Blueprints: Service

Good morning again. Welcome everyone who is joining us online. Right now we want to welcome our kids back to the back to meet your teachers and go back to your very special class. Hey, its a great morning today. We have had some fun together, we have worshipped through singing together, we hav worshiped through giving together, and we have prayed together. Later we all get to go out and split out into our different studies to be able to continue to learn and grow. I mean, this is what Sunday is all about here at LRBC…It is so good to get to come together in person and enjoy each other as we get to know each other and continue to grow as beleivers together. Ive said it before, and I will continue to say it…LRBC is the best Spiritual family I have ever had the opportunity to be a part of.

Now, Ive been here for about 2.5 years at this point, and we have covered various topics and a few whole books…Im gonna take a moment to test you all on something we have covered pretty extensively in the past. You see, some things happened this week, and I had some conversations with some folks, and I just wanna see if we are all still on the same Biblical page here…Why do we do what we do? …Thats right, becuase we want what we want....there you go. If you remember that is based on James 4 saying that the reason we fight and quarrel is becuase of the desires within you. If you are curious about that let me encourage you to go to our Youtube channel and look for the series called “Rooted” Watch that and if you are still curious then we can get together and chat about it in person. I know it can be a hard concept to think about our own behaviors and beliefs causing the conflicts in your life, but that really does fit into our conversation last week doesn't it.

You see, we are in the middle of this series called blueprints, we called this series blueprints becuase we want to know how to build a growing church. As a church, LRBC is putting a priority on discipleship this year. We actually believe that God is going to continue to grow us numerically by growing spiritually first. You see, we have to be a healthy church so that we can be a church that changes the community for God. So, we want to see how to accomplish that…As we focused on these blueprints, last week we talked about confession…both confession to the Lord and confession to others. That would even include the desires within us that is causing various conflicts in our lives, or even the anxiety that we are experiencing over various issues. You see, confession is good not just becuase we are called to confess to the Lord, but also becuase it is good for our own health to confess and repent. I was talking to one person earlier this week and we talked about how God can be replaced by an idol as #1 in our lives pretty easily and that we , as beleivers, need to stay focused and when we see something trying to take that position we need to confess that to the Lord and remove that idol from our lives. Look, I know Im kind of hitting on a few things quick this morning, but that is becuase its actually important and it actually is life altering information when we place God back on the throne of our lives. But that not all we’ve talked about in this series. We also talked about how prayer is the first part of of being a growing church. We said that a Biblical response to prayer would be to have a heart of prayer at all times…praying without ceasing. Then we look at Scriptures and how we know we can trust Scriptures based on the archeological evidence. We went on to see how the Scriptures actually apply to my life. The Scriptures are good for our growth as believers, and for our growth as a church. So basically we have seen that prayer is a priority, that we can trust the Scripture, and that confession is necessary. So what is next? What is the next page of our blueprints of a growing church?

Well, this morning we are going to look at the next page of our blueprints of a growing church, and that is,

Service

So what is service? What does it mean to serve? Are we thinking about serving others or serving the church? Is there a difference in these two ideas? That is the type of thing that we are going to look at today. However, in order to do that, as always, we need to look at Scripture and answer these questions. Remember Scripture is useful for teaching and training, so this morning let’s focus on learning from Scripture. We know that all of Scripture is good, but let’s look specifically at what Jesus said and did. To start off, let me give you a little context into one of the passages we are going to look at this morning. You see, there was a time that James and Johns mother was traveling with Jesus and the 12 apostles. This is a really interesting story becuase James and Johns mom came to Jesus away from everyone else and asked that Jesus make a special place for her sons. She wanted Jesus to promise that James and John would be the best and greatest apostles. Now, let that sink in for a minute. You have these men who are about to help transform the world, and their mommy is asking for special treatment from their teacher. Moms, let me just speak to you for a minute....Don’t do that…Let little James and John either rise or fall on their own commitment and not from mom making a deal with the teacher.

That is something that our kids have probably not liked about us as parents. You see, when other parents would go to the teachers, or coaches to try and get special treatment, or sometimes just fair treatment, our answer was to always coach them on how to go talk to that teacher or coach, or professor, or whatever themselves. That is how our kids learn to face adversity. Ok, so that was just a free little parent tip for ya, now let’s get back to this story.

So, Mary the mother of James and John asks Jesus for special treatment and Jesus responds to her by asking if these men are ready for what they are asking…They ignorantly respond that they can handle it and so Jesus tells them that they will handle it, but it will not be a fun experience. Well then the other 10 heard about this and they were not super happy about this conversation, they were a bit upset. So, Jesus addresses the disciples about who will be great among them. Let’s read Jesus response to this encounter in

Matthew 20:26–28 (ESV)

It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

OK, so they are asking about being great, and Jesus’ response is that in order to be great, you must first be a servant. In other words, in order to be the greatest, you must be the lowest...

Now, Jesus is speaking about pride here specifically, but he combats pride with the idea of serving others. He goes on to explain that he came to serve, not to be served.

So, what we see here is an example of serving from Jesus…Actually, I would argue that what we really see here is that

Jesus is an example of serving others

In other words, everything Jesus does is serving others. It would seem that every thought Jesus has is to serve others. Jesus did not come into this world with the mindset that he deserves everything, even though he clearly does…No, Jesus’ mind is that serving others is how you can make an impact on their lives. and frankly....he’s right, isn’t he? I mean, think about your life, are you more willing to listen to someone that tells you to respect them, or are you more willing to listen to someone that is earning your respect by serving you? How about this…There is a show called Parks and Rec. This is a fairly funny show, but there is something pretty profound that happens in one of the seasons. You see, Leslie Knope is one of the main characters and Leslie is an elected official. Well, Leslie is having a hard time with various things, like always. But, at one point she is a city council woman, and she decides that she wants to serve her community. She does this thing called, no job to small where citizens can call her up and tell her about a problem and she will personally take care of it. She will not send someone to take care of it, she personally takes care of it…even to the point of going to a persons house and removing slugs from their flower beds. Leslie is serving her community in order to show them how much she actually does care about the town. Now, I don’t know about you, but that would make an impact on me personally.

Well that is what Jesus is teaching to the apostles with this statement. Actually, theologian Craig Blomberg says,

Would-be leaders must become “servants”. They are exempt from no menial task and lead by example rather than by dictum.— Craig Blomberg

So, there are a couple of things to point out here this morning. First of all is that we have said as a church that we desire to make an impact on Leaf River…I mean, God has placed us in this place for a purpose, and this community is in desperate need of Jesus, right? Therefore, we have a desire to lead this community into a relationship with Jesus…Well, in order to make an impact on Leaf River, we have to be prepared to do the dirty jobs that no one else wants to do…That means, no job is to small when it comes to Leaf River. Ive said this before, but listen to this common quote that has been attributed to a dozen people and really no one knows the original author

No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care — Unknown

We also know that there is a need to serve our community right here in Leaf River. I actually believe that this interaction between Jesus and his apostles shows both an aspect of serving those around you, but also serving those near to you. You see, Jesus didn’t come to only serve these twelve men. No, in the last verse here we see that Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many…That means that Jesus has in view more than just his immediate followers. Jesus has in view a larger community, but Jesus also has in view these twelve men. So that leads us to 2 questions that I want to encourage you to answer for yourself.

1. Who do I serve?

Ok, so this question should really be met with more Scripture, becuase there is something amazing that Jesus teaches us by example. Now, many of you know the story we are about to look at, and some of you even know what I am going to say, becuase you and I have had this conversation. This is a bit of a long story, but its really important to get the whole context here. so, lets turn over to

John 13:1–17 (ESV)

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 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. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Whew…that was alot of information and frankly a whole lot of weird…But its also a whole lot of important. You see, first Jesus exemplifies his teaching on service. What do I mean by that? Well, remember earlier when we looked at Matthew, Jesus told his apostles that whoever would be great must be a servant and that he had in fact come not to be served, but to serve. This right here, is the most impactful moment in Jesus’ servant ministry behind sacrificing his very life. You see, what Jesus did was kind of gross…Let me ask you all, who here would enjoy going around and washing the feet of your friends? Im not talking about some Spiritual example, but a genuine desire to wash each others feet? Im going to assume, no one would be first in line for that one, and for good reason…feet can be kind of gross, right? Well, we think that and we all have shoes and socks to protect from the elements.

Now, imagine living in the first century and having only a pair of sandals and walking around town…walking around town where the animals are also walking…walking around town where you have a open sewer ditch running through the street…You see, feet care was not exactly top priority in the first century. Sure, they had sandals, and some even had a version of moccasins, but nothing that would genuinely protect your feet from the dust and the various aspects of living in that culture.

So, at that time there was a a bucket of water that was inside of the house so that when you walked in you could wash your feet. Really, you were more rinsing your feet off…However, those that had some money would have a servant available to wash their guests feet. This would be the job of the lowest servant. If you didn’t have money, then the youngest child would be responsible for this task. Either way, the person that was seen as the least in the house would have this job of cleaning the feet. Well, that is the place Jesus took…What Jesus did here was frankly a bit offensive to his position as teacher because he placed himself below everyone else…That really hit his disciples and so there was an interaction between Jesus and Peter…there are alot of interactions between Jesus and Peter, but thats a story for another day. For today, what we see is that Jesus placed himself as the least important person in that house at that time.

That’s not all that is going on here though...There is something else that is pretty impactful here. You see, Judas is in the room. Judas is the guy that is about to betray Jesus…Judas is the guy that is the enemy of Jesus…Let that sink in for a moment. Now, let me remind you that Jesus already knew that Judas was going to betray him. We know that becuase in vs 11 we see that Jesus knew who was going to betray him…You see, Jesus serves everyone. Now, let me break that down a little. Jesus serves those he is walking with. Jesus serves those in his family. Jesus serves those that are on the outside. Jesus serves those that are ungrateful. Jesus serves the undeserving. Jesus serves everyone…Thats important to remember. Jesus gives us an example of serving both those inside the church and those outside the church. Jesus gives us an example of serving those that would encourage us and those that would harm us. Jesus gives us an example of serving those that that want to be served and those who don’t want to be served. Jesus shows us a heart of service.

We have talked about having a heart of prayer, a heart of confession and now I want you to answer this question, Do I have a heart of service?

Ok, so to answer the question of who I am to serve we see that we are called to serve everyone…In other words, there is no one we are not supposed to serve. However, that leaves us with another question that I know many people are likely asking...

2. How do I serve?

This question can be a daunting question for many people. I mean trying to figure out how to serve those around you…how to use your skills and abilities....how to decide what to do, especially with your crazy busy schedule. I mean, this is a hard question that you will need to answer, and I want to help you answer this question. Well, actually, next week we are going to dive into this specific question. I have decided to do a bonus week in this series and have kind of a part 2 of this particular aspect of our blueprints. So if you want an answer to this question I am going to ask you to come back next week and let’s figure this out together…For now though, I want you to wrestle with this question about having a heart of service...

Lets pray