How is Your Servanthood?

Last week the title of the message was “How is your love life?” With the main idea “Love one another and do not follow the example of Cain”

This morning message title is “How is your servanthood? With the main idea “Serve One Another and Follow the Example of Jesus”

1 John 3:16–18 NKJV

16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Real love, God’s love, is not just spoken but it is to be shown in action or in deed.

You see in our fallen, broken world how we are so often confused and unsure as to what real love really is.

Sometimes we are simply wrong in our understanding. Yes, we think about love, talk about love, write about love, and sing (a lot!) about love. But do we really and truly know what love is?

No doubt love was truly expressed, given, and received by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden up to the time of the fall.

Then everything went terribly wrong, and murder soon followed with Cain killing Abel.

And it hasn’t stopped; it has only escalated.

How many babies are killed through abortion each and everyday?

In the Christian Post last year they reported:

Over 42.6M abortions conducted in 2020, surpassing world's leading causes of death this number is world wide.

When comparing it to how many deaths due to COVID in 2020, 6.1M.

There are over 19,000 murders in America each year. And most reports say that this number is increasing each year from 1996 to present day.

Such statistics stagger us, but they should not surprise us. The god of this world (2 Cor 4:4) appears to be winning the day.

And yet, in another amazing reversal, there will be the death of death through a death, the death of the Son of God who “laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). And what we need to learn through Christ’s sacrifical death is this.

Service to Others May Mean Dying (1 John 3:16)

Many have noticed the beautiful relationship that exists between John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16. The former is a demonstration of love. The latter is an explanation of love.

John 3:16 says that God gave His Son for us.

First John 3:16 says we should give ourselves for others.

The Bible says that if you want to see love, look at the cross!

The Bible says that if you want to show love, look at the cross!

The Bible says that if you want to know love, look at the cross!

The Bible says that if you want to live love, look at the cross!

Love, at its core, is about self-sacrifice and self-substitution. And in our case, it is for those who are completely and totally unworthy.

In the song we sang this morning “Amazing Love,” it reminds us that our King died on our behalf!

Once we take in and really get our head around this amazing truth, our only reasonable reaction is to honor and worship God. If we really understand the magnitude of what has been done for us and the implications for eternity, we won’t feel obligated to show gratitude; we won’t be merely willing to be thankful; we will joyfully present our lives to God as a living sacrifice in grateful worship.

That is exactly what John tells us. Out of “gospel gratitude” for His laying down His life for us, “we ought to lay down our own lives for the brothers.”

Jesus said John 15:13

John 15:13 NKJV

13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Service to Others Always Involves Giving (1 John 3:17–18)

“I would die for you” as noble and spiritual as that may sound, would you give me something to eat?

Could you share an extra shirt or better yet, a coat? Could you let me sleep on your couch until I get back on my feet? Could you help out with my electric bill or a few meds for my sick kids?

In verses 17–18, John gets down where the rubber meets the road and provides some basic, real, and practical advice about love in the context of everyday living.

Verse 17 introduces a negative example using a “greater to lesser” argument based on verse 16.

Jesus had a life to give and you have stuff (“this world’s goods”) to give. Jesus saw your need and gave His life. You, however, see your brother’s need and “close your eyes” (lit. “entrails,” i.e., feelings).

Let us be clear here. John is talking about the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. If you see a brother in need what do you do, turn a blind eye or do you go out of your way to help.

John then says, “How then can God’s love reside in you?” The obvious and undeniable answer is, “It doesn’t.” It is not there.

John knows that our hearts control our hands. A closed heart will always result in closed hands and is evidence that your heart has never been opened by the “key of the gospel” of God’s grace poured out in Jesus.

The brother of Jesus, James, has the same concern as he writes in Jas 2:15–17,

James 2:15–17 NKJV

15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

John concludes his argument in verse 18 with “Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action.”

Love is so much more than making a good profession or a great speech that uses impressive rhetoric (cf. 1 Cor 13:1–3).

No, love is an action word that always expresses itself in good deeds done in the context of truth.

John adds the word “truth” for a very good reason. Words can be empty and actions can be hypocritical. You may choose to do nothing, though your words promise much.

On the other hand, you may do something for someone, but your motives are impure and your intentions evil. We call this manipulation.

God cares about both our motives and our actions. He wants us to love and care for others just like we have been loved and cared for by Jesus.

Once more, it is clear isn’t it? Do you want to see love in deed and in truth? Just look to the cross.

Conclusion:

Living out the gospel means having open ears, open eyes, and open hands for the hurting. It means loving others as we have been loved by Jesus.

So, let us not just talk about love; let us truly demonstrate love. After all, Jesus didn’t just say he loved us. He did showed us that He loved us!