Sermons
A Message by the Rev. Harvey G. Throop
Palisades Presbyterian Church
San Diego, California
September 27 , 2009
Be A Servant!
(Matthew 20:20-28)
“…whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.”
(Matthew 20:26)
Every now and then, it might be a good idea if each of us were to sit back and give ourselves a self-examination of the heart. How useful it could be to read our heart's motives as God reads them.
I will be the first to confess that my relationship with God is frequently more selfish than it is Christ-like. I find that oftentimes, I am trying to use God, and not let God use me. Frequently, when I play back my own prayers, they come out, "Father, not what you will, but what I will be done."
What about you? When you play back your prayers, do you find evidence that you also are always trying to use God as a means toward your own ends, rather than offering your lives as a means towards God's ends?
Or what about our confession of Jesus Christ? Do we confess Christ as our Savior primarily for what is in it for us? By confessing Christ, we are promised the forgiveness of our sins, reconciliation with God, a reserved place in heaven, and a very rewarding final judgment for any good we may have done. With such benefits as these guaranteed, we would be fools not to confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord! But our confessions, sincere as we may have felt at the time, could have come out of sheer selfishness.
In the Gospel of Mark (Mark 10:35-40), it is recorded that James and John asked Jesus if they could sit at his right hand and left hand when the Kingdom of God was established. In Matthew, it is the mother of these brothers who asked that her sons be given the choice positions in the Kingdom. Apparently, Matthew did not want James and John to seem guilty of worldly ambitions, so he put the request with the mother.
In that day, the emperor, as head of a kingdom, had ranks. One man would sit on his right hand and another on his left. The man on the right was second in power; the one on the left was third in power.
We have no room to criticize James and John for looking out for themselves first. None of us is particularly pure in either our religious or our political motives. We like to occupy the "chief places" -- whatever the kingdom might be.
During television news conferences covering some news-breaking story, the governor or the mayor or fire chief or police chief will be speaking. And behind them are their subordinates all trying to crowd in behind them, squeezing themselves into the picture as if that will reinforce their position or importance. It's almost laughable, at times.
Well, that's what James and John were doing here. Jesus is at the center and James and John are trying to squeeze into the picture. As these two men thought of Christ's Kingdom in earthly terms, they acted upon their human nature to want the best seats in the house. Don't most of us tend to size up most situations by asking, "What's in it for me?"
Several generations have been brought up with a theology that if you buy into the Christian faith and give yourself to Christ, you will be a winning athlete, have success in business, have a great marriage, thrive on peace of mind and prosper in every way.
Some would justify this self-serving theology by quoting such biblical texts as, "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing" (Malachi 3:10).
Some people give to God only so that God will prosper them all the more. Others will distort Jesus' words, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all the things you ever want will be yours." They do certain religious things, prompted by God's promise that everything they ever need will be provided for them. Such folks need to be honest with God and confess that they are seeking to use God as a means toward their own ends.
When their faith is distorted, some people seek God so that God might serve them as the Great Physician and make them well. Some people, when they get into a financial crunch, will turn zealously to God with the subconscious motive that God will bring them some kind of a windfall. They will say a prayer like: "O.K., God, Super Lotto is up to $30 million this week. Let me win and I promise you a piece of the action!" The distressed person may seek out God only for that peace of mind that surpasses our human understanding. All of these persons are trying to use God -- and never give a thought to letting God use them.
Much of the time we turn to Christ not for Christ's sake, but for our own sake, and when he has served our purpose, we dismiss him until we need another "service call."
When we feel guilty about some sin, we may turn to God for his promised forgiveness. But if the only reason we turn to God is to receive his mercy, our motive is sheer selfishness. It is an attempt to use God as a means toward our ends -- with no thought of God's ends. God pardons and saves us not for privilege but for service.
The Bible reminds us that we are saved to serve -- not to be served. As faithful Christians, we must never try to make God a means toward our ends. We need always to pray that bold and daring prayer that Jesus prayed, "Father, not what I want, but whatever you want."
The mother of the two disciples wanted to get her sons special places of privilege in the kingdom. She was a good and religious person, but she was less concerned with serving God than with getting God to serve her motherly wishes. Seeing her selfish ends, Jesus reminded the mother and her sons that it is the person who serves, not the one who is served, who is the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus reminded them, "Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve -- to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).
Jesus served. He fed the hungry masses, healed the lame and sick, comforted the grieving, and redeemed the lost. He came to be servant Lord. No one had ever heard of such a thing before. Lords demand to be served. They would never consider being butlers, maids or porters. And yet, our Lord came to serve, not to be served.
In the Christian assessment, service is the badge of greatness. Greatness consists of doing things for others. The greater the service, the greater the honor. Jesus teaches us, "If you want to be great, be a servant." This is where Christianity is so different, so revolutionary -- the complete reversal of the world's standards.
Who was the greatest person in Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan? It wasn't the priest or the Levite, who were the good religious persons dedicated to the temple and its liturgy. The priest and the Levite knew the scriptures in great detail. They could pray the most beautiful prayers. Tithing was routine with them. Yet, when they came face to face with the opportunity to put their religion into practice, they crossed over to the other side of the road.
Many in the church today have a form of goodness, but that's all it is. Christianity, on the other hand, is a religion of action, of unselfish service.
The great one in Jesus' story was the Samaritan, who was willing to get involved, spend his money, and run liability risks to serve a foreign person -- one that his own people would not speak to or have anything to do with.
The very first words of Jesus in scripture were these, "I must be about my Father's business" (see Luke 2:49). Scripture tells us that Jesus laid aside all the powers and glories of heaven to come here to serve and to save sinners.
I think of an article in the obituary section of the paper that appeared some time ago about a man who carried a little can of 3 in 1 oil with him wherever he went. If he passed a door with squeaky hinges, he put a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he poured a little oil upon the latch. Every day he found a variety of ways to use his pocket oilcan.
His neighbors may have thought he was a bit eccentric, but he went on his way, doing all within his power to lubricate the hard places and to make life easier and more enjoyable for others.
Do we carry with us the oil of human kindness, so that God can use us as the means toward his ends -- to lubricate the hard places and make life better for others? You must be willing to be a servant if you want to amount to anything in the kingdom of God.
I think I hear Jesus saying, "As I have served you, even so you should serve one another.” You are saved to serve. You are the means by which God reconciles neighbors to one another and the world to himself. Whatever you do to help another person, you do for me. When you give yourself to be the means toward God's ends, you will find both God and yourself. .
Society assesses a person's greatness by the number of support people in his or her employ; by one's academic eminence; by the number of boards or committees of which one is a member; or the size of one's bank account and holdings.
In the assessment of Jesus Christ, however, all these things are trivial. Christ's assessment is very simple: how many people have you helped? How have you given yourself to be the means by which God can continue to do what he wants to do?
