The Power of Serving
Matthew 20:20-28
August 7, 2011
Morning Message
During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repariing a small defensive barrier. their leader was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, "Sir, I am a corporal!" The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." It was none other than George Washington.
Today in the Word, March 6, 1991.
We are in a new series of messages called Exponential: experiencing the dynamic power of God. God has the ability to multiply His presence and power in the life of the church and in the lives of individual believers. God has the desire to show Himself to us and through us. God does His best work when He His power completely shines through us. God is able to bring glory to Himself when His exponential ability proves His faithfulness and love.
103 is 1,000. We need to seek God to pour out His exponential power and presence on the church. The same is true with the outpouring of God’s power, what may seem small on our part becomes gigantic with the power of God. God allows His power to move on our behalf when we seek His face.
Big Prayer List
Exponential Outpouring of the Spirit – 1,000 time greater than we have ever experienced
More conversions than ever before – More than all of the conversions of the church combined
Payment of the new debt
One of the ways that we can experience more of God’s exponential power is through genuine service to Him. When we step out to do things for God, God shows His power and presence if we let Him. He moves within us to help us accomplish greater things than we ever could on our own. There are two reasons that some Christians never experience this exponential power. The first is because they never attempt anything great for God. The second is that Christians try to do great things but for their own glory and recognition.
If God is your partner, make your plans big – D.L. Moody
What big thing does God want you to accomplish through you? Think about it. Let that questions sink in for a moment. God really does want to accomplish great things through you. Before you start to object, look at some of the people God used in the Bible.
Nehemiah: Cupbearer to the king
Joseph: Slave that was imprisoned
Jeremiah: teenage prophet
If you have your Bibles with you this morning, I want to examine a passage on the issue of service. Please open to Matthew 20:20-28
20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. 21 "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." 22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered. 23 Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." 24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 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." Matthew 20:20-28
What does it mean to be a servant?
Two major Greek words Jesus uses 26 and 27
Diakoneo - to serve or to minister
where we get our English term deacon.
There is a direct connection between the word serve and the word minister. The entire church is called to minister to the needs of others. Ministry is the job of the entire church and not just the job of the minister. There can be no mistake that Christians are called to serve Christ. Servants help meet the needs of others, slaves meet the wants of others.
To be a servant, your life must belong to Jesus. To be a servant, you must give up your desires. Service means moving beyond self to embrace the Lordship of Christ. Do not be content with merely making Jesus your savior, make Him your Lord.
Douleuo - To serve as a slave
Greek words often carry an additional meaning the is implied by the rest of the text. Many times the understanding of the word serve implies a form of submission. The implication is a form of bonded service, a willing submission to a master. To be a servant of Christ we must first be willing to submit to His will and His direction. The understanding of being a servant is that personal desires are surrendered to pursue the desire of the master. Jesus is the master and we are the servants. Jesus is the Rabbi and we are the disciples.
Notice the situation in Matthew, the mother of James and John, Salome approaches Jesus with an outlandish request. Salome asks Jesus to grant her a favor and give the two highest positions in His kingdom to James and John. One seated to his right and the other seated to his left. Why would this have been a consideration? James and John were likely related to Jesus. Salome was the sister to Mary, mother of Jesus. This would make Jesus, James and John first cousins. At first glance, we condemn this action. We say how terrible the motive is of Salome. How often are we guilty of the very similar things?
The attitude behind the request is telling. Jesus asks them a key question: can you drink from the cup He is going to drink from. James and John waste no time answering yes. Jesus tells them that there is no way He can grant their request. There is a sense of spiritual arrogance going on here. This is not just a problem in this passage but it is a problem today.
One of the most difficult aspects of serving Christ is the issue of self. The moment we chose to serve God for His glory, we can experience His power in amazing ways. Many times we try to put our agenda on God and do things to accomplish our plans and call it service. Service is not about doing what we desire and stamping it with God’s name. We cannot try to do things with selfish motives and then somehow sanctify it by claiming its for God. When we try to do ministry in a self serving manner, we are not serving God, we are just serving ourselves.
Serving God requires us to do what He desires. Serving God means that we want to glorify Him and not ourselves. Serving God means that we work to accomplish His will through an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we need a not so gentle reminder that its not our work but His work. This is not our house, its God’s house. Maybe we need to start treating ministry as His work an stop pushing what we desire. Maybe we should look at the church building like it belongs to God and not us.
Key Lessons on Service
Service is an act of selfless giving
Service begins with an act of surrendering self. Our unwillingness to remove our self-centeredness from our service removes God’s power and provision from it. God cannot and will not honor self centered service. Service is an act of a surrendered will. We serve out of a spirit to further God’s kingdom and to assist those who need to hear the gospel the most. We make the choice to serve God each and every day. We need to be continually checking our motives to be sure that they are pure. We need to stop seeking the approval of people and start seeking the approval of God. Stop worrying about what other people think.
Scriptural principles on service
1. Greatness comes from serving (Mark 9:33-350
Service may require us to humble ourselves but it is a humility that leads to greatness. There are times when the teachings of Jesus make little sense to our human mind and this is one of them. Our human nature strives for honor, recognition and achievement. The thinking is that we have to climb the ladder of success to accomplish these things. Jesus says that in order to be great, we must lower ourselves. In order to rise, we must be willing to descend. The only ways that Jesus says that we can actually achieve greatness is to give up the pursuit of self exaltation. Only when we give up the quest for greatness in our own abilities that we find greatness in Christ.
Could it be that we are not achieving greater things for Christ because we are pursuing our desires? Are we losing out on extra blessings because we are centered on our personal agenda?
2. Servanthood requires loyalty (Luke 16:13)
Jesus makes it clear that there can only be one master. The illustration He gives is focused on materialism. No one can love both God and money. There are many other things that can disrupt our walk with Christ. The issue is one of loyalty, Christ expects His people to be loyal to Him and to the Kingdom. The issue of loyalty plays out in every area of life. Is Jesus the Lord of your whole life or merely parts of your life?
3. Servanthood requires readiness (Luke 12:35-40)
Servants need to be ready to do the will of the master at any time. Most Christians make time for Christ when it fits their schedule. Readiness is not a priority to many because they falsely believe that they have all the time in the world. We must be ready for Christ to call and stand up when the time comes to be counted. We need to be ready at all times because we never know when we will get the call of the master. We need to be ready when Christ is ready for us to serve.
