Sermon Tone Analysis

I appreciate so much the wonderful worship that we've been in this morning.

I pray that we continue worshiping as we look at the words that the Holy Spirit recorded through the mind and hand of the apostle John in John, chapter 6, today.

I want to speak to you about changing our focus from one in a serve-me world to one that serves, to have an outward-focused life, a life which naturally wants to serve...not because it is dutiful but because it is the greatest expression of who our Master is and we want to be like Him.

Jesus said in Mark, chapter 10, /"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many."/

You know, what would happen if we saw that our primary responsibility in this world as a believer, as a follower of Christ was to serve, was to serve lost people?

Was to do what Jesus did?

Not just serve the children of Israel but to serve the lost, the entire world as well.

Paul put it this way in Philippians 2, verse 5, /"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

This is to be our mind.

This is to be how we think, Paul said.

"...of Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross."/

You know, something happens when we quit fighting for our rights and submit to God's sovereign work in our lives.

We become less interested in being right and having power and having control, and instead, we understand that being a servant means giving up power and control, and giving up what we want for the greater good of God's plans and desires.

That is exactly what Paul is echoing in Philippians 2 to the Philippians.

He is saying that Jesus had every right, but that He emptied Himself, that He became a servant.

An outward-focused life believes there is a heavenly Father who liberally loves us, who wants to care for us.

Such a belief is an act of faith.

We have to choose by faith to believe that God has not forsaken us, that He will never leave us, and that He loves us so much that He will take care of us no matter what.

Sometimes I think Christians don't think God really loves them in the extravagant way that He does.

I think you see it by the lives and the decisions.

Some will say, "I don't think God loves me."

Well, that is your choice.

It may be the circumstances you're in or the path your life is taking, you may say, "Well I don't think God loves me."

Now that is a lie.

It is a bold-faced lie, but you can choose to believe the lie if you like.

The reality is that God does love you.

In fact, He says it this way in Luke 12:29.

Jesus said, /"Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink nor have an anxious mind, for all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things, but seek the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you.

Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."/

Now you have to decide if you believe that or not.

To have an outward-focused life is going to depend on whether or not you believe it is God's good pleasure to give you the things you need in life, to give you the very kingdom.

Now you can choose right now to believe that and get a new worldview or to choose to argue it away, to try to rationalize it, to try to dispute it.

You choose what source of truth is going to guide your life.

You know, all truth that we live by really comes from outside us.

It may come from a parent.

It may come from a philosopher.

It may come from the Word of God.

You choose which truth you are going to use to make your decisions with, and if you choose to believe the words of Jesus, my friends, you are going to be the freest person on earth.

You are free to become a servant.

You are free to view the world outwardly, to have an outward-focused life.

Learning to serve other people comes easily from a confidence in knowing who we are.

That is what allows you to serve.

It is knowing who you are.

You see, there really are only three questions that you need in life.

/Where did I come from?

Where am I going?

Why am I here?/

If you find the answers to those three questions, you are free to be anything in this world.

You just need to know the answers to those three questions.

Those answers find you freedom.

Freedom to do what it is you are called to do.

Freedom from the tyranny that is imposed by this world, that is imposed by the peer pressure that comes into every life.

If you know the answers to those questions...

You know, my friends, it is one thing to think of Jesus as the Son of Man that Mark talks about, but let me tell you what we will see today in today's text...that it is quite another to see Jesus as the Son of God, to see Him as the Son of Man and as that servant, yes, but to see Him as the Son of God is quite another thing.

Later, we will look at this, but in John 13, Jesus washed the disciples' feet, and among them was Judas Iscariot, who Jesus served just as He served every other disciple on that evening, knowing already that this same Judas would betray Him and lead directly to His own death by crucifixion.

And yet, Jesus was free to serve His enemy.

Why?

Well, He tells us in John 13:3.

It says, /"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel, and girded Himself.

After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded."/

Why was He able to do that?

Because He knew why He was here.

The Father had given all things into His hands.

He had come from God and was going to God.

He knew the answers to all three questions.

My friends, if you are a follower of Christ, you know where you came from.

You came from Him.

He gives you that new life.

You might think, /Well, I came from my mother."/

Well, that is your physical life, yes, but you are born again, and that life...that eternal life...comes from God.

If you are follower of Christ, you know where you are going.

You're going to be with Jesus forever in heaven.

And if you are follower of Christ, you know why you are here.

You are here to serve, to lead the lost by your service, by your acts...to show your faith in your willingness to serve other people.

Knowing that, you're free...you're free.

You're free to be the lowliest servant because you see your ego doesn't get in the way.

What happens to us is when we don't know who we are that affects how we view the world.

That is why we often have such a serve-me attitude.

That is why we'll have tempers...because we don't have confidence in who we are, and we think people are taking advantage.

They don't see us as valuable, and so we respond angrily.

We will get mad at the waitress at the restaurant because they have neglected us or neglected to refill or because we think they see others as more important than us.

We don't have confidence in who we are so we try to create a world around us that lifts us up.

It is a serve-me world we live in.

Our laws from Congress are written for our rights.

We go through this world we live in looking to defend our rights.

Why?

Because we don't have confidence in who we are.

If we don't do it, we're afraid we will be taken advantage of.

But my friends, when we learn who we are in Christ, we are child of the King.

We are child of the living God, the Owner of the universe.

We are the children of the future kingdom that will last for eternity.

Knowing that, when our Master calls on us to serve, it doesn't bother us.

It is an easy thing for us to do because that doesn't affect who we are.

We don't mind cleaning toilets because we're a servant of God.

You know, I noticed that when you know who you are, you can take on the lowliest job without concern.

I've noticed that the same egos that existed when I was in the business world exist in the preacher world.

There are preachers just like businessmen who look to success and flame and respect to define them, and the great irony is that when you become a servant, the preachers who garner the most success and the most fame and the most respect are inevitably those who seek none of those things but instead seek the kingdom.

They have learned to put self on the shelf and instead to serve.

We have trouble with that, and I think it is because we have trouble understanding the word /love/.

You know, the word /love/ in our language is a confusing word.