Faithful in Service

Jan. 15, 2023

Our sermon series we’re in is “Selfless.” You’d probably agree that we live in a self-centered, selfish culture. In a selfish culture, If you’re young, you want to grow up to be the G.O.AT. What is the GOAT? Greatest of all Time. The GOAT: athlete, influencer, etc. That’s if you’re young. As we get older, we realize, “Maybe I won’t be the G.O.A.T. But I want to have the greatest something of all time: something to brag about, greatest vacation, greatest vehicle or something like it.” We get into our senior years, and we stop wanting to be the G.O.A.T.: we’re content to watch the G.O.A.T. on TV!

But we all have a struggle against selfishness. The problem is, if you want to follow Jesus, he taught something that is totally opposed to a self-centered, selfish, self-promoting culture. Jesus said, if you want to follow me, don’t promote yourself. He said you must deny yourself and pick up your cross. In other words, you die to your selfish nature to follow me.

Jesus wasn’t interested in looking great and living the high life. He walked around, teaching about God and serving people who were sick or spiritually off track. Jesus said this in Luke 22:27, “Who is greater, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” If we want to follow Jesus, serving isn’t just something we do. A servant is who we are.

Today we’re going to listen to three stories from Scripture, that speak to the importance of service. We’ll look at people who took serving seriously, to inspire us to serve. Because we are servants! Repeat after me, “I am a servant….of the Most High God!”

How do we become a servant? The first Scripture story we’ll look at teaches you can be a servant because you can bring a lunch. You may have heard of King David. He was King of Israel. How did he get to be so great? You probably have heard the story of how David, who was just a youth, told the Giant goliath, he will accept his challenge and fight him. David used his slingshot and killed Goliath. A lot of us think David became great because he won the battle against Goliath. But David only saw Goliath in the first place because he brought a lunch. David was great because he served: he brought a lunch.

David was the youngest in the family, and his three oldest brothers were serving in the army. David was at home taking care of the sheep. His father told him, Go to your brothers and bring them these loaves of bread and roasted grain. See how your brothers are and bring back news of them. His father knows David wants to be in the army one day. But before you can become a soldier, you bring a lunch to your brothers. First be willing to do an errand, be the delivery boy. Do something that seems insignificant. If you want to be promoted in the kingdom of God, you don’t get there by self-promotion. You get there by being a servant. David teaches us: if you want to be great, what do you do? You serve. If you want to be great, you bring a lunch. It’s a little thing David did. But in God’s eyes, the little things are the big things.

You can also be a servant if you offer a ride. In Jesus’ day, if a king arrived, he might come in on a white horse with flowing robes, a crown on his head, and everybody is so happy to see the king! But just before Jesus would be arrested and crucified, he entered Jerusalem on a donkey! I love donkeys, they have a lot of personality! But we get excited to see horses in a parade, not donkeys. In our culture, if the King of England came to visit Tower City, there would be a stretch limousine, and paparazzi everywhere! But what if instead he came to Tower City on the equivalent of a donkey? King Charles riding on a moped? That would be a “Wa-wa-wa” moment. That’s what it was like, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, and still people got excited! Jesus came as a servant king.

In today’s gospel reading, Luke 19, Jesus tells two of his disciples, I’m gonna need you to get me a donkey. Go find a donkey at the entrance to the next village. If anyone questions you about why you are taking the donkey, say, “The Lord needs it.” Now we don’t know anything about the owner of this donkey. We don’t know if he had just one donkey, or a rent a donkey service with 50 donkeys. But we know he had a servant heart. Notice what he didn’t do when they said, “The Lord needs it.” This donkey had never been ridden before. The owner didn’t say, “Oh, well, I didn’t realize you were asking for my low mileage, never before ridden donkey. This is a high-end donkey. He has upgraded hooves, you know. This is the best of the best; it’s going to cost you a little more.” He didn’t say that. He simply said, “Ok. I’m a servant of the Lord. The Lord can have my donkey.” Can you imagine how amazing it would be to know that your donkey is what Jesus rode into Jerusalem? He said, “Ok!” He served. In God’s eyes, the little things you do are the big things!

How can you make a difference? You can bring a lunch, or you can offer a ride. John 13 tells us another way to serve: you can carry a towel. This is the Last Supper Jesus will eat with his disciples. Jesus knows he is about to suffer and die. He also knows his disciples are hoping for different things than God’s way. They are hoping Jesus will become the King of Israel, and that he won’t suffer. And that they won’t suffer. The disciples would like to be important people in a new kingdom of Israel. They have argued among themselves before about who is the greatest disciple. Peter could say, “Well I got out of the boat and walked on water! I’m the greatest!” John could say, “Yeah but you sank after two steps! I’m the one Jesus loves. I’m the favorite and that makes me the greatest!” The brothers James and John could say, “Our mom already asked that we get the seats on the left and right of Jesus when he is king. So, we are the greatest!” The disciples want to be the G.O.A.T.: the Greatest of All Time.

Jesus knew they had proud hearts, and dirty feet. He came not to be served, but to serve. So, what does Jesus do? He takes off his outer robe, grabs a towel, puts water in a basin, kneels down and washes his disciples’ feet. Now to the disciples, this would have been the most scandalous act of service they had ever seen! Peter says, No Jesus, you’re too great to wash feet!

You may wonder, what is this foot washing about? This was a tradition of hospitality. Just like if you came to my home, I might say, “Have a seat, take your coat off. Can I offer you a drink?” Their version of that was: “Can I wash your feet? You’ve walked a long way and the road is so dusty and muddy.” If you came to my house, I wouldn’t wash your feet or offer you a pedicure. I don’t know how to do that. But washing feet is not something we do for guests.

Back then, a servant would wash the guests’ feet. The host would never wash feet. What Jesus does is look around the room and see proud hearts and dirty feet. He gets down on his knees, takes a towel and a basin and washes feet. Jesus, the king of kings and lord of lord, our redeemer, he takes a bowl, carries a towel, and washes feet. Because Jesus knows the greatest among you is never a self-promoter, he is always a servant. Jesus didn’t come to be served. He came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for sins.

To become great you bring a lunch, your offer a ride, or you carry a towel. In God’s eyes, the little things you do are the big things.

My challenge for you this week is to pray to God, asking him to open your eyes to see a need and meet it. It can be something very small. It wasn’t a big deal for David to bring lunch to his brothers, but serving that way led to greater service. Jesus washing his disciples’ feet seems a little weird to us. But this simple thing he did led his disciples in the future to say, “Oh, I see. It’s not about me and what I want. We’re here to serve.” And because they served, they started the Christian church, and that’s how we all come to hear about Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s love. Their service means we are here together today. And we can pass on their service. Bring a lunch, offer a ride, carry a towel. Service isn’t just an action we do. Service is who we are. We are servants of God Most High! In God’s eyes, the little things you do, are the big things. Amen.