Not to Serve but be Served 1980

Mark 10, 45. When Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. Let's wait for a second until things settle, quiet and peaceful, for a moment or two.

I think we would, no doubt, all agree that there's a temptation for every fellowship that has any degree of life at all to begin to think of itself as the center of the world. And for this reason, it's important, I believe, for fellowships not to think about themselves too much, not to talk about themselves too much, to guard against allowing our fellowship or our community or whatever we call ourselves to be up there on the pedestal where only Jesus belongs. And yet, it's essential that every fellowship of believers stop from time to time and make sure it has a clear conception of its purpose for existence.

Why were we brought together? What is God calling us to do? Because every fellowship of believers, like every individual believer, has a unique function in the body of Christ. Now, God may not show us the total function, the whole picture, all in one shot. It might scare us or overwhelm us.

But we can expect that as we are open and receptive, God will reveal to us the things we need to know about our purpose. And as He unfolds that, that we might be able then to come up into it and fulfill and be and do the things God is calling us to do. For instance, one thing that could be said about this fellowship, and you can consider yourself an exception if you like, is that it's made up largely of misfits, both from the body of Christ and from the world.

Very, very, very few of us, if any, here are not misfits. There are saints among us who have bounced down through the grating sieve of fellowship after fellowship until they finally landed here. And now there's nowhere else to go.

And they may not like everything, and they may not agree with everything, but for the time being, at least they're stuck. And that's perhaps the way they look at it. Who of us doesn't? Get me out of here.

We often feel. And some of us really found our way into the kingdom here. And as soon as we entered the kingdom, we became misfits in the system of this world.

Many of us were misfits in the world system before we ever became believers. Now, to be a misfit doesn't necessarily mean that we have to be mentally handicapped or poverty-stricken or unskilled or half-crazy, although we may be all these things. But it may also be that we have all kinds of ability, and yet we just can't buy into the way things are in this world.

And even in the so-called Christian world, we find ourselves all the time at odds with the most popular trends. As misfits, we are afflicted to a larger or lesser degree with the misfit syndrome, which is to be endlessly asking the question, what am I getting out of this? It was because we asked that question that we found ourselves leaving place after place where other people were comfortable. Found that we couldn't function where other people had no problem at all because we were all the time saying, what am I getting out of this? Now, that was a legitimate question when we were sitting in the bar getting drunk every night or when we were serving on committees in some club for nice people and never having time for our families.

But once God has gathered us around the cross of Jesus, opened our eyes to the anguish around us, sent us forth with a gospel, commanded us to manifest the kingdom of God, how can we go on asking, what am I getting out of this all the time? What you're getting out of this is eternal life. God brought us together in order that he might give us and sustain to us eternal life. Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.

The water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.

Rivers of living water, eternal life, welling up, flowing out from us. Not after we die and get on the other side, but now in this life, right now. But what is eternal life? Is it sitting on a cushion, sipping lemonade, listening to heavenly music? And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

He said to them, What do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, Grant us to sit one at your right hand, excuse me, and one at your left in your glory. But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, We are able.

Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink, you will drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.

And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant with James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you.

But whoever would be great among you must be your server. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the son of man also came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

James and John had their eye on some special favor that was to be waiting for them over there in glory. A favor that would put them over others. Jesus continuously teaches that eternal life puts us under others in this world.

This is eternal life, that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Now to know Jesus Christ and to believe in Jesus Christ is possible in no other way but to be serving with Jesus. Eternal life is to be under the yoke with Jesus, serving. For the son of man also came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

If there is anything about this fellowship that could be considered unique, it would be that this fellowship has a heavy, heavy concentration of people who are continuously in the habit of saying, what am I getting out of this? Who are now being called by God to turn their lives around and start giving instead of getting and serving instead of being served. So that this is not some spiritual social agency where people come as clients to be ministered to by other people who are supposed to be the social workers, nor is this some kind of heavenly hospital where certain people are the doctors and the nurses and the rest of us are the patients constantly being nursed back to health. This is God's day labor pool where regardless of what kind of shape we're in, he raises us up and sends us out.

To serve. Go work in the vineyard. Don't be afraid.

From now on, you're going to be catching men. Lift up your eyes and see the fields are already white for the harvest. Son of man came not to be served, but to serve.

Now, when you're working for a corporation, you rise in the corporation according to the effectiveness of your service to the corporation. In other words, the more you can do for General Motors, the higher and faster you go. See, but then your service is not really service.

It's an investment. You're giving them something they want in order that you can get something that you want. Now, unfortunately, that's the way it works in all too much of the Christian world.

You rise, your status, your position in any community of believers tends to increase according to the amount of service you can provide, what you can do to build up that body. See, but if that's the way it works, then what you have is really not service, but an investment. You're putting something in so you can get something out.

Now, grant us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory, Lord. See, but in the kingdom of God, it does not work that way. Service is just plain service.

And what you're doing, you're doing just because you're doing enough to get something out. We serve because that itself is our reward and joy. We do it because we love God.

It's our meat and drink to do the will of him who sent us and to accomplish his work. Service is eternal life. And if there should be rewards waiting for us on the other side, let them be hidden in God.

For what other purpose did Jesus come into this world and die on the cross but to set us free so that we could serve God? How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead work to serve the living God? So we're called, for instance, to serve God in worship. We come together here week after week not to get something out but to put something in. Well, I didn't get anything out of it today.

To put into it. We come here really to put in our hearts, our minds, our strength, our thought, the best that we have. May God deliver us from this, what am I getting out of it syndrome when we gather to worship him together and break bread.

We're coming to offer ourselves, to offer a sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. The service comes to an end with the words, go in peace, serve the Lord, thanks be to God. It ought to be roaring like thunder by that time.

And then we go out, hopefully in joy, to continue to serve God by serving other people. Yeah. Well, I stood around for 15 minutes last week after the service.

Not one soul came up and talked to me. And I've been coming around here for some time. What am I getting out of this? What about that lady who was standing around waiting for a ride? What about that man who was struggling with a hymn book all through the service? What about the lady who was still down in the front crying? When's the last time you offered to help in the nursery? God help us to open our eyes and see the anguish and the pain and the need beyond ourselves.

Then we go home to another week of day in and day out, serving of God by serving others. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. And the bearing of burdens begins with intercession.

If we could only begin to get into our minds the awesome things that happen when faithfully, carefully, thoughtfully, every single day we lift these people up by name before God, that he might bless them, heal them, strengthen them, deliver them, whatever they need. And to do that faithfully, that's service. From that service, every other kind of service flows forth.

Then we go out to serve others with our hands, our hands, our feet, our minds. Carrying loads, cooking meals, cleaning rooms, fixing cars, lifting people up out of their financial disaster, if we can. Helping them, lifting the burden of despair, discouragement, loneliness, guilt that afflicts so many people.

That's what eternal life is. In this world, serving the Lord with gladness by serving others. Finally, we go out there and serve him by preaching his gospel.

That doesn't require some PhD from a seminary. All it requires is that we go out and find some more misfits and bring them to the banquet table of the Lord. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Out of his heart shall flow rivers of service to the living God. For what other reason has God brought us together? And for what other reason is he sending us forth? James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, Grant us to sit at one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am to be baptized? They said, We are able.

Jesus said to them, You will drink the cup that I drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. And we need to ask ourselves if we're willing to be baptized with that baptism and drink that cup.

But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant. But it is for those for whom it has been prepared. When the ten heard it, they began to become indignant with James and John.

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them. And their great men exercise authority over them. And how often in the body of Christ at this hour the word authority is used in the wrong way.

And we get into our heads in the wrong way. Everybody's trying to exercise authority. Meaning from up here to get down over it.

If you want to exercise authority over demons, good. If you want to exercise authority over Satan, good. But don't be exercising authority over people in that way.

If you want to exercise authority in the body of Christ, whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the son of man also came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom from men.

So just take some time to think about it and pray. And then we'll pray as the Lord shows us. Amen.