Servants or Slaves?

Servants or Slaves?

Intro

Good news for everyone today! The hard sermons are over. There are still moments when we will all be challenged a bit, hopefully, but the days of the 20-30 minute pills that no one feels like swallowing are behind us now.

So what is left for us, then? Apart from Mother’s Day, there are two topics which go hand in hand and which are - I think - both the proof and the challenge of our faith.

The proof because to have these things down pat - which we will never perfectly do mind you - is to have faith pretty much in hand. And the challenge, because these are the very essence of the Christian life. The call of Christ to us all! And if the call and the essence then they must become central to all we do.

So today we look at that with this idea of Servant or Slave. And we will do that by looking at several texts, but the sermon will be much more topical than exegetical. Just as my final sermon will be. So let’s start this time together with prayer.

Pray

[duolos]

The word “slave” can be a taboo word in our modern culture. But while I would love to tell you that there was a time in our country’s or even in the world’s immediate history when that wasn’t the case, I cannot. There is no going back to a time when the word “slave” didn’t cause the reader to either recoil or get on the defensive.

And that is evident to us, here in this place, because the books that are assembled for us - and by the way, a side note before I leave you; The Bible is a collection of books. That is what the word Bible means. All written by different authors at different times. So it’s best not to say the phrase “the Bible says,” because Bible just means “the books.”

But back to my point. The taboo nature of this word is evident to us because of its use in the these collected books, and its lack of appearance in our translation.

We are going to look at this word on the screen in a minute, but we will start with the Hebrew word for slave.

The word is said, “ebed,” and literally means slave. Not sort of means slave, not sometimes means slave. Just slave.

And that word appears in the Old Testament 800 times! 800! And that is just when it appears as a noun. It appears another 300 times as a verb. So that is a total of 1100 times the word ebed is used - a word that literally means slave.

If you look at the King James version of the Bible, which covers the past 300+ years roughly, you will find that word translated literally - or better put - you will find the word translated accurately exactly 1 time.

Just one.

And don’t hate on the KJV, the story is the same in other translations. The ESV does a little better, translating it as slave around 75 times.

That story continues into the New Testament where we find the word on the screen.

Before I continue, I want to point out why I am concentrating on the New Testament. And that is this. Both Testaments matter. But what is important for us to remember is that Jesus clarifies everything for those who are not Jewish. For the Christian, He must be the filter and the ultimate authority - as He is still God!

So that story for us must be the concentration of our focus in all we do, and for us today it shall be.

So this word on the screen, “duolos,” is used 150 times in the New Testament. And when you take a look at how that word was used both in Greek culture and in Greek literature, you will find that it is used in only one possible way.

[duolos=slave]

It means slave. Every single time. There is no alternate meaning. No possible different interpretations. It is THE word that Greeks used to mean slave.

There is room for debate or even reason for debate. It is the ONLY word that Greek authors EVER used to mean slave. But still I encourage you to scour different bibles, and even all those famous pastors out there selling books in the world. And they will all whitewash this word to mean bond-servant, or servant - most even adding qualifiers that would make it seem as if the bondservant was somehow WILLING to serve!

But that belies the intent of the authors. The implication that to choose Christ is to choose enslavement to Him.

But back to this word, how many times is it translated that way? Surely if it is THE word that means slave it would be translated that way 150 times, right?

[31 times in esv...1 in kjv] Spoiler alert - it isn’t. In fact the ESV gives it just over 30, and the KJV translates it as slave once.

Just once. At least it is consistent, right.

[why does this matter?]Well why does that matter? I mean, since when did Jeff get so serious about literalnness?

Well it matters because this word is being used incorrectly. It doesn’t mean “servant,” it doesn’t mean “worker,” it doesn’t mean “hired hand,” it doesn’t mean “helper.” There are six or seven Greek words that mean “servant” in some form. Doulos never means “servant.” A servant is someone hired to do something. The slave is someone owned! And that is a huge difference! Still all through the New Testament the word “slave” is masked by the word “servant,” or some form of the word “servant.”

[servant/bondservant/otherwords] Not that those words don’t carry some weight or have a good meaning. But that God didn’t intend for us to equivocate this word - and bigger than that - OUR OBLIGATION TO HIM by describing our position as a hired hand.

Think about it another way. Just imagine if all our history books here in America were changed and took away the idea of slavery and recast it as an entry level farming opportunity that included free food and housing.

Unfortunately, there are some texts and people who try to do just that. But my point remains. We would reject that completely, understanding that to do that was to lessen the meaning of the events.

And likewise to change it when scripture is trying to use it prescriptively in our lives - both present and future - is to lessen both the impact of our obligation, and the very nature of it in and of itself!

Romans 6:16–18 ESV

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

[rom 6:16-18]

Here is just one of far too many examples of what I am speaking about. This verse is often translated as “servants,” although most modern translations do a good job of using slaves here. But imagine using a different word.

Every other word you can use or that is used for this implies a employer/employee relationship. Bondservant, servant, all those ideas, imply that there is a payment for the service you render. A reward if you will.

And there is where I want to park. Church, scripture does speak of heavenly rewards, but that is a figurative phrase meant to offer us an idea of the positives of faithful life. Not necessarily something concrete. And when we think of faithful living as transactional - that is I do this thing as a hired hand, a servant if you will - so that we will then get something in return we are going to miss the point.

So to clear that up. Your reward is Christ. Full stop. No extra blessing. No answered prayers. No special treatment. Jesus is the greatest gift you or I could ever get! There will be no other payment remitted for our service! No other compensation for living the life that we are called to live!

We are all slaves, church. Slaves to something in this life - whether we know it or not. Sure you think that you are free. I do too. But we are slaves to systems, to ideologies, to practices, to habits, to jobs - we are slaves even and if not especially to tradition and what we think we know to be true.

We are so enslaved to this world, and to sin generally speaking, that we don’t even dare translate the word as slave because to do so would illuminate ourselves to the truth. We are all slaves.

[morpheus]

And we are. I want to take a timeout and point out that piece of paper that is on the seats. I want you to take it and use it. Not now, unless you are ready, but take it home and right on it. But before you right on it, find 10 minutes to sit in silence. No TV, no phone, no computers. Just silence. Ask God, after those 10 minutes, to show you what enslaves you. And then write them down there. Maybe you are a slave to your phone. To social media. To your job. To expectations. To parental or social expectations. To bias. To hate. To fear.

Whatever you are a slave to, write it down. Put it in your Bible or better yet on a mirror you use daily. Remind yourself of it as often as you can.

Because all of that is sin. Not in the old preacher way, mind you, but in the very real way. It draws your attention from God and puts it on that stuff or even on self. And ultimately, it pulls us away from God - the one to whom we are supposed to be enslaved!

That is the importance of these words. If you are just a servant, you can have time off after work to do other things! Jesus even warns us about this - No one can serve to masters - And to drive the point home some more, church, just what do you think the word “serve” there is based off of? Is it based off of a word that means to act as a servant of? NOPE! It is douleuo! It is the verb version of duolos! It literally means “to be a slave.”

So what Jesus is saying is - no one can be a slave to two masters. And church, everything that you can or will or should put down on that list is a master to you!

It is something to which you have become a slave.

Luke 12:47–48 ESV

And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

[Luke 12:47-48 - replace servant where needed]

And we must eliminate those if we want to move forward in our relationship with Christ. And further, we must acknowledge that we must be slaves to Him to ever be free from the sin that causes us to stumble or to live the life that He calls us to live.

And that starts with looking at words like these in the correct light. Not covering up the difficult meanings by watering down the ideas to make them more palatable. But embracing the call and challenge that lies at the heart of Christianity itself!

We know God’s will! And unlike a servant, a SLAVE has no choice but to carry it out! And in our case, Christ’s call to love others, serve others - not to put too fine a point on this, but when Jesus says that “whoever would be great must be become a servant (in this case diaconos which means servant) BUT whoever wants to be first must BECOME A SLAVE TO ALL!

That is God’s will! That we become SLAVES to Him and thereby serve others as we become slaves to Christ in them!

That is the challenge and call of Christ. And that is what being a Christian is all about.

1 Peter 2:16 ESV

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

[1 Pet 2:16 closing text]

Like I said last week. It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. When we signed up for this we checked that box agreeing to the terms of service.

I agree. I agree. I agree.

And in those boxes was this idea of being a slave. Not a servant. Not a helper. Not a paid employee. We are slaves to Christ - crucified with Him so that we no longer live, but so that Jesus lives in us.

So all that stuff that we have added to faith. Power. Tradition. Church like we want it. The right clothes. The message we want to hear. The right songs. Posting the right thing on Facebook so everyone knows we love Jesus - because they were wondering given how we were slaves to everything else in this life.

All of that is rubbish. Trash. For the sake of knowing Christ.

And this is the legacy of the church, at least back before we stopped reading Greek. Followers of the way didn’t consider being a Christian as ADDITIVE to their life, but to be their very life itself. The central point from which ALL life flowed, even life beyond death.

Aphineus was an early example of this, but only one of thousands. He is well known because when being brought in for an inquisition about his devotion to Christ he answered the same thing to every question.

I am a slave of Christ. I am a slave of Christ.

AND THAT MUST BE US! HOW EASY IT IS TO BE SLAVES TO THE WORLD! SLAVES TO SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS OR CONVENTIONS! SLAVES TO WHAT WE KNOW! BUT WE AREN’T CALLED INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IN WHICH WE CAN CONTROL ANYTHING! WE ARE SLAVES! WE DON’T DECIDE THE RULES OR THE WAY! ONLY THE MASTER CAN DO THAT! WE ARE SLAVES TO WHAT HE IS AND WHAT HE TELLS US TO BE! AND THAT IS MADE CLEAR THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE! DENY SELF. FOLLOW HIM. LAY ASIDE THOSE THINGS THAT ENSLAVE US AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS AND BE HIS SLAVE!

And being a slave, you will then be with Him wherever you go. You will never fall to the left or right, but rather be with Him all the days of your life.

John 13:16 ESV

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.

[john 13:16]

And that isn’t a slave hood that Christ doesn’t exemplify. Christ took on flesh and still He served and modeled our service to others. “A servant isn’t greater than His master.” Or correctly translated, a slave isn’t greater than His master. Christ’s service is the model of service for all those who are slaves to Him. And that must be us, church.

So as we go from this place, I challenge you to rethink this word. Wherever you read it, look it up on google. See if it is diaconos or duolos. See if it means slave. And then contemplate what it means to be a slave to Christ or a slave to the world.

I hope that we can be a slave to the one who offered His life as a ransom for us all.

[pray then communion]