Live for Others: Have a Servant Heart!
We are continuing in our series on Discovering our destiny and this week we are going to be thinking about what it means to live for others.
This morning we are considering what it means to have a servant heart. To focus our thoughts, listen to the words of Ephesians 6:6 from The Message, “Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God.”
If you are in Christ this morning, if you have repented from your sin and asked Jesus to be your Lord and your Saviour, you have been freed from the burden and penalty of your sins, past present and future.
At the moment you accepted Jesus into your life, you were assured that your place in Heaven was secure in Jesus and that your destiny was to spend eternity with God.
But, God has not taken us to our eternal home yet. He has a destiny, a plan, a purpose for each of us while we still walk upon this earth.
God calls us to serve Him and other people.
God calls us to share the truth of the Gospel with those who are heading to a lost eternity away from God.
God calls us to minister to those who desperately need to hear the message of salvation for themselves.
God calls us to be both salt and light in this bland, sin sick world.
God calls us to serve Him, and God also calls us to guard our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 says “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
What are we to guard our hearts from?
The simple answer is anything that will lead us away from God’s plan and purpose for us. Our hearts are meant to be different, our motivation is meant to be different, serving God and His purpose for us is meant to be at the centre of our lives. We are meant to be different because Jesus has made a difference in our lives.
We are set free, we are saved, we are in the world but we are not of the world.
Let me unpack this a little further, how can we be in the world, but not of the world?
In John chapter 17 we have a record of a prayer of Jesus.
While praying to Father God, Jesus said of His disciples, His followers, in John 17:14-16, “I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.”
The word translated “world” in the original text is the Greek word cosmos. Cosmos refers to the inhabited earth and the people who live on the earth, which functions apart from God. 1 John 5:19 reminds us, “We know that we are children of God and that the world (the cosmos) around us is under the control of the evil one.”
If Satan, the evil one, is the ruler of this world, this cosmos then we can understand why Jesus would say in His prayer that those who believe in Him are are no longer of this world. As followers of Jesus, we are no longer ruled by sin, we are not bound by the sinful principles and practices of this world. We are set free from the power of sin, we are set free from the control of the evil one, we are saved and we are being changed and transformed into the image of Christ. Our interest in the things of the world decreases as we grow closer to God and mature in our Christian lives.
In the world, but not of the world, we are physically present, but not part of its value system, we are set apart from the world.
When we are saved God calls us to be holy because He is holy, we are set apart to be holy, to live a holy, righteous life. Remember the words of Paul in Romans 12:1-2, “dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Our hearts are not meant to seek after or engage in the sinful activities this world promotes. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, transforming our thoughts, transforming our mind, transforming our heart.
Being in the world, but not of it, means we have the opportunity to bring light to people who are in spiritual darkness. We are meant to live in a way that shows there is something “different” about us.
Are you different?
Really different?
Are you different in the right way?
How much of your life, of my life, is really that different to those who do not follow Jesus?
Do our lives show we are different because of our relationship with God?
The Apostle Paul is clear: Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, be different, have a different heart, make every effort to live, think and act like a person who knows Jesus, as a person who has been saved, as a person who seeks to bring honour and glory to God.
Does your behaviour show that you are different because of your relationship with God?
Is your heart different because of your relationship with God?
Is your heart a servant heart?
The best example of a servant heart is Jesus, He lived a life of unselfish servant hood. In Mark 10:45, Jesus speaking about Himself said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” We must learn to model Christ-like servant hood in every situation because God has saved us to serve Him.
Our focus is to be on our Lord, and we must be whole hearted in our devotion to Him and remember it is Him who we are serving. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:1-5, “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”
The focus of many people in the world is their own happiness and comfort. We are called to be different. God calls us to have same attitude as Jesus, the same servant heart.
There are only two options for us. Either we will choose to serve ourselves or we can choose to serve God.
If we choose to serve ourselves, it is a choice which means we are choosing not to fully live our lives as disciples of Jesus, obedient to the will of God.
If we choose to serve God, we choose to live as His servants because of our relationship with God through our faith in Jesus Christ.
If we choose to serve God, we choose to be the disciples of Jesus God has destined us to be.
If we choose to serve God, we choose to fully serve the will and purpose of God not our own desires.
At the heart of true Christianity, true discipleship, is knowing and loving God, being in a real relationship with Him, living as His children, living with a servant heart in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Friends, we need to choose to willingly submit control of our lives to God. Our focus is to be on pleasing God and serving Him just as Jesus did. Jesus came as a servant with full commitment to serving the will of Father God.
Think for a moment, if instead of coming TO serve, Jesus had come to BE served, our salvation would never have taken place. He would not have suffered in your place or mine, He would never have had to endure the pain of the cross. If He had come to be served, He could never have been the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus came with full expectation and willingness to be the servant not the served. We as followers of our Lord Jesus must also be willing servants of our Saviour and our King. We must be willing to have a servant heart, a holy heart, a pure heart.
Maybe this is something you struggle with. Maybe you are wondering how can I have a servant heart, a holy heart, a pure heart?
Ask God to help change your heart! Pray as the Psalmist did in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” Pray as the Psalmist did in Psalm Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honour you.”
God will answer your prayers. Listen to God’s word from Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart”.
God will answer your prayers. Will you ask Him to give you a servant heart?
A heart filled with passion to serve your Lord.
A heart filled with passion to serve His kingdom.
A heart filled with passion to serve others.
Jesus said in Matthew 23:11-12, “The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Greatness in God’s kingdom is not found in position or power or in the praise and opinions of other people. Greatness in God’s kingdom is found in servant-like service to others.
As I draw to a close, perhaps the greatest illustration of having a servant heart is found in John chapter 13. There in the upper room, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus demonstrated what it means to have a servant heart.
Imagine the scene. Jesus is there with His disciples.
Everything has been prepared for His last meal with the disciples. Everything except one important thing, according to the customs of the time, there should have been a servant present with a bowl of water and towel.
The servant should have been there to wash the feet of the guests who had walked the dirty, dusty roads of Palestine. But, there was no servant in the room.
So who would lower themselves to the position of the servant and perform the task?
Can you imagine the disciples looking around, expecting someone to turn up to do the job?
Can you imagine them thinking, that is a disgusting job, that is a job I would never want to do?
Then the perfect example of a servant heart happens. Jesus stands, takes off His coat, rolls up His sleeves, puts a towel round His waist, puts the water in the bowl and begins to wash the feet of the disciples.
The Messiah, the son of God, the saviour of the world, the king of kings and the Lord of Lords, takes on the role of the servant, the job of a slave. Jesus did what no one else had been willing to do, Jesus took the place of a slave and washed the feet of His disciples.
Jesus willingly took the place of a servant, in fact throughout His entire ministry on earth, His servant heart was displayed in His attitude and action.
Jesus provided His disciples and us with the perfect example of what it means to have a servant heart.
Listen to the words of John 13:12-16, After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.
What Jesus did was an example of what His disciples should do, what we should do. Jesus assumed the role of a servant to minister to others, we must also be willing to humble ourselves to serve others. True blessing comes from having a servant heart and willingness to serve others.
The Final thought, before we come to our time of communion is this, Colossians 3:23-24,“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ”
We are to live with servant hearts and be willing to pick up the servant’s towel and serve our God and our King.
We are to live as servants of our God, we are to live as people who are committed to the plans and purposes of God, we are to live as disciples of Christ who are committed to meeting the needs of others.
Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. The chorus of the Graham Kendrick song The Servant King says:
This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King.
In Christ, God calls us to live as servants, to serve others, to serve God, as our Lord Jesus did.
He is the perfect example of having a servant heart, let us choose to have a heart like His.
Amen
