“A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
“‘You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom.’” [1]
We have each heard the complaint: “You can’t get service anymore.” Or perhaps it was some variant of this complaint, but the thrust of the complaint was that the culture has changed and people just don’t care about giving “good” service. In fairness, the complaint is coloured by our own bias. What does happen is that those individuals who build a good reputation as trades people, or those companies which excel in the competitive world, recognise that they must provide quality service if they wish to be truly competitive. New businesses must provide both excellence in the service provided and a quality product at a reasonable cost if they will survive.
As time passes, trades and businesses we once depended on are sold or the owner retires and the business is sold or the firm goes out of business. We were comfortable with those we had come to know and trust, and the new trades and businesses that replace the familiar firms we once knew must earn our trust. We don’t stop to consider that we have changed; thus, we are suspicious of the new owners or the new business we now must consult, so we are uncertain that they can be as good as what we once knew. Some of those new firms, just as some of the old firms, will not survive—they will be unable to compete by providing value for cost, or they will lack the drive to provide service. It is an example of the spirit of capitalism at work.
Something similar happens within the Christian Faith. There was a time when an individual could hang out a shingle inviting people to a church service and the venue would be full. That time is somewhere so far in the past that it is at best a dim memory. Churches are forced to compete by providing “service.” Tragically, the concept of “service” is usually defined by a worldview that is cultural rather than Christian. So, we focus on how people feel, whether they are comfortable, whether we pander to their expectations and so forth.
There is nothing wrong with seeking to make people feel comfortable when they share a service, just as we should be sensitive not to needlessly offend. However, when worshippers’ feelings take precedence over truth and the love of God, the congregation is in danger of dishonouring the Master. Let me suggest that a better way of serving begins with the individual and is naturally expressed in an attitude that reflects the Person of Christ the Lord. In order to explain this more accurately, I invite you to consider an exchange that took place during the days immediately preceding the Master’s crucifixion.
WE BRING OUR CULTURE INTO THE FAITH — “A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.’” Jesus had just led the disciples through the familiar ritual of the Pascal Meal. Judas had already exited the room, taking the money bag with him before Jesus introduced a new rite.
I’ve often commented on how surprised the disciples must have been when Jesus introduced a new rite. Perhaps “surprised” isn’t accurate; they were stunned. Much like us, they thought of the bread, the wine, the bitter herbs as holy items set apart for one purpose. There they were, reclining around the table, talking quietly among themselves, when Jesus interrupted their several conversations. “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” [LUKE 22:15, 16].
I can only speculate, but I’m guessing that when Jesus spoke, He had the attention of each of those present. They turned their heads focusing their eyes on Him, wondering what He was about to say. He had repeatedly spoken of being crucified, but somehow, they didn’t really believe that was going to happen. On one occasion when Jesus was teaching about His coming death, the reaction of the disciples, and especially Peter, elicited a stern rebuke from the Master. Peter had spoken forcefully against the thought that Jesus would be crucified; his speech was so strong that he was influencing the other disciples to reject the idea of Jesus dying. Jesus rebuked Peter in front of the whole group: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” [MATTHEW 16:23]. Here Jesus was, speaking yet again about suffering.
In the quietness as the disciples pondered why Jesus kept on bringing up this business of suffering and dying, He reached out and took the third of the four cups that were normally drunk during the Pascal Meal. As He took the cup, Jesus handed it to one of the disciples, and He said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes” [LUKE 22:17, 18].
Practically speaking, drinking this cup concluded the Passover Meal—it assuredly was the final act for Jesus. However, it was at this point that Jesus did something they had never witnessed. He had just pointed once more to His death, emphasising what He was saying by affirming that He would never again drink the juice with them; this was His final draught from the cup. The cup He would drink next would be the bitter cup when He tasted death for all mankind. There in the centre of the table was the pita, next to the bitter herbs. They had all eaten some of the bread, dipping it in the bitter herbs. Jesus reached out, took the bread, gave thanks to the Father, broken the loaf and gave it to the disciples. Jesus said the strangest thing. He said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” [LUKE 22:19].
I have to believe that the disciples chewed that bread in stunned silence; they had never witnessed anyone changing the ritual as Jesus was doing. I believe that as they chewed, they become aware of a growing sense of dread. Jesus had spoken of suffering, of crucifixion. Now, He was saying that the bread represented His body that would be broken for them. If that wasn’t enough to cause them to begin to focus on what was about to happen, what Jesus did next would ensure that they would focus. He offered them the fourth cup; as each one sipped from it before passing the cup to the next disciple, Jesus warned, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed” [LUKE 22:20-22]! Now He had their attention. Now they were focused. Jesus had just warned that He would be killed because one of His own disciples would betray Him.
Think about how horrendous such betrayal would be. Jesus had just spoken of His sacrifice for those whom He loved, immediately followed by the announcement that one of them would betray Him! Such an act can only be described as heinous! The important take-home is that Jesus was emphasising that His was not an accidental death—He was offering Himself as a sacrifice because of His disciples! That surely fit with what He had said on another occasion,
It was at a time when Jesus was challenged by the Jewish leaders, and Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” [JOHN 10:7-18].
Focus on Jesus’ statement: “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” Yes, He would be betrayed, the act exposing the dark heart of the disciple that did this foul deed, but the Father was in control throughout the entire process.
The night is solemn, the moment portentous. I would have expected that an ominous air hung over the group. The flickering shadows would have seemed menacing, foreboding as the disciples were warned of the events that were about to break over them. But, no, something else gripped their attention. “A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest” [LUKE 22:24]. Did you get that? The Master had just explained that He would be betrayed and that He would be crucified; He pictured how His body would be broken and His blood poured out—and they are arguing about which one of them is greatest!
What had happened is that these men brought their culture into the Faith. They did precisely what we do whenever we come into the Kingdom of God. We are newborn in the Kingdom, taking our place in the assembly of the righteous, and we see the leaders struggling to be the greatest! The pastor is pushing his agenda and the elders are promoting their agenda and the deacons are pushing back against each of them so that they can get their way—it doesn’t differ much from the job market or the business world. No one wants to be thought of as a wimp or a patsy. Most of us have an exaggerated opinion of ourselves; and nothing really changes when we come into the congregation of the faithful unless God Himself strips away the excess baggage we each carry along with us.
We’ve witnessed this far too often among the churches of our Lord. One person, or even a coterie of people, believing that they are doing God’s work run roughshod over the work of the congregation. No king ever claiming divine right to the rule exerted more power than this crowd. And the work of God is hindered because of their unintentional wickedness. Ask any of these people why they act as they do, and they will contend that they are seeking God’s glory. They are protecting the Faith!
I briefly pastored a church with such a cabal “running,” or “ruining,” the congregation. The distinction between the two views is determined by responsiveness to the Master of the Church. The leader of that crowd once crowed to me, “There are three people in this church; if we want something, we get it. If we don’t want it, it ain’t gonna’ happen.” He was proud of the manner in which he and his henchmen ran roughshod over the assembly of the faithful. However, that is not what God intended for His people. It should surprise no one that the congregation in question is no longer in existence, having mercifully passing off the scene some years ago after dying at the hands of that maniacal mob.
Too often, an individual comes into the Faith and enters into the assembly. That person is excited about newfound faith; she can’t wait to begin to tell others about Jesus’ power to save. However, the prejudices that individual had before are still with her, the idea that her opinion is correct and the opinions of others are just wrong, the thought that her ideas about how to fulfil the teachings of the Word are the best. Exalting her own person, she unconsciously looks down on brother and sister Christians, whom she sees as her inferiors.
These individuals, and others like them, see Presidents and Prime Ministers, titans of industry and motion picture stars and starlets acting as though they deserve to rule over the little people. Perhaps these individuals among the faithful are frustrated in their own homes or in the workplace, so they seize the opportunity to be a big fish in a little pond at the church. They are great in their own eyes; they will compel the lesser folk of the assembly to pay them homage. Let anyone who holds, even momentarily, such an attitude, that they are under divine censure.
A CHRISTIAN IS RIGHTLY EXPECTED TO BE DIFFERENT — “Not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.” “Not so with you.” Jesus had just cautioned, “Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles.” Then, with what I imagine to be unfeigned sternness, Jesus warned the disciples, “It’s not going to be that way with you” [2] [LUKE 22:25, 26a].
Among the royal tyrants had been a ruler of Egypt known as Ptolemy Euergetes. [3] “Euergetes” is Greek for “Benefactor.” The name of this tyrant was Ptolemy Benefactor! Jesus was forcing the disciples to see with divine eyes the model they were trying to impose on one another. They were trying to claw their way to the top by pushing down their fellow disciples. The benefactors were not noted for giving favours to the little people; but what favours were given were to be received with excessive praise. The powerful were shown deference.
We have an example of the deference that was expected and the anger generated when such deference failed to be shown in the account of a man named Mordecai who refused to show proper deference to a man named Haman. “King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, ‘Why do you transgress the king’s command?’ And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury” [ESTHER 3:1-5].
The model provided by this dying world is the exercise of authority over others through physical or intellectual force. Those who rule are inevitably surrounded by sycophants who flatter and fawn, scraping and bowing until those ruling begin to believe that they are almost godlike. It is bad enough when such tyrants are unleashed on nations or on cities; however, when the House of God is sullied through the presence of such petty tyrants, their destructive talents have eternal consequences. The congregation of the faithful is expected to be a model of righteousness, an example of godly civility, a paradigm of purity.
If I was able to communicate but one truth in this message, it would be to caution the people of God that we have modelled ourselves after the world for far too long. This was not the first time these disciples had jockeyed for position. We read of another such incident earlier in Luke’s Gospel. “An argument arose among [the disciples] as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great’” [LUKE 9:46-48].
Mark’s account adds that this exchange took place during a journey to Capernaum. Throughout the trip, the disciples had been arguing with one another, but doing so somewhat discretely so as not to draw the Master’s attention to themselves. Jesus called them to Himself after the group had entered into a house where they were out of the public eye. He asked them, “What were you discussing on the way” [see MARK 9:33-37]? It would appear that it was after this that they finally, shame-facedly confessed that they were arguing about priority in the Kingdom. I must confess my belief that many Christians (dare I say most Christians) would benefit from being called out by the Master over this same issue.
In this instance, argument of who was greatest spilled out of the low-level maneuvering seeking superiority, leading them to ask the Master to settle the argument. Matthew writes, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’” [MATTHEW 18:1]? It was at this point that Jesus provided an object lesson by calling to Himself a young child who was likely following Jesus in the company of the child’s father. Jesus was quite gentle on this occasion; He avoided embarrassing them by exposing their adherence to a false model provided by the world. Without a doubt, many Christian leaders could benefit from this same lesson—Christians are not to emulate the world in advancing themselves.
This was not the last time the matter of priority in the Kingdom arose. In addition to the incident recorded in the text we have before us, it was only a few days before the incident in our text took place that a mother of two of Jesus’ disciples came to Him asking a favour. Here is the account as provided in Matthew’s Gospel. “The mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers” [MATTHEW 20:20-24].
Of course, the other disciples were indignant! Zebedee’s boys were fighting unfairly! They got their mama involved in the fight! Moreover, their mama was a cousin of Jesus’ mother. That was just crass on the part of James and John to bring family into the feud. The other disciples were taken by surprise—and they didn’t have an advocate with family ties, so they were incensed; perhaps they were even furious!
Their indignation was so great that Jesus was forced to step into the fight. Listen to the continuation of this story. “Jesus called [the disciples] to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’” [MATTHEW 20:25-28]. I want you to take note that what Jesus said at this time was almost identical to what He said at the conclusion of the institution of the Lord’s Supper as recorded in our text. The lesson was being delivered, but it was not being received.
The point I’d urge you to take home is that the struggle to excel was continually moving down the wrong corridor even though Jesus was correcting these men. It should be no great surprise to us that Christians in this day are insistent on traversing the same, dead-end paths that were explored by the Apostles. How could it be otherwise when that is the model we have witnessed both in the world in which we live and even among so many of our churches?
The world watches us Christians to see if we are real. When our actions are no different from those they observe in the workaday world, what is to keep them from concluding that there is nothing important in the Faith. If we are just like the world, what is there that would make the world want to be like us? Perhaps we need to explore Jesus’ teaching that touched on this issue which He delivered during His Sermon on the Mount. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” [MATTHEW 5:13-16].”
Observing how we live, people will either conclude that there is nothing worthwhile in this business of Christianity or they will glorify our Father in Heaven. We are encouraged to live in such a way that we are seen to be different. Peter evidently learned this lesson well. He writes, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” [1 PETER 2:11, 12]. Here’s an idea, then—live in such a way that people are attracted to the Faith rather than being repelled by your actions.
To be sure, if our conduct is indistinguishable from the world, we cannot honour God. We who long to honour God will do well to consider the censure God delivers through Asaph.
“You do damage with words,
and use your tongue to deceive.
You plot against your brother;
you slander your own brother.
When you did these things, I was silent,
so you thought I was exactly like you.”
[PSALM 51:19-21a]
Getting to the top of the heap by stepping on our brother brings God’s sure rebuke. He does not act that way; and His disciples must not be that way, either.
THE CHRISTIAN MODEL — “Who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” Jesus’ Kingdom is not like earthly kingdoms; Jesus’ system is different. The senior leader, the one with the most experience, must voluntarily adopt the attitude that would normally be seen in the youngest with the least experience. Those without experience have no leadership responsibility, but neither can they expect any rewards or honour. However, the one with the responsibility of making decisions must do so as if he was a servant who is utterly dependent upon the decision maker. Faithful service does not merit a participation reward from those who are served.
Joe McKeever contends that the magna carta of the shepherd’s assignment is given in MATTHEW 10:16-42. [4] He points out that the Lord’s disciples could be expected “to be misunderstood, mistreated and abused. Their enemies would sometimes be the most religious people on the planet, persecuting the righteous even in their houses of worship (10:17). Even members of their own families (10:35-36) would oppose them.” Pastor McKeever is correct!
There is an old saying the ministry circles. “Beware the man who greets you at a new church. He will be the one packing the moving van for you to leave.” I recall one church in which that was actually true. The church had been in decline for years, slowly dying. The tiny congregation decided that they should call a new pastor to rescue them. I happened to be the unfortunate preacher who received their call to help them. Before I had even preached my first sermon as the new pastor, the most of those remaining decided that they did not like me and that they would work to undermine me regardless of my efforts to build the congregation and to honour the Saviour. They did this without even knowing me or knowing my family—they never even gave me a chance.
I recall my first meeting with the Sunday School director. I asked for his assessment of the condition of the Sunday School. His response was to tell me, “I don’t like you and I don’t want to tell you anything. In fact, I quit.” Talk about confused! The interaction with the treasurer of the church was one continual disaster as she made exaggerated attempts to keep any knowledge of the financial condition from me. The pianist and the organist were openly hostile. And they hadn’t even heard me sing!
Why do people act like this? We expect outsiders to attack us. Jesus warned that this was because we are not of the world [see JOHN 15:19]. As a relatively young preacher, I expected the world to be cruel and mean-spirited. But I was unprepared for the bitterness from people claiming to be followers of the Master. Listen to what Jesus said about such people. “All these things they will do to you on account of My Name, because they do not know Him who sent Me.” Then, Jesus said, “The word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled, ‘They hated Me without a cause’” [JOHN 15:21, 25].
Pastor McKeever is likely correct when he observed, “Many of the leaders of our churches do not know God. They do not believe in Jesus. They do believe in some things. Just not in Him. They believe in having nice churches and doing good things and having fine programs. They believe in ten thousand things, but they do not know God or believe in Jesus. If they did—and this is the telling clue—they would shiver in their shoes at the prospect of causing pain and suffering to those called to serve the Lord’s congregation.” That is a tragic summation, though it is undoubtedly correct. How we conduct our lives reflects who we are; and if we live lives undistinguished from the world, it is likely because we belong to the world.
We readily and openly acknowledge that Jesus is our Model for our conduct in life. However, watching fellow church members as they attempt to promote themselves by stepping on others, we are tempted to say, “Jesus never acted like that!” It is an indictment that we have embraced the attitude of this dying world; we didn’t understand the Kingdom we would inherit. Professed Christians have come to us in this congregation, promoting themselves as someone important, only to quickly depart when they failed to get the recognition they imagined they deserved. I could name the names of multiple individuals who have come to us during the few years we have served this community. They slyly tell me, “I’m an elder in the church I just left.” Or they sidle up to me to let me know that they really should be teaching others rather than serving. It is an indictment of the infiltration of the world’s attitude into the life of the assembly. Whenever some individual pushes himself forward, wanting the seat allowing him to be seen by everyone, it is a cause for concern that the individual has not learned how to serve.
Peter was privileged to personally observe Jesus from the closest proximity. This is what Peter wrote of Jesus even when He was treated in such a vile manner. “To this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” [1 PETER 2:21-23]. This is Kingdom living; this is our model for serving.
Jesus had said to these disciples, “I am among you as the one who serves” [LUKE 22:27b]. The fascinating aspect of the words Jesus spoke is the example He had just provided these same disciples. Refresh your memories by looking at what happened as recorded by John. “During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him” [JOHN 13:2-5].
With His example, the Master provided an explanation. Look at the end of the pericope. “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’” [JOHN 13:2-5].
When Jesus said, “I am among you as the one who serves,” their minds would have turned automatically to what had happened scant minutes before. Imagine! The disciples were worshipping with the Master. He was serving them as though He was a servant. And they were arguing about who among them was the greatest! They had His example fresh in their minds. We can only imagine that they hung their heads, their shame causing their faces to burn hot.
THE SERVANT’S REWARD — “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom.” God knows who we are; He knows what we suffer for His sake and He knows the service we have rendered in His Name. The child of God is comforted by the Master’s promise. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” [MATTHEW 10:29-31].
I encourage you to recall another promise of Jesus recorded soon after this promise. “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward” [MATTHEW 10:40-42].
God has promised that He will treat His servant with justice. God’s promised reward is not given by those whom we serve. God Himself will give recognition and honour to His servant at the proper time. We entered into this life of service before the Saviour by faith and we serve by faith. Just so, the promised reward is not received now; it is promised to be given in the future. We who serve must guard against seeking honour and recognition for our service now, knowing that the Master has promised to reward His own.
That the reward shall not be given until the promised return of the Master can never satisfy the heart that is tied to this earth. Nevertheless, the promise is certain for those of us who walk by faith. This promise is given to us who follow the Master. The Apostle to the Gentiles has written to encourage the people of God, “We are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-10].
Paul urged Christians who labour in the shadows to serve “with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ.” In serving with such an attitude, the child of God will be “rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord” [see EPHESIANS 6:5-8].
That promise is iterated elsewhere with additional encouragement to consider Who gives us the reward. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” [COLOSSIANS 3:23, 24]. Each Christian needs to keep this knowledge in the forefront of her service; we serve Christ when we serve His interest. We serve His interest when we serve His people.
Christ’s promise to the Apostles was quite specific. They had walked with Him for three and one-half years. The eleven had been with Him up to the moment of His passion. His promise was that they would receive the promised Kingdom. That promise is just as valid for each child of God who serves faithfully as the Master has appointed him or her to serve. The Risen Christ promised repeatedly to recognise those who were faithful when He appeared to John on Patmos. Who cannot be encouraged by the promise the Master has given to servants, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” [REVELATION 2:10].
I speak to people who see the increasing chaos in the world about us. We see hearts failing because of fear. We witness those who claim to be servants of the Saviour who appear to walk with us for a short while, only to turn aside, returning to the world. Some still speak the language of Zion, though they live for their own pleasure. If we focus on the world and those who turn to the world, we will shortly begin to wonder whether we are fools for serving Christ. Looking at the world and those who turn again to the world, we will be inclined to begin to evaluate our service as did these Apostles. We will almost unconsciously adopt the attitude of the world, estimating our position in the work of Christ by the standard of the world.
Let me make a final observation for the benefit of Christians who serve the Saviour. Tragically, much of contemporary Christianity has become idolatry. What I mean is if we are more influenced in how we conduct our lives by the attitude of the world than we are influenced by Christ, we are idolaters. If fear of what is taking place in the world dictates how we live rather than love for the Saviour, then we are giving the world greater power than we are giving the Master. If fear of the godless decisions by the government, fear of wicked religions opposed to the Faith or fear of the growing wickedness of society determines how we live, then we are not giving the Saviour first place in our lives.
We who believe God know the promise He has given. John writes in his first missive, “You are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore, they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error” [1 JOHN 4:4-6]. Soon after writing this, the Apostle of Love writes, “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” [1 JOHN 5:4].
My prayer is that the people of God will be encouraged to continue serving as Christ has commanded. My prayer is that God’s servants will stand with Him in the trials to which we have been appointed, knowing that He has assigned a Kingdom. My prayer is that Christ will be seen in greater measure in each life as we stand firm in this holy Faith. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO 2005)
[3] Cf. H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., St Luke, vol. 2, The Pulpit Commentary (Funk & Wagnalls Company, London; New York 1909) 200
[4] Joe McKeever, “Scars from the ministry: They come with the territory,” http://joemckeever.com/wp/scars-from-the-ministry-they-come-with-the-territory/, accessed 24 June 2017
