What is the difference between hot and warm
• At 211° water is hot. But At 212° it boils.
• One degree is the difference between water as a liquid and water as a gas.
• One degree makes all the difference.
In Revelation 3:15-16, the Laodicean church is called out for their lukewarm Christianity,
• The Lord says that because they are lukewarm he will vomit them out of his mouth.
Through the Laodicean church we discover that lukewarm Christianity is not enough.
So what is the one degree that separates 211° Christianity from 212° Christianity,
• lukewarm Christianity from committed Christianity?
• In this lesson, we’re gonna look at that one degree of separation in our service.
And we’ll see that there are 4 ways we reach 212° in our service.
1) 212° SERVICE IS IMPARTIAL
• Numerous times the disciples tried to choose who Jesus could serve
• They encouraged Jesus to send away the crowd of 5000+ people to find food (Matthew 14:13-21).
• They asked Jesus to send away the Canaanite woman who was following him and seeking him to heal her daughter (Matthew 15:21-28).
They rebuked parents for bringing their children to Jesus (Matthew 19:13-15).
212° Service does not pick and choose who to serve;
• 212° service just serves who needs to be served.
• Jesus never told us who to serve.
• He never gave us parameters on what type of person deserves our help.
• Look at the parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25. J
• Jesus separated the sheep to his right and invited them into the kingdom
• Because they fed him when he was hungry,
• They gave him something to drink when he was thirsty,
• They invited him in when he was a stranger,
• They clothed him when he was naked,
• They took care of him when he was sick, and visited him when he was in prison (Matthew 25:34-35).
• But notice that the sheep didn’t even realize when they had done these things for him (Matthew 25:37-39).
• These sheep were simply serving without discrimination
• And in the process they were unknowingly serving the Lord.
If we want to become 212° servants
• Then we have to start by becoming impartial.
• If we see a man standing on a street corner asking for help
• most of us will be leery of giving him cash because we are skeptical of what he will use it for.
• Many of us have been burned by people we have helped in the past.
• So should our skepticism or our mistreatment in the past
• prevent us from serving? No!
• Sometimes we will help people who misuse it and abuse it
But that does not mean that we stop helping people.
If we want to become 212° servants
We cant pick and choose who we serve; we must simply serve.
2) 212° SERVICE IS SELFLESS
• Some people serve in order to be rewarded:
• Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, decided he deserved a reward from Naaman
• even after Elisha had declined (2 Kings 5:15-27).
• Instead of being a selfless servant, he became a selfish servant.
• Ananias and Sapphira lied about the amount of money they received
• for selling a piece of land in order to appear selfless and sacrificial (Acts 5:1-10).
• nstead of being selfless servants, they became selfish servants.
212° service does not seek nor need an earthly reward;
• 212° service understands that God will bring forth the reward.
In Matthew 6:1-4 Jesus tells us, “
Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
Mt 6:2 When you give a gift to someone in need, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get.
Mt 6:3 But when you give to someone, don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing.
Mt 6:4 Give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.
Heb 6:10 For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians, as you still do
Our God knows what we do as servants,
• and He will reward us appropriately.
• Jesus himself often did not allow those he healed to spread the word about what he did for them.
• He did not seek earthly praise or fame. He “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28).
If you want to be a 212° servant
• then you dont seek earthly praise or earthly rewards
• You don’t seek earthly recognition for your acts of service
• because you know that your Father in Heaven is watching
and He will reward you in His own time.
3) 212° SERVICE IS ACTIVE
• Compare the Rich Young Man (Luke 18:18-23) with the Good Samaritan in (Luke 10:33-35).
• The Rich Young Man was willing to do the bare minimum requirements (i.e. keep the commandments),
• but when he was asked to go that extra degree (i.e. sale all he had and give it to the poor), he quit.
• The Good Samaritan was willing to go above and beyond the call of duty
• by bandaging the wounds of a man that despised him,
• giving up his own donkey for the man to ride on,
and paying for the man’s continued care.
212° service is not bare minimum actions;
• 212° service is actions that go above and beyond what is expected.
• 212° service is not inactive; 212° is active.
• The Rich Young Man was an inactive servant
• who only fulfilled bare minimum requirements.
The Good Samaritan was an active servant who was willing to do more than was expected.
When someone is in need,
• how often do we simply say “I’m praying for you”
• when in all actuality there is something we could be doing for them? (Elab)
• Prayer is important,
• Bbut instead of simply praying for someone
• We at times need to be the answer to their prayer.
James 2:14-17 speaks to this fact.
Jas 2:14 Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone.
Jas 2:15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing,
Jas 2:16 and you say, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? Jas 2:17 So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.
ILLUSTRATION: by Charles Swindoll)
• I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and you discussed my hunger. Thank you.
• I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel in the cellar to pray for my release.
• I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
• I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
• I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
• I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.
• You seem so holy; so close to God. But I’m still very hungry and lonely and cold.
• So where have your prayers gone? What have they done?
What does it profit a man to page through his book of prayers when the rest of the world is crying for help.
If you want to be a 212° servant
• Then you will not stop at wishing people well or praying for them,
you will seek to be actively involved in helping them.
4) 212° SERVICE IS MY RESPONSIBILITY
• Who’s responsibility was it to wash the feet of guests in the New Testament?
• It was the responsibility of the servant under the oversight of the owner of the house.
• In John 13:1-12, who assumed the responsibility of washing the feet of the disciples?
• It was Jesus - the Master, the Rabbi, the Teacher,
• the one whom the men in that room followed.
• Jesus didn’t wait for someone else to wash everyone’s feet.
He recognized that it needed to be done, and he did it himself.
212° service does not expect someone else to do the job;
• 212° service assumes responsibility itself.
• Many times we will pass up the opportunity to serve
• Because we assume someone else will take care of it.
• Jesus had the opposite attitude;
• He assumed it was his responsibility,
• And he challenges us to be like Him
in John 13:14-17, “
Jn 13:14 And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.
Jn 13:15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.
Jn 13:16 How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them.
Jn 13:17 You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.
Being a 212° servant comes down to basin theology.
• "Remember what Pilate did when he had the chance to acquit Jesus?
• He called for a basin and washed his hands of the whole thing.
• But Jesus, the night before His death,
• Called for a basin and proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples.
• It all comes down to basin theology: Which one will you use?"
If you want to be a 212° servant
• Then you wont assume that it’s someone else’s responsibility;
you will make it your responsibility.
CONCLUSION:
• Under the Mosaic Law a Hebrew servant became a free man
• during the 7th year of his service.
• However, if the servant loved his master
• and wished to remain his servant
• then he would be taken to a doorpost and his ear would be pierced with an awl.
• This piercing would signify that he was now his master’s servant for life.
• Are you willing to be your Master’s servant for life?
• One degree can make all the difference.
• Are you willing to go that extra degree in your service?
