Servanthood
Ignition: Worship as Fuel For a Life of Power • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 42:25
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Ignition: Worship as Fuel for a Life of Power
Servanthood
Last week, we started series of with “Giving.” Though it certainly included money and how we are to Honor God with our finances and that’s a part of our worship, the focus was more broadly about being a giver – more about who we are than what we do. Who we are leadsto what we do. God is a joyful giver so He gives, so we experience the most joy when we are giving based out of our identity children and image-bearers.
The greatest thing we have to give is ourselves. This is what Jesus was getting at when he said, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. 26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet l
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.
To follow Jesus is to become like Jesus. A disciple becomes like his master – and to become like Jesus is to experience real life…and it is itself an act of worship.
Not only is it an act of worship, but it is fuel for a power-filled life! I want to unpack that with you, but before we get there, we have to understand power and greatness from a Kingdom perspective:
Matthew 20:20-28
(Matthew 20:20-21)
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached him with her sons. She knelt down to ask him for something. 21 “What do you want?” he asked her.
“Promise,” she said to him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom.”
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached him with her sons. She knelt down to ask him for something. 21 “What do you want?” he asked her.
“Promise,”[l] she said to him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom.”
an attempted power grab – place of honor
(Matthew 20:22-23)
22 Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”
“We are able,” they said to him.
23 He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”[m]
“We are able,” they said to him.
23 He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup,[n] but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Jesus reveals how little they understood about His Kingdom. They’re still thinking from a broken earthly perspective. They weren’t thinking about what he’d only recently said about dying to themselves and taking up a cross. They wanted a throne!
Notice the way Jesus answers: It’s the Father’s choice.
The question is, “What is the criteria for the candidates?” (Though I can’t know the mind of God, the Word does tell us what kind of person would probably qualify)
Answer:
1. We know what it’s NOT (24-26a):
24 When the ten disciples heard this, they became indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 26 It must not be like that among you.
24 When the ten disciples heard this, they became indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 26 It must not be like that among you.
Not the Gentile leaders (or anyone like them who “lords over” or are “tyrrants”).
This is what James and John thought they wanted (but so did the others!).
We get a taste of the fruit of such ambition: Disunity.
(26a) Jesus says clearly it is NOT THIS.
2. What it IS (26b - 28): “On the contrary…”
Here’s the POWER – (Matthew 20:26-28)
26 It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be firstamong you must be your slave. For just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Greatness comes through service (26)
Priority goes to the one who doesn’t demand it, but willingly gives up his rights to himself for the sake of others (27)
Jesus modeled both of those things (28)
The essential ingredient to experience power, then, is HUMILITY!
Those most influential are always the ones who are most concerned about the needs of others; those who are willing to lay down their lives for others.
Illustration:
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. 5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Remember what James and John wanted? Exaltation.
Verse 9 – through humility, God highly exalted [Jesus]
This is what allows Jesus’ statement about great= servant, and being first = being last to make sense.
The one who truly humbles himself and serves Christ will ultimately be exalted in a similar way Christ was. Scripture says so over and over:
[all simply displayed on one screen as illustrative]
Proverbs 3:34
Proverbs 29:23
Psalm 147:6
Matthew 23:12
James 4:10
1 Peter 5:6
But Kingdom definition of the exaltation of saints (Christians) is one that doesn’t concern itself with individual exaltation but on one who reflects the glory of their Savior.
Does your life exalt Christ in serving the way He served? It’s not easy when we constantly battle the desire of the flesh and the idol of self:
The apostles followed Jesus, but as the passage in Matthew shows, it took a while for them to be transformed into servants.
Even right up to His death, Jesus was trying to teach them this principle by humbling himself and demonstrating servanthood:
[Tell the story rather than read]
John 13:3-17
Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God. 4 So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. 5 Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”
8 “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.
Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
10 “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.
16 “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,[b] and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Keys:
1. (John 11:3-4)
3 So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Jesus’ understanding of security in his identity in the Father allowed him to humble himself as God and become as a slave. The only way you will ever find power and joy in serving is to be solely focused on who your Master, alone, says you are. Then you can experience joy in pouring yourself out for others.
2. (John 11:8-9) Peter still didn’t understand.
8 “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?” 9 “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
3. (John 11:12-17) They would have to learn if they were going to be true disciples.
12 Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” 13 Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. 14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.” 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
The good news: They did, even serving to the point of death.
Paul, James, Peter (2Pt), and John (in Revelation), all address themselves as doulas = slave in their epistles. This, after Jesus had told them in John 15 that he no longer called them “doulas” but friends. They came to understand the nature of a servant of Christ…freedom to be friends of God!
Peter demonstrates this and even shows how servanthood provides fuel for a life of power:
16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Servanthood honors God, changes lives, and builds unity. It also sets you free from pride and self-centeredness
Free to live fearlessly – your Home is secure.
Free to give generously – your Father will provide
Free to suffer patiently – it is brief compared to eternity
Free to submit to Christ faithfully – He is a good Shepherd
Free to serve humbly –
13 For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.
For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity[b] for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Look for opportunities to love your neighbor through serving.
It is an act of worship in the church.
It is an act of worship every day.
· Work
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