“Faithful Servants”
Ephesians 6:5-9
Servants obey your masters who are to treat you with respect
REVIEW
Ephesians was written to the Christians in a thriving port city over two thousand years ago.
Strangely, its message is as relevant today as it was when it was sent and studied by the church who gathered together in the city of Ephesus. Many perhaps tuned out or at least saw little relevance last week because you are not a father yet or your children are already raised.
The reality is that as we develop in our relationship with Christ we move toward the “Father” level of maturity. At that level of spiritual maturity God entrusts each of us with the task of nurturing spiritual children. From pastor and elders on down, everyone is a “father” to someone and the principles of nurturing apply. All of us need to take to heart this nurturing responsibility. Discipling and the nurturing go hand in hand.
I. Our Wealth and Worth In Christ 1-3
II. Our Worthy Walk in Christ 4-6
A. Live in Unity 4:1-16
B. Live in Newness of life 4:17-24
D. Live in Purity 5:3-14
E. Live in Wisdom 5:15-6:9
1. Seize every opportune moment 15-16
2. Seek to understand the will of the Lord 17
3. Be continually filled with the Holy Spirit 18-20
a. Speaking and singing truth to one another and praise to God
b. Giving thanks for all things
c. Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ
1) Wives submit to husbands who are to love them 22-33
2) Husbands submit to wives who are to respect them
3) Children submit to parents who are to nurture them.
4). Servants submit to masters who are to respect you
INTRODUCTION
This week we shift to Paul’s admonition concerning slaves and masters. Lest we dismiss the principles here because we are neither a slave nor a master we should step back and look more carefully. Yes these verses were originally addressed to those who were literal slaves and masters. There are some things that apply to employees and employers. The fact is, ALL of us are called to be slaves and servants; first of Jesus Christ and then we are called to be servants to each other.
You were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13
Beyond that, there will always be relationships of authority in this world to which these principles clearly apply. With that in mind, we want to look at this passage along with some others and brush up on our service ethics. Paul reveals how sons of the kingdom should approach service to God and others in this world. All of us serve someone, here is how it is to be approached.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 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, whether he is a slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8
Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 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. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Colossians 3:22-25
Slavery was a pervasive social structure in the first-century Roman Empire. In fact, it was so commonplace that its existence as an institution was never seriously questioned by anyone. Slaves of all ages, genders, and ethnicities constituted an important socioeconomic class in ancient Rome. Roughly one-fifth of the empire’s population were slaves—totaling as many as twelve million at the outset of the first century AD. Not surprisingly, the entire Roman economy was highly dependent on this sizable pool of both skilled and unskilled labor.
MacArthur, J., Jr. 2010. Slave: The study guide. Thomas Nelson: Nashville
The whole issue of slavery in America is beyond the scope of this passage. Neither Jesus nor Paul tried to eradicate it, but regulate the relational aspects of it. Let us first get a general concept of servanthood before we delve into this passage.
SERVANTHOOD
A servant is anyone who assumes or is charged with the responsibility of accomplishing an assignment or task for someone else.
Voluntary or mandatory.
Compensated or not compensated.
Continual or temporary.
Examples:
Actual slaves, Employed servants, Employees, Military, Children, Parents, Spouses, Pastors,
Parishioners
It could involve anything like Mowing the lawn, Fixing something, Running an errand, Helping on a job, Teaching a class, Fixing a meal, Providing resources, Offering expertise, Sharing wisdom. The key to servanthood is that what you do benefits someone else. What you do somehow helps the one you serve in some way.
Worshipping God is the chief end of man. Worship includes acts of service to Christ. Serving people is serving Christ! Serving people and serving Christ is an act of worship.
Now that we understand that we are all servants to one another and that serving others is serving Christ, what kind of service pleases God and others? I want to share a dozen observations regarding faithful service from this and a few other passages. What does godly service look like? What are the characteristics of Biblical service? Do these characteristics characterize our service to God and others?
Faithful Service
Slaves, obey your earthly masters
“servants obey your masters according to the flesh”. The key command in this verse is laves obey your earthly masters. All the rest modifies the command. Our primary responsibility to those we serve here on earth is to “obey”.
1. Obey, hear
This word means to listen, be obedient, submit to, come to the door when you hear a knock.
You can’t serve unless you give attention to the desires of the one you serve. This takes listening and following through. You cannot be a servant if you don’t attend to the needs of the one you serve. If you do your own thing, you are the master not the servant.
? 2. Serve with fear and trembling NOT with indifference
Paul included two attitude modifiers. Our service is to be done with an attitude of seriousness and attention to doing a good job. It was used both in a sense of fear or dread and sense of respect and reverence. The second word is “trembling” which indicates an emotional involvement even to the point of a physical reaction.
Paul, who was not afraid of anyone used this phrase several times (1 Cor 2:3; 2 Cor 7:15; Phil 2:12) to indicate his sense of heavy responsibility to properly represent the gospel of a changed life. He operated as a servant of Jesus with a deep sense of responsibility to represent Jesus not only by his words as he preached the Gospel but by the testimony of his life.
In our service to others, there ought to be this heavy sense of responsibility that we are representing the gospel, we are representing God to others as well as the sheer fact that what we are doing is considered by God ACTUAL service to Him.
3. Serve with sincerity of heart NOT with duplicity
Paul stacks on some more modifiers to regulate godly service.
“sincerity of heart”. The word is used for simplicity, mental honesty, no pretense or hypocrisy, not self-seeking, openness of heart.
Often times we serve others for what we get out of it here and now. We consider how they might respond. We serve so that we will feel good about ourselves. We serve so that others will like us. We serve to please people. We serve in hopes that we will gain something we want. Our motive for service should simply be to sincerely demonstrate the love of Christ to them. Our motive should be because we truly believe that in serving others, we are serving Christ.
4. Serve as if serving Christ NOT men or self
as you would Christ
If Jesus were to walk in here today, we would all clamor to attend to His every need. The fact is, Jesus is here and we have abundant opportunity to serve Him by serving one another. I think if we could get a firm grip on this one aspect of this passage our whole perspective on ministry would take on life changing dimensions. It is so important, Paul runs it by their ears two more times in this passage. He repeats it three times in the parallel passage to the Colossians. It is an important principle we can apply to all our relationships. He appealed to it for wives and husbands and children. Do we want to serve Christ? We do it by serving others.
5. Serve fervently and efficiently NOT slothfully
Is there any other way to serve Christ?
not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man
not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
This service is not just for the eye but from the heart. We are not to serve in order to get people to notice us. We are to serve because it is out of a sincere heart to serve God and others or serve Christ by serving others. That is the way we should serve one another.
Paul instructs us not to serve just when the boss is looking or for recognition by people. He uses the word “eye-service” which means service performed only under the master’s eyes and not so much when the master is not looking. It is service rendered just to be recognized by others. Colossians adds “heartily” or “from the soul”.
We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul. We are to serve God by serving others with all our heart and soul. The term translated “good will” could literally be translated “a well-disposed mind”. I think he is talking about making an efficient use of our God-given capacities. He is talking about a fervent service that puts all of our resources to use for the sake of the person we are serving.
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; Romans 12:11
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Col. 3:23-24
Jesus told two parables related to this principle. The slave who refused to put his resources to use was called a “wicked and lazy slave”.
And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. Luke 12:42-46
Are we just hanging out until Jesus returns or fervently serving Him with all the resources he has given us?
"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. "If therefore you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? Luke 16:10-11
How is your fervency quotient at work, family, friends, and church??
6. Serve with the eternal NOT the immediate reward in mind
Paul includes a motivating factor in this passage. It should be enough that we are demonstrating our love for Christ when we go to work each day. Paul includes the thought of eternal reward as a motivating factor for service here and now.
knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Eph
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Col
We must remember that the reward we receive for service rendered is not down here. God who rewards according to all the right reasons is the one who promises that nothing we do down here for His sake will go unnoticed.
"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward." Matthew 10:42
And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. Galatians 6:9-10
Paul urges us to serve one another in this way by realizing who we really serve.
Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. Titus 2:9-10
7. Serve to please NOT disappoint
8. Serve with cooperation NOT argumentation
9. Serve with integrity NOT pilfering
Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. 1 Peter 2:18
10. Serve with consideration (respect) NOT contempt 1 Pet 2:18
11. Serve in spite of the attitude or actions of the one served.
12. Serve other’s needs first NOT your own
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED THEE FELL UPON ME." Romans 15:1-13
Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. 1 Cor. 10:24
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Philip. 2:3-11
Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and give his life away on our behalf.
DEFINITION
A faithful servant fervently and efficiently carries out assigned responsibilities no matter how small or large using his God-given resources to their full capacity without the need for continual external controls or compliments in spite of the temptation of immediate temporal pleasure and fulfillment or the trial of imminent temporal pain and failure and does so as if it were serving Christ Himself.
CONCLUSION
Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. 1 Cor. 4:1-2
Do you see your service to your employer as service to Christ?
Do you see your service to your children as service to Christ?
Do you see your service to your spouse as service to Christ?
Do you see your service to the Chico family as service to Christ?
Whatever you do, do it heartily s to the Lord.
It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Serve faithfully.
