A request was made by the mother, for her sons James and John to sit with Jesus in His Kingdom.
Jesus was born for a purpose – to serve a need; to serve God’s purpose
· He was born a SERVANT! From the day He was born until the day He died, He was serving SOMEONE
· He was tasked by Someone to complete a mission – “to give up His life as a ransom”
· We often see Him as a miracle-worker, the Saviour of the world – He is also a SERVANT through and through. He breathes ‘servanthood’! Being a servant of God defines His entire life.
During the last supper when He washed His disciples’ feet, He said, “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” (John 13:16)
· He was the ‘sent one’. He was the ‘messenger’.
· Therefore – He cannot be greater than the One who sent Him. All His life He was living in submission to His Master, God.
Are we greater than Jesus today? Do we find it so hard to be a servant?
· If we feel pitiful for being a servant – THINK AGAIN.
· We are called to be one! Rick Warren says we are SHAPED to be one – shaped to serve.
· That’s the greatest privilege and blessing we have. Even angels delight in serving God.
· The saddest thing that can happen to us is to have God says, “You’re not fit to serve Me!”
This mission was everything for Jesus – it guides everything He does while He was on earth.
· His entire life was in service for God – including His death!
· He came for that purpose; He died for that purpose.
No wonder He has to correct their wrong thinking here. When the mom asked Jesus to do something for her sons.
This mindset is wrong. We have to (1) CHOOSE SERVICE OVER SELF-INTEREST
· Jesus: "You don’t know what you’re asking." (v.22).
· It is not about glory. It is not about authority or power! It’s about doing God’s will.
· And it involves sacrifice, pain, suffering... "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" (v.23)
Matt 20:25 - "…the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.”
· Their mindset is “What can my subjects do for me.” That’s the Gentile or pagan’s way.
· The mom thinks that way – “What can Jesus do for my sons?” This is where we come from, usually. What can God do for me? What can the church do for me?
· He says (v.26), "Not so with you..." Our mindset is “What can I do for them.”
So bros/sis, the right question to ask is, “What can I do for God?” …for His church; for others.
Jesus has never, at any point, become self-serving. SELF has never become an obstacle in this mission.
· John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.”
· John 7:16 “Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.”
· John 12:49 “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.”
· John 14:10 “The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”
· John 14:24 “These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”
Christians today do not usually ask, ‘what does God wants me to do?’
· They’ll probably look for simple tasks, easy jobs… What’s in it for me? What can I gain from this?
· We choose the church we like, we choose the music we enjoy, we look for good preachers.
· We pick and choose.
But I don’t see this in the Scriptures. I don’t see that in Jesus’ life.
· Eph 5:25 “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Have we come to the point of shedding blood for the church? Nowadays, when the challenges are great or the battle intense, we just move away and find a more comfortable place ‘Hang in there’ attitude is no longer there.
· Look at Jesus – He came for our benefit, to save us – yet many do not like him, appreciate, or listen to him; people who are eager to see him dead on the cross. Yet He hangs in there and finishes the job!
· Isaiah says to God, “Here am I, send me!” It’s all about God and His mission.
· If we do only what is comfortable, then today we won’t have the Gospel. Missionaries would not have been willing to go to difficult places and start churches.
· Rev Lau’s sacrifices in the founding years of this church.
· A servant ‘waits’ on table – for the Master’s bidding. Fulfill whatever He needs.
· Are we more like bosses or servants?
There is this tendency to DO OUR OWN THINGS – this is the root of SIN.
· We want to do what we like. That causes our downfall.
Therefore, CHOOSE SERVICE OVER SELF-INTEREST.
· If that is what God delights in, if that is what His church needs, I’ll offer myself to fulfill it.
· God will bless you - Matt 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”
Another thing I learn from the words of Jesus - (2) THINK LIKE A SERVANT
Serving God is not about aptitude but attitude. It’s not about your ability but your mindset.
· We usually associate servants to some kind of work - a cook, a cleaner, a chauffeur, or a maid.
· But that is not true – I can be a CEO of a multinational company and yet a true servant of God.
· Retreat – Pr Hendro talks about a church where he saw people cleaning the floor, stacking up chairs – and realizes they were executives or CEOs of companies. They command people in the company but when they steps into the church, they were cleaners.
Phil 2:5-11 "5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, 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! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
When a servant does something, it is always for the good of another; never for his own good.
· He was here to serve God’s purpose and save your soul. So who was He thinking of – God and you. Bringing delight to God’s heart, and saving your life.
· A servant puts the interests of God and others ahead of his/her own.
· It means that if you have a choice to make, and one choice will benefit you and the other will benefit your church, a servant must choose the one that will benefit the church.
What do you see that’s good for this church and nobody’s doing it?
What do you see that’s good for someone but no one noticed?
· Our tendency is: “Leave it to the professional!” The cleaner will clean, the chauffeur will drive, and the maid will wash…
· This is not scriptural – ‘servanthood’ is not an office.
· All Christians are servants. A non-serving Christian is a contradiction.
I’ll show you why - in John 13:4-5 we see that during the Passover meal Jesus “got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
· Peter didn’t like that - Jesus, as the guest of honor, shouldn’t do this.
· Have you ever stopped and wondered why Peter was so upset? It was because Peter knew it wasn’t His responsibility.
· Washing feet was the job of the lowest of all slaves. This was unheard of! Jesus was their teacher. If anything, they should be washing His feet!
· Chuck Swindoll: “The room was filled with proud hearts and dirty feet. The disciples were willing to fight for a throne, but not a towel.” (Improving Your Serve, Page 164).
Have you ever done anything good for others that were not your responsibility in the first place?
Well, you’re just being like Jesus.
Bucket Theology
Two buckets of water were mentioned in the Bible. Do you remember what Pilate did when he had a chance to acquit Jesus? He called for a bucket and washed his hands of the whole thing. Matthew 27:24: “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!’” But Jesus, the night before His death, called for a bucket and proceeded to wash the dirty and dusty feet of His disciples.
Which one will you use?
Pilate’s paradigm is common today. He knew what he should have done but he took the easy way out.
· He passed on to others the responsibility that should have been his.
· Many people today pass the buck and wash their hands clean of everything they can.
The Four People
This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Conclusion
Pilate uses his bucket to avoid his rightful responsibility.
Jesus used His bucket to take on responsibility, which was not His in the first place.
If we call ourselves Christ’s followers, we shouldn’t be looking for ways to wash our hands.
Instead we should be getting them dirty.
(1) Choose Service over Self-Interest
(2) Always Think Like A Servant
So... 1. Serve whenever you can.
2. Serve wherever you can.
3. Serve whoever is in need.
4. Be willing to do whatever it takes.
I want to close with some helpful words from Richard Foster, in book “The Celebration of Discipline.”
Self-righteous service comes through human effort.
True service comes from the whispered promptings of Christ.
Self-righteous service is impressed with the big deal.
True service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large.
Self-righteous service requires external rewards.
True service rests in hiddenness.
Self-righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve.
True service is indiscriminate in its ministry.
Self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims.
True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need.
Self-righteous service is temporary.
True service is a lifestyle.
Self-righteous service fractures community.
True service builds community.
Let us pray.
