Scripture Mark 10:45
Sticking with the 3rd element of the
church with heart / Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark
10:32-45
They were on
their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were
astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve
aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 "We
are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will
be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him
to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who
will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will
rise." (180 degree turn – did they not hear
what Jesus just said?)
35 Then James
and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we
want you to do for us whatever we ask." 36 "What do you want me to
do for you?" he asked. 37 They replied, "Let
one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." 38 "You
don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can
you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized
with?" 39 "We can," they
answered. Jesus said to them, "You
will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but
to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those
for whom they have been prepared."
41 When the ten
heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, "You
know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not
so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your
servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first
must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did
not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
When we come to faith in Jesus, God
begins the character building process in us – to build in us the same character
as in Jesus. Rom 8:28-29 And we know that in all things God works
for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his
purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed (summorfos – having the same form, denotes an inward not merely
a superficial conformity) to the likeness
(eikwn - image) of
his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
What does the mind of Christ – an authentic
Christian servant look like in daily practice.
We jaded adults need to look to children to see how we should live:
ILLUS:
Little Chad was a shy, quiet young boy.
One day he came home from school and told his mother he’d like to make a
valentine for everyone in his class. Her
heart sank. She thought, “I wish he wouldn’t do that.” Because she had watched
the
children
when they walked home from school. Her
Chad was always behind them. They
laughed and hung on each other and talked to each other. But Chad was never included. Nevertheless, she decided she would go along
with her son. So she purchased the
paper, glue and crayons. For three whole
weeks, night after night, Chad painstakingly made 35 valentines.
Valentines Day came, and Chad was
beside himself with excitement! He carefully stacked them up, put them in a bag
and bolted out the door to school. His
mom decided to bake him his favorite cookies and serve them up warm and nice with
a cool glass of milk when he came home from school. She just knew he would be disappointed…maybe
that would ease the pain a little. It
hurt her to think that he wouldn’t get many valentines-maybe none at all.
That afternoon she had the cookies and
milk on the table. When she heard the
children outside she looked out the window.
Sure enough here they came, laughing and having the best time. And as usual, there was Chad in the
rear. He walked a little faster than
usual. She fully expected him to burst
into tear as soon as he got inside. His
arms were empty, she noticed, and when the door opened she choked back tears.
“Mommy has some warm cookies and milk
for you.”
But he hardly heard her words. He just marched right on by and all he could
say was, “Not a one! Not a one!” Her heart sank.
And then he added, “I didn’t forget a
one ,not a single one!”
So it is when God is in control of the
servant’s mind. We learn that the
greatest joy comes when God’s serving character lives through us as we serve
and give to others.
So we learned from a child what the
heart of a servant looks like – but most of you are not children. The question is not “What do you want to be
when you grow up?” Rather, “What are you becoming now that you are grown?
You are to be radically different than
what the world says. We push our
children to be the best dancer, best soccer player, best violinist, best at
math – how many parents are ever intentional about making their children the
best servants? That is why we have to
learn it as grown-ups. Most of us were
not taught servanthood. Become radically
different than the person you thought you should be and instead become like
Christ – a servant of all.
Galatians
5:13-14
You, my brothers, were called to be
free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve
one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single
command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Serving
costs you something – your time, money, energy, reputation. But it also comes with rewards.
1
Corinthians 3:5-15
What, after
all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the
Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but
God made it grow. So neither he who
plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters
have one purpose, and each
will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are
God's field, God's building. By the
grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone
else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than
the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones,
wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what
it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with
fire, and the fire will
test the quality of each
man's work. If what he has built
survives, he will receive
his reward. If it is burned up,
he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through
the flames.
It is said that there was
once a monk who prayed much that he might have the marks of the Lord upon his
hands and feet. A vision was given him in which he was shown a mark on the
Lord’s body that the world had forgotten. It was the mark upon the shoulder,
and the monk learned that he could only have the marks on the hands and feet as
he first had the mark upon the shoulder. – where Jesus carried his own cross –
his act of service – As we come to the table and remember Jesus serving us by
carrying his own cross we hear his words echoing form the Faithbook: Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow me.”
COMMUNION
No comments:
Post a Comment