Matt.29: 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (NIV)
I Cor.9: 16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
Jesus was a servant and Paul followed in His footsteps. Just what does a servant of Jesus look like?
Does a servant of Jesus change the bandages of the infected wounds of an AIDs victim or does he protest against him?
Does a servant of Jesus remain silent when spoken against or does he retaliate in like fashion?
Does a servant of Jesus demand more money or does he work as unto His Lord?
Does a servant of Jesus complain about his circumstances or does he serve joyfully in all circumstances?
Does a servant of Jesus visit a death row inmate or does he rejoice that he is getting what he deserved?
Does a servant of Jesus demand his rights or does he serve at the pleasure of his Master?
Does a servant of Jesus argue with other servants or is he much too busy serving?
Does a servant of Jesus endure all afflictions with humble grace or does he loudly complain?
Does a servant of Jesus receive persecution silently or does he defend himself?
Does a servant of Jesus demand that lost people act like saved people or does he love them to win them?
Welcome to the western culture of individualism, self elevation, and self aggrandizement. He who hesitates is lost, and go after your dreams are some of the mantras in this culture that is teeming with humanism. People with bigger than life personas are admired and emulated, while humble servants walk unknown and with no fanfare. We have lost even the concept of what it means to be a servant of Jesus. It has become so diluted, so compromised, and so commingled with the western culture that it no longer has any authentic definition and is no longer desired.
The church now has superstars whose every word is received as absolute truth. Men now receive tithes personally to stuff their own pockets. Men write books supposedly based upon the Scriptures which were freely given to us by God, however these men become wealthy on their book royalties. You can find them signing their books for people paying homage to their spiritual prowess. This phenomenon is practiced from the most orthodox circles all the way to the most liberal. Even books on “servant hood” are merchandised and help others prosper financially. Can there be any greater paradox?
We have been called as servants. We have been bought with a price and we are not our own, and yet we are free in Christ. But living and breathing within the glory of that mystery is a truth and a majestic reality that we are servants of the Most High God, Jesus. It would be infinitely beyond our comprehension to fully understand the depth of the condescension involved in the Incarnation. God the Word, Jesus the Eternal Potentate, strips Himself of His rightful glory and allows Himself to be clothed as a man. The mystery of all mystery. Paul says “great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh…”.
We are moved with sentimentality when we see Bethlehem’s manger. We are amazed at His many miracles. We are challenged by His compassion. But have we really meditated upon the humiliation it took for Him to even come to this world? This is no doctrinal aside, and if we set our hearts to embrace it, it will be a living principle in which we should live. The servant of Jesus must reject fully the dictates and mores of this culture. They are all antithetical to what it means to be His servant.
While the world loudly proclaims you a "winner” you must defer to the bloody hill. While the world hurls accolades at athletes and actors and politicians and intellects, you must bow to Him who had no place to place His head. While the world presents the allurements of material and status, you must keep your eyes on the prize that can only be won through humility and the poverty of spirit. A servant of Jesus must not be moved by the temptations of the temporal. We must be single minded in our devotion to Him without the poison of self.
How many times did the self righteous people accuse Jesus of rubbing shoulders with known sinners? And in one such recorded instance Jesus allowed a woman whose questionable morals were known to worship Him. Even His disciples were perplexed. Why? Because without the Holy Spirit no man can know the depth and the scope of God’s redemption. Because Jesus knew what lay ahead for every man eternally, He was willing to reach out to the most vociferous and demonstrative sinners of His day regardless of what the self righteous crowd thought about it and about Him. And anytime you see someone today castigate sinners, or protest against certain sinners, or even make a stand against certain sins the foundation of their spiritual life, you will know that they do not understand redemption, and they surely do not understand the depth of their own sin even as a believer.
We are servants of Jesus. The Nazis would proclaim that they had no other gods before them but Germany and Hitler. As servants of Jesus we must have no other gods before the One and True God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And to know Him, to serve Him, is to know humility, self denial, and a gospel spirit of redemption that dares to walk among sinners. His servants do not fear what man can do to them. Their heart’s cry is, “Speak, Lord, you servants is waiting”.
Robert McCheyne, that faithful Scottish preacher, shared this story of servant hood. About the beginning of the 1800’s there were many lepers in the continent of Africa. It was a miserable disease and most contagious. There were many camps to which lepers must go and live and be removed from society.
One day a missionary from England happened to be on a hilltop in South Africa, and as he glanced over the wall that surrounded the leper camp he saw two lepers plowing a filed. One had lost his hands to this horrible and painful disease while the other had lost his feet. The one without hands was carrying the one without feet, and they would stop at each pre-dug hole in the field. The one with hands, riding on the other’s back, would drop a seed into the hole while the other would cover it with dirt by his foot. The missionary was undone. Who could, who would go and be a gospel servant for such as these?
Two young boys, Moravian missionaries, heard about the situation. They began to pray, and both boys felt the leading of the Spirit to go into the leper village and be Jesus to these pitiful souls. They knew the consequences. Once a person enters such a village they were forbidden to come out again. It was a death sentence. But both boys did not hesitate since they were both convinced by the Spirit that this was to be the filed to which they were called.
Those two boys willingly and humbly forsook their entire lives and went to preach to and love these people. And through their example the Spirit drew others that hoped they may soon join them. That my friends is servant hood. That is the faith once delivered to the saints. That is Jesus. Please do not speak to me about the “great” preachers of today. Spare me the stories of miracle workings. Leave me alone concerning the world wide ministries of modern men. Television preachers? Radio orators? Christian authors? Wealthy men and women who supposedly serve Jesus? Please, spare me.
I direct you to these two young boys. They are somewhere in heaven today and they are delighting to worship their King. The sacrifice they made now pales as they gaze upon Him who gave all for us. Ask them if they would do it all over again and they shout "Yes, and a thousand times over!". And when they are called forward to give an account of their lives they will receive a reward for anything done for Him. And when these two boys, now spirits in white robes, receive their rewards I can almost see and hear what happens next.
I can imagine them both kneeling down before the Redeemer. They lift the crowns of reward they have received from off their heads, and they place them before the Risen Christ. And rejecting any praise for themselves, they stretch out on their faces before the Lord of all Lords. And if I can be allowed some imaginative license here, I can almost hear them say something that two other Moravian missionaries said (HERE) as they sailed from Germany to sell themselves as slaves in order to reach other slaves. With their faces pressed down of the floor of God’s own throne room, and with muffled voices, they say,
“May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!”
Oh my, selah. God help us all.
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