharing the Passover meal together when Jesus “got up from the meal, and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel. Peter didn’t like that Jesus, was doing this. Have you ever stopped and wondered why Peter was so upset that Jesus was washing their smelly feet? It was because Peter knew it wasn’t Jesus responsibility. Washing feet was the job of the lowest of all slaves. It was unheard of! Jesus was their teacher. If anything, they should be washing His feet!
“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Does this mean that foot washing is supposed to be a church ordinance today? It might not be a bad idea! But, Jesus was simply stating “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”… And we must do likewise. We must;
1. Serve whenever we can.
2. Serve wherever we can.
3. Serve whoever is in need.
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