WHEN WE THINK OF SERVICE TO OTHERS AND ALL THE POSSIBLE WAYS TO ENGAGE OUR ABILITIES, I READ A RATHER HUMOROUS WAY OF LOOKING AT THIS WHICH SAID, ““IF YOU THINK YOU ARE TOO SMALL TO BE EFFECTIVE, YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN IN BED WITH A MOSQUITO.”
HOWEVER, ON A MORE SERIOUS NOTE, I LIKE THE WORDS OF JOHN BUNYAN WHO SAID, “YOU HAVE NOT LIVED TODAY UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN NEVER REPAY YOU."
JESUS HAS BEEN MODELING THIS SERVANT LEADERSHIP TO HIS DISCIPLES FOR SOME TIME NOW AS THEY MAKE THEIR WAY TOWARDS JERUSALEM. THEY HAVE FED 4,000 PEOPLE, MADE THE BLIND SEE, CAST OUT EVIL SPIRITS, AND EVEN STUNNED PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN BY ALLOWING THEM TO WITNESS HIS TRANSFIGURATION.
JESUS IS NO LONGER QUIZZING THEM WITH PARABLES OR PROVING HIS SONSHIP THROUGH MIRACULOUS HEALINGS. HE SPEAKS VERY CLEARLY AND TO THE POINT. JESUS, ONCE AGAIN, SPEAKS OF HIS PENDING DEATH IN VERSE 31, “THE SON OF MAN IS GOING TO BE DELIVERED INTO THE HANDS OF MEN. THEY WILL KILL HIM, AND AFTER THREE DAYS HE WILL RISE.”
YOU WOULD THINK THAT WHEN JESUS REBUKED PETER AFTER THE FIRST TIME HE ANNOUNCED HIS DEATH, THAT THEY WOULD HAVE FALLEN IN LINE, TAKEN IT SERIOUS, AND POSITIONED THEMSELVES IN LINE WITH THE MISSION OF JESUS. NOT QUITE!
THE NEWS OF HIS DEATH STIRRED WITHIN THE DISCIPLES A TOTALLY DIFFERENT CONCERN. WHICH ONE OF THEM WOULD TAKE THE PLACE OF JESUS AND BECOME THE NEW LEADER?
JESUS, OF COURSE, KNEW THAT THEY HAD BEEN SPARRING AMONGST THEMSELVES ABOUT SUCCEEDING HIM. VERSES 33-34, “WHEN HE WAS IN THE HOUSE, HE ASKED THEM, “WHAT WERE YOU ARGUING ABOUT ON THE ROAD?” BUT THEY KEPT QUIET BECAUSE ON THE WAY THEY HAD ARGUED ABOUT WHO WAS THE GREATEST.”
JESUS, IN THE ULTIMATE DISPLAY OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND PURE PASSION, DOES NOT SCOLD OR REBUKE. HE GATHERS THEM AROUND HIM AND THEY SIT AT HIS FEET TO LEARN ONE OF HIS MOST PROFOUND STATEMENTS IN VERSE 35, “ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BE FIRST MUST BE THE VERY LAST, AND THE SERVANT OF ALL.”
JESUS IS STEPPING UP HIS PREVIOUS LESSON IN MATTHEW 16:25, “IF YOU TRY TO HANG ON TO YOUR LIFE, YOU WILL LOSE IT. BUT IF YOU GIVE UP YOUR LIFE FOR MY SAKE, YOU WILL SAVE IT.” IT IS BY LOSING THAT YOU WIN. YOU GIVE IN ORDER TO RECEIVE. YOU DIE IN ORDER TO TRULY LIVE. WE DENY SELF. WE PICK UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOW!
JESUS EMPHASIZES THAT THE WAYS OF GOD’S KINGDOM ARE NOT LIKE THE BROKENNESS OF THE SINFUL WORLD. IT IS A PLAIN FACT OF OUR FAITH THAT TRUE GREATNESS COMES THROUGH SERVICE TO OTHERS. THIS IS A COMPLETE REVERSAL OF WORLDLY VALUES.
THE KIND OF SERVICE JESUS WAS TALKING ABOUT INVOLVED SACRIFICE AND RADICAL OBEDIENCE. JESUS SET THAT EXAMPLE. MATTHEW 10:45, “FOR EVEN THE SON OF MAN DID NOT COME TO BE SERVED, BUT TO SERVE, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY.”
JESUS ILLUSTRATES HIS POINT BY WELCOMING A CHILD TO COME AND SIT ON HIS LAP. JESUS EMBRACES AND SHOWS LOVE TO THIS CHILD. WHY A CHILD? IN BIBLE TIMES, CHILDREN WERE THE VERY LEAST OF THE LAST AND INSIGNIFICANT IN AN ADULT WORLD.
JESUS SETS AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL THE WORLD NEVER SEEKS TO OBTAIN. JESUS COMMANDS THAT TRUE GREATNESS WILL ALWAYS INCLUDE LOVING, SERVING AND CARING ABOUT ALL PEOPLE. THERE ARE NO BOUNDARIES. NO LABELS. NO GENDERS. NO STATUS. WE LOVE ALL PEOPLE WHICH ARE THE VERY PEOPLE JESUS DIED FOR.
GALATIANS 3:28, “THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GENTILE, NEITHER SLAVE NOR FREE, NOR IS THERE MALE AND FEMALE, FOR YOU ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.” IN CHRIST, NO ONE IS INSIGNIFICANT OR TOO FAR GONE. NOBODY CAN EVER BE WRITTEN OFF AS HOPELESS. JESUS OFFERS LOVE, FORGIVENESS, REDEMPTION, RECONCILIATION, AND ETERNAL LIFE.
WHEN WE SERVE OTHERS AND WELCOME THEM WITH OUR LOVE AND GENEROSITY, WE ARE LITERALLY WELCOMING NOT ONLY JESUS INTO THAT SITUATION, BUT USHERING IN THE PRESENCE OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER WHO SENT JESUS INTO THE WORLD.
ONE OF OUR GREATEST TESTIMONIES THAT WE HAVE TO THE WORLD IS MODELING AND EXIBITING THE LIFE OF CHRIST TO THEM. WE MUST DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN OUR PURSUIT OF BEING “SERVANT OF ALL.” THERE ARE NO TASKS BENEATH US TO DO. WE TAKE INITIATIVE AND DON’T WAIT TO BE ASKED. WE LOOK FOR WAYS AND WE FIND WAYS TO LIVE THE COMMAND TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR.
WHEN WE HEAR THE WORD “SERVANT” IT DOES NOT MEAN BECOME A “BUTLER” WHERE ENSLAVE OURSELVES TO THE WISHES AND DEMANDS OF OTHERS. WE ARE NOT ENSLAVING OURSELVES, BUT FREEING OURSELVES TO LOVE AND SERVE AS JESUS TAUGHT US. IN FACT, THE WORD “SERVANT,” USED HERE, IS THE GREEK WORD “DIAKONOS” (DEE-OCK-IN-NOSS) WHICH IS WHERE WE GET THE CHURCH LEADERSHIP TITLE “DEACON.”
WHEN WE ARE THE SERVANTS OF ALL, WE ARE DECONS WHO ATTEND TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS FREELY, WITHOUT RESERVATION, OR ANY EXPECTATION THAT WE ARE TO BE RECOGNIZED OR RECEIVE ANYTHING IN RETURN FOR WHAT WE HAVE DONE TO SERVE.
JESUS TAUGHT THAT GREATNESS IN GOD’S KINGDOM IS NOT DETERMINED BY STATUS BUT BY SERVICE. MATTHEW 23:11, “THE GREATEST AMONG YOU MUST BE A SERVANT.”
ONE WITH A SERVANT’S HEART WILL ALWAYS SEE THE WORTH IN OTHERS AND FIND SOME WAY TO HELP, SHOW LOVE, COMPASSION, RESPECT AND TO INSTILL DIGNITY INTO ANOTHER PERSON. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE FOUNDATION UNDERNEATH JOHN 15:13, “THERE IS NO GREATER LOVE THAN TO LAY DOWN ONE’S LIFE FOR ONE’S FRIENDS.”
LET US STRIVE TO BE THE “SERVANT OF ALL” WHICH WAS WHAT JESUS MODELED, THE MESSAGE HE PROCLAIMED, THE LIFE HE LIVED, AND WHAT HE NOW ENTRUSTS TO US AS THE STEWARDS OF HIS MISSION TO GO FORTH AND FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE.
JOHN 14:12-14, “I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL DO THE SAME WORKS I HAVE DONE, AND EVEN GREATER WORKS, BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BE WITH THE FATHER. YOU CAN ASK FOR ANYTHING IN MY NAME, AND I WILL DO IT, SO THAT THE SON CAN BRING GLORY TO THE FATHER. YES, ASK ME FOR ANYTHING IN MY NAME, AND I WILL DO IT!”
I BELIEVE ONE THING THE FATHER WISHES US TO ASK OF HIM: “HELP ME, THROUGH THE POWER OF YOUR HOLY SPIRIT, TO BECOME A SERVANT OF ALL.” LET US GO FORTH IN PEACE TO LOVE AND SERVE THE LORD WITH OUR LIVES.
