Are You Thankful Enough . . .
To Be A Servant
Romans 1:14 NKJV, NLT
Philippians 2:5-8 KJV, NIV
I always like to open up with something funny. So here it goes. Some of you have probably heard the original version of this joke but this is a new and improved version. A small town had five churches Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Baptist and Pentecostal. All five had a serious problem with squirrels in the church. Each church in its own fashion had a meeting to deal with the problem. The Presbyterians decided that it was predestined that squirrels be in the church and that they would just have to live with them. The Methodists decided they should deal with the squirrels lovingly in the style of Charles Wesley. They humanely trapped them and released them in a park at the edge of town. Within 3 days, they were all back in the church. The Catholics also humanely trapped them and attempted to teach them the "rhythm" method which of course did not work. The Baptists had a church dinner and fed the squirrels casseroles. That usually runs people off but it didn’t work on the squirrels, they stayed. The wise Pastor of the Pentecostal church had the best solution. He took the squirrels in as members, now they only see them at Christmas and Easter. On that rather spiritual note, please take your Bible and turn to Romans chapter 1. We are going to read verse 14. (Romans 1:14) I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. Let’s pray. . . In Jesus Name Amen. Hold your Bible up high and let’s make this confession together. “This is my Bible, I am what it says I am, I can do what it says I can do, I am about to receive the indestructible Word of God, I boldly confess my mind is alert my heart is receptive and I will never be the same in Jesus name. Amen”. You may be seated. My message today relates to this wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving that we are celebrating early today. The title is . . .
I. Are you thankful enough . . . to be a servant?
Turn to the person next to them and ask them, are you thankful enough to be a servant?. As we enter the Thanksgiving time of year, here in the next couple of weeks, I think most of us are thankful. We are thankful for our families and friends. We are thankful for our health, even if we have some health problems – it could always be worse. Most importantly, I believe we are thankful for Jesus and for the price he paid for our salvation. What I want us to think about today is “how thankful are we”? Are we thankful enough to the Lord, that we are willing to serve Him to the point that we are willing to become servants to reach others? As we read in our opening verse the great Apostle Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that he was a debtor to the Greeks and the Barbarians, to the wise and the unwise. This is Paul’s eloquent way of saying, “I am in debt to everybody”. Why would Paul say this?
A. Paul had the attitude of a servant.
Listen to the words Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 2 beginning with verse 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”!
1. Paul lived out this servant attitude
everyday.
Why? Paul was thankful to God for sitting him free and for forgiving Him. He devoted his life to serving God. He did this by serving others. Once it was reported to Paul that some other ministers were criticizing him because he was in prison. They were saying that it must be because of some sin that he had committed. This is how a servant responds, Philippians 1:15 (NIV) “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains, 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice”. What an attitude! It didn’t matter to Paul what they said about him as long as Jesus was preached. How could Paul have this great servant’s attitude.
2. Paul had already settled in his mind, what was most important.
As Paul wrote in Philippians 3:4-8, “though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ”. 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith”. Wow! Paul had his priorities right, didn’t he? Man! I believe the thing that motivated Paul to be such a great servant of the Lord and a great servant to people, was one thing.
3. Paul knew his purpose.
Let’s continue reading there in Philippians chapter 3, in the next verse, verse 10 Paul states, 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”. Awesome! Paul knew his purpose! He wanted to know Christ. Boy! If I had been one of Paul’s associates, I would have said Paul what are you talking about if you don’t know Him, none of us do! Oh, Paul knew Him, but he wanted to know him better! That great Apostle writing well into his ministry after he had established many churches, preached many city shaking revivals and written several epistles, proclaimed I want to know Christ! He wanted to know Him better. He wanted to be more like him. Why? Paul had a servant’s heart! It wasn’t about him, it was about Jesus. As we read earlier, Paul had laid down every other pursuit, and was pursuing Jesus. As our opening text stated,
4. Paul felt indebted to sinners and saints.
Let’s look at that opening verse again in another translation. (Romans 1:14 NLT) “For I have a great sense of obligation to people in our culture and to people in other cultures, F4 to the educated and uneducated alike”. Why did Paul feel an obligation to everyone? Because of all Christ had done for him. Paul devoted His life to serving others and reaching others with the good news. He tried to learn as much as he could about others and their lives and cultures, so that he could reach them. He states in I Corinthians 9:19-23 (Msg) “ Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: 20 religious, nonreligious, 21 meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, 22 the defeated, the demoralized - whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ - but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. 23 I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” That Rocks! It’s one thing to just talk about that never changing life giving message this morning but it’s another thing to be in on it! Amen! We have talked a lot today about that pharisaical persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus who was knocked off of his high horse by Jesus on that highway to a town called Damascus and was transformed in to Paul the Apostle, a humble servant of God. Now I want to talk to you briefly about
B. The greatest servant of all, Jesus!
Let’s look at Philippians 2 again, for a moment starting with verse 5 (NIV), 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”. Wow! That is the Gospel in a few sentences, isn’t it. It’s all about sending and going. The Father sent Jesus and He came and Jesus sent the Spirit and He came and is her right now in our midst, bringing this message to life and depositing it in our heart. If Jesus hadn’t came . . . man, what a mess we would be in. “. . . taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man”. My oldest daughter, Liza Jayne asked me the other day what my three favorite holidays were and I told her, 1 Christmas, 2 Christmas and 3 Christmas. She said “Daddy I love Christmas but I like how we take Halloween that is the devil’s day for some people and have Hallelujah night instead and how we pass out tracks about Jesus with candy when kids come to the door. I said “I like that too but there wouldn’t be anyone to witness for or any reason to say Hallelujah if He hadn’t came”. Then she said “but Daddy you love Thanksgiving and you say it is the ripped off forgotten holiday because the stores go straight from Halloween decorations to Christmas decorations and skip the celebration of Thanksgiving and the harvest season and you love Turkey and Thanksgiving day more than anyone I know”. I said “that’s all true but if he hadn’t came; there wouldn’t be any reason to be Thankful”. Then she said Daddy, “you’re leaving out Good Friday and Easter and how Jesus died for our sins and rose again on the third day. You love those days so much”. I replied, “Oh I do honey, I look forward to them all year, but If He had not been willing to come to earth in the first place, He couldn’t never have died and rose again”. Folks if were really going to understand our savior and become a servant like Him, we have to understand Philippians 2:8, ‘but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”. Jesus became one of us. All humans that ever lived are servants, compared to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The hands that made Mary voluntarily entered her womb. The hands that made the tree, were nailed to the cross that came from the tree. The king left his throne and became a servant. He picks us up out of the miry pit and asks that we become servants too, like Him. Why?
(Here comes the third and final point)
C. Jesus wants us to become servants like Him so that we can touch people like He did.
I have shared with you the examples of probably the two greatest servants who ever lived. I heard a story once, of a sincere young preacher with a servant’s heart. He wasn’t as successful at being a servant as your Pastor, he was a little misguided. He was asked by the local funeral director to hold a graveside burial service at a small local cemetery for someone with no family or friends. The preacher started early but quickly got himself lost, making several wrong turns. Eventually, a half-hour late, he saw a backhoe and its crew, but the hearse was nowhere in sight, and the workmen were eating lunch. The diligent young pastor went to the open grave and found the vault lid already in place. Taking out his book, he read the service. Feeling guilty because of his tardiness, he preached an impassioned and lengthy service, sending the deceased to the great beyond in style. As he was returning to his car, he overheard one of the workmen say: "I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years and I ain’t never seen anything like that." We have to be servants but we need to be led by the Spirit. Why is it so important that we become servants. Why? Because a lost world is watching us Christians to see if we really have anything they don’t. If we are arrogant, selfish, jealous, argumentative and always have to have our way, we will never reach people. Why are we Christians sometimes like that? Why aren’t we better servants? I am proud to be an American and very thankful for our county. Yesterday was Veterans day and I am thankful to the Veterans who sacrificed for our country. I think sometimes though our American way of thinking can get in our way of having a true servant’s heart as Christians. As Americans we have our rights! But do we really want we have coming to us? I don’t. My Bible speaks to me personally in Romans 3:23 “that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. It gets worse, Romans 6:23 a states “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. I don’t know about you, but based on those two versed, I don’t want what I have coming to me. I wish the Lord the Lord would take away what I have coming and do a Monty Hall, please Lord give me what’s behind door #3. Now for the good news or as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. He has made that trade available as Romans 3:23 does say “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, but Romans 3:24 says “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”. Romans 6:23a does state “For the wages of sin is death, but the second part of that verse tells us “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”,”. Anyone of us would make that trade, but sometimes we’re poor sports. We try to go back, we want to go back on the Lord when things are going tough for us. We start demanding our rights again. Let me give you a practical example. Say our neighbor who we never see going to church parks his car on the edge of our driveway. We have two choices. We can exercise our right as an American and go tell him to get his car of our property. That’s our right. Or we can put up with it. Why? To keep the relationship open and on friendly terms so that when that person is going through a hard time, he might come to us and ask us how we stay so pleasant and nice. Then we can say “let me tell you about my friend Jesus”. Are we willing to do that? Are we willing to be servants? “ Now Pastor the Lord doesn’t expect us to let people walk all over us.”. That’s not really what I am talking about, although He let people walk all over Him.. A slave has to put up with poor treatment. I am not a slave this morning, I have been set free. However, as Paul did I have willing made myself a bond-servant of my Lord Jesus Christ and I will put up with bad treatment if it will help me bring somebody to Him. You see it’s all about Grace. I don’t have to serve others but because of God’s amazing grace to me, I want to. It’s the least I can do. Stand with me as we get ready to close. I want to tell you one more quick story. I was in youth ministry for about 15 years before I started focusing my ministry primarily toward adults back in January of 2000. In the early to mid 90’s, I had a young man in youth ministry who really loved the Lord. When he went to college he worked at a restaurant to work his way through school. He tells stories of how co-workers stole his tables and his tips. He never lashed out at them. He put up with it. Was he a sissy? No, he was a very strong physically tough young man. He was willing to be a servant. After about a year a coworker came to him and said, “Andrew don’t’ you ever get mad?” There it was his chance to share his faith. If he hadn’t been willing to serve, he wouldn’t have ever got his chance. Andrew is a full-time missionary in Argentina today. This Thanksgiving are we so thankful to God for all He has done for us, that we are willing to be servants? I believe we all need to pray but first I want to see if there is anyone here who needs to meet the greatest servant of all, Jesus.
