"Who You Gonna Serve?"

Cornerstone Church January 8/9, 2011

“WHO YOU GONNA SERVE?”

John 13:1-17

Dr. Robertson McQuilkin was for many years the president of Columbia Bible College and Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. In about 1980 Dr. McQuilkin began to see signs of memory loss in his wife, Muriel. For the next decade he watched as his wife’s career of conference speaking, radio shows, and television began to erode and disappear. In the mid-1980’s she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and her deterioration continued to advance rapidly.

This situation naturally posed a crisis for Dr. McQuilkin. As president of a thriving college and graduate school, how could he meet the needs of both his wife and his job? …He resigned from Columbia to care for his wife full time. ‘It was a choice between two loves,’ he writes. Columbia wisely and compassionately supported his decision and began seeking his replacement.

The striking thing about McQuilkin’s personal story is its theological underpinnings. For some, he was choosing a task at remarkable social and professional cost. He was throwing away his career. Not so. His decision was grounded in God’s love for him, experienced also through Muriel’s unselfish forty-two-year love for him. This made his service a joy.

‘It is more than keeping promises and being fair. As I watch her brave descent into oblivion, Muriel is the joy of my life. Daily I discern new manifestations of the kind of person she is, the wife I always loved. I also see fresh manifestations of God’s love – the God I long to love more fully.’”

Life Application Commentary on John quoting

“Living by Vows” now “A Promise Kept” by Dr. Robertson McQuilkin

What a compelling example of love in action!

True selfless servanthood!

Genuine love and devotion on display (for better or worse)

It seems almost surreal in our world today! The stuff of fiction and fantasy!

Our society produces shows like:

Survivor

American Idol

America’s Next Top Model

The Apprentice

Where is the producer who is generating a shows like:

“Who Wants to Be a Servant?”

Being on top, the leader of the pack, numero uno, the big cheese, the head honcho, seems to be an important commodity these days!

WORTH FOR MANY IS MEASURED BY:

Popularity: How well your name is known!

Power: How many people you lead or command!

Prestige: What you own, drive or where you live!

This spirit can even creep into the life of churches. Today one of the largest niches of books produced for Christian leaders isn’t commentaries and works on the Bible. It is books on leadership and church growth.

The truth is that being a servant takes more guts and fortitude than selfishly clawing your way to the top!

Biblically speaking, individuals like Dr. McQuilkin should be our role models and heroes!

* God isn’t impressed with how many people serve you in your occupation or ministry position.

* God is more impressed with how many people YOU serve!

With God the way UP is still down!

Today we will Celebrate Communion.

However, before we participate in the LORD’s Supper there are important lessons Jesus wants us to learn and apply to our lives found in John 13:1-17.

If the LORD Jesus Christ humbled Himself leaving the glories of heaven where Angelic Hosts (beyond our comprehension) waited him on 24/7, to take on human flesh that He might die the most horrible death known to mankind to redeem us, certainly we can love and serve one another!

Salvation, Worship, Attending Church is not about us!

It is about the LORD Jesus Christ before Whom we must all bow our knee (whether a believer or an unbeliever, agnostic or atheist) and confess Him as LORD to the Glory of God the FATHER!

In the words of that famous Theologian, Bob Dylan:

“But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You’re gonna have to serve somebody,

It may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”

Bob Dylan

“Gotta Serve Somebody”

from album – Slow Train Coming

“Who You Gonna Serve?”

OUTLINE (by R. Kent Hughes):

THE HEART OF THE SERVANT – John 13:1-3

THE EXAMPLE OF THE SERVANT – John 13:4-11

THE CHALLENGE OF THE SERVANT – John 13:12-17

Outline taken from John by Dr. R. Kent Hughes, pgs 312 – 315

THE HEART OF THE SERVANT

John 13:1-3

It was just before the Passover Feast. 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.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;