Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, once appeared on the cover of their annual report in a knee-length work apron holding a mop and a bucket. He said, “I got my M.B.A. long before my G.E.D. Here M.B.A. doesn’t mean Master of Business Administration. It means Mop Bucket Attitude.” Dave got his “MBA” from the model of Jesus, his Master, who came not to be served, but to serve and so, like Jesus, Dave became a Super Servant!
Caleb had his M.B.A. too. He was a Super Servant! He was one of twelve spies sent by Moses to check out their promised land (Deuteronomy 1:19-38). Ten of the twelve were pessimists who urged the people to disobey God and not to follow Moses, while Caleb and Joshua urged them to proceed into the land trusting in God to deliver them despite the presence of giants. Here Caleb is 85 years old. He had spent 40 years wandering and 5 years occupying the land. It didn’t happen overnight! It takes Faithfulness, Obedience, and Strength!
A. Caleb Shows … A Super Servant is FAITHFUL - 14:6-7
He was Faithful as he patiently traveled with them as they wandered in the wilderness. He could’ve said, “I told you to obey God,” but he didn’t.
Caleb wanted to fully experience God’s plan for his life even though the unfaithfulness of others caused a detour. Do we respond with faithfulness when we don’t get our way? Caleb was a Super Servant because he remained faithful through life’s disappointments.
You've probably seen clips of football players who celebrate their touchdown too early and either fumble the ball or get it knocked out of their hands just before the goal line. This didn't happen to Caleb because he kept his focus on the finish line, “according to (his) convictions (verse 7).”
Are our eyes on God’s finish line for us and in his service as his church in our community?
B. Caleb Shows … A Super Servant is OBEDIENT - 14:8-10
1. A super servant follows God though none go with him (v8)!
I read about a preacher who learned that trying to preach sermons that everyone would like, or to teach the Bible so everyone be pleased, or to organize a church in such a way as to make everyone happy - would only drive himself crazy. “I learned,” he said, “that there is only one person I needed to try to please, and that is Jesus!” Another preacher wrote, “If you please God it doesn’t matter who you displease; but if you displease God, it doesn’t matter who you do please.” What God thinks is key.” Caleb served wholeheartedly and obediently!
There was a TV show about how Cheetahs survive on the African plains by running down their prey. They can sprint at 70 mph, but they can’t maintain this speed for long. Although it has a sleek body it also has a disproportionately small heart causing it to tire quickly.
Sometimes we sprint out to do things we see God calling us to do, but tire quickly lacking the endurance convictions and faith bring.
Caleb was a Super Servant because he shared God’s heart for God’s Ministry. His aim was not on his own ideas, but on God’s. He had the stamina to hang in there because of God’s promise to reward this one who followed God whole-heartedly (verse 9). The word "wholeheartedly" describes the main sail of a sailing vessel full of air - a full sail! Caleb's heart was "full sail" for God.
2. A super servant tells it like it is (verses 9-10)!
Some of the best advice I’ve ever received has come from the dear old ladies in church who lovingly, tell it like it is. I did a funeral for a lady’s husband once and said nice things about him hoping to ease her suffering and give her some hope he might have been saved (everyone knew he probably wasn’t). She said to me after the service, “Preacher, you don’t need to preach the dead into Heaven; you need to preach to the living.” She helped this once-young preacher re-focus on what is truly important!
The 19th Century Circuit-riding preacher, Rev. Cartwright was like Caleb. One Sunday morning he was about to preach when he was told that President Andrew Jackson was in the congregation and that he shouldn't say anything out of line. When he stepped into pulpit he said, “I understand that President Andrew Jackson is here. I’ve been asked to be guarded in my remarks. But like all of us, President Jackson will go to Hell if he doesn’t repent!”
The people were shocked and they wondered how the President would respond. After service, President Jackson shook hands with the preacher and said, “Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you I could whip the world.”
C. Caleb Shows … A Super Servant is STRONG - 14:11-12
Caleb wasn’t pretending to be young; he just wasn’t ready to trade in his chariot in for wheelchair quite yet. He was like someone I heard say, “I’d rather wear out than rust out!”
Too many of us use age and ailments as an excuse for inaction. But God blesses those who never give up! Like Ben Franklin who at 81 led an effort to compromise resulting in the adoption of US Constitution. Or like Michelangelo who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel on his back at 89. And Maude Thomas - a dear Super Senior I used to know who, up to day she died, was faithfully praying for me.
Caleb never settled for a useless existence of waiting to die. Instead, at 85, he set goals - “Give me this Hill…” God strengthens His faithful people - at any age!
D. Caleb Shows - A Super Servant is REWARDED - 14:13-14
Caleb was rewarded with his personal promised land. More importantly, he was rewarded with a long life, faith, strength, and the opportunity to serve his God!
A farmer with a seemingly abundant corn crop said, “My crops are especially vulnerable to a drought this year.” When asked, “Why?” He explained, “Even though we’ve had frequent rains, which seem good, my plants haven’t had to push their roots deeper in search of water. The roots remain near the surface. A drought would quickly kill them.”
A Super Servant’s reward for a life of faithful service to God is deep roots. Having been through a lot and having faced many challenges that required going deep in search of God’s Living Water, having learned how to go below the surface of their life circumstances - they can stand anything that might come their way - with God’s help.
Don’t you love sitting at feet of a Super Servant? They’ve been with God! They know He is Faithful! We need to hear their stories (Caleb) to inspire us to be faithful.
E. God Makes Us “Super Servants”
In verse 12 Caleb says, “You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."
Notice there were were still giants in the land that still needed to be driven out and Caleb was still, with the Lord’s help, up to the challenge.
God has a Hill Country ... just for us ... just for you! Are we up to the challenge? Are we, like Caleb, Giant Slayers?
Are there any Super Servants here today? Anyone who is Faithfully guiding this good gospel ship forward for Jesus? Anyone who is Obedient to know and to do God’s will having God’s own heart for our mission in this community? Anyone who is Strong because he or she hasn’t given up or given in to age or ailments or obstacles? Anyone who will be richly Rewarded by God for he or she has gone deep with God over many years of knowing and serving Him?
