We Believe Following Jesus Means Serving Like Jesus Series

Good morning! Please open your Bibles to Matthew 20:20-28. Before we begin, let’s pray?

[pray]

In 1859, three businessmen began work on an express mail service that promised to get messages between Missouri and California in ten days or less—an unheard of speed at the time. They began to build a system of relay stations 10-15 miles apart across the 2000 mile stretch of prairie and wilderness.

Riders would gallop 75-100 miles a day, armed with a pistol and a knife, changing horses at each station.

• It would be expensive: between $25 and $125 in today’s dollars.

• It would be risky: Messengers faced death by weather, exhaustion, bandits, accidents, and Indians.

The route was set up and the 184 stations were built by early 1860, and in the spring a want ad appeared in a San Francisco. The ad said,

Wanted: young, skinny, wiry fellows not over 18. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week.

During its operation, the Pony Express delivered about 40,000 pieces of mail. It employed about 200 young men. It wasn’t around for long— Just 19 months after it started, it was rendered obsolete by the telegraph. But still, it captures the imagination.

There’s something about the idea of a man risking his life to do whatever it took to get a message to the people that needed to hear it that is just compelling.

God is still looking for men and women willing to do whatever it takes, even to the point of risking death, to get the message to the people who need to hear it.

Did you know that this is actually why you were saved in the first place? According to Hebrews 9:14, when we are born again by the blood of Christ, it is so we can serve the living God.

Hebrews 9:14 ESV

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

The Apostle Paul even took it a step further. We aren’t just born again to serve God; we are born in the first place to serve God! Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

You were created to contribute, not just consume, to give and not to get, to serve and not to be served.

This understanding comes straight from our Lord Jesus. His most detailed teaching on servanthood came one day when the mother of two of his disciples, James and John approached Jesus with a pretty bold request. Let’s look at it together:

Matthew 20:20–28 ESV

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I can imagine that James and John would have been the perfect candidates for the Pony Express! Young, wiry, skinny fellows who honestly believed they could drink the cup of suffering Jesus would drink. But Jesus pretty much burst their bubble.

The good news is you don’t have to be a young, wiry fellow in order to serve! In fact, this morning I want to show you that the ideal servant is FAT— F.A.T. FAT stands for faithful, available, and teachable, and this morning we are going to talk about how to be a FAT servant of God.

1. A Servant is FAITHFUL.