Matthew 20:28 "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Galatians 5:13 "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."
1 Peter 4:10 "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms."
INTRO.- ILL.- A man worked in a post office. His job was to process all mail that had illegible addresses. One day a letter came to his desk, addressed in a shaky handwriting to God. He thought, "I better open this one and see what it’s all about." So he opened it and it read:
"Dear God, I am an 83 year old widow living on a very small pension. Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had a hundred dollars in it which was all the money I had until my next pension check."
"Next Sunday is Easter, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with."I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?"
The postal worker was touched, and went around showing the letter to all the others. Each of them dug into their wallet and came up with a few dollars. By the time he made the rounds, he had collected 96 dollars, which they put into an envelope and sent over to her. The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of the nice thing they had done.
Easter came and went, and a few days later came another letter from the old lady to God. All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened. It read:
"Dear God, How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?" "Because of your generosity, I was able to fix a lovely dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day, and I told my friends of your wonderful gift. " "By the way, there was 4 dollars missing. It was no doubt those thieves at the post office."
What’s the moral of the story? Even when you do good to others you may not be properly appreciated. Or you may even be accused of doing something wrong!
Generally, however, there is always a blessing in blessing others.
Prov. 11:17 "A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself."
Prov. 11:25 "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."
We don’t do good things for others in order to be blessed by God. We do good things because God commands us to be servants of one another. But a side benefit is His blessing on our lives.
ILL.- Karl Hans Albrecht (born 20 February 1920) is a German entrepreneur who founded the discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother Theo. He is among the richest men in the world, with an estimated net worth in 2009 of $21.5 billion according to Forbes Magazine. Albrecht is the wealthiest man in Germany.
He said, “If you’re not serving the customer, you’d better be serving someone who is.”
We all should be in the serving business! We should be quick to serve, to open doors, to greet, to say "thank you, and bless you,"quick to do chores, quick to do unsolicited chores, etc.
Instead of saying, "Do I have to do the dishes? Carry out the trash? Clean my room? Mow the grass? Dust furniture?" we should be quick to get up and help when others are sitting or doing nothing.
ILL.- Fred Gratzon, author: "The more people you undertake to serve, the more effective you will be. Commit to serving everyone and become maximally effective."
The way to bless others is by being a servant to others! The way to make the greatest impact on a lost and dying world is to be a humble servant. This is why Mother Teresa was so effective.
ILL.- CNN HEROES. JACKSON HEIGHTS, New York (CNN) — Every day, unemployed men gather under the elevated #7 train in Jackson Heights, Queens. Many of them are homeless. All of them are hungry. Jorge Munoz estimates he has served more than 70,000 free meals since 2004.
At around 9:30 each night, relief comes in the form of Jorge Munoz’s white pickup truck, filled with hot food, coffee and hot chocolate.
The men eagerly accept containers of chicken and rice from Munoz, devouring the food on the spot. Quiet gratitude radiates from the crowd. For many, this is their only hot meal of the day; for some, it’s the first food they’ve eaten since last night. “I thank God for touching that man’s heart,” says Eduardo, one of the regulars.
Word of his mobile soup kitchen has spread, and people of all backgrounds and status now join the largely-Hispanic crowd surrounding his truck -- Egyptians, Chinese, Ethiopians, South Asians, white and black Americans and a British man who lost his job. "I’ll help anyone who needs to eat. Just line up," Munoz says.
And at a time when food banks are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing demand, he’s never been needed more. But for Munoz, a school bus driver by day, this work is a labor of love. A LABOR OF LOVE.
"When I see these guys on the street," he says, "it’s like seeing me, 20-something years ago when I came to this country."
Munoz was born in Colombia and his father died in an accident when he was young. When his mother found it difficult to support Munoz and his sister, she made her way to New York, finding work in Brooklyn as a nanny. At her urging, Munoz followed in her footsteps, coming to the United States in the 1980s. "She said this was a better future for us," he says.
Munoz obtained legal residency in 1987 and later became a citizen, along with his mother and sister. He never stood on a street corner to find work, but as an immigrant, he identifies with many of the men he feeds.
Munoz began his unorthodox meal program -- now his nonprofit, An Angel in Queens -- in the summer of 2004. Friends told him about large amounts of food being thrown away at their jobs. At first, he collected leftovers from local businesses and handed out brown bag lunches to underprivileged men three nights a week. Within a few months, Munoz and his mother were preparing 20 home-cooked meals daily.
Numbers gradually increased over the years to 35 per night, then 60. In recent months, that number has jumped to as many as 140 meals a night.
Sustaining this endeavor consumes most of his life. To his mother’s dismay, his family’s Woodhaven home is bursting with goods related to this work. An oversize freezer takes up most of the dining room, and the porch is lined with canned food and paper products. CAN YOU IMAGINE?
Daily operations now run like a well-oiled machine. Munoz gets up around 5:00 a.m. to drive his bus route, and he calls home on his breaks to see how the cooking is going. When he gets home around 5:30 p.m. -- often stopping to pick up food donations -- he helps pack up meals before heading out to "his corner" in Jackson Heights.
"He comes here without fail," says one of the men. "It could be cold, it could be really hot, but he’s here." On Saturdays he takes the men breakfast, and on Sundays -- his "day off" -- he brings them ham-and-cheese sandwiches. It’s a relentless schedule, but either Munoz or his sister does it every night of the year.
"If I don’t go, I’m going to feel bad," he says. "I know they’re going to be waiting for me."
With the economic downturn, donations have slowed as the crowds awaiting Munoz’s arrival have grown. But he is determined to do all he can to meet their needs.
Munoz estimates that food and gas cost approximately $400 to 450 a week; he and his family are funding the operation through their savings and his weekly $700 paycheck. AMAZING!
Asked why he spends so much time to help people he doesn’t know, he answers, "I have a stable job, my mom, my family, a house... everything I want, I have. And these guys [don’t]. "So I just think, ’OK, I have the food.’ At least for today they’re going to have a meal to eat."
Brothers and sisters, I am deeply humbled by this man, Jorge Munoz! In fact, we all should be. I do nothing for hurting, starving people compared to this man. I am not only humbled, I am embarrassed.
I realize that not everyone can do what this man and his family are doing. But we all can do something to serve people. And we Americans are the richest people in the world. Most of us are far richer than Jorge Munoz and look at what he does with what he has?!
One of the biggest lessons that we all need to learn is that God didn’t put us here for us! God put us here, created us to be servants to one another. If He came not to be served but to serve then that should be the end to the matter!
If God can humble Himself in the form of a man and become a servant, then what must we do?
Philippians 2:1-11 This power-packed section of scripture tells the story.
If you are united with Christ. If you have a relationship with God. If you are in Christ. If you’re a Christian. THEN DO WHAT?
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. THEN DO WHAT? Humble yourself. Think more about others and what you can do for them.
If you are united with Christ. THEN BE WHAT?
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: THEN BE WHAT? Then be like Christ in your attitude in life. Humble yourself. Be a servant like Jesus who washed the feet of His disciples.
ILL.- A lady wrote: When I lived in Los Angeles a few years back, the hardest thing for me to get used to was all the homeless people. I come from Iceland and there we are lucky enough not to have the problem of homelessness. There is always help somewhere. It was hard for me to see these people walking around hungry and so poor. So every time I had to go down town I would take some sandwiches with me to give to those that asked me for money or food.
One day I was coming off a freeway and a man came to my car and asked me for money. Not having money with me I had to turn him away. He looked at me with a smile and said "can you say happy birthday Joe?" I sang him happy birthday and drove off. Then I went to the nearest store I could find and bought him a happy birthday card. I wrote him a personal birthday greeting and put $30.00 in it. It took me half an hour but I did find him again. He was helping a man push his car. The car had run out of fuel and they were pushing it to the gas station.
One often assumes that homeless people do not give to the community at all. But Joe, given the chance, gave what he could, as I gave to him what I could. A little time of my day and a little card to say I care.
How’s that for thinking of others? How’s that for thinking of someone less fortunate than yourself? That’s being a servant.
Do we get the message? Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. And we need to serve others as best we can, any time, any place. In the church and probably, more importantly, outside the Church.
Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
