Qualities of a Good Servant
Opening Song Closing Song
Scripture Reading: Mat. 24: 45-51
Objective: to influence members to give all they have to the Christian work. To be dedicated servants of God. Commitment
It was probably a warm sunny afternoon as Abraham sat and considered his legacy. As he reflected on his son he realized that the women in canaan were not the type of woman he would like his son to marry. SO he called for his most trusted and longstanding servant. A man in whom he placed complete trust. The Bible refused to name this man although some have speculated that it might be Eliezer his trusted servant mentioned earlier in the book. But all that is stated about this servant is that he was the eldest servant and that all that Abraham had was in his hands.
This opens to one of the important criteria of a good servant. A good servant must a man that you can trust. The servant was able to chose what gifts he was going to carry and how much. (Gen.24:10) Abraham was not there to oversee what he was taking. He was a man that could be trusted. Here was an opportunity to take as much as he could and run away with it. Remember Gehazi, he saw a way out and he took it. This servant had the opportunity to do the same. But he did not. He could be trusted. He collected Abraham’s possessions in order to carryout the mandate that was given to him.
Are we being trusted servants with the resources God has placed in our hands? Are we using God resources for the task he has given us to do?
God has given us wealth and status, he has endow some of us with special talents and skills but far too often we find it more profitable to run away with God’s resources and use them to further our own pursuits.
How often do we see persons whose singing talents has been nurtured in the church leaving the church as soon as they are able to use these talents for means other than the glory of God.
How often do we see person obtaining jobs and as soon as they do so, prosperity causes they heart to turn away from God?
How often do we see men and women given time on this earth to serve and worship God take the time and use it all for one purpose that is the gratification of self?
It is amazing the lack of commitment we see in the church!!
It is amazing how often, we are ready to give up on a task in the church but we serve the world for a life time, sometimes forty years, fifty years and at the end get a gold watch to measure the time that is left. God is looking for servants like John Wesley who prayed:
John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer
Romans 12:1-2
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
Exalted for thee or brought low by thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
—The United Methodist Hymnal
Men and women whom he can trust with all his resources because he knows they are committed to Him.
Not to the wife;
not to their children;
not to their job but to Him.
Because he well knows that commitment to him bears well for his church and his people.
As Abraham called his servant and give him a task with the resources to carry out that task so to Jesus has given his servants a task and the resources to carry out that task: in
Matt. 28: 18 he speaks to us saying
… All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
In Jh. 16: 23 ... Verily, verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it unto you.
Matthew 18:18,19 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Power !! God like Abraham has opened the resources of heaven to his trustworthy servants so that we can accomplished the task he has given us.
But when we examine the unnamed servant we see that he was not only a trustworthy servant but he was wise. This is another characteristic of a good servant, he must be wise. This wise man did not just rush off but he developed a plan and he took what was needed to achieve that plan and he involved God in his plan: Gen: 24: 10-15
God has admonished us over and over again to be wise. In Matt. 10:16 he says
¶Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
We cannot just rush out with our head in the air, we must develop a plan as to how we will accomplish our mission.
Let us not be like Charles Chu who while travelling on a tour bus in China during a snow storm witness the ahead of him skid and tip over on its side in a rice field. In his haste to help he ran and jump on top of the bus. He grabbed the handle of the emergency door and pulled but the door did not open. He kept pulling and pulling hard but the door just would not budge.
By this time others had joined him and were busy pulling people through the windows so he decided to join them instead, only to see another go over to the door turn the hand and open it. It so happen that in his haste to assist he was standing on the very door he was trying to open
It is always better to examine the situation and plan for it. Yet we must not just plan but we must involve God in our plans. Once we involve God in our plans for his glory we can guarantee that we will have success.
The Bible is full of stories where God comes through on behalf of his servants for his own glory;
Remember Elijah on mount carmel;
Joshua and the day the sun stood still;
David and Goliath;
Samson in the Philistines temple.
Jesus and the raising of Lazarus.
When we place God’s Glory first and not our ego God will do tremendous things on our behalf to display his glory to an unsaved world. But God is looking for a certain type of servant. A servant that he can work with. One who is committed trustworthy and wise.
God is looking for a servant who is focused on the mission. Notice how focused the unnamed servant was; Gen 24: 33
And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.
The people place a banquet before the guy. He had travelled long and hard. He had not sat at a table and eaten a decent meal for some time but this temptation could not move him off course. He was focused. He was right on target and even his belly could not cause him to shift.
To be a good servant we must be focused..
Paul was focused. It did not matter what they did to him Paul focus was to spread the word of God. He declares in 2 cor. 4:8 ¶We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body…..
And why does he suffer such things verse 15 tells us
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Paul understood this one thing; that the servant lived for his master’s glory; to achieve his master’s purpose and goal. He was totally sold on glorifying God such that men would be drawn to him and be saved.
After Jesus had fed the 7,000 persons they wanted to make him king but Jesus removed himself (Jh. 6:15), he would not be tempted by visions of grandeur. When the devil came to him and asked him to turn bread into stone he in no uncertain words let the devil know that man can not exist on bread alone but rather on the word of God.
The unfocussed servant is easily this distracted and forgets the task that he has been given. Remember Gehazi, he allowed the Naaman’s treasures to distract him and ended up with leprosy. David allowed Bathsheba to distract him and brought disgrace and embarrassment to himself and God. At this time in earth’s history we cannot afford to be distracted we have to be focused.
A good servant then my friends must be committed, trustworthy, wise and focused. There is one other criterion that I would like to add. Let us read Gen.24: 34
And he said, I am Abraham’s servant.
This short verse tells us that this servant had no identity of his own. He was not there to boost his ego or to speak about his achievements he was there as his master’s servant. He was humble yet he was proud. He did not dentify himself by name only by position ‘I am Abraham’s servant.’ He was not ashamed of his status he spoke proudly about it. Such humility is an absolute necessary in the characteristics of a good servant.
Who he was, was not important it was to whom he belonged. Brothers and sisters it is not who we are that is important but to whom we belong.
Jesus states in Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
We must place God’s will above our own. We must see our identity as God’s servants. Paul writing to the Philippians declared
Philippians 3:7,8 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
We must see ourselves as nothing barring the grace of God. Brothers and sisters God is looking for servants who are loyal and committed, wise and focused, trustworthy and humble. Do you desire to be such a servant for God.
