True Greatness

“True Greatness”

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A few years back Tess and I went to Washington and we walked by the Washington Monument.

It is over 555 ft. high, 50 stories. To get to the top you can either take the elevator, which is the easy way up, or you can take the stairs, 896 of them, a long hard climb to the top. The day we were there it was a long line, a long wait to ride the elevator to the top. But…there was no waiting…If you were willing to take the stairs. We did not go to the top!

To go to the top in the kingdom of God, there is no easy elevator ride. To go to the top in God's eyes you've got to take the stairs of service. We all want to go to the top with God; but not many of us are willing to take the stairs of service?

The disciples are having an argument at the

Lord’s Supper. This is not the first time they have had this argument, they had it back in . Jesus ended that argument by taking a child and standing him in the middle and saying, whoever is least among you will be the greatest.

Then there was the time that the mother of James and John asked Jesus to let her sons sit on the right and left hand of Jesus in the Kingdom of God.

The other disciples got really mad about that. Why?

Because they wanted those places themselves.

Then there was the time when Jesus asked his disciples what they were talking about? And the disciples kept quiet, -“Because on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest”

Some people like to talk about the weather, or sports, or politics; the disciples liked to talk about which one of them was the greatest. It was a regular topic of conversation.

Having an argument about who was the greatest that night seems unbelievable.

1st because none of these guys were great to begin with!

2nd because it was only a matter of hours before Jesus would be betrayed, Peter would deny Jesus, all of them would abandon Jesus. Yet here they are trying to figure out which one of them was the greatest. I can answer it-None of you!!

3rd this was the last night that Jesus would spend with his disciples before going to the cross. He had just broken the bread and said this is my body which is given for you, held up the cup and said this is a symbol of my blood which will be shed for you. And all they want to talk about is themselves, and who is the greatest among them.

The most important event in the history of the world was about to take place, yet instead of focusing on Jesus they waste their time having a pointless argument.

How quickly they went from worrying about who was going to betray Jesus; to speculating which one of them was the greatest.

This is shocking, embarrassing, we think the disciples are really messed up; and it is true the disciples did mess up a lot. And that is one of the things we love about them; they are just like us! They had the same sinful struggles that we have, and if Jesus had grace for them, he will have Grace for us too! Praise God!

Let’s be honest, just like the disciples we want people to know how great we are. Even if we don’t get in arguments about it, we secretly hope that people would give us the attention we think we deserve. We want people to know how smart we are, or how athletic, or how musical, or how talented. At work we want to be the top-dog, at home he want to win. At church we want people to recognize how valuable our ministry is. We want people to admire how we teach the Bible, or raise our children, or give to Christian work.

And we’re disappointed when someone else gets ahead of us; and sometimes we criticize them for it.

And we even find it hard to be happy unless people know how great we are.

The problem with us is we have the wrong definition of greatness! We think the great person is the one who gets ahead of everyone else in life; not a servant, but the master. But Jesus is going to tell us in these verses that true greatness is serving God, by serving others.

Jesus shares with us three facts about serving.

Fact #1:

1. Serving is Not our Natural Tendency.

V:24-25.

They are arguing about who was the greatest; in the middle of the argument Jesus speaks up and says, V:25-Read.

Jesus distinguishes between two completely different definitions of greatness. The Gentiles were people outside the people of God. Their definition of greatness represents the way people usually think: The world says, the greatest person is the one who has the most money, power and prestige, the king. As the ruler of his people, the king had all the money and authority that his kingdom had to offer.

Everyone else was under him, so he could live for himself. He liked to think of himself as a benefactor. He thought of himself as the source of all earthly blessing.

This is still how people define greatness today: money, power, and prestige.

The greatest people in the world are the billionaire businessmen, the movie stars, the professional athletes, and the famous politicians, the powerbrokers, the celebrities, and the superstars. If you want to be great, people have to know who you are. You need to have power over other people’s lives, with enough money to satisfy your desires.

A clear example comes from Harvard University, where M.B.A. students were given an assignment to develop a strategic plan entitled “What Do I Hope to Achieve in Life after Graduation?”

Their number one priority was wealth; number two was notoriety; and number three was status. None of the students said anything in their strategic plans about serving other people.

The world is driven by selfish ambition and lust for power and position.

We are born with a sinful nature that desires to be number one, and is ferociously selfish. Have you ever seen a toddler, saying here let me give you my toys? No, you go down the slide first, NO! It is not our natural tendency to serve others, to prefer others above our self, or to be selfless. Our sinful nature cries out to be served, not to serve.

The world we live in ask, how many people do you have working for you?

The world says, the more important you are the more people you have serving you. The world says the great exercise authority. That is the philosophy of this world. Pride and self-importance is a great barrier to a servant’s heart. Pride leads us to think that we deserve to be on a throne, or that we are too good to serve. Pride will wrap you in a self-righteous cocoon and isolated you from the needs of others, and the lostness of humanity.

We are not to be like the world thinking that greatness is found in being served.

Jesus has a different definition for true greatness.

Fact #2:

2. Serving is What Makes us Great.

V:26-27.

Jesus says to his disciples this is the way the world views greatness… But V:26-Not so with you…

The way this world looks at things is not the way that God looks at things. If you went to Wall Street and asked the question: "What is the secret of greatness?" Wall Street would say: "Money, and lots of it." If you were to go to Washington and ask: "What is the secret of greatness?"

They would say, "Political power."

If you went to Hollywood and ask: "What is the secret of greatness?" They would say: "Fame."

But the greatest man who ever lived, Jesus Christ, had a different answer.

According to Jesus, the greatest person is not the person at the top, but the one who takes a position at the bottom, what Jesus called “the youngest.”

In those days people gave a great deal of respect to their elders. There were privileges that went with being a man or a woman of a certain age. Younger people stood up when an older person entered a room. They listened carefully to what old folks had to say, understanding that wisdom came with experience.

Jesus tells us to take the younger person’s place in our daily relationships.

Do the difficult job that no one else is willing to do, for no task however menial is beneath the dignity of a disciple.

Let someone else go first.

Listen to someone else’s concerns rather than doing all the talking.

Instead of asking other people to do something for you, think of something that you can do for them. Rather than seeking to gain attention, seek out someone who is getting ignored and needs a friend. Follow the command that Paul gave to the Philippians:

-“In humility count others more significant than yourselves”.

Putting other people first is especially important for anyone in a position of spiritual leadership.

People usually think of the leader as someone who has people under him. People who do all the hard jobs. But Jesus said, “Not so with you.” The leader is really the servant, so the more people he leads, the more people he gets to serve.

What is your definition of greatness?

Do you have the same definition as Jesus, or are you still looking for money, popularity, recognition, the top spot, and the limelight?

J. C. Ryle said that the true tests of Christian greatness is:

Usefulness in the world and Church.

A humble readiness to do anything, and put our hands to any good work.

A cheerful willingness to fill any job however low.

We will not pass this test of true greatness by striving for all the earthly things that most people work so hard to gain, but only by giving our lives to serve others. The greatest disciple is the one who offers the humblest service.

Our supreme example of greatness, is the Lord Jesus! He is the greatest of all!

Jesus asked this question in, V:27-Read.

Jesus asked who is greater, the one who sits at the table and enjoys the meal, are the one who stands up and serves the meal? The waiter.

Jesus answers his own question and says, V:27-“is it not the one that sits and eats”.

Then he says, but I am among you as one that serves. Jesus is the greatest, and he was the one who was serving.

To know true greatness, look at Jesus Christ.

He is great because of who he is:

Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, the only begotten Son of God. Jesus always is, always has been, and always will be God. He is not merely a man, but has every attribute of God. Jesus Christ is the Lord God, which means, no one is greater than he is.

Jesus is also great because of what he has done.

He created this great universe;

Jesus Christ is the great Creator. Everything in all the universe is the product of his divine mind.

Jesus lived a great life. Through all the trials and temptations he suffered on earth, he never committed even one little sin. He is the only morally perfect man who ever lived.

Jesus died a great death to gain for us a great salvation. No one has ever done anything greater for the human race than Jesus did when he suffered the death that we deserve for sin.

Jesus rose again with the power of eternal life.

Jesus Christ is the Greatest One of all.

The angels have been worshiping him since the beginning of time.

The angles will tell you that they have not yet given Jesus even one-10th of the honor that he deserves.

Jesus Christ truly is the Greatest One of all.

Because he is so great, he is the one who deserves to be served. He is the infinitely superior person. He is the one who ought to be reclining at the table, with his disciples serving him.

But, Jesus said, V:27-“I am among you as the one who serves”.

This turns everything upside down, and opens up for us the true greatness in the heart of God. Earlier Jesus said to his disciples, “Not so with you.” Now he is telling them why: “Because it is not so with Him.” Although I am the Greatest One, I am the one who serves. Jesus had proved this earlier that evening by washing the feet of his disciples. Although Luke does not mention this, the story is told in and serves as part of the context for what Jesus said to his disciples about service.

He truly was among them as the one who serves, for he had washed their feet, he took the lowest possible place, the place of a servant.

Jesus didn’t said, I wash your feet, now you wash mine. You say Jesus has saved me, I have no problem more than his feet. But Jesus said, as I’ve washed your feet, you wash one another’s feet. I have served you, now you serve one another.

Jesus had been serving his disciples since the day they started following him, leading them, feeding them, healing them, teaching them, correcting them, training them, and loving them.

Soon he would serve them all the way to death, bearing their sins all the way to the grave.

Jesus gave his whole life to his disciples, as he gives it to us. The Greatest One of all made himself our servant as he did the work of our salvation.

Jesus calls us to be like him, to find our true greatness in living for others rather than living for ourselves, forgetting ourselves for the sake of others. As far as Jesus is concerned, the truly great person is the one who serves.

The point is not that service will get us to greatness, but that service is the greatness.

To know who the great people are, look for the people who are serving. They will be passing out bulletins at the doorway to the church.

They will be taking care of business at the changing table in the nursery, or sitting down to talk with a needy person. They will be visiting elderly shut-ins, or teaching a Bible study at the federal prison, or showing hospitality to strangers from a far country. They will be sharing the gospel with street children and prostitutes. They will be working as missionaries in places where most people hate the gospel. They will be in all the dark and dirty places where no one else is willing to go. Wherever you find them, they will look like Jesus, with the true greatness of a servant’s heart.

Do you want to be great in the eyes of the Lord? Then you need to begin to serve God, by serving others! Find a place to serve God in this church.

It is the love of God that constrains us to serve him and others.

A Gallup poll discovered that only 10% of church members are active in any kind of personal ministry in their church; and what is even more amazing is that 50% of all church members said they have no interest in serving in any ministry of the church.

Fact #3:

3. Serving Will be Rewarded by Jesus.

V:28-30.

Jesus tells us that those who humbly, faithfully serve him will reign with him in his kingdom!

What an amazing and wonderful promise from Jesus.

V:28-30-“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel”.

These words were spoken first to the first disciples and only secondarily to us. The twelve apostles were the ones who stayed with Jesus in his trials. This was an extraordinary thing for Jesus to say, because later that very night, at the time of his greatest trial, all of the disciples would run away from him. Nevertheless, in his mercy Jesus remembered everything the disciples ever did in his name. They suffered the hardships of the open road, traveling homeless. They left behind any regular source of income. They suffered some of the hostility that Jesus endured from all the people who hated his ministry.

The disciples stayed with Jesus in these trials, and none of their faithful service would ever be forgotten.

You read these words and you think, these are the guys who are going to forsake you tonight. Judith will betray you, Peter would deny he knows you, and all the disciples will run away and hide. Yet Jesus says you are the ones that have continued with me and my trials. Jesus is remembering every positive thing the disciples had ever done for him; when they said he was casting out demons by the power of the devil, the disciples stayed with him.

When his own family said he was crazy, the disciples stayed with him. When the religious leaders said he was a Sabbath breaker, his disciples stayed with him.

Jesus is a wonderful master to follow!

Every faithful thing they did, every service they offered would be remembered and rewarded in the kingdom of God. Jesus was giving the disciples his last will and testament. Jesus spoke about “appointing unto you a kingdom… These were solemn promises. He was going to give his friends what he had received from his Father: a kingdom.

V:30, One day the disciples who were with him that night would sit down with him again at the great banquet, and enjoy the blessings of his kingdom.

The disciples would, V:30, sit down with Jesus on thrones, ruling the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus does not give many details here, but to “judge” is to have a place of leadership.

The first disciples were promised to receive a place of privilege in the kingdom of God.

The Bible says that the whole church is built on the foundation of their ministry. .

Obviously these promises were mainly for the disciples. Only the twelve apostles were given the authority to rule the people of God. Only their names are written on the foundations of heaven, in the city of the New Jerusalem. .

But the blessings of the kingdom, the blessings of eating and drinking at God’s table, are for all the children of God. Jesus promised a kingdom to us just like he promised it to his apostles, and he kept his promise by dying on the cross for our sins and rising again. Now, by the grace of God, true greatness is waiting for us. There is a place for us at God’s table, a place for anyone who is sorry for sin and believes in the cross. Jesus Christ, the Greatest One, invites us to come.

Every believer in Christ will experience this kind of greatness.

We will eat and drink at the table of Jesus in the kingdom of God, not because we are such great servants, but because the Greatest One of all served us to the very death.

-“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for man. “The son of man “came”… this is a reminder that he existed before he was born. He came to “give” his life. No one took Jesus life he gave it willingly.

“Give His life”, why? As a “ransom”.

Ransom means to deliver by purchase a prisoner of war, a slave, or a condemned person. It means a payment, usually of money, required to release someone from punishment or slavery.

We all need a ransom because we had willingly sold ourselves into the bondage of slavery to sin.

When he purchased us, sin, death, and hell had to set us free and let us go!

-“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed (ransomed) with corruptible things, as silver and gold, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you”. Jesus paid the price of our ransom with his shed blood and death on the cross. He paid the price for your release from the guilt and bondage of sin. The greatest and best person who ever lived and walked on this earth was a humble servant. He got down low, real low, so that He might lift others up. And now, he calls us, those who follow Him, to do the same-to serve! The truth is, we are all servants. We just have many different Masters, if you are unsaved, you are a servant to sin and Satan. Bob Dylan saying:

You may be an ambassador to England or France, you may like to gamble you might like to dance, you may be the heavyweight champion of the world, you may be a socialite with a long string of pearls. But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk, You may be the head of some big TV network But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Who are you serving today? There’s only one person who is deserving of your service that is the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus gave his life on the cross to pay for your eternal salvation, will you place your faith in him today and experience salvation?

Will you get off the bench and get in the game and begin to serve God in this church, and serve God with Gladness.