Receive The Lord's Servant

Theme: Receive the Lord’s Servant

Text: 2 Kings 4:8-17; Rom. 6:1-11; Matt. 10:37-42

A simple definition of a servant is someone who serves another person or group of people. The best example of a servant is Jesus Christ whose sole aim for coming into the world was “not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many”. Jesus Christ by His life of servant leadership has given His followers an example to follow. He actually demands this from His followers, as His example does not serve any purpose whatsoever if it is only studied, discussed or analysed. It has to be put into practice till it finally becomes a way of life and Christ is manifested. Ironically what Jesus Christ expects from His followers is what followers of the devil are accomplishing. They are living the life of the devil and becoming totally evil as he is as being evil is much easier than being good. They are the terrorists who are prepared to die to cause pain, suffering and death as in the recent London bombings. They are the drug dealers who go to great lengths to carry out their illegal activities without caring about the harm their victims suffer. Servants of the Lord, on the other hand, are expected to live the life of Christ, to do what He wants and to be who He wants them to be. Unlike the servants of the devil who cause suffering and death, servants of the Lord are to bring blessings of joy, health and life. They are able to do this because as full participants of the life of Christ His presence and power works within and through them and to receive the Lord’s servant is to receive the Lord Himself.

We can always recognise the servants of the Lord by their character and behaviour. They behave like Christ and therefore Christ can be seen in them. Their lives are filled with love, the love of God, and they demonstrate this love by their actions. Love is one aspect of life that really marks out the follower of Christ because God is love. No one can give what he does not have and the person who has no love cannot love and cannot be the Lord’s servant. It is only because the Lord’s servant loves the Lord unconditionally that he can also love as Christ has loved him. The Lord’s servant also behaves like Christ by living a life of submission and obedience to God. Jesus Christ was totally obedient to His Father and never did anything that was not the Father’s Will. The world will definitely take notice of the Lord’s servants when they live a life of complete obedience to Christ. This of course would mean, in the words of Christ, crucifying their personal goals, ambitions and desires for the sake of Christ.

The Lord’s servant can only behave like Christ when he believes that Jesus Christ is Saviour and Lord and enters into an intimate relationship with Him. This will enable him live the sort of life that will impress the world and lead them to Christ. This life is not following a set of laws or a set of beliefs; neither is it following our thoughts or emotions. This life is to be united with Christ and trusting Him with your life. This intimate relationship with Christ can be likened to a marriage where two people are to become one. Just as the married couple are often unaware of what they are getting into, where life would lead them or how they would change so it is with an intimate relationship with Christ. The most important thing is committing themselves to each other no matter what happens, whether in "Sickness or health, or for better for worse". Again just as in marriage we cannot afford to remain where we started in our relationship so also we cannot afford to remain where we started in our relationship with Christ. Our relationship should be characterised and evidenced by growth. And just as it is with every relationship there will be times of boredom and frustration that will threaten to destroy the relationship. We can avoid such times by focusing on Christ, on His commitment to the relationship and on His interest in us. We should also not forget to avoid every form of evil and base our motivations and decisions on the will of God and not on our own desires. In our relationship with God what He wants is far more important than what we want. Christ wants His servants to live His life. This is only possible when we have an intimate relationship with Him and the only way to achieve this is to be born into His family. If you are not living the life of Christ you need to be born into His family. You need to repent of your sins and confess Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord