Eph. 2:4-10-Identity-Servants- Lowly Lifters

People respect him. He apparently snuck out at night to visit the homeless. There is a genuineness and humility that is respected. He also invited homeless men to his 80th birthday breakfast. Why does he do this? He views himself as a servant to the low and least of these.

Paul writes (ESV) “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus...”

Why? because this is who we are.

(ESV) “rose from supper. He [Jesus] laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

This is the job for the lowest servant. They all come to this important meal and there is no servant there. There is a towel but noone wants to pick-up the towel. Jesus picks up the towel.

4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

(ESV)

14 If I then, 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 to you. 16 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. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

INTRO

Renovation - Tim Brown served us.

Today we are going to talk about how King Jesus the creator of the galaxies, humbled himself as a servant and how he desires to make us servants as well.

We are Servants.

Series

We are talking about our identity in Christ and how WHO we are impacts HOW we live.

Identity: Jesus-centered Family of Sent Servants. We are servants because we are “In Christ” (remember Ironman from last week). We are baptized in the name of the Son, receive a new identity and have a new responsibility.

Let’s see if we can

Series. We are talking about our identity in Christ and how WHO we are impacts HOW we live.

Today we are talking about Servanthood.

++++3 volunteers. 1 stands on chair. 2 sit on floor. “Who is higher?” /// #1 lift #2. “Now what?” ?

Applause.

Servants: Lowly Lifters

Today we are talking about the servant aspect of our identity. Jesus-followers are servants. This is who we are.

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

Please open bibles to

This passage teaches us about new identity. We are servants.

1. Recognize I am low. Eph 2:4-5

I need salvation. I can't save myself. "not a result of work" We won't serve others unless we see ourselves as low and in need.

We are low. We aren’t the one standing tall, we are one on the ground, spiritually bankrupt.

2. Receive Jesus' Lifting by trusting him.

saved by grace.

+++Picking teams - we choose the strong and fast. God doesn't look at us choosing us based on if we can stand up and look strong. He gives us what we don’t deserve, he lifts the low, the least, the last, the lacking.

Grace is undeserved. It is the opposite of Karma. Karma is about achieving, it is output leading to input. Be generous and generosity will come back to you. It is cause and effect. Cause: work hard. Effect: success. / Cause: be irresponsible: effect: struggle financially. With this thinking, it comes back to our choices, we design our destiny, we create the cause and therefore, can make ourselves good.

Grace isn’t achieving, it is receiving. When it comes to “cause and effect” we aren’t a part of the cause. God initiates the cause & we are effected.

Grace is scary, threatening. To receive help, you lose control. Our belief in grace is expressed in our willingness to die to self and serve others and also in our willingness to die to self and allow others to serve us in our weakness and pain. Grace is scary. Dying is losing control.

KELLER

“If you’re willing to acknowledge how weak you are, if you walk out of here saying, “I’m not that bad. I don’t need it that bad. I’m not dead needing life. I’m not a sinner needing righteousness. I’m not a sinner needing forgiveness. I’m okay. I just need a little bit of help,” if you won’t acknowledge your weakness, you’ll never get his strength. That’s the deal. He got you strength by becoming weak for you, and you can only get his strength by acknowledging your weakness to him.” - Timothy Keller

Whiteboard. Jesus' way is down, before up. low before lifted. cross before crown. resurrection follows death. "Repent and receive... not try to achieve" //Series

Jesus doesn’t call us to climb the ladder to success and comfort and “make ourselves.” He invites us to humble ourselves and die to ourselves, to lower ourselves and allow him to make us.

3. Receive a new identity as a "lowly lifter" (servant) Eph. 2:10

Workmanship. = poiema = creation, work. Sound familiar? (poem). Something one creates.

We are God’s workmanship, his creation. In Jesus, we are a new creation. He is making a new humanity, centered on himself. In him, we receive a new identity. /// We can only do the good works when God makes us his workmanship. Our lives only rhyme when God is writing the poem of our life. /// Serving and sacrificing becomes our work because we have become God’s workmanship. /// Being before doing.

Jesus lifts me and makes me this leads me.

MODERN MIND: This contrasts some of the way that we think in our western world. We are influenced by Existentialism, which became a popular philosophy in the 20C following World wars. The central idea is "existence before essence." We exist and then we create our essence, we define ourselves and our identity and value. We all pave our own path. We choose to be good and make ourselves good. We design our destiny. We choose to be our authentic self apart from any outside influences. /// I don’t think this works or is a freeing philosophy for life as we discussed in past weeks.

One challenge is that if we think we aren’t that bad, that are a good and can make ourselves good, then we don’t really need Jesus and we don’t recognize our lowly and in need we are. We have this inherent pride. This leads us to trying harder and thinking that we aren’t that low and that we can lift ourselves.

Identity -= workmanship. New creation! Being before doing. This contrasts some of the way that we think in our western world. We are influenced by Existentialism, which became a popular philosophy in the 20C following World wars. The central idea is "existence before essence." We exist and then we create our essence, we define ourselves and our identity and value. We all pave our own path. We choose to be good and make ourselves good.

If we think that, then we aren’t going to be prone to sacrificially serve others. Why should I get low for others to lift them when they should just work it out to lift themselves?

The challenge with this is that we have this inherent pride, where we don’t really need God that much. We aren’t really that bad. We are still a good person and we make ourselves good.

But the truth is that we are low and desperately in need. Jesus came low to lift us, to save us, to be good for us. He came to make us a new creation, and give us a new heart. When we see that we were lifted from death to life, that God came low to lift us, we receive a new identity as lowly lifters. We are God’s workmanship., his poem, his song, and we sing the same tune he sings. A song of service. /// Big Idea

+++In Timothy Kellers, recent book “Making Sense of God”,” he recounts the story of Langdon Gilkey.

Prison camp observation (Keller Making sense of God book).

Gilkey Story summarized from his book by Keller in Making Sense of God.

In the 1930's Langdon Gilkey was studying philosophy. He graduated from Harvard. He was educated well and like the liberal educated circles during his time his mindset was that of a confident humanism. He believed that life could be full w/out religion and religion was unnecessary. People need not need religious obligations to live out their moral commitments. He believed in the rationality and goodness of humans, that deep down we are all good. And he believed religion not essential in chief concerns of the human race.

After graduating, he went to teach English in China. This was the time now of WW2. The Japanese overran region. He was put under house arrest and then in an internment camp with other westerners in Shandong Province. For the first couple months, he was impressed by the ingenuity of humans. People worked together, built stoves, created bands, used their skills. When we put our minds to something progress will occur!

For the first couple months, he was impressed by the ingenuity of humans. People worked together, built stoves, created bands, used their skills. When we put our minds to something progress will occur!

Things shifted and his two year stay there started to dismantle his ideas.

Conflict and crisis displayed that humanism had a "naive and unrealistic faith in the rationality and goodness of [people]" (11) People are selfish, but very creative in how they cloaked their self-centeredness. People stole coal, food, etc. They lied. Few people were capable of self-sacrifice.

Gilkey faced one clear challenge that shook him. Men came to him from one block. There were two rooms the same size. One room had 9 men and the other 11 men. The idea was to put 10 men in each. Very rationale. The room with 9 men refused. They said his arguments were fine but they didn't care, it wasn't their problem.

He was shaken. How could people act this way. Then he realized, why should people be rational? Why should people sacrifice? If their aim is to fulfill themselves what is the higher obligation? What grounds does sacrifice have? What higher value is there then selfishness?

"the fundamental bent of the total self in all of us was inward, toward our own welfare. And so immersed [are] we in it that we hardly are able to see this in ourselves, much less extricate ourselves from our dilemma." (footnote 15)

People never admitted this, they justified themselves with moral and rational thoughts. But in practice, people struggled to will the good.

"we were not free to love others, because the will did not really want to" (17)

He recognized that when put under pressure, people weren’t really good to each other - why should they be? His faith in western secularity began to crumble seeing that his beliefs were unfounded when faced with reality.

"in a real sense, I came to believe, moral selflessness is a prerequisite for the life of reason, not its consequences, as so many philosophers contend" (20)

Gilkey references a missionary who was different. He was talking about Eric Liddell, the olympic champion who the old movie "chariots of fire" is about. Liddell was self-giving and encountering him was as close to encountering a saint that Gilkey ever experienced.

Gilkey in his book, quotes Reinhold Niebuhr

"Religion is not the place where the problem of man's egotism is automatically solved. Rather, it is there that the ultimate battle between human pride and God's grace takes place. Insofar as human pride win the battle, religion can and does become one of the instruments of human sin. But insofar as there the self does meet God and so can surrender to something beyond its own self-interest, religion may provide the one possibility for a much needed and very rare release from our common self-concern" -Reinhold Niebuhr

-Reinhold Niebuhr

He is saying that we need something bigger than ourselves to change us. God can change us. Claiming to be a Christian doesn’t mean we become servants and selfless. In fact, religion can make one feel self-righteous, can give a false sense of confidence and security. But when we meet God truly, when we recognize our lowly state of spiritual deadness, when we receive the loving salvation and lifting of Jesus. When we benefit from the humility and sacrifice of God, this is the pathway where our self-focus can be overcome.

We aren’t good people making ourselves good. We are low and dead and Jesus lifts us. He gives a new identity, his workmanship. WHO we are transforms HOW we live. We pick up the towel because Jesus picked up the towel. //// Big Idea

Review

1. Recognize I am low.

2. Receive Jesus' Lifting by trusting him.

3. Receive a new identity as a "lowly lifter" (servant)

4. Respond by living as a lowly lifter. "good works.” Eph. 2:10

“Good works.” As God’s workmanship, we now do good works. When we come under God’s rule, and enter his spiritual kingdom, he gives new ways of living. “Good works” is what the rest of Ephesians speaks to. It is living a Jesus-centered rather than self-centered life. God is reprogramming the operating system of our life and we function differently. This is called sanctification, the process of salvation.

Jesus does his God Work in Us and then we are changed to do good work through Him and for him./// Our life is the effect of his cause/// Identity before actions // being before doing /// becoming his worksmanship and then doing good works. ///

How Can We Live As Servants And Be Lowly Lifters?

There are many practical things we could discuss. /// Courageous loving conflict. Having hard conversations is serving. Often it is selfishness that holds us back from awkward conversations about accountability, offence, or disagreements and we do it in the name of being nice. Jesus is always loving but he isn’t always nice, he doesn’t avoid conflict. /// Prayer is serving in secret //// Showing weakness & being vulnerable - gives the gift of going 2nd to others. None of us have it together.

Responsibility.

Taking Responsibility For Others:

Our default is to focus on ourselves. When we are at the centre, then we protect ourselves, we only give of ourselves to the extent that we still have control and comfort. We serve enough to ease our sense of obligation or appease our feeling of pity for the problem or people struggling. We can serve to feel good. But Jesus goes beyond this. Jesus moves us beyond ourselves. We become more Jesus-centered and less self-centered.

Self-centeredness says that with hard work and time we rise up to success, we become strong standers. Along w/ a self-centered mindset comes the expectation of convenience and comfort (whiteboard). The “higher” we get, that can be age, income, role, or title - the more we expect that others serve us (restaurants, vacations, employees).

This is a dangerous reality that seeps into church families as well, where suddenly we expect others to serve us without feeling the inclination that we are to take responsibility. Big Idea: We Are Servants: Lowly Lifters. /// There are seasons, we can be hurting, etc. we get this and being willing to receive is a sign of understanding grace and the gospel of Jesus /// But when we start to consume w/out contributing, we do need to check our hearts. When we feel okay not taking responsibility for anything beyond our comfort, we aren’t aligning with Jesus. /// Who makes meals for the sick? Who serves the kids? Who encourages the leaders? Who sets up the chairs we sit on? Who makes the treats we eat? Who pays for the building we sit in? Who makes the slides we sing with? Who loves the hurting? Who has the hard conversations? Who extends hospitality to the stranger? Who serves?

Now we hear a challenge, and we can self-justify…well that’s not my role, not my calling, not my passion. “It’s not about me!” Really, who has the gift of paying for electricity, or vacuuming, or weeding? "That is not my gift." Have we missed the reality that God does not give spiritual gifts for me but through me." We are stewards of God's gifts, stewards of grace. The gifts we have are gifts to give, gifts to live, to live out. /// How often have we ignored the good works of God calling out to us? Have we said "I haven't time?" Time is from God but we have no time for God and his good works. Have we called "God do this good work for me. But we have ignored God's answer that he wants to do the good work in me, through me.

Obligation is normal. But what we want to do is repent and believe so our obligatory weight becomes obligatory worship and it might just birth celebratory worship.

"That is not my gift." Have we missed the reality that God does not give spiritual gifts for me but through me." We are stewards of God's gifts, stewards of grace. The gifts we have are gifts to give, gifts to live, to live out

Grant choosing to engage in a discipleship mtg. after a long day. People chose to take responsibility financially and give towards the facility upgrades.

Inspiring, see Jesus’ love being expressed through his church!

Obligation is normal. But what we want to do is repent and believe so our obligatory weight becomes obligatory worship and it might just birth celebratory worship.

When we drift towards seeing ourselves as strong standers rather than lowly lifters, this leads to us feeling like we design our destiny, we seal our success. We have become standers, others should as well. In this, we limit the responsibility we feel for others.

This is an invitation to self-examination, NOT self-justification & not self-condemnation.

When we don’t see ourselves as servants: lowly lifters, when we drift towards thinking we are strong standers on our own, we focus on self. We have chosen to be good, to be successful. Yes, our choices matter and we are all responsible for

This comes out in judgement and a lack of generosity (towards the hurting, towards our community).

It comes out in our expectation of convenience and comfort.

Why should I sacrifice to lift others? We begin to expect others to serve us... more success and establishing ourselves leads to more comfort and more people serving us.

What Encourages ME!

Even in church family, we can feel it is okay for others to serve us w/out an inclination to be lowly lifters.

We aren’t perfect of us. But I see us growing in taking responsibility and being lowly lifters in this way. I see it. I hear of people making meals for each other // people inviting their friends to come and explore Jesus // Charlotte choosing to call a widow. Jamie choosing to make a new website. Jason & Borhan choosing to serve w/ CL Kids // People choosing to take responsibility financially and give towards the facility upgrades. /// Chip choosing to help however is needed but also w/ music, he comes 2 hrs early w/ 3 young kids, to play guitar or cajon to serve Jesus and the church. /// I saw it on the work day in August // People are taking responsibility! Getting low in order to lift /// Inspiring, see Jesus’ love being expressed through his church! Well done church, let’s continue to allow God to change us, we are his worksmanship, made for his good work. Big Idea: Lowly Lifters

There is a growing awareness that the church family is more like a battle ship then a cruise ship. We aren’t in this community just to be served but to serve and in this we center on Jesus, and express ourselves as his worksmanship, the poem of our life that he is writing - starts to rhyme.

Courageous Conflict

Being servants and getting low means we choose to put others first because that is what Jesus has done. Putting others first means that we embrace courageous, loving conflict. /// Loving and Serving isn’t the same as being nice. // Jesus isn’t always nice. He challenges, stretches, and rebukes. /// Let’s be honest, as Canadians, and some of us here are Christian Canadians…we are supposed to be nice. We can avoid conflict or disagreement. But this isn’t always serving the other person, this isn’t always loving. Being servants can mean that we serve people by having hard conversations and pushing towards deeper unity and maturity.

If we have an issue or disagreement and we choose to just keep it to ourselves. That can often be selfishly motivated. It is easier for us to “push it under the rug” then it is to have an awkward conversation. Or if we need to talk about it, we talk with others to “vent” because we don’t want to ruffle feathers. This isn’t good. Yes, we are allowed to vent - this is called prayer. But let’s not be confused: silence speaks. Silence can be violence.

By conflict I don’t mean being a jerk or getting into fights. Posture ourselves as humble & loving. But it is service to have the courageous conversations in a loving, humble way. Holding someone accountable rather than avoiding it. “Do you know how you come across?” “In this interaction, it seemed like this, was that your intention?”

Let’s be honest, as Canadians, and some of us here are Christian Canadians…we are supposed to be nice. We can avoid conflict or disagreement. But this isn’t always serving the other person, this isn’t always loving. Being servants can mean that we serve people by having hard conversations and pushing towards deeper unity and maturity.

(The Message)

8 Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! 9 We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! 10 No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

“WHAT IS MY RESPONSE?”

Join a Sunday servant team? Meet a neighbour? Write an encouragement note? Have the conversation we have been avoiding? Give?

Eph. 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” - (NLT)

Go Mining.

God gets low to serve us and we can get low to serve others. Friends & family can be impatient, inconsiderate, irresponsible, annoying. They don’t deserve us getting low for them. Oh, but then remember how we rebel against God, how we disregard his love and pursuit. We don’t deserve him getting low for us but he still does. He is patient and longsuffering. As his worksmanship, we do good works. We join in God’s work and do good works as we relate to others.

We can go MINING. We see our friends and family and recognize that they are God’s worksmanship, He is making a sculpture from the stone of their life, cutting away, drawing the beauty and life out. He is chiselling a masterpiece. How can we join in? How can we go mining for the goodness and draw it out? As God’s Work we join in his good work and we get low to lift. We serve.

This means we let things go. It also means we don’t avoid conflict. Avoiding conflict

. He is chiselling a masterpiece

Big Idea: We are Servants: Lowly Lifters. This impacts how we live in relationship. If we see ourselves as strong standers who pulled ourselves up then we expect others to as well.

Courageous Conflict

Getting low to lift is the life in the new creation. we only do this as grace transforms us. This is God' work in us. God reprogramming the OS of our life. "Sanctification"

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Mining friends

We are worse then we want to believe, far from good enough. But we are more loved then we dare imagine. We are low but we have a God who got low to lift us. Praise Jesus! He invites us into new creation, into his life, into his purpose where he is making all things new. In this, we his worksmanship, have good work to do.

When we live in pride, we aren't seeing ourselves as low. We see ourselves as standing strong and therefore feel less inclined to lift others because we don't truly believe we had to be lifted. We are handling it, others should to.

This comes out in judgement and a lack of generosity (towards the hurting, towards our community).

It comes out in our expectation of convenience and comfort.

Why should I sacrifice to lift others? We begin to expect others to serve us... more success and establishing ourselves leads to more comfort and more people serving us.

Even in church family, we can feel it is okay for others to serve us w/out an inclination to be lowly lifters.

Lowly lifters or strong standers?

Upside down. Life comes from death.

Joy is given by God the source of life and all good things and the flourishing life to the full promised by Jesus is connected to the type of life he calls us to.

CONCLUSION

KELLER

Jesus is the true Strong stander and he shows us that true strength is revealed in getting low to lift. True Greatness is seen in true sacrifice. Honour grows from the soil of humility. Life flourishes in giving not getting. It is Upside down in Jesus’ kingdom. Life comes from death.

Upside down. Life comes from death.

Jesus is the Great Servant and in him we become servants.

"Joy is always given and never grasped" - Ann Voskamp

Joy is given by God the source of life and all good things and the flourishing life to the full promised by Jesus is connected to the type of life he calls us to.

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