The Heart of A Servant!

I would like you to imagine with me what the resume of a servant would look like in the kingdom of God.

Education – Community Service of Lifelong Learning

Degree – B.SK - Becoming A Servant of the King

Graduation Date – Rapture!

Experience – foot washing, devotion to prayer

Reference – Jesus!

Gary Thomas in his book, Beautiful Fight, tells how the Creator is eager to ‘splash His glory’on us. All too easily church can become defined or structured around discussing issues, praying about needs and being inspired by good teaching. But as we have been learning to be turned inside out, nothing can replace discovering ways in which we can ‘enflesh’ by living out and applying the stretching truths of our faith.

Authentic service is found in the depths of a love relationship with our Savior Jesus. The desire to serve comes from listening to His voice, His prompting and urging on to follow. It is not interested in being put on display for all to see. It doesn’t fear being noticed, but doesn’t seek it out. It is the heart of a prayer warrior completely closed in to God desperately seeking His glory and kingdom. It is completely free from the need to track results and simply responds in faithfulness.

Learning To Live on the Back Burner!

Luke 9:23 ‘if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up His cross and follow me.

To deny ourselves sounds more like depriving ourselves of what is rightfully ours in today’s culture. Each of us subconsciously takes the ‘greatness quiz’ everyday. The question is this, ‘Will I demand my own way or will I depend on someone else?’ That is the question that we face, ‘do I demand my rights or do I depend on God to look after me.’

In Mark 17:1 we read, “God helps those who help themselves”….OK, so that is not in the Bible, but how easily we default to this kind of mentality. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to demand your own way. It really does seem that those who are the most demanding get the quickest results. Watch this happen in a restaurant when you demand that you order be changed. Most of the time the waiter will rush to your aid and make things right and if you are lucky if you sound upset enough that they got your ‘order’ wrong, well, hey, you may not have to pay. You just might be really good at ‘demanding,’ but here’s the truth, you can’t demand the most important things in life. We can’t demand that we will be joyful or that we will never get sick or demand that a relationship must work.

So, does denying ourselves mean that we never demand anything? No, it just means that we demand for others what they have every right to for themselves, things like clean water, education, a hope and a future. I learn to lay down and deny what is often more than enough for me for the sake of others. I learn to put the needs of others on the front burner of my life.

In Mark 9:35, Jesus uses the example of welcoming children in His name as an act of servanthood. We learn from children is that they are dependent. They know that they cannot do things on their own and they are alright with that arrangement. Jesus wants us to approach life the same way and depend on Him for all of our needs. Matthew 18:3 teaches us to become like children. To live with childlike faith is an attitude of humility. It is also an attitude of ambition because children know how to dream big! Humility and denying ourselves doesn’t mean letting go of ambition, it just recognizes where the plan originates and where it will be fulfilled and that is in God’s will and His perfect sense of timing. I don’t have to get stressed out to think that I have missed the opportunity. I just know He will make me ready at the opportune time!

Learning Not To Be Noticed but to Notice

Matthew 23:5-7

A phylactery was a little box that was worn on the head and inside it contained Scripture verses. The tradition grew out of their desire to carry God’s Word wherever they went based on the ‘shema’ as given in Deuteronomy 6. Well, it became a status symbol after a while to show how much Scripture was ‘on your mind’ and a symbol of how spiritual you were.

Do we have the same issues? How could we get caught up in this same type of madness? It happens as we become more enamored with the amount of ‘meetings’ we attend, the more ‘teaching’ that we receive, the amount of our service. If it is about others noticing just ‘how much’ I am doing then it will never last. We just have to keep bringing ourselves back to the truth that God will notice, He understands and sees. He will look after us and ultimately the greatest affirmation we could ever hope for is that one day He will tell us, ‘well done good and faithful servant’.

It is a deliberate choice on our part that we choose to notice other’s needs. You may not get everything done on your ‘to-do list’ this day because you decided to pick up the phone and call a friend in need.

I watched a movie this week based on the life of Mother Teresa and once again was reminded of what real service is. She refused to take no for an answer when it was the lives of the children, the sick and the dying in her care. She once said, “We have an opportunity to love others as he loves us, not in the big things, but in small things with great love.”

Learning to be free from the ‘comparison game’

a. in service

In Matthew 20 we are told a very interesting story by Jesus. He calls people throughout various times during the day from early in the morning till the 11^th hour. Practically speaking that means that some got on the job at 6am and there were still workers being hired at 5pm! So, at the end of the day, the owner does the unexpected and he pays them all the same amount.

Our natural reaction to a story to this if we are really honest with ourselves is injustice. However, it is a huge lesson in learning to be thankful for even the realization that God has called me to serve in his vineyard and the fact that He wants to use me is an amazing reward in and of itself. Don’t worry about how much or how little you feel others are serving and the recognition they are receiving for it.

b. in life

2 Corinthians 10:12 - Paul is just plain and clear here – compare ourselves with ourselves is not wise!

We can so easily give in to comparison and we start thinking to ourselves…hmmn, I wonder where I stand? Am I behind, am I ahead or just keeping up. We can easily look at what others have and think well, I should be entitled to that too. It happens when we look at relationships and think, well, he seems more attentive than my husband or she encourages me more than my wife does. We look at someone else’s children and think what is wrong with my children. We have something good and the enemy just loves to get in there and make you feel inadequate and compare the joy right out of our lives till we’re just plain miserable. The fact is maybe you have a rose coloured stain glassed view of other parents or people. You haven’t been in their home, you haven’t seen their latest and greatest fight or for that matter you have yet to see what happens to their kids when they are on a sugar high!!

If there is something to boast about, boast about the Lord and what He is teaching you. Imagine if we could just do that by saying ‘I felt so defeated this week and then God spoke so powerfully through His Word to me that even when He knows my folly, my guilt, He answered me out of the goodness of His love. I feel free to serve again with a pure heart.

Fred S. has come in on occasion and has shared with me his thoughts from his journal. He comes in to see if he is doing it right and I have a laugh. He is really sincere and the realization is that it is so right when it is done with God as our intended audience and no one else. I don’t think he realizes how rewarding it is for me just to hear how God is speaking to his heart.

Moving from default to dependence

Matthew 18:9-14

No one ever sets out to be a ‘Pharisee’ in their approach to the Christian life so that is why we better keep paying attention to our own prayer life. If it starting to sound self-absorbed then we need to put ‘self’ in it’s place! There is prayer that keeps self on the throne and there is prayer that places self at the foot of the throne and that is where the tax collector was and were we need to be. What are the other warning signs that we are coasting into default:

You become confident in yourself

You become less patient with others

You become content to look the part rather than living it out.

The opposite is true for those in dependence mode – just flip those statements.

We come full circle with Jesus example of the life of a servant in humility in Philippians 2:1-11

Jesus didn’t demand His rights, He taught us how to depend on the Father and let Him lift you up in His time.

Humility is not thinking less of myself;

It is thinking more of others.

Humility is not putting myself down;

It is lifting God up.

Humility is not denying my strengths;

It is being openly honest about my weaknesses.

Humility is seeing without Christ I can do nothing,

But in Christ I can do all things! Tom Holladay

The Ministry of A Servant

1 Peter 4:7-11

PRAY WITH FOCUS

- be clear minded – get away from all the distractions, the defeating thoughts, the feelings of hopelessness. Concentrate on the goal – to become more like Him!

- be self controlled – be patient and wait on Him. Don’t give into selfish tendencies, rely completely on his power to provide, refuse to take matters into your own hands and be a ‘do it yourselfer’!

LOVE EACH OTHER DEEPLY

Loving each other deeply is a spontaneous awareness of needs. My brother Lloyd is the most spontaneous brother I have and a great risk taker. He doesn’t like to stay in one place too long and God is using powerfully as he has been ministering on a short term project over the past six weeks in India and now South Africa. The deed doesn’t matter either here whether it is cleaning toilets or spending time with Seniors. It all comes back to putting our faith in action.

It is also the service of listening – this is what takes place after you people over, stop running around and visit! Listening is also refusing to jump in and offer advice unless asked.

USE YOUR GOD GIVEN GIFTS TO SERVE!! 1 Peter 4:10 ‘faithfully administer God’s grace in its various forms.

It is the type of service which will bring longevity and where the energy comes from the power of the Spirit not the flesh because one is being led by the promptings. True service will draw others, it will strengthen, heal and build this body of believers!!

I believe wholeheartedly also that if God is calling you to do something and you don’t feel gifted or ready, then that is the best opportunity for God to work and move… so get out of the way and let Him use you!

SPEAK THE VERY WORDS OF GOD Simply just start sharing the Word with one another

SERVE WITH THE STRENGTH GOD PROVIDES

It is not a list of things to do, but rather a process of discovery where God leads us to those things he calls us to follow through on so that He may receive the praise and the glory.

When we make the decision to serve, we have let go of the steering wheel of control.

What is service? Some would think it is a process where I jump through the right hoops to get the attention I deserve. It’s about my ministry getting the attention and profile it deserves. True service is about being real. My son Jordan had a stuffed animal, called ‘Bark, Bark’. One of my students in a previous ministry, Wendy Larsen, gave it to him –it was more often than not the one that always ended up in his bed. BB is real, he’s been through the wash quite a few times and he is pretty worn, but he is loved. It isn’t about how he’s been made, (he didn’t have cool sounds and he didn’t transform). However, he transformed in the eyes of the one who loved him…man even I liked Bark, Bark! When we are transformed by God, others will notice for all the right reasons…a life being changed more and more into the likeness of the selfless Jesus.

The Takeaway:

Service is about being used for His glory, not mine. It is picking up the towel in a ministry that comes from an unmistakable inner urging of the Spirit that cannot be denied.

Questions For Discussion

What is Jesus whispering in your ear? Do you recognize it?

Follow His voice passionately… Jesus wants to give you life to the full. To serve is to lay down your life and find His life in you.

What ambition can I give to God this week?

Whose need must I begin to notice this week?

Have I started to make faith a do-it yourself burden?