Called to Serve
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
introduce job
Introduce text for the week
Matthew 20
Story about work
Ever been next to a professional football or basektball player?
They are MASSIVE
That is how an inmate is at my work
6’5” tall
345 pounds
SOLID muscle
I look small next to him
I feel small next to him
Several interactions
macho man type of guy
normal prison behavior
came to office about mother’s passing
mom was rock
only one still there for him
He was balling his eyes out
we talked
now he is going to every service, studies he has time to attend, and evangelizing to others on the unit
I do not tell this story to humanize
i do not tell this story to get a pat on the back
I tell this story to highlight the fruit that serving can give you
as we continue in Matthew this week we get a more abrupt answer from Jesus than we are used to seeing.
we have seen Jesus speak in Parables and stories
rarely do we see Jesus give a direct answer.
he wants people to ask him the questions and come to the understanding that way and follow him
Jesus is preparing for his final enterance to Jerusalem
he is preparing to end his earthly ministry.
This does not mean that the teaching and miracles will stop
we see a profound miracle and teaching at the end of this chapter.
Turn to Matthew 20:20 in your bibles if you have one
Set the stage
Just told a parable of the workers in the Vineyard
basically is saying that even if you come to faith at the end of your life you will get the same eternal reward as those who have had long faith
The grace that God gives is equal for all
no matter how long you have beleived
no matter how much good you have done
everyone’s share is equal
Matthew 20:20-28 in the NLT states:
New Living Translation Chapter 20
20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 21 “What is your request?” he asked.
She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”
22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”
“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
23 Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Pretty powerful speech right there
Jesus decided it was time for the discipels to learn a hard lesson and learn it clear
They will not be like the rulers of the world
they will not lord over people and have peopel wait on them hand and foot
They will not get rich off spreading the good news of Jesus
Jesus commands them to serve others
Look at it again:
New Living Translation Chapter 20
Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.
Serve, Serve, and serve some more
he adds more oomph than i do with this
They all want to be first
who wouldn’t
its human nature
But Jesus tells them
IF you want to be first……………….
Then you must serve others
AND he doubles down
Jesus could have came and “Ruled” like this picture
but no…….
He tells them the He, GOD
didn’t come to put his feet up, drink wine, get fed grapes off the ine, and be fanned by palm leaves…………..
NO Jesus came to serve everyone
look at tall the teaching
look at all the miracles
He came as an example because humanity could not live up to their intended purpose just as much as he came to give his life as ransom for humanity
There is no catch to this command
Jesus did not say
only serve when others are serving you back
OR
if no one is serving you, then shoot, your good to not serve anyone then
There is no this for that in this command
Jesus flat out says that your walk on this road will be hard, full of struggle and work
But the reward is endless
Serving is a key component to being a Christian
LOOK at all the leaders here tonight
they all have families
they all have needs
they all have struggles
they all have full plates
BUT they are here week in and week out
they serve all you students
Discipling you on your walk with Christ
I am sure the world would look at their lives and say they probably have more important things to do
but to your leaders…………
this is the most important use of 2 plus hours every Sunday night.
The Boy Scouts of America’s slogan is
Do a Good Turn Daily
We need to be striving to go above and beyond that
as Christians our slogan should be
Do a Good Turn ALWAYS
Skeptical
at your age i was skeptical of serving
I was skeptical if my busy schedule could allow me to serve others
I was skeptical of serving others and getting nothing in return
all the activities i was in was exhausting
My job, my friends, school, homework, church, sports, a girlfriend………..
all of that is exhausting
I did not have the energy to add serving to the list
BUT lets think about it:
you can serve others in all of these areas
you can serve others in your job
you can serve your friends
you can serve at school
you can serve on your sports teams or clubs
you can serve your boyfriend/girlfriend
of course you can serve at church
and you can most definitely serve your family
If you can do all these activities, you can serve in all of these aspects of your life and the slogan of Do a Good Turn Always can be accomplished
Sometimes when we serve we will be exhausted
But in these times something impressive happens
The Spirit activates something within us and gives us the boost of energy that lasts
not like a sugar rush that comes with a crash
but something that helps to push us through and see the fruit of our serving
Not only does the energy boost happen, but our example, Jesus, served others when we was exhausted
I am going to give a rapid fire list of just some of the examples of Jesus serving when exhausted
John 4:6-26 The Samaritan woman at the well
Matthew 8:14-17 Healing the sick after a long day
Matthew 14:13-21 Feeding the 5000
Mark 6:30-44 Dong ministry when exhausted and trying to rest
Luke 4:38-41 the crowd at Peter’s mother-in-law house
Jesus was fully God
He could have
commanded them all to leave
he could have said
“Nah, I’m tired, come back tomorrow, I don’t have time for this right now”
But instead he sacrificed his time of rest for the goodness of those around him
Remember these?
What does this stand for?
What Would Jesus Do… Correct
we have seen Jesus serving others
no matter the risk to his life
his exhaustion level
or the status of those he is serving
We need to follow this bracelet
If Jesus would do it, I should do it
If this was not enough proof to be less skeptical here is a little more:
Jesus is mentally exhausted
He is probably a little scared knowing he is going to die
probably frustrated that people are not getting his message
and he was probably physically exhausted from all the walking and standing he did
But what does he do, he does more serving
Matthew 20:29-34 in the NRSVUE states
As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord,[a] have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet, but they shouted even more loudly, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!” 32 Jesus stood still and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.
Jesus could have walked by
he could have pretended to not hear them
He made enough sick people clean
enough cripple people walk
enough blind see
enough mute talk
cast out enough demons
He could have said, “Nah, I’m good” and kept right on walking
But what does the Son of Man do?
he stops what he is doing
he calms the crowd
asks when the men ened
and heals them
He wanted and asked for nothing in return
He served these men because they needed it
He did not need the recognition
that was a byproduct of the crowd around him
how many times did we see Jesus heal and he tell those he healed not to tell anyone
Jesus turns every opportunity into a serving opportunity
I challange you to do the same
this week
every opportunity you get use it to serve those around you
When we serve others the Spirit doesn’t just activate that Jolt of energy within us
the Spirit activates the fruits of the Spirit within us
When we serve we become
more in tune with kindness, gentleness, joy and love
become more faithful, peaceful, and patient
and most importantly we have better self-control and goodness.
Serving with no ulterior motive assures us we
don’t have to worry about
serving someone wrong
hurting someone
being put in a dangerous position
When you are truly serving others you emulate Christ to the world
the Spirit within the individual you are serving will soften their heart and allow your serving to impact them
through serving you also spread the Gospel to the world.
When i talk about serving i am not just talking about
serving on the greeting team, or prayer team, or kids ministry
serving in the community at Family Promise, or CareNet
Going on a mission trip for a week
I am talking about serving at your School, your family, your friends houses, your job, in the store, at your club even…….. EVERYWHERE
When we take the focus off of ourselves and make things about the wellbeing of others
we are serving others
Do not just stop at serving at church and expect the world to serve you
Call back on story from beginning
this was a good experience
I have had more scary and bad than good
I have been in situations that i wouldn’t want to be in from the outside looking in
But when they are happening, i am not scared or wishing i was not having them happen
I am worried about helping the person i am serving
I have had conversations with inmates that
have not gone how i wanted and have been called every name in the book
I have had interactions with staff that
do not go how i expect and i get belittled and they try to make me stop
I have had interactions with inmates that
made me question if this is all worth it
BUT all these interactions end up bearing some sort of fruit at the end of the day
One example i just recently had
denied parole for the 8th time
we met so he could vent
while he was venting i found time to interject with his permission
he said yes
I interjected that God has him still in prison for a reason
HE EXPLODED
i got called very colorful names
was told he would never speak to me again
stormed out of my office
he got a call from home a couple weeks later
the house he was going to stay at if he got released got robbed and shot up
his two friends were murdered in this incident
he would have been in that house if he would have been paroled that day
he would have been murdered as well
he came back to my office and told me this story and that he had a dream of this kind of thing happening but he was there and was shot as well
he believes me now that God has a bigger plan for him and he is in prison for a reason
he apologized to me and told me that if i was willing to meet with him regularly to help him learn the Bible he would like to do that, but understood if i would say no for how he treated me
of course i said i would love that and have been meeting with him regularly since
This story has a happy, sort of, ending
I tell you all the good stories on purpose
The bad stories outweigh the good
I couldn’t pick one
I have more interactions of people brushing me off and ignoring me
But i tell you these two good stories to highlight the fruit that serving can do.
Yeah the bad outweigh the good, but that does not mean i dont serve these people
every chance i get i serve people and show them the love of Christ.
I hope you can all do the same
Will you pray with me?
Father God, you are a good and great God. Thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to serve these students. Thank you for these leaders who serve these students weekly. I just thank you for the ability we have to serve others. I thank you for having these students come to learn more of you and what you have done for humanity. I ask that anyone here is who is not being served can find that individual that serves them. I ask that you show your love and compassion to all present here tonight. Holy Spirit come and convict these students to find the heart for serving others in all they do. I ask that fervently and with haste Lord, that they can find joy, compassion, kindness, patience, love, faithfulness, self-control, gentleness and peace that serving gives you. I ask this in the powerful name of your son, our savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
