Being The Greatest
The Life – part 11
The Practice Of Servanthood
Read Mark 9:30-35
PICTURE – the scene… Jesus has just told the disciples about what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem. HOW - he was going to be betrayed in to the hands of men, HOW - they would kill Him and how after 3 days he would rise from the dead (it is only the second time that he shared these things with them)…. NOW – the text tells us that the 12 didn’t get it, they didn’t understand what Jesus said, YOU SEE - it didn’t make sense to them, it didn’t fit with their view of the kingdom. BUT, they didn’t ask for any clarification, I think, for fear that it would be given AND that then things would make sense.
AFTER – telling them after his betrayal and death, they head off to Capernaum… Jesus is walking up in front of them. AND – the 12 begin to argue with each other. INTERESTINGLY – they are not fighting over who it is that will betray Jesus BUT rather they are fighting about who among them would be the greatest.
Jesus walks ahead of them in silence… He is on his way to his sacrificial and cruel death on the cross – while his straggling disciples push and shove, trying to establish the order of the processional behind them… “I’m the greatest, no I am, no get out of the way it’s me…”
YOU SEE – at this point in their walk with Christ – the disciples still have visions of grandeur and they therefore do not fantasize about becoming servants, who are at everyone’s beck and call. NO – are still too puffed-up with selfish ambition to even think about taking up a cross and following a suffering servant Messiah…
QUESTION – have you ever wondered what the conversation was like as they all jockeyed for position?
As always Peter was the first to speak up… “Come on guys you all know that I should be the greatest; I was one of the first to follow Jesus, I am the one who got out of the boat and walked on water; and when Jesus wanted to know who we thought he was – it was me again giving the right answer, “you are the Christ the son of the living God..”
Then Andrew spoke up; “now Pete you must have forgotten about that ‘Get behind satan comment…’ Besides bro. If you my memory serves me, it was I who came to get you to follow Jesus, And when Jesus feed the 5,000 I was the one who brought to him the boys lunch…while the rest of you stood around with your mouths hanging open…”
“Hey guys” Matthew said, “that all sounds good, but I think you are forgetting something here - It is obvious that when Jesus establishes the kingdom he’ll need someone with great organizational skills – remember I was a tax collector… I have the skills to get this kingdom rolling.. There can be no doubt that this is way Jesus called me.”
Then James & John who always stuck together spoke up – “listen fellows it’s so obvious that my brother and I are to be the greatest… We were some of the first disciples and we were the only 2 brothers taking up to mount where the Lord’s glory was transfigured right before our eyes…And besides that my brother is obviously Jesus closest friend, the kind of friend you’d have look after your own mother..”
Another voice spoke up it was Judas… “Hey we all know how important money is in this world – can’t get anything done without it… AND listen - if Jesus has given me the job to handle our finances surely this means I am the greatest…”
AND – on & on it went…
WELL – whatever reason they gave – they all were arguing, they all wanted to be first… AND Jesus heard every word of it…
ONCE - they had finally settled down in the house. AS SOON AS - Jesus was close enough to look each of them in the eye… He asked them a question; “SO – what were you guys fighting about earlier today as we were walking along the road…” BUSTED…..
AND – those who earlier were so quick to spout off every reason in the world why they were the greatest – didn’t say a single word….their heads were lowered… they tried not too at Jesus.
“I am so glad that you all want so badly to have first place… (code A – on being the greatest) – because that means that you so desperately want to be a servant of all…”
TODAY – we are going to talk about the discipline of servanthood… AND – to be honest the message that I am about to share with you is not the message – I had thought I would be sharing when I first planned my messages for this series called, The Life…
My initial title was – “It’s A Give And Take Thing…” And what I had planned on focusing on this week was 3 things… 3 very important things.
#1; the giving of ourselves in service to the church…
#2; the giving of our offering, our money, our tithe to the church…
#3; the taking of the message of Christ out into our world…
AND LISTEN – we do need to use our talents and abilities to serve in the local church… IF – you consider Central to be your church home… THEN – you need to be serving in some capacity in this place…in this body – in this part of God’s Kingdom.
AND YES – we do need to bring our treasure, our money, our tithe to the church… AGAIN – IF you are a Christian and you consider this place your church home… THEN – bringing your tithe here each week, to help us as we try to impact this world for Christ…is just something that not only we, BUT God expects you to do…
AND - we certainly need to take the message, the good news of Jesus Christ out into our world, a world that so desperately needs the hope & light of Christ.
YES – these are important things… IN FACT – on January the 12th Ryckie will be sharing a message about our Stewardship and the Sharing of our faith… BUT TODAY – I want to just look at the discipline of servanthood – and UNDERSTAND - if I was to limit message to just getting you to do a job, at church I would have failed in a great way in teaching you about the spiritual discipline of servanthood. The title of the message, is “Being The Greatest…”
PRAYER…
The Defining Of Servanthood…
UNDERSTAND - the spiritual discipline of servanthood consists of much more than just the mere acts of doing service. YOU SEE - we can actually be engage in acts of service and still not be practicing the discipline of service…
In his book, The Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster says, “If true service is to be understood and practiced, it must be clearly distinguished from (what he calls) ‘self righteous’ service. And he goes on to explain to contrast between the two (if your like me – you just might feel a twinge of conviction about your service, that at times it may be self righteous..)
SELF RIGHTEOUS - service comes through human effort. It expends immense amounts of energy calculating and scheming how to render service. Sociological charts and surveys are devised so we can help ‘those people.’ TRUE SERVICE – comes from a relationship with God. We feel his promptings and his leadings to reach out and serve.
SELF RIGHTEOUS SERVICE – is impressed with doing the things that score the big points, gets the attention, things that make impressive gains on ecclesiastical scoreboards. TRUE SERVICE – doesn’t really even notice the difference between the small and large service. AND when it does it usually does the small service because it sees them as more important.
Fred Craddock illustrated this well in a message to pastors:
"To give my life for Christ appears glorious," he said. "To pour myself out for others...to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom-I’ll do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory.
"We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table-’Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’ "But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ’Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. "Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul."
SELF RIGHTEOUS SERVICE – seeks external rewards. It needs to be seen, noticed and applauded by people. TRUE SERVICE – doesn’t care if anyone even knows what it is doing. It doesn’t fear the lights and attention but it doesn’t seek after them.
SELF RIGHTEOUS SERVICE – is highly concerned about results. It is eager to see if the person served will respond the right way – maybe even serve or give back to them. And it becomes bitter and angry when the results fall below expectations. TRUE SERVICE – doesn’t worry about the results. It only cares about serving. It can serve enemies as well as friends.
SELF RIGHTEOUS SERVICE – picks and chooses the people it will serve. Sometimes the powerful & influential are served because it figures that the payoff should be a good one. At other times it serves the low and weak – because they will ensure a humble image. TRUE SERVICE – will serve anyone who has a need. It has heard the command of Jesus in Mark 9:35 – to be a servant of all…
SELF RIGHTEOUS SERVICE – is affected by moods and whims. It can only serve when there is a ‘feeling’ to served (moved by the spirit as we say). Ill health, not enough sleep, having a bad day controls the desire to serve. TRUE SERVICE – serves faithfully simply because there is a need. And it knows that the ‘feeling’ to serve can many times be a hindrance to true service.
SELF RIGHTEOUS SERVICE – is temporary. It functions only while the specific acts of service are being performed. AND - having served it can rest easy. TRUE SERVICE – is a lifestyle. Serving is just a part of who they are.
SELF RIGHTEOUS SERVICE – fractures the community. In the final analysis, once all the ribbons and bows are removed – SRS centers on the glory of the individual. AND it puts others into its debt and becomes one of the most subtle and destructive forms of manipulation known. TRUE SERVICE – builds community.
LISTEN – our aim, our goal – if we want to be the greatest, should not be to simply do acts of service, BUT to develop the Christ like attitude of servanthood… YOU SEE – anyone can do acts of service. We can; teach that class, keep the nursery, give blankets to the homeless, food to the hungry, water to the thirsty…and it all might be done just to exalt self…
LISTEN - God invites us…to become servants. AND – what that means is; we’ll do many acts of service in secret. We’ll do them regardless of whether we’re thanked or applauded. We’ll do them not seeking persecution, but not avoiding it either. We’ll do them when we feel like it and when we don’t. We’ll do them despite their inconvenience. We’ll do them because we’re servants and servants serve…
In Your God Is Too Safe, Mark Buchanan writes;
Lonny Sanny, the founder of Navigators, was once asked how you could tell if you were really a servant. “By how you act,” he said, “when you are treated like one…” If I’m going to be your servant, the last thing I want is for really to think I’m a servant… No, I want to impress you with how humble I am.
I want you to say, Look. Isn’t that the pastor stacking chairs? He’s, he’s..he’s just like Jesus.”
And I think, ‘It’s nothing really. I just saw that those chairs needed to be stacked, and hey, I thought, I know how to do that…’
I don’t actually want you to treat me like a servant. “Hey you. After you’re done with the chairs, can you give the toilets a quick scrub?” “There’s no brush.” “You’ll just have to use your hands…”
Servanthood is a noble idea – for YOU. Me, I’m out to get as much as I can as fast as I can and keep it for as long as I can. I’ll do acts of service here and there, especially if it’s noticed and advances my reputation. But never, ever treat me as a servant.
Leonard Bernstein, the conductor was once asked, “What’s is the hardest instrument to play?” Without a twinge of hesitation, he replied, “second fiddle. I can always get plenty of violinists. But to find one who play second fiddle with as much enthusiasm, or second French horn, or second flute now that’s a problem. AND yet if no plays second fiddle, we have no harmony…”
WOW – that’s some good stuff… LISTEN - Servanthood is the art of learning how to play second fiddle… AND – it really is a discipline because it does not come automatically. We have to learn it, we have to practice it..
NOW - you may be thinking to yourself, “Wait a minute Steve, If I do that, people will take advantage of me and walk all over me.” AND – it is right here, that we must see the difference between choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant.
YOU SEE - when we choose to serve, we are still in charge. We decide whom we will serve and when and how. AND - If we are in charge, we will worry about someone taking advantage of us or stepping all over us. HOWEVER - when we choose to be a servant, we give up being in charge. We surrender the right to choose who and how we serve.
UNDERSTABD - the fear of being taken advantage of is justified and is a real concern. This may happen. But what I see in Scripture, is that a Christian is a person who chooses to be stepped on. Who can hurt someone who has chosen to be stepped on? Who can hurt someone who knows that the direction of his or her service comes from God?
Serving is the giving of ourselves to others FOR the sole benefit of others…
The Example Of Servanthood…
AND LISTEN - in servanthood as well as with every area of our spiritual life our greatest example our greatest teacher is Christ. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew chapter 20; “the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.” (NCV)
Jesus is in the upper room with the towel and the basin. AND – as Jesus gathers his disciples for the last supper they are still having trouble deciding who was the greatest. AND – whenever there is trouble deciding who was the greatest, there is trouble over who is the least. YOU SEE- that’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it? Most of us know we will never be the greatest; but we certainly don’t want to be the least.
As the disciples sat around the table – they each were aware of the fact that someone needed to wash the other’s feet. BUT – the problem was that the only people who washed feet were the least, and none of them were willing to take on that role. SO – there they sat, dirty feet, caked with dirt… and acting like everything was okay… I mean no one is even going to bring the subject up – for fear they might just get the job and be considered the least…
IMAGINE – their shock when suddenly Jesus got up wrapped a towel his waist and began to wash their feet…
After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? You call me `Teacher’ and `Lord,’ and you are right, because it is true. And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them. You know these things--now do them! That is the path of blessing. John 13:12-17 (NLT)
AND – perhaps nowhere is the aspect of Christ’s servanthood more powerfully expressed then in the second chapter of Philippians… CHECKOUT - these God breathed words…Let them refresh you… challenge you…
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil 2:5-11
THAT PASSAGE – says that you and I are to have the same attitude or the same mindset as Christ, ”Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…”
NOW – let me tell you how I have read that passage until just this week….I read it this way - ‘despite the fact that Jesus was God he took on the nature of a servant..’ BUT – that is not what Paul is saying here, YOU SEE – the word ‘being’ in Greek is called a circumstantial participle.
AND HOW – we translate it depends on the context or the circumstances surrounding it…. AND – when we do that, a more accurate reading of the point Paul was trying to get across is this, ‘precisely because Jesus was in very nature God he took on the very nature of a servant…”
In ancient Greek myth, Zeus and Hermes came down to earth for a brief period of time disguised as poor slaves. They did this to fool human beings, and to get an up close reading of the level of devotion people pay to the gods. AND – once Zeus and Hermes found out what they wanted to know, the threw off their rags and revealed themselves in all of their Olympian splendor. It was Clark Kent and Superman all over again, They took on the outward form of a servant, but that was just a disguise….
UNDERSTAND – Jesus did not simply take on the ‘outward form’ of a servant. In Philippians 2 Paul uses the same term to describe both Jesus’ servanthood and Godhood. When Jesus came in the form of a servant, he was not disguising who God is – RATHER he was revealing who God is.. a servant.
UNDERSTAND – God is the Infinite Servant. AND - Jesus did not come to this as a servant in spite of the fact that he is God… NO – Jesus came to this earth as a servant precisely because of the fact that he is God.
The ULIMATE – example of servant is God… Jesus Christ in the flesh.
The Foundation Of Servanthood…
NOW – it is one thing to admire servanthood in others, to get all pumped up about God being the ultimate servant, to want to be a servant, to desire to play second fiddle… to do acts of service. BUT - it’s another thing to truly become, “a servant of all…” To practice the discipline of servanthood.
That’s why in building a life of servanthood we need to have the proper foundation. NOW – there are 3 essential ingredients to this foundation. AND – IF you really get a hold of these three things – if they become a part of you deep down inside THEN – true service will flow naturally out of them…
Jesus Loves You…
Last week we read a bunch of passages about the love that God has for each of us. LISTEN – Jesus loves you all the way. He’s holding nothing back. He couldn’t love you more than he already does. AND - His love for you is unconditional. THOUGH – you can delight his heart when you’re good and can break his heart when you choose wrong – THERE IS one thing that you can never do… YOU CAN NEVER make him not love you. His heart will never grow cold toward you. Nothing – absolutely nothing can separate you form his love. He will never leave you or forsake you.
YOU KNOW – the times I struggle to a servant. I know precisely what is missing; security… UNDERSTAND – True servanthood can’t exist without security. AND – when I’m haunted by the questions; “Do I matter? Am I important? Am I noticed? Am I valued? Am I loved? I struggle being a servant..
YOU SEE – in the absence of knowing that I’m loved, I’ve got to look out for me and mine. I need others to acknowledge my worth & my importance and to make me feel loved…
QUESTION – WHEN; push comes to shove and we have to choose between being true servants or self servers, what tips the balance? WHERE; does the compassion & courage to serve even our enemies and to give up something maybe everything to serve come from? It comes from knowing that I am secure in the love of God. AND – the more secure I feel in that love the more free I am to be your servant.
CHECKOUT – what Buchanan writes;
Am I important? Infinitely. Do I matter? Ultimately. Am I loved? Completely. SO you know what? I don’t have to sweat and fret about having a bigger slice of pie than you, a shinier nameplate on my door, more feathers in my cap, more notches in my gun stock, more letters after my name. I don’t need anyone to pat me on the back and tell me how great I am. God’s done all that and more. NOW I’m free to be your servant.
Serving Others Is The Best Way To Love Christ
There is a Hassidic legend about a community of Jewish monks that had deteriorated into factions, divisions, gossip, and suspicion. A wise man visited the abbey, and the abbot told him about the terrible condition among the monks. “It is so bad, that I do not believe that we will survive as a community”
The wise man said, “I am so surprised, for it is widely rumored that the Messiah is in your midst.”
The abbot went back and reported to the monks the conversation. It entirely transformed the place. Each man treated all the others with deep love and high regard – because this one just might be the Messiah.”
LISTEN – it is widely reported that the Messiah is in our midst’s. How do I know? Checkout the words of Jesus…
I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared or me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ "Then these righteous ones will reply, `Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ And the King will tell them, `I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
Matthew 25:35-40 (NLT)
By serving others – we are loving on Jesus… pretty cool, huh?
Serving Others Is The Best Way To Love Like Christ
When Jesus gathered the 12 in the upper room for the Last Supper – just before he washed their feet John records these words;
Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father, Having loved his own who were in the world he now showed them the full extent of his love. Jn 13:1
Jesus showed His love that night by serving, by washing their feet – a day later he would show his love by giving his life on the cross…
John wrote these powerful words in the third chapter of His first letter;
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:16-18
We love like Jesus when we serve others – when we love in action and in truth…
LISTEN – the essential foundation that will enable you to love like Jesus is these 3 truth; Jesus loves you, Serving others is the best way to love Christ, Serving others is the best way to love like Christ…
The Prizes Of Servanthood…
LET ME – share with you 4 awesome results, 4 prizes that we receive when we practice the discipline of servanthood…
Joy
The FIRST is joy… QUESTION – could you use some of that?’
And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you…You know these things--now do them! That is the path of blessing.
Jesus says that in serving others we walk the path that leads to blessing, that leads to joy & happiness..
Marion Mill was born in a fairy tale royal palace in Hungary. Her first spoon was solid gold. They sent her to school in Vienna where she became an actress, and there she met and fell in love with a young medical student named Otto. Otto and Marion married and went to live in Hollywood, CA.
There, as they "set up house," he began to dabble in movies. He became so interested in movies that he gave up his medical practice, and went on to become the internationally famed movie director Otto Preminger. Marion’s beauty, wit, and irresistible charm brought her everything a woman desires. In Europe, New York and Hollywood she became a famous international hostess.
But Otto’s princess could not handle the fast life of Hollywood. She went into alcohol, drugs and numerous affairs. Her life and lifestyle became so sordid, even for Hollywood, that Otto Preminger divorced Marion. She tried to take her own life three times, unsuccessfully, and finally moved back to Vienna.
There at a party she met another doctor, named Albert Schweitzer, the well-known medical doctor, musician, philosopher, theologian and missionary. Schweitzer was home on leave from his hospital in Lambarene, Africa. She was so fascinated by Schweitzer, that she asked him if she could talk to him alone, and he permitted that. For almost six months, every week, she met with Dr. Albert Schweitzer. At the end of that time he was going to go back to Africa, and she begged him to let her go with him. Schweitzer surprised everyone by agreeing.
Marion, the young princess, who was born in a palace went to a little village in Lambarene, Africa, and spent the rest of her life emptying bed pans and tearing up sheets to make bandages for putrid sores on the poverty-stricken nationals. She wrote her autobiography (I love the title of it) - All I Want is Everything. When she died, Time Magazine quoted from her autobiography these words: "Albert Schweitzer says there are two kinds of people. There are the helpers, and the non-helpers. I thank God He allowed me to become a helper, and in helping, I found everything."
LISTEN – in service you will find everything – you will find joy!
“There is more happiness in giving than receiving..” - Acts 20:35 (TEV)
An Acts 2 Atmosphere In The Church
Now an ‘Acts 2 Church’ is a phrase that we have started using around here… AND it’s a phrase that describes a time when the church of Christ is really doing things right, is hitting on all 8 cylinders.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be in a place full of servants like Christ. FULL of people giving themselves away in service for the sole benefit of others and for the sole glory of Christ?
Can you imagine all that we would be able to do?
AND – can you imagine the spirit in which all things would be done…?
In His book, “An Unstoppable Force, Daring To become The Church God Had In Mind,” Alan McManus writes;
The life of the church is the heart of God. The heart of God is to serve a broken world. When Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist, he reminded us that only he could wash away our sin. The church cannot live when the heart of God is not beating within her. God’s heartbeat is to seek and save that which is lost. The church exists to serve as the body of Christ, and it is through this commitment to serve that we are forced to engage our culture.
This serving that we are called to requires direct contact. You cannot wash the feet of a dirty world if you refuse to touch it. There is a sense of mystery to this, but it is in serving that the church finds her strength.
It is in serving that the church (Central) finds her strength…
An Acts 2 atmosphere is one of the results of the practice of servanthood…
A 3rd prize is;
A Positive Image To The World
NOW – most of the spiritual disciplines we have been talking about so far; fasting, studying the word, confessing – they have a uniquely Christian appeal. I mean, people in the world, are not generally intrigued by someone who is really good at studying the bible or fasting…Doing these well probably won’t get you on Oprah or Larry King…
BUT everyone admires and appreciates those who demonstrate servanthood…
QUESTION - What is the thing most people remember Princess Diane for – her works of charity. AND – the world, even our immoral world still gets really excited and admires those who serve…
AND they even admire it in people who do it in the name of Christ… [Mother Teresa – feeding the hungry at Turner field… Know Sweats Reporter.. in Tenn]
LISTEN - the image of a serving church is an appealing and compelling witness to the world.
AND – it is a witness that Christ expects us to give…
A 4th prize is;
We Learn Humility
CHECKOUT these passages;
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Mt 18:4
Seek the LORD , all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger. Zeph 2:3
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 1 Peter 5:5,6
LISTEN – God calls us to be humble… To Clothe ourselves with humility… BUT humility is something that though we know we are supposed to have – we are clueless how to get it.. AND – we do want humility, BECAUSE when we have it the Lord lifts us up – no longer opposes us and gives us grace…
BUT HERE’S THE QUESTION – what does it mean to ‘humble yourself’ in every day life? Let’s say we take this seriously. Someone compliments us on the way we look. We are trying to live in God’s kingdom and respond as Jesus would if he were in our place? SO – what do we do?
LOOK DOWN – at the ground shuffle our feet, and say, “I’m not really attractive. It’s just that the light in here is pretty dim.”
BOLDLY speak the truth by saying, “I’m so glad you notice – you are very perceptive, please tell me more, and let us celebrate this good news together.
QUOTE Proverbs 11:22; in order to correct the other person’s superficial focus on physical appearance: “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without good sense” (This approach will most certainly remove any problem of being complimented too much…)
Be DIRECT and to the point – “Your giving me a swelled head – get behind me satan…”
SMILE, say “thank you” and be quiet…
LISTEN – humility is not about convincing ourselves – or others – that we are unattractive or incompetent. It’s not about beating ourselves up or trying to make ourselves nothing…
Humility has to do with submitted willingness. It involves a healthy self-forgetfulness. Humility is the freedom to stop trying to be what we’re not, or pretending to be what we’re not, and accepting our “appropriate smallness.” In Luther’s words humility is the decision to let God be God. BUT – right here we meet a difficultly. How on earth do we pursue humility? LISTEN UP – because this is where the discipline of servanthood comes in;
Richard Foster writes;
More than any other single way, the grace of humility is worked into our lives through the discipline of service. Humility, as we all know is one of those virtues that is never gained by seeking it. The more we pursue it the more distant it becomes. To think we have it is sure evidence that we don’t. THEREFORE - most of us assume there is nothing we can do to gain this prized Christian virtue, and so we do nothing.
But there is something we can do. We do not need to go through life faintly hoping that someday humility may fall upon our heads. OF ALL the spiritual disciplines, service is the most conducive to the growth of humility. When we set out on a consciously chosen course of action that accents the good of others and is, for the most part, a hidden work, a deep change occurs in our spirits…
DO YOU SEE – what he is saying? That by pursuing true service, by living Christ-like servanthood on a daily basis - we develop genuine humility…
William Law made a lasting impact upon 18th century England with his book, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. In it, Law urges that every day should be viewed as a day of humility. And how does he suggest that we do this? By learning to serve others. Law understood that it is with the discipline of service that one gains humility. If we want humility, he urges us to, “give in to all the weaknesses and infirmities of your fellow-man, cover their frailties, love their excellences, encourage their virtues, relieve their wants, rejoice in their prosperities, be compassionate in their distress, receive their friendship, overlook their unkindness, forgive their malice, be a servant of servants, and agree to do the lowest offices to the lowest of mankind.”
OKAY bare with me BUT as I wrap this point up I just have to read what Foster said;
The result then, of this daily discipline of the flesh will be the rise of the grace of humility. It will slip in upon us aware. Though we do not sense it’s presence, we are aware of a fresh zest and exhilaration with living. We wonder at the new sense of confidence that marks our activities. Although the demands of life are as great as ever, we live in a new sense of unhurried peace. People whom we once only envied we now view with compassion, for we see not only their position, but their pain. People who we would have passed over before we now se and find them to be delightful individuals. Somehow – we cannot exactly explain how – we feel a new spirit of identification with the outcasts of the earth. Even more than the transformation that is occurring within us, we are aware of a deeper love and joy in God…Our days are punctuated with spontaneous breathings of praise and adoration.
Listen you don’t have to go to a foreign country to serve. You don’t have to go to a designated building. You don’t have to have a bible college degree. You can start right where you are with the people around you. Think about how you can give yourself away to the members of your family. How can you serve them and set them free to be the best they can be? What about significant friends and extended family? How can you give yourself to them? (maybe you can serve them by listen to them, being available, helping them do something)
Think about your place of employment. I know you already work hard, but aren’t there some ways you could serve the people around you? If you are a supervisor or boss remember what Jesus did for his followers.
AND - let me not fail to mention the church. Can you see areas where ministry is needed? Have you ever sat around thinking "I wish the church offered this or that program?" Maybe God is giving you a prompting to meet that need. (maybe you be a servant at church by opening your home to someone, practice hospitality; or by helping someone carry a burden)
If you’re a believer here today give yourself away to the lost people in your world. Build a relationship with an unchurched person and share your life and faith with them. If they have questions you can’t answer invite them here where we seek to provide biblical advice.
UNDERSTAND - You gain when you give yourself away. No fooling. Missionary Jim Elliot who served and ultimately gave his life trying to reach the Auca Indians with the Christian faith said, "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he will never lose."
