Mission: Gospel Serving

Intro

If you have your Bible with you, turn with me to Galatians 5:13-14.

Last time we were together, we considered what is needed for our lives to grow in grace.

And we came to the conclusion that we have to deepen our faith.

We have to believe the truths of the Gospel above all else.

The problem is that our faith is, very often, placed elsewhere.

We may not shape wood, stone, or precious metals into a graven image,

but we absolutely have the propensity to misplace our faith.

In our pride, we live out Romans 1:25 and “exchange the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator” on a regular basis.

And, most of the time, we are that creature.

We serve ourselves.

We look to better ourselves.

We we find ways for our interests to receive top priority.

This idolatry within our hearts leads to surface sins that we will never truly be rid of until we address the root of our belief problem.

The Gospel proclaims that there is so much more to life, that Christ offers so much more than we could ever provide for ourselves, if we would just...

abdicate the throne of our hearts,

worship Him because He has conquered sin and has made a way for the bondage to end,

and cling to the promises that our lives can be different through His power.

This constantly turning wheel of repentance and belief shows the gospel’s work in our lives.

This has been the topic of our discussions up until this point.

How is the Gospel Central in your life.

What does it accomplish in your life.

But tonight, we are going to move the ball down the field.

The gospel isn’t only about transformation to better your day to day.

God uses this good news to work through your life to see His glory furthered.

Exposition

Galatians 5:13–14 ESV

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

We have the tendency to take the gospel and make it our own private reality.

We hear words like transformation, renewal, and growth and perceive those benefits to be primarily personal.

My transformation.

My renewal.

My growth.

My blessing.

My faith.

And that’s not ALL wrong!

We cannot discount the personal and internal change that the Gospel creates!

But Gospel change is so much more than a personal reality!

These verses teach us that it is possible to use even our freedom as “an opportunity to for the flesh.”

Remember when we talked about legalism and license?

We cannot use the liberty, the license that God has given us, through saving our souls as an opportunity to simply do what we want.

We haven’t been freed from the bondage of sin to see to our own needs.

We shouldn’t take the good benefits of the gospel and use them for our own selfish purposes.

We must lay down what we want and pursue what He wants for us.

And that is for us to be more like our Savior.

We must love to serve.

According to Galatians, the product of our freedom is not individualized and personal.

It is love for, and service to, others.

This is where our obedience is measured.

Christ teaches us in Matthew 20 verses 25-28...

Matthew 20:25–28 ESV

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We do not lord over one another.

This world measures authority, influence, power, and status, based on how much an individual is served.

Think about it.

You aren’t going to find many with any kind of status that don’t have other...

Driving them around.

Cooking their meals.

Doing their dishes and laundry.

Their basic day to day needs are taken care of by others.

This has always been the paradigm.

Louis XIV, king of France, had dozens (if not hundreds) of servants attending to him each day.

When he woke up, he would pull a lever to alert his court to his rising.

They would bustle in and dress him.

At mealtimes, his food would be cooked, presented to him, and cut for him by others.

His entertainment, meetings, messages, and all were maintained by others.

Even when he bathed or used the bathroom, servants were expected to be there to help.

While we might find Louis to be a bit extreme, society places the expectation of service on position.

I mean, we can easily carry ourselves with the air of superiority as we walk into a restaurant or shopping center.

But this is not what Christ has for us.

Instead of finding greatness and fulfillment in being served, we are to find it in serving others.

Not only did Jesus teach us to serve others with His words, He set the example with His actions!

John 13:12–17 ESV

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Christ got down on hands and knees and carried out what was considered the lowliest of tasks in His day.

He washed the grimy, sandal-wearing, dirt-road-treading feet of His disciples.

He did this, first and foremost, out of love for them!

But He also was leading by example.

If we are going to truly say that we are servants of Christ,

if we are going to call Him Lord and master of our lives, than we have to embrace the service that He modeled.

We are not greater than Jesus, the holy Son of God who died to save His people from their sins!

So we cannot live and act as if we are greater than Him by requiring the service of others instead of stooping to serve.

We must not only love to serve...

We must serve out of love.

The teachings, examples, and expectations that Jesus set for us are not set in a vacuum of self-deprecation.

We do not just deny ourselves, we esteem others higher than ourselves.

Philippians 2:3–4 ESV

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

This is the attitude behind our actions.

Because Jesus did not just command service.

He commanded, taught, and modeled love.

It is the stamp of His reign in our lives!

John 13:34–35 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Our love for, and service to, others is an testament to the world around us that...

When God’s grace is working on us and in us, it will also work itself out through us.

It is incredibly important for this love and service to work itself out in the context of the church.

As brothers and sisters, we are to be known by our love for one another.

This is one of the purest and most easily recognizable manifestations of Christ’s grace in our lives.

Simultaneously, that love and service should spill out of our church doors, out of our homes, out of our lives, and into the lost world.

Our communities.

Our workplaces.

Our neighborhoods.

“Missions”, as we call it, is love and service motivated by the truth of the Gospel.

Mission: Loving Gospel Service

The grace of God in our lives should compel us to share the Gospel with those around us.

We speak the Gospel as we show it through our love and service.

The love that Christ showed us should be ready at our lips whenever we are engaging with the world around us.

As we center our lives on the Gospel, we find that it is not just the answer to our internal sins, struggles, and heart idols.

It is also the answer to our failure to love others enough to engage them with the truth of their lost state.

The Gospel is renewing us internally while propelling us externally.

The same grace that changes our hearts from perpetual idol factories bowing at the alter of self propels us to love and service that is unnatural for us otherwise.

We were taught to pray for His kingdom to come and His will be done (Matt 6).

This is a prayer for the work that the Lord has done in our hearts to be carried out in others!

We are praying that Christ’s kingdom would reign in the hearts of people (internal) and that His will would be done everywhere just as it is in heaven (external).

Chart

Look at the chart on your handout.

We’ve been talking about the left side for the last few weeks.

God’s grace in the gospel leads us to see our sin.

Which, hopefully, leads to faithful repentance.

Leading to rejoicing in Christ’s forgiveness.

The right side is what we’ve been talking about tonight.

Once again prompted from God’s grace, we have the opportunity for the internal renewal Christ has accomplished through our repentance to be externalized by recognizing opportunities to show loving, gospel service to others.

This should naturally lead us to die to ourselves as we see to the needs of another.

Once again leading to rejoicing in Christ!

Both the internal and external outworking of God’s grace in our lives leads to rejoicing in Him!

Application

Here are some things to think about as you look to apply loving, missional service to your life this evening.

Identify a missional opportunity in your life in which you are not motivated to do what you “should” do.

Maybe you need to show hospitality to your neighbors.

Perhaps you are not actively praying for and engaging with your coworkers.

You might be frozen in sharing the gospel with a family member.

You might be coasting in your home because feel inadequate in leading spiritually as a spouse or parent.

Or maybe there is a particular doctrine or worldview issue on which you need to sharpen your understanding.

Whatever the issue is, clearly identify it and be able to articulate it.

Secondly...

What heart issues hinder you from rightly motivated action in this situation?

As you pray and identify the root of your inactivity, ask for discernment in the realm of what sinful attitude is keeping you from expressing gospel-centered love towards others.

And, finally (as we’ve been building)....

Repent, Believe, Engage

What sin do you see in you life that you need to repent of?

Root them out!

What specific gospel promises or truths are you not believing?

What part of God’s character and faithfulness has been neglected in your pursuit of Him?

Put the pedal to the metal in your trust of the Lord’s promises.

Engage with Him by building your faith on His Word, regular communion with Him, and doing all of this within the community of the church!

God’s grace is the driving force of all change.

Grace has both an inward and and outward movement that mirror each other

Internally, the grace of God moves you to see my sin,

respond in repentance and faith,

and experience the joy of Gospel transformation.

Externally, the grace of God moves you to see opportunities for love and service,

respond in repentance and faith,

and experience joy as you see God working through you.

Personal Example

To give you a testimony of what this can look like practically, let me tell you about my relationship with an old neighbor.

When we lived on the other side of Richmond, we had a neighbor named John.

Our first experiences with John were… not great.

He was an ornery, elderly man with conspiracy theorist tendencies.

Every conversation we had was how someone was out to get him and how all of the world seemed to be against him.

Any minor offense that could be perceived was perceived.

And it was not only perceived, it was intentional.

I vowed early on to stay on the man’s good side and do everything within my power to not cause offense.

While also, probably, giving him as wide of a berth as possible.

Let’s just say that if I was out working in the yard and saw John coming, I would find a reason to get inside (and quick!).

One day, about 6 months into settling into this new home, the Lord convicted me of my attitude and treatment of my neighbor.

I knew that the Lord had called me to be hospitable.

To be loving regardless of the circumstances or my comfort level.

God’s law showed me what I ought to do, but it could not change my heart so that I actually wanted to do it.

I either had to force myself to serve my neighbor even though I didn’t want to, or continue to ignore him.

Neither seemed ideal!

The answer to my dilemma came through giving attention to the Gospel.

As I prayed, and God’s grace began to renew my heart, I saw that the root problem was my own selfishness and lack of love.

As the gospel renewed my heart, my attitude towards my neighbor began to change.

I began to hang around when I saw him coming.

He started talking to me and I heard in his stories, his recounts of past failed relationship, his struggle with health problems, his care for his dog.

I asked him how I could pray for him.

A topic that he was extremely uncomfortable with at first.

Then I started to simply tell him that I would pray for him about various things.

Still uncomfortable, but the walls were coming down.

Then, towards the end of his life, as I visited him in the hospital and in rehab, he would ask me not only to pray for him, but with him.

I told him of Christ’s love.

I cleaned his house that looked worse than an episode of “Hoarders”.

Tragically, John passed without professing Christ as his Savior and Lord (at least to my knowledge).

But I do not live with any regret over not loving John.

The Lord changed my heart and attitude towards a man made in His image so that loving and serving him had to be neither the drudgery of simple law following nor the guilt-inducing apathy of finding license to ignore him in the freedom Christ granted.

Conclusion

The grace of God is always going somewhere.

Always moving forward.

Extending His kingdom.

Propelling His people towards love and service to others.

God’s grace brings renewal internally (within us) so that it might bring renewal externally (through us).

We follow in the footsteps of our Savior.

Love like Christ.

Serve like Christ.

Romans 5:6–8 ESV

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Christ loved and served through dying.

We love and serve through Christ.

We die to ourselves and live for Him.

Missions (loving, serving, proclaiming) is the natural outflow of living in light of the Gospel.