Week 5 Day 4-Service

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DAY 4 – sERVICE—SERVING ONE ANOTHER

²⁴ And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. ²⁷ And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:24-28

    In my office I have a sign that says, “You never know if you are truly the Lord’s servant, until you are treated like one.” I have that sign because I know what it is like to be treated like a hired servant, and I did not always respond well to such treatment.

    Not so for Jesus Christ. Have you ever noticed not only how many times He refers to Himself as a Servant, but also how many times it was prophesied that our Lord would be a Servant? The concept is found in the passage above, but also in Matthew 12:18, in His holy humility of washing the disciples’s feet, in the early church sermons found in Acts 3:13, 3:26, 4:27, and Acts 4:30.

    We have identified that our church’s mission statement is similar to that of Jesus’s own proclamation of “the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.” And yet, Jesus gives another mission statement for Himself in today’s passage which is also found in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” and also seen in Luke 22:27, “For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.”

    Should we as a church not also incorporate that servant like attitude in our corporate body?
                               YES                        or                         NO

    In the introduction, in studying 1 Corinthians 12 (page 87, first full paragraph) as well as yesterday’s study, we looked at Colossians which was divided due to pride. In Galatians 5, Paul addresses another division which led to a lack of corporate service to one another and this division was due to doctrine. The church there had resorted to legalism rather than liberty for the basis of their service. Paul said we indeed should serve one another but out of love and liberty, not legalism through the law.

¹³ For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!     Galatians 5:13-15

At some point, someone from the church will come to you, either
personally or from a pulpit announcement, to ask you to serve in a
certain area of the church. According to the Scripture above,
what should your motivation in service be?

    Whether it is hubris versus humility (found in Colossians) or legalism versus love (found in the Galatian church), we should be motivated to serve for the right reasons. James and John in today’s passage from Matthew 20 wanted to be put at Jesus’s right and left hand in the Kingdom, and even put their own mother up to asking Christ to grant it.

    In the end, James was the first apostle to be killed for the faith, dying a martyr’s death. John was the last to die, having lived a martyr’s life. Jesus asked them if they were willing to drink the cup which He drank and be baptized with the baptism Christ was to be baptized with. They both said yes, but Christ rightly said they did not know what they were asking.

    The question for us today is not to know what we are asking but to know what our answer will be when Christ asks us to serve in His local Body.