Illustration: Popular television commercial for frozen pizza asks the question: “What do
you want on your tombstone?”
One day God will call each of us to give an account for our life. And more than likely
when you are gone, your family and friends will do their best to provide the kind of funeral
service to best commemorate your life.
If you could choose what you would want on your tombstone, what would you have
inscribed there? Would you want it to be some word or phrase that best describes the life
you have lived? Or would you want something rather insignificant like “Gone but not
forgotten” or “Rest in peace”?
When you leave this world, will you leave a void? Will you footprints be like those who
walk in the sand and the next wave washes it all away, or will your walk be like those
whose feet have been planted in stone and it will take an awful lot of time and wear to
wear away your influence, the impression you have left.
Some of the most precious principles in the word of God are not stated in black and white,
but they are best discovered in the lives of God’s great servants.
As we learn to become a servant of God, we find that one of the most beautiful epitaphs
ever written about any person is found in Acts 13:36. “For when David had served God’s
purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers, and his body
decayed.”
When you and I think about David, we usually think about David the Soldier, David the
statesman, and David the King. We think about his attributes, his childhood, and of course
his encounter with Goliath.
But isn’t it significant that in these later days, as the New Testament church was
beginning, that the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to write concerning Israel’s greatest
king this simple statement: “When David had served God’s purpose in his own generation,
he fell asleep.
Among all of David’s qualities - beyond being a king, beyond being a soldier, David was a
servant. He grew up serving his father. He served his brothers. He served Saul when Saul
loved him. He served Saul when Saul hated him. He served the nation of Israel, and he
served God - all of his life.
He wasn’t a perfect servant. Isn’t that wonderful? Not only do we know him as a great
king and mighty warrior, but we also know him having a time of his life when he failed
God and his nation. We know him as he committed adultery. We know him as he
committed murder. We know him as he lied. But isn’t it significant that God said about
him that he was “ a man after my own heart.”
You see, above all else, David was a servant of God.
When others look at your life do they see you as being a servant?
If you look at being a servant as being less than significant, you need to turn to Matthew
chapter 20. Here is a clear picture of Jesus’ viewpoint of a person who is a servant. Jesus
says in verses 26 - 28 “... whoever wants to become great among you must be your
servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
When you and I begin to see ourselves as being servants, we begin to view our lives from
the same perspective Jesus viewed Himself. He came to serve - not to be served.
Do you see yourself as a servant? you may say “ Well you know, I could be a servant, but
in my business I’m the president,” or “In my workplace, I’m the manager.”
Does that keep you from being a servant? Look for God’s perspective. If you are number
one in any situation, you are a servant! You must exercise a servant spirit. Get down there
where people are hurting and get into the midst of their problems within, whether on your
job or in your home, and serve them on their level. That is the attitude of a genuine,
committed person who understands the meaning of being a Christian, a follower of Jesus,
Who poured Himself out into the lives of others.
Do you realize that the moment you and I received Jesus Christ as our Savior, we began a
mission. We sometimes have the idea that missionaries are only those who cross the
oceans or go North or south of the border.
A missionary is anyone who has received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior because the
moment you did that, you began a mission which is a mission of serving other people.
Listen to this passage from Philippians 2:5-8 that describes Jesus. “ 5 Your attitude should
be the same as that of Christ Jesus; 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, 8 And being found in appearance as a
man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross.”
Here is the mighty Lord Jesus, of Whom the Bible says that “Every knee shall bow and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11). God sent this same Jesus,
His Son, to be a servant, to pour out His life among people who were lepers, the poor, the
rich, the leaders - all kinds of people. Everywhere you see Jesus, you see Him giving
Himself away.
So where did we get the idea that it is a lesser thing to be a servant to others. God,
through His holy Spirit, called Jesus the servant of man and servant of God. He came to
earth to be a servant.
So whether it is in your family, in your business, among your friends, - he that is greatest
among you will be servant of all. And isn’t it interesting that God wrapped up the whole
life of David by saying:” after David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he
fell asleep.
David was a servant of the living God.
I want to ask this question this morning; What are you living for? Are you living to serve
your purpose or God’s purpose? Do you think that you’re simply here to live a life of ease
and comfort and pleasure, so you are working to serve yourself? Or do you go about your
day asking; Now how can I serve the people I come into contact with today? How can I
serve the people I work with or those who work for me? How can I serve my clients, or
customers.
There are all kinds of self-help books that motivate people to use other people in order to
get what they want out of life. That’s opposed to everything Jesus said!!
When you think about whose purpose you serve, consider this; You and I were born to
worship and serve the Lord. We are on a mission of service. God created us to serve one
another. You cannot be isolated in you personality and lifestyle and still be a servant of
God.
Those here who are parents, the priority in your family of teaching your children must be
to teach your children by example and by principle, to have a heart after God, to hunger
for God, to thirst for God.
Now that doesn’t mean that they will not have disastrous failures. David did. He went
through great failure. But we find great comfort in the Psalms because many of them,
written by David out of His experiences, reflect a heart for God.
I ask again; whose purpose are you serving? Yours or God’s? What is the motivation for
your life? When you get up tomorrow morning will you go out as a servant, or as a
dictator?
From God’s viewpoint, He has gifted you, he has equipped you with different talents. he
has given you His life to live through you. He, God, wants to serve the people around you
by serving them through you.
Now, can God ask us to do anything to which we will reply “ No, I’m not going to do
it.?” We may never say that in so many words, but we will sometimes argue with God,
thinking maybe He made a mistake in choosing me. Or we say, “I’m not comfortable
doing that - so I will triple my efforts at what I’m doing here, and you’ll be happy. “ Then
we just walk off and do our own thing.
Anyone who says no to God, in any way, is in willful and deliberate rebellion against God.
It is serious business to say no to God.
Another phrase in this Acts 13;36 verse is very significant, “when David had served God’s
purpose in his own generation. ...”
You cannot serve the past. That is over. And the only way you can serve the future is by
serving the present. We must do something in the here and now.
How can we serve our own generation?
Refuse to be a slave to it. Avoid the fads and fashions and the secularism of your
generation. Discover a need, and give yourself to that need in the power of the Almighty
God.
Be willing to perform the commonplace things. Start where you are. Prepare yourself for
future opportunities.
Then you just hang in there, serving continuously and faithfully. We must serve our
generation by preparing a way for those who are going to follow us.
