Membership Matters	November 1, 15

The Heart of a Servant

Coffee/Question

When you hear the word “serve” what pictures or words come to mind?

Feedback

Leaders from one of the religious groups of Jesus day came to him hoping to trap him with a trick question. Because they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead their question went like this.

Moses said if a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name. Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest married and then died without children, so his brother married the widow. But the second brother also died, and the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them. Last of all, the woman also died. So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her. Matthew 22

Before answering their question, Jesus said to them: Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.

This statement emphasizes to us the great importance of having our minds saturated with God’s word and our eyes solidly focused on God.

In the situation these religious leaders had described, what Scripture didn’t they know? Jesus told them. When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. And what was it that they didn’t know about the power of God? That he created humanity to live forever - God is the God of the living, not the dead.

In today’s teaching and application, we too need to know what the Scriptures say and what the power of God is capable of.

Our view of leadership is very much influenced by the culture and time in which we live. Most of you see yourselves as followers. Many of you seeing what leadership is about, even if it was offered to you wouldn’t want to exercise it.

You are happy to have others take on that headache.

Many in our culture, if not most, see those who strive after positions of leadership, as doing so for personal gain. We are suspicious of leaders because we have lots of experience with those who promised much but delivered little.

What I want to put before you is this: when it comes to the exercise of leadership as God intends, our culture has shaped our understanding, instead of the Scriptures and the power of God.

Let’s start with the Scriptures.

One time the disciples of Jesus had gotten into a heated argument because the mom of James and John had asked Jesus to let her two boys sit at his right hand in his kingdom. She thought, as did the rest of the disciples that being at the right hand of Jesus was a position of greater privilege and power.

Jesus seized the opportunity afforded by this conflict to teach the disciples what leadership truly is. But he first stated what leadership had wrongly become.

Matthew 20:25: You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them.

Rulers and high officials of that day considered themselves as being above others. This is why they “lorded” and “exercised authority” over people; using those beneath them for their own benefit.

But according to Jesus this was not true leadership.

That’s why he said to them (Matthew 20:26a): “Not so with you.”

To follow Jesus is have him put everything about life… right side up.

And this included his followers understanding of leadership.

Using the question which was at the heart of their argument, “who is the greatest,” Jesus stated that greatness belongs to the person who willingly serves others, instead of clawing their way to the top in order to be served.

Matthew 20:26-27: Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave… Jesus didn’t say it was wrong for his disciples to have ambition.

He simply redefined and clarified what his followers were to be ambitious about.

He told them to make it their goal to be… a servant!

Do you see from the Scripture that who a leader is and what a leader does

is very different from what commonly passes for leadership – back then and now.

We also need to recognize that in this passage, Jesus wasn’t talking in abstract and theoretical terms. He had been modeling true leadership the entire time his disciples had been with him.

Matthew 20:26-28: 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.”

You can pore over the four gospels and you will not find one instance where Jesus acted like the Gentile rulers or “lorded” his authority over others.

Philippians 2 explains why: Though Jesus was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. NLT

Jesus served and he gave his life as a ransom because… he had the heart of a servant.

In light of the fact that Jesus is the image of the invisible God; he reveals to us what about God? That God has the heart of a servant.

Knowing this has great implication for us, when it comes to our understanding of who we are… because as Genesis 1:26-27 says, God created mankind, male and female, in his own image.

To be made in God’s image is to be eternal; self-aware; morally conscious, and capable of reasoning. It is to think abstractly, to appreciate beauty, to feel a wide range of emotion and to have the capacity to make choices.

The fact that God created humans as male and female, tells us that his image is also social. Our likeness to God is both evidenced and reflected in the kind of relationships we experience with one another, and with God; relationships characterized by two-way communication, fellowship and purposeful unity of action.

And…. because the heart of God is that of a servant, then to carry God’s image means... that he created us to be a race of servant leaders, who would carry out the responsibility given to us, just like God would if he were us.

Look at the Scripture, Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”

The word “rule” is not a bad word But it is a word that has been twisted and turned upside down so that it now carries a negative connotation. The word rule as God spoke it in Genesis 1:26 means to steward; to care for.

What were humans to steward? The creatures described in this verse - the fish, the birds, the livestock and all other creatures.

Look also at Genesis 2:19-20 – “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air, and all the beasts of the field.”

In creating humans with the heart of a servant and entrusting them with the responsibility to steward, God gave to our race the ability to recognize the unique characteristics of the earth’s creatures in order to properly care for them.

What else were we to steward? The earth.

Genesis 2:15 – “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” To steward is to care for.

The fact that God said in Genesis 1:26, “Let them...” informs us that “stewarding” is a shared responsibility.

It wasn’t just the task of Adam - the man. It was the task of Adam and Eve.

But one male and one female simply could not effectively steward the entire earth. This is why “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth…’” Genesis 1:28

Procreation was the only way that the presence of servant leaders on the earth could be multiplied.

There is one more aspect to stewarding which is assumed by the Scripture,

but which we need to clearly state. To steward with the heart of a servant required human beings to know the God in whose image they’d been created and on whose behalf they served.

The knowing of God we are talking about is not the knowing of facts about God,

but knowing him relationally. Genesis 3:8 – “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day…”

Why was it the habit of God to walk in the Garden in the cool of the day?

He came to talk with and to enjoy the friendship of Adam and Eve.

It was in those times of fellowship that Adam and Eve would have had daily opportunity, as was needed, to learn from God how best to serve his creation.

This was what God intended human beings to be and to do when he created them. But this is not who we became.

The choice to sin as told in Genesis 3, separated humanity from God and from one another. The choice to sin twisted human nature.

Instead of being God-focused, human beings became self-focused.

Instead of living to serve the creation and others, they lived to be served.

Dysfunction entered into all of human life, including the practice of leadership, as summarized by Jesus when he spoke with his disciples.

What about the power of God? What is it that we need to know?

When a person acknowledges their sin and believes in and receives Jesus they are forgiven, and their inner person is made clean. But there is more. And it is here that the Scripture is deliberate in the language used to describe this more.

Born again – was how Jesus described this “more” to Nicodemus – John 3:3

New creation – is how Paul described it to the church at Corinth – 2 Corinthians 5:17

The new self, created to be like God - is what Paul told the church at Ephesus – 4:24

The new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator – is the wording used by Paul when he wrote the church at Colossae – 3:10

What do these descriptions have in common?

They all use creation language!

The image of God, though badly marred, was not lost when humanity sinned.

But when a person places their faith in Jesus, doing so invites the Creator God to powerfully recreate them.

So that we’re clear and all on the same page - what image is recreated in the person who yields their life to Jesus? The image of God!

created to be like God

renewed in the image of [their] Creator.

The church of Jesus is a community of forgiven ones who are alive to God.

We are also a community of recreated ones.

And for what purpose does God recreate the followers of Jesus?

So that they might live as God originally intended humans to live:

in fellowship with him;

in fellowship with one another; and

as a community of servant leaders.

What has been recreated in us is a heart that serves.

What that means is that in the church of Jesus, leadership is not something done by a few on behalf of many, but that which is exercised by… all (children, teens and adults, male and female).

Each person’s leadership capacity, as well as their sphere of responsibility will vary… according to their age, maturity, life experiences, spiritual gifting, skill cultivation and responsiveness to God.

In this regard, leadership capacities and spheres of responsibility among believers will not all be the same nor will they be static. To be faithful with little will result in one being trusted with more.

My goal this morning has been to help you know the Scriptures and the power of God. When we think of who we are and what we are to do, we must start with who God is and who through faith in Jesus he has made us to be – a community of servant leaders who are all on mission with Jesus.

Erwin McManus wrote: If the church of Jesus is an institution, then its people are volunteers to be recruited. But when the church of Jesus is understood to be a movement of people on mission with God, what is unleashed is their God-given gifts, talents, and passions.

What will cause a stir in the people of our culture is when communities of servant leaders together serve this broken world; not driven by self, but assuming leadership or supporting the leadership initiative of other leaders for the greater honor of Jesus’ name.

I believe, seeing and experiencing this, is what will compel the surrounding culture to seriously consider the gospel and the life that 1 Timothy 6:19 describes as “real life.”

I am convinced that such a paradigm shift in our thinking and the resulting mobilization that would take place will release into communities across this nation, the untapped creative potential and leadership abilities of thousands upon tens of thousands of men, women and children.

The great need in this present time is for the full engagement of God’s ‘recreated ones’ in a life of service – in their homes, in their schools, in their neighborhoods and communities, in their places of employment, as well as in the church.

Does this make sense to you?

We’ve all heard the saying made about some local churches – 10% of the people doing 90% of the service. Tell me – how is that a biblical practice? How does this honor the Great God who recreated his followers in his image? How does that kind of practice demonstrate the power of the gospel to change a life? If God has the heart of a servant, and serves, why wouldn’t that be true of all his people?

The only answer I have is the one given by Jesus – they do not know the Scriptures, nor the power of God.

But I do not believe that will be the story of this local church.

There is a calling of God upon us. And there is the pull of his Spirit to do as we earlier sang – lay me down….your will, your way, always.

If you haven’t settled that matter, then I plead with you to do so before you head for home.

Each of you are here in Sooke at this local church for a reason.

Each of you has a part to play.

In the Membership Matters booklet, there is a listing of ministry done in the church. It is a dynamic listing in that it changes. But as you will see as you look it over, it is a listing where there are vacancies – where your help is needed.

Kids ministry.

Youth ministry.

Life group facilitators.

Prayer ministry.

Deacons.

An elder.

These opportunities to serve are not just limited to what is done in this building. There are things to be done in the community of Sooke and things beyond Sooke. But what we’ve learned this morning is that we do, we do together.

As we each respond to this teaching, I pray and I anticipate that God’s Spirit will prompt you to step up and step into a place where you serve, joining hands with others to make Jesus known.

Transition to Communion

It’s always about Jesus.

As we come to his Table, we do so in order to remember him.

He gave his life as a ransom for us.

This was his greatest act of service.

Les - read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

Passing of the Bread and the Cup

Singing of How Deep the Father’s Love

Rick - Prayer of Thanks - Eating/Drinking

The Wondrous Cross (Lay me down)?

This week in your life groups the discussion questions focus on spiritual gifting.

In addition to creating in you a heart that serves like Jesus; the Holy Spirit has given to each follower of Jesus giftings of grace.

Dig into the Scriptures and think deeply upon the power of God that has given grace to you to use in service to other so that through you others might experience God’s goodness. We are on this earth to be a blessing.

The Blessing

Ephesians 2:10:

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus

to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.