Follow JESUS: Sacrificial Servanthood
Mark 10:32-45
We continue our mini-series on servanthood. This is really a sequel, since there are only two messages. Last week, sustainable servanthood, and today, sacrificial servanthood. Both messages are a part of the bigger church annual theme: Follow Jesus.
During the summer of 1999, I flew out to Washington DC to spend two weeks with one of my mentors. I watched him interact with people in counseling situations, board meetings and Bible studies at his home and at the World Bank. We would talk about life and ministry as we walked or drove from one venue to another.
We spent every awake hour together, and I slept in his home office. I felt like one of the 12 disciples following Jesus around. I observed him serving people from morning to night, and from midnight to early morning he would prepare his sermon and meetings.
For the next eight years in my pastoral ministry, I followed his tireless example of serving people from morning to night and preparing for sermons and meetings from midnight to early morning, sleeping 4 to 6 hours per night. I sacrificed my health, my hobbies and my family for ministry.
Some people would call this sacrificial servanthood. Others would call this workaholism. A few have even described this scenario as "ministry has become the pastor's mistress."
What is biblical sacrificial servanthood? How do we distinguish it from workaholism or blind passion? Our text is Mark 10:32-45 (READ)
This passage records Jesus predicting his death and resurrection. But the disciples instead of hearing what Jesus would soon go through, they were thinking of what Jesus could do for them. What a contrast between sacrificial service and being self-serving.
This morning we'll be looking at the true marks of sacrificial service. These marks will help us root out wrong motives, wrong expectations and wrong reactions. They will help us choose and commit wisely what to sacrifice for.
Here's the first mark: The sacrificial servant know what is the sacrifice. We see this in Mark 10:32-34.
Sacrifice is defined as "the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone." The Bible tells us that Jesus gave up his life to pay the penalty for our sins. And that he rose from the dead to give us eternal life.
Jesus not only knew what he sacrificed for, but he knew what the sacrifice involved, verses 33 and 34 (READ). He served sacrificially knowing the sacrifice. He chose his cross, he counted the cost, and he contained the loss.
We need to choose our cross. By the cross, I mean the sacrifice. There are many needs calling us to sacrifice, but we have limited time, energy and money. So we need to choose wisely.
Many choose their sacrifice based on gut, guide or God. By gut, I mean feeling. We choose to sacrifice for a need that moves us emotionally. By guide, I mean example. We choose to sacrifice for a need because someone we admire sacrificed for the same need. By God, I mean obedience to God's direction. We choose to sacrifice for a need in obedience to God's Word or His Spirit's leading.
Here's what else we need to do in order to know the sacrifice. We need to count the cost. Know that we have what the sacrifice requires of us. Jesus said in Luke 14:26-33 that we need to count the cost before committing or beginning. This is true for building something, fighting a cause or following Christ. This does not exclude faith but includes knowledge.
Finally, to know the sacrifice, we need to contain the loss. To serve sacrificially does not sacrifice others unknowingly. This is where we make sure the cost of the sacrifice is not costing someone other than me. Does my sacrifice in serving the school, church or my employer cause me to neglect my family? Jesus' sacrifice benefited others, at his own expense, not at the expense of others.
Pause. Reflect. Pray. Where are you currently serving sacrificially? Why did you choose to make this sacrifice? Gut, guide or God? What is it costing you to make this sacrifice? Who are you sacrificing unwittingly? What can you do to contain the loss for others?
Here's the second mark: The sacrificial servant know what is the alternative. We see this in Mark 10:35-42.
Jesus knew the alternatives to sacrificial service are 1) self-serving or 2) letting the need go unmet. Whatever the need, we can respond in one of these three ways. Jesus chose to serve sacrificially on the cross.
Here's why. Jesus was never self-serving. He did allow others to serve him as we saw last week, but not for selfish reasons. Rather He gave others a chance to mature and to gave Himself the needed rest and refreshment to better serve others in the future.
While Jesus was never self-serving, he did let people's needs go unmet. We saw this last week also. Unless we are selective in our service, we will over-commit or commit our resources to the wrong needs.
But there will come a time for sacrificial service. When the alternative is not acceptable, and we have the power and calling from God to meet the need. Such was the case for Jesus' sacrificial service on the cross.
Romans 6:23 tells us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." In other words, the alternative to Jesus' sacrifice for mankind is that each person will be given an eternal death sentence for sin. But because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are given eternal life.
Sacrificial servanthood is not a blind passionate response. It is a calculated response. One that has counted the cost and considered the alternative.
Pause. Reflect. Pray. Where are you currently serving sacrificially? What other options do you have? What would be the alternate outcomes if you choose not to serve sacrificially in that situation?
Here's the third mark: The sacrificial servant know what is the exchange. We see this in Mark 10:34. 43-45.
Bruce Carroll’s song, The Great Exchange, explains why Jesus is still God’s best for anyone seeking to make things right with God:
Once upon a time upon a hill far way
An unfair proposition
Before a righteous man was made
Could've changed his situation
But instead he chose to obey at
The great exchange
An eternity he traveled to
Be there at that place
The chosen destination to
Show mankind God's grace
His longing to redeem us
Could only be explained at
The great exchange
At the great exchange
Even then he knew me and
He bore such pain
And he did it all for love
An undeserving servant
Who'll never be the same
Since the great exchange
I walked that same hillside
As I knelt down to pray
He showed me all the wrong
I'd done and the price he
Paid that day
And then I arose forgiven
His loss became my gain at
The great exchange
Everything that mankind
Lost, Jesus has reclaimed
The pathway to eternity by
His death arranged
And all of this he offers, if
You'll meet him today at
The great exchange
2 Corinthians 5:21 reads, “God made [Jesus Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus was the best man for the job. God still offers His best in exchange for our mess. It should be an easy choice for us.
