Servanthood is not popular to preach on these days because we live in a society where most people are:
• Looking for what others can do for them.
• Not what they can do for others.
We live in an egocentric age where the "what's in it for me" mentality has permeated every aspect of our society and sadly has infiltrated the lives of today's professed Christians.
I think most of us would agree that we live in a society where we want someone to do things for us.
lllus: Politicians recognize our society operates this way as they tell voters over and over what they will give them if they will vote for them.
They recognize we live in a very selfish society that only thinks of self.
Illus: This reminds me of two friends that met on the street. One looked sad and almost on the verge of tears.
• The other man said, "Hey my friend, how come you look like the whole world has caved in on you?"
• The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you why I am so sad. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me 50 thousand dollars."
• "That‘s great!"
• "Two weeks ago, a cousin l never knew died and left me 95 thousand, tax-free to boot."
• "Wow! That's really great!"
• "Also several weeks ago my grandfather passed away. I inherited almost a million dollar."
• "So why are you so sad?"
• "This week - nothing!!!"
Again, there are people who live their life and they live it thinking about what others can give them, not what they can give to others.
THEY WANT TO BE SERVED, NOT SERVE!
When it comes to SERVANTHOOD, in John chapter 13, we see Jesus giving a perfect example of what it means to be a servant by washing the feet of His disciples.
There are some denominations that believe that Jesus, in John 13, is instructing churches to literally wash each other’s feet as a church ordinance, ceremony, or ritual.
They practice their belief by having a foot washing service along with the Lord's Supper
Let me share with you two reasons why l do not believe the Lord is teaching FOOT WASHING AS AN ORDINANCE FOR THE CHURCH TODAY!
(1) IT SERVES NO PURPOSE
For people who had to walk in sandals on dusty roads FOOT WASHING SERVED A PURPOSE.
Today, l assume all who attend church have washed their feet before they came, so there is no need to practice foot washing in the church.
But let me give you a caution here, sometimes people ignorantly make fun of people who sincerely practice foot washing.
We should never make fun of anyone who ignorantly is worshipping the Lord…NEVER!
Why?
Illus: Remember the biblical account of David when he was carrying the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem?
He got so excited he took his royal robe off and put some ordinary clothes on and the Bible tells us he danced with, “all his might".
He did what we call in the South he “cut a rug”. That is he pulled off a Michael Jackson!!!
Look at 2 Samuel 6:16, his dignified wife looked out the window and saw him dancing and the Bible tells us she, “despised him in her heart.”
Now that word, “Despised" here need explaining.
David and Michal (Pronounced as “mee-khal) were a young couple when this took place.
The Bible tells us that Michal loved David. ln fact, she is the only woman in the Bible that tells us she loved her husband.
But when she saw David taking his royal robe off and putting on ordinary clothes and dancing with all his might, she thought this was UNBECOMING FOR A KING!!!
In that sense Michal despised what he was doing, not despising him!!!
David rebuked Michal (Mee-Khal), and the final verse of the chapter notes that Michal was a young woman, and because of her despising what David had done before the Lord, a curse was placed upon her and she never had any children.
A lot of folks have gotten in trouble making fun of someone who was sincere in their worshipping of the Lord.
What they were doing we do not believe it is scriptural, but the Lord sees their sincerity.
And some make fun of people who believe the Bible teaches foot washing. l caution you not to do this!
But let me give you another reason why l do not believe the Lord is instituting foot washing in the church as one of the ordinances of the church.
(2) THE SETTING FOR FOOT WASHING IN THE SCRIPTURES TAKES PLACE AT A HOME SETTING NOT A CHURCH SETTING.
At the time when this incident took place, people wore sandals at best, and roads were either dusty or muddy and likely had animal dung on them as well.
Illus: When I was growing up my parents had chickens in the back yard of our home.
As a young boy during the summer I went barefooted and when you are barefooted and walking in a chicken yard you had to be careful where you walked!!! If you did not you might have something squeezing between your toes.
Thus, it was common practice when someone came into a home during Bible times to have a servant wash his feet because of the conditions at that time.
This passage about foot washing is not talking about foot washing in a church service; it takes place in a home setting.
WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE LORD WASHING THE DISCIPLES FEET?
The twelve disciples had a history of arguing among themselves who is the greatest among them.
ln John 13 the Lord is teaching the real blessings of life come from SERVING OTHERS when he washed the disciples dirty feet. HE IS TEACHING SERVANTHOOD and HUMILITY.
Before you can appreciate this foot washing incident in the scriptures, JUST THINK OF THIS, God Almighty in the flesh knelt down and washed the dirty feet of these disciples.
WHAT HUMlLlTY!
Today people strut around in life like they are gods. THEY ARE SO PROUD!!!
Illus: To look at them you would think the reason:
• They have the wealth they have has nothing to do with God placed them in a position to inherit the wealth they have.
• They have the beauty they have has nothing to do with the fact God created them that way.
• The reason they have the intelligence they have has nothing to do with God created them that way.
They strut their stuff like they did all of these things by themselves!!!
They do:
• As they please,
• Whenever they please,
• To whomever they please.
They are too proud to humble themselves to wash someone’s feet.
• The Lord is teaching us that WE ARE NOT GREATER THAN OUR MASTER!
• God REJECTS THE PROUD BUT GIVES MORE GRACE TO THE HUMBLE!
The Lord Jesus gave us a great example of SERVANTHOOD.
One of the greatest teaching method of learning is to follow the examples of others.
For example, in the medical world internship is a REQUIREMENT:
• Most medical residencies are four years.
• Surgical residencies being five years long.
• A neurosurgery residency is the longest, at seven years.
It would be wonderful to learn from the life of men like this great SERVANT OF THE LORD the APOSTLE PAUL.
And the good news is we can because God’s Word tells us how he lived the Christian life.
He lived so close to the Lord that he was able to say FOLLOW ME AS I FOLLOW CHRIST.
Not every Christian can say that!
Illus: If some today was to follow some Christians:
• They would not be in church today they would be at the beach or the mountains.
• They would not be placing God’s tithes in the offering plate they would be using God’s tithes for themselves.
• They would not be spending time in prayer and the Word of God they would be sitting in front of a television set watching Matt Dillon blow someone head off.
But Paul followed the Lord so closely he could say FOLLOW ME AS I FOLLOW CHRIST!!!
Let us look at the life of Paul and perhaps some of these great character traits he had we can learn from him.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE SCRIPTURES ABOUT THIS HUMBLE SERVANT OF GOD?
We can see that …
I. PAUL LOVED THE PEOPLE HE SERVED….
He was proud to be a SERVANT OF THE LORD.
Look at Phil. 1:1-2, “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Notice, Paul referred to himself as, “…The servant of Jesus Christ….”
Illus: Have you noticed in the scriptures how many of these authors in the New Testament in their epistles start off by saying they were a servant.
For example:
• Romans 1:1 “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ...”
• James 1:1 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ...”
• 2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ…”
• Jude 1:1 “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ…”
One of the things we mortals enjoy doing is wearing titles that will impress others.
Illus: In Columbia, S.C. a large company is known for hiring bright young fellows out of high school that they did not have to pay them much as long as they gave them a fancy title to wear.
People love to wear fancy titles…
Illus: In the large cities, when you are called to serve on jury duty you will have to show up with several hundred of other jurors.
On the first day they generally have all the jurors go to a large room, and the court clerk calls the roll and asks each jury member to state their NAME and their OCCUPATION.
While these jurors state their name and occupation lawyers who are choosing a jurors for their trial are listening to hear their name and occupation.
When they do this, something astounding takes place.
Many of the jurors stand up and give some fancy title when they state their occupation.
Such as:
• The garbage collector no longer says he is a garbage collector. He now states that he is a SANITATION ENGINEER.
• The housewife no longer says she is a housewife. She states that she is a DOMESTIC ENGINEER.
The reason people like these titles are because we are a proud people.
Illus: As a pastor I am given a number of titles.
Some call me:
• Pastor Belger,
• Preacher Belger
• And some call me Dr. Belger.
They do not call me by birth name because they wish to honor me as a pastor.
Paul begins his Epistle to the Romans, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ”
The word “servant” occurs 1,068 times in the Bible.
Paul could have used his title of an “Apostle” but notice, he did not feel the need to flaunt his apostolic title.
He felt comfortable stating that he was a “servant” of the Lord Jesus Christ.
PAUL WAS GOD’S SERVANT to GOD’S PEOPLE and he was proud to be just that!
BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT IN ORDER TO SERVE GOD, YOU HAVE TO LOVE PEOPLE?
We don’t have many servants today, because as I have already stated we live in an age when people love themselves instead of loving others.
Before they do anything, they ask, “WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?”
If there is nothing in it for them, they are not willing to do it.
If we are going to be good servants for the Lord, we have to LOVE PEOPLE!
• The best pastor is a pastor who loves the people he serve.
• The best missionary is a missionary who loves the people he serve.
• The best evangelist is an evangelist who loves the people he serve.
• The best Sunday school teacher is a teacher who loves the people he serve.
• The best deacon is a deacon who loves the people he serve.
I want to say again if we are going to be good servants for the Lord, we have to LOVE PEOPLE!
But I need to go further than that…I am going to make a statement that you might not believe but I can back this statement up with the scriptures.
The statement I want to make is this…if you do not love people you do not love the Lord.
I make that statement because the Bible makes that statement.
Look at 1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
You see, if the Lord was physically on the earth, I could walk up to Him and put my arms around His shoulder, and look Him in His loving eyes and say, “Jesus I love you.” But He is not here so I cannot do that.
Illus: I was preaching on one occasion and a lady said this (If it is true or not true I do not know). She said “while you were preaching I saw Jesus standing behind you”
I told her I wish I had known that I would have turned around and give Him a big hug!
But He is not here, so I can’t show my love for Him in this fashion.
But He has made it possible for me to show my love to Him.
HOW?
Look at Matt. 25: 40, “…Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
You cannot love the Lord unless you love people!
We show our LOVE TO THE LORD by LOVING PEOPLE.
Matthew 10:40-42 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Many Christians need to get on their knees and cry out for God to give them a love for OTHERS!
Because in doing so the scriptures tells us we are loving Him!!!
Illus: John Wesley (1703 1791) said,
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
One thing that we can learn from the life of this great servant of the Lord was that he LOVED THE PEOPLE HE SERVED.
We can see something else in this great servant’s life…
II. PAUL PRAYED FOR THE PEOPLE HE SERVED.
You can learn a lot about a man by his prayers.
If you love people you will pray for them.
The Book of Luke tells us about two men who went to the same church.
(1) THE PHARISEE
Look at Luke 18:10-12, “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
Just to read about this man he appears to be a good man. Notice…
• He was not an extortioner
• He was not unjust
• He was not an adulterer
• He fasted twice a week
• He tithes of all that he possess
He was a lot better than some church members today!
But this fellow loved to brag.
Illus: He reminds me of the Texan who came to South Carolina bragging about how big things are in Texas.
He was riding down the road in his car with this South Carolinian, and he saw a horse.
• He said, “What is that?” The man said. “That is a horse!”
The Texan said, “In Texas we have horses ten times the size of that horse.”
The man from South Carolina did not say a thing.
• As they drove down the highway the Texan saw a goat and he said, “What is that?”
The man from South Carolina said, “That is a goat!”
The Texan said, “In Texas we have goats ten times that size.”
The bragging Texan was getting on the nerves of the man from South Carolina.
As they continued to drive down the road, they saw a large turtle crossing the road. The man from South Carolina anticipated what he would say, and he decided to bring his bragging to a halt.
Again the Texan said, “What is that?”
The man from South Carolina said, “That’s a tick!”
The Texan had nothing else to say.
We all seem to enjoy bragging, and wearing titles that make us look like we are something.
Illus: Chick Fila sometime have a person dress up like a cow to draw customers into their store.
In North Carolina one young man that had this job of wearing a cow costume each day filled out a resume for another job.
He wanted to make his resume look good so printed on the resume that he was an ACTOR!!!
I guess if you dress up like a cow each day you are an ACTOR!!!
We all know grown men who dress up to look like a cowboy that call themselves and actor.
Often people will get on their knees and they call it praying. But what they are doing is not praying --- it is no more than bragging aloud for everyone to hear HOW GREAT THEY ARE!
But there was another man in this church that also prayed.
Look at -
(2) THE PUBLICAN
Look at verses 13-14, we read, “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
This Publican’s prayer tells us that this was a man of humility, and we see how unworthy he felt as he cried out for mercy.
But the Lord was pleased with his prayer.
HOW WE PRAY REVEALS A GREAT DEAL ABOUT OURSELVES!
When many people pray, their prayer reveals that all they are interested in is WHAT THEY WANT FROM THE LORD!
Illus: They have two prayers they pray.
(1) They pray their Santa Claus prayer. When they pray their Santa Claus prayer they have a list of I want this and I want that.
And sometime they pray…
(2) Their pray their Noah’s prayer. When they pray their Noah’s prayer they pray I want two of these and two of these….
Their prayers reveal what selfish creatures they really are!
There certainly is nothing wrong with praying for ourselves, but that is ALL a selfish person prays about.
Illus: Some the only time they pray is when they are in trouble. They have SPARE TIRE RELIGION!!!
But notice the prayer of the Apostle Paul. It revealed his love for God’s people.
Look at verses 3-5 in our text, we read, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”
We see several things in his prayer for these people, such as:
A. HIS REMEMBRANCE
As Paul REMEMBERS these Christians, his prayer for them revealed how THANKFUL he was for his brothers and sisters in Christ.
One of the greatest things in our life is the people God put in our lives. They truly become our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
He remembered these God put in his life.
But also look at -
B. HIS REQUEST
Paul’s prayer was not, “GIVE ME! GIVE ME,” but it was one of praying for those he loved in the Lord.
Look at verse 4, we read, “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.”
He had such confidence in their profession, that it brought joy to his heart when he thought about them and as he prayed for them. He said, “…Making request with JOY!”
Paul’s joy was IN THE LORD and IN THE LORD’S PEOPLE.
Illus: We have too many Christians today who have gotten caught up in the world; and football, baseball, basketball, hunting, fishing, golfing, and car racing, has taken over their life.
The problem is that these things have consumed their lives so much they do not have time for the people God put in their life.
They need to take time to fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ. They have to hurry home and watch these things on television.
Illus: In some churches the most dangerous place to be in is a church parking lot. Some people are in such a hurry to get out of church you have to be careful not to get run over by them!!!
One day they will grow old, and before they die they will look back and they will not be able to remember:
• The score of that baseball game that they were so excited about
• The many television programs that consumed so much of their life
• The golf game they were so thrilled about
They will look back and realize that football, baseball, golf and fishing are not as important as they once thought they were as the people God put in their life.
Paul was a SERVANT OF GOD and the SERVANT OF GOD’S PEOPLE.
Illus: He would rather be in the house of God with God’s people, than to be in the Super Bowl with thousands of football fans.
He truly loved these people and had confidence that they loved the Lord.
Conclusion:
HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT WHAT GOD HAD STARTED in their life, GOD WOULD FINISH.
Look at verse 6, we read, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Look at that word “Confident”. Paul was saying that he knew a 100% sure that what God started in their life He will finish!!!
I feel sorry for people who attend a church that does not believe in eternal salvation.
That is, they are not taught that the salvation God gives us that He is able to keep us.
I love this verse of scripture , “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Paul was confident that WHAT GOD HAD STARTED IN THEIR HEARTS, He would finish.
Paul knew that the salvation that was given to them by God to them, it was not temporary salvation, it was an ETERNAL SALVATION.
It was not a HOPE SO SALVATION it was a KNOW SO SALVATION.
This great servant of God had total confidence when God saves a person that He can keep him save.
I. Paul LOVED PEOPLE THE PEOPLE HE SERVED.
II. PAUL PRAYED FOR THE PEOPLE HE SERVED.
III. PAUL’S CONFIDENCE FOR THE PEOPLE HE SERVED
