Sermon
Lanier Christian Church
February 12, 2017
David Simpson
Series: Revive! Sermon #4
Serve Wholeheartedly
Ephesians 6:7
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people…(Ephesians 6:7)
Serve wholeheartedly. That’s our calling as Christians. We are called to serve. So, I have a question for you today. If you are a Christian, what specifically are you doing to serve the Lord wholeheartedly?
Are some of you struggling to answer that? Maybe we’re struggling a bit because we live in a society where we pay people to serve US. The clerk at the store. The waitress and cooks at the restaurant. The mailman. The landscaper. The repairman. The teacher who teaches your children and grandchildren. In fact, it is often easier for us to pay someone to do something we don’t want to do, because at some point we decided we can’t or won’t do the something somebody did for us.
Reminds me of this old tongue twister shared by many a preacher:
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Now, Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!
Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
I think Jesus faced the frustration of his disciples just “not getting it” when it came to serving others, so he decided to teach them a dramatic lesson about serving others.
But, instead of just telling them, he showed them.
John 13:3: 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Then, a few verses later….12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
I really thought about perhaps asking each one here today to wash someone else’s feet! To provide towels and basins and wash feet. But, the more I studied this passage the more I realized that just the act of foot washing would not be enough to get across the lesson of Jesus.
You see, we are talking about slavery here. What? Like the TV character of old used to say: What you talking about Willis?”
Slavery? Yes. When Paul said “serve wholeheartedly” he was literally talking to slaves of the Roman Empire. When Jesus says “servant” in this foot washing story, he uses the word “doulos,” which literally means “bond-slave.”
A bond-servant wasn’t someone who just served another once in a while, a bond-slave was one who was in bondage to another. One who was obligated for life to serve the needs of a person or family. I doubt that anyone in this room said as a little child, “When I grow up I want to be a slave.” Or, “When I grow up I want to be somebody’s servant!
Our pride keeps us from seeing service to others as an aspiration. But Jesus asks us to go against our selfish desires and to go contrary to today’s cultural characteristics of self-promotion and self-centeredness. He calls us to serve others. In fact, he would say that your faith, your belief system is best seen in how you serve.
I like what Max Lucado writes: "The Lord of the universe’s first day was spent in a barn, His last was spent bending down washing feet."
I sometimes wonder if we realize just how radically different from the world Jesus is calling us to be. When we become a Christian He doesn’t just save us from our sins. He wants to save us from the futile and shallow attitudes and lifestyles of this world. (From: Tim Smith) As Christians we are to think counter culture. We are to be like Christ – not like culture.
Elsewhere, as recorded in Matthew, we read… 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 20:25-28)
Simply put, Jesus set the example of service before us. He gave His life for us. He was a bond-servant to us. He gave all…for us. He simply is asking of us…to stop demanding or expecting service…. and serve. And if you can’t think of anything you’re doing that qualifies as service, then perhaps you’re guilty of being served rather than serving!
There are some “barriers” to service that surround us every day. Here are some…..
- Cell Phone
- Computer
- TV
- Easy Chair
In fact, any of these could be service sappers. They prevent us from seeing and responding to the needs that surround us constantly. Time spent with these items takes away from time that could be spent investing in others.
Take the easy chair for instance. It could be one of the most dangerous items in our homes. Not because of what it might do to you but rather because of what you might not do when you are in it. I mean the name says it all “Lazy Boy.”
These service sappers prevent us from performing the tasks that our Lord has asked us to do. I wish that service was as simple as washing feet, but it’s not. I wish that service was as simple as sending a text, but it’s not. I wish that service was as easy as responding to someone’s post on Facebook, but it’s not. I wish that service was as simple as sending an email, but it’s not. I wish that service could be performed from sitting in an easy chair, but it can’t. Service takes effort, and sometimes great effort.
How many phone calls, texts, TV shows, emails have changed your life as compared to the times when you got out of your chair and away from your computer and cell phone and invested your life in helping somebody else?
In 1986, a group of researchers published a study of Japanese mothers comparing them to mothers in Minneapolis. The mothers were asked to rank the most important things that a child needs to succeed academically. The answers tell a lot about the difference in our two cultures today. The mothers in Minneapolis chose "ability." The mothers in Japan said "effort." (From Eric Snyder)
Many times we forget that God is not as interested in our abilities as he is in our availability. There is a very famous book called “The road less traveled.” It starts out with a 3- letter phrase that a lot of people agree with. It’s this: “Life is difficult.”
Yes, life is hard. It requires effort and sacrifice and dedication. And, we do it together. That’s why we serve. It takes all of us working together to accomplish life. It takes all of us working together to be a family. It takes all of us working together to be a church.
Billy Graham once said: “God has given us two hands – one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing. If we fail to fulfill this divine duty and privilege we have missed the meaning of Christianity.”
I know. I could write a book filled with the excuses of people as to why they can’t serve in some capacity for the cause of Christ. (No one here, of course!) Here are some:
I don’t have time.
I have other obligations.
I have a family. I don’t have a family.
I have bills to pay.
I have jobs to perform.
I don’t have the money.
I don’t do that.
I can’t do that.
I don’t know how to do that.
I’ve never done that.
I won’t do that.
I really believe that the Lord is tired of our excuses. And I certainly believe on the day of Judgment that none of our excuses will be valid. Let me say it once again. God is not interested in our ability, He’s interested in our availability.
The great Moses gave every excuse he could to avoid responding to the call of God to go and deliver his people from slavery in Egypt. He basically said: “I don’t have the ability. I can’t.”
So, God gave him a staff. To Moses, it may have been just a big stick, but to God it was anything but that.
With that simple tool, Moses confronted the sorcerers of Pharaoh’s court. With that staff he turned the waters of Egypt into blood. With just a staff, Moses caused the waters of the Red Sea to stand up like a wall. With that same staff he brought forth water from a rock. With his staff, Moses caused the army of God’s people to experience victory.
Moses didn’t think he had much to offer, but God used what he had…his shepherd’s staff…. to do the miraculous.
So, what’s in your hand that God can use to serve His purposes?
All Jochebed had in her hands was some straw, but she wove it into a basket to shelter Moses. So, what do you have in your hand?
All David had was a slingshot and some smooth stones, but in God’s hands it brought down a Giant.
All the widow had was enough food for one more meal for her and her son, but God used it to feed her family and the prophet Elijah throughout a famine. So, what do you have in your hand?
All the little boy had was a sack lunch of fish and bread, but Jesus used it to feed more than 5,000 people. So, what do you have in your hand?
All the widow had in her hand were two small coins, but Jesus said it was worth more than the bags of money offered by the rich. What do you have in your hand?
All Mrs. Lora Kiss of Harvest Christian Church in Clarkesville, GA had was some land, but she donated much of it to North Georgia Christian Camp and the lives of thousands have been changed because of time spent there.
All James and Hazel Hamrick had was their living room, but they offered that as the meeting place for the beginnings of Lanier Christian Church. All Hazel had was her ability to play the piano, and she used that to become her home piano and her talent to be our first musician.
All Maxine Strickland had was pen and paper, but she wrote to people all over the world offering her prayer support. One was a young soldier who came here to meet her and thank her for her supportive letters and faithful prayers. Near the end of her life, Maxine showed me hundreds of letters and cards she had received from people and missionaries all over that world thanking her for her prayers.
Just some straw – no problem, God can use it.
Just a slingshot – no problem, God can bring down giants.
Just a child – you’ve got to be kidding, God can change the world through a child.
Just a sack lunch or some land or a piano, or pen and paper – put anything in God’s hands and He WILL use it!
We all have something God has given us that can be used in service to Him. When Moses finally agreed to head back to Egypt and speak for God, the Bible says in Exodus 4:20 – “So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.”
It was no longer his staff, but God’s. He went to Egypt to do God’s work, with a promise of God’s provision and with God’s tools.
When we offer our lives in service to the Lord, we do it not only through HIS strength, but with HIS provision. If we make ourselves and our gifts and talents available to him, he takes them and stamps his name on them. For instance, it’s not our voice that we sing with, it is God’s. It is not our voice that we teach with, but God’s. It is not our hands that we work with, but God’s. It is not our compassion that we help with, but God’s.
I like this poem by Rilla Dunn: “I am the place where God shines through, for he and are one, not two. I need not fret, nor fear his plan, He wants me where and as I am. And, if I am relaxed and free, He’ll carry out His plan through me.”
So…what are you doing to serve the Lord? It’s time to get involved! The opportunities surround us every day. We need to stop doubting that we have nothing to contribute and realize that nothing in the hands of any one of us is something in the hands of God. No matter how small, God can use your service for him and make an incredible impact. God needs you. The people around you need you. The body of the church needs you.
My Aunt Joyce passed away more than ten years ago. She was born severely mentally handicapped. She never spoke a single word her entire life. And yet, she did household chores, greeted people with a smile, and attended Sunday School and Wednesday morning Bible study each week with my grandparents. She used the little God gave her and now has received the much God has promised.
So I ask you. What’s your excuse for not serving and not participating and not giving and not offering your life in service to the Master? Because at the end of time, when we all stand before our Savior, there are only two phrases we will hear offered from Him in response to our life:
Either: “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
OR…
“Well done good and faithful servant.”
So today I offer you this challenge: Serve the Lord wholeheartedly, so that you can experience the heart of the Lord through all eternity.
After Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and taught them about service he said: 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
It’s time to experience the blessing of the Lord as we step out in service for Him.
