The Servant of All

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Will you please open your Bibles with me to the book of Mark, Mark chapter 10.

Mark chapter 10, and we'll be reading verses 35 through 45. Mark chapter 10, verses 35 through 45. The sermon's going to be particularly looking at verses 41 through 45, though. Mark chapter 10. We'll begin the reading at verse 35. If you're using the New King James Pew Bibles provided for you, you should find that on page 894. Mark chapter 10, beginning at verse 35. Brothers and sisters, this is God's word. Let's pay careful attention.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, grant us that we may sit, one on your right hand and the other on your left, in your glory. But Jesus said to them, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to him, we are able. So Jesus said to them, you will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with, you will be baptized.

But to sit on my right hand and on my left, It's not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to himself and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Prayer for Illumination

Well, in the reading of God's Word there, let's pray. Father, we have read Your Word, and we desperately need Your Spirit this morning. Father, we pray that You would enlighten the eyes of our hearts, and that You would teach us what it means to be citizens in Your Kingdom. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Sermon

Well, there's a family who was in the church for decades. They served the congregation for decades. For year after year after year, they poured out their life trying to love others, trying to serve others, trying to care for others, looking for other people's needs. And to be honest with you, they did it most of the time with a smile on their face. But something started to change in their hearts as the decades of service wore on. At home, at times, they would start to complain.

Why aren't other people picking up the slack? Why aren't other people cooking the meals? Why aren't other people doing? Why aren't other people doing? Why aren't other people doing? And what they were trying to say to their spouse and in their own hearts is, I'm getting tired because it's hard to serve. It's hard. When we see the statistics in the church that somewhere between 5 and 15% of the church does about 80% of the ministry in the church. And many Christians will sit there and they'll grieve. They'll grieve because where's the servant hearts in the church?

Jesus is the one who comes in verses 41 through 46 and tells us that he came as king by the royal road of service. He came to be king, and He walked the royal road of service. Jesus taught and showed the way of service, and He is calling you this morning to walk along that same road. Jesus is calling us to love, not just with words, but also with actions. And so, Let's start this journey together looking at the ambition of the 12. Look with me at verses 37 through 41. We looked over most of this story last week.

This is James and John, the sons of Zebedee, they come to Jesus and what do they ask of Jesus? Jesus, we want you to do something for us, right? I told you last week, don't ever let your kids ask you to write a blank check, right? That's not a good way. But they try to get Jesus to do this. Jesus won't do it.

He says, what do you want, boys? And they say, grant us that one of us will sit on your right hand and the other on your left in your kingdom. And Jesus says, you don't know what you're asking. They want these positions of power. They have this selfish ambition to be in places of importance. And Jesus says it's not up to Him to give those seats. And then notice verse 41. This is where we left off in the story last week. Verse 41. And when the ten, the ten other disciples heard of it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.

It's not because they were like, oh man, those self-righteous guys. No, they also wanted these seats of influence. They wanted to be at the right hand and the left hand of Jesus. They became indignant with them because they wanted to be the head honchos in the kingdom. They wanted to be able to sit back and have the servants, have someone come and pour a glass of wine for them and to be able to enjoy the service of others for them. They wanted greatness as well. They wanted to be important.

I need to tell you, I need to warn you, this is actually still a problem amongst disciples and leaders in the church today. One of the things I don't like, and this might sound odd, but I don't actually like talking to a lot of other pastors. I don't. I don't like talking to a lot of other pastors, because especially as I talk to a lot of other pastors, if I haven't met them before, one of the first things they'll ask me is, they won't ask me, hey, how are the men in your church doing?

Hey, how are the mothers in your church doing in this hard time in their life? Almost one of the first things they want to ask is, how many people are in your church? But they want to size themselves up and figure out, how important am I compared to this other leader in the church? How important is my church compared to theirs?

That grieves my heart. It's not about the number of people in the pews, it's about the people growing in their love for Jesus Christ. There's a whole movement around this in the evangelical church, the church growth movement. You can buy books till your eyes bleed and your wallet is empty about how to fill people in your church, but not actually love them. Just getting people there to get them there.

Church leaders, I think this is specifically written, Jesus is specifically talking to them, because there's a danger in the hearts of leaders who are going to be in his church, that if you're going to be my disciples, and he knows he's going to be sending them out as his apostles, they need it to be about serving others, and not about building up their own reputation, their own power, their own numbers, their own following, their own being served.

This is the ambitious heart of his disciples, of all 12 of them. Ambition to be great, especially in the church, is from the heart of self-aggrandizement. That doesn't come from Jesus, but it comes from the pride of Satan. Self-aggrandizement, especially in the church, that pride comes from Satan and not from God.

Jesus points this out, right? How are they behaving? Notice who he points out as an example in verse 42. Notice the ambition of the world. But Jesus He notices. He sees them indignant with each other. He sees this divide. James and John are over here. They're feeling all awkward because they just asked this question and got put in their place by Jesus. And the other ten are mad at them for asking that question.

Jesus says, okay, no, no, no, hold on. We're going to bring them all together. Jesus summons them all together as a group and he talks with them together. And he says to them, you know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles, lord it over them. And their great ones exercise authority over them. He points out to those who are rulers, those who are the great ones in the society. And he tells them that they are the type of people who lord it over them.

We see this all the time. We don't need to keep ourselves in the ancient world, we can just look at the business world today. As people fight with each other to try to get the next promotion, as people try to manipulate and position themselves in the workplace to try to get the better job and to try to get the promotion. We can see it in academia as people bite and devour each other and try to get one up on one another. We see it in sports as people constantly try to play the game of getting on to the better team, even willing to take performance enhancing drugs and cheat for it.

We see it in politicians, don't we? How many lies do you need to consume to realize that the politicians, most of them are out for their own political careers? How many broken promises do we have to swallow down from politicians to realize that many of them are not statesmen, they're politicians. They're about manipulating the system to get their own ends. It's been that way since the beginning, brothers and sisters. Promises to the donors, promises to constituents, smearing their enemies in campaign ads, not because they love you, Lots of times it's just for their own political ends.

Again, this isn't, sadly, when Jesus says this, it's not taken to heart, even in many churches. As people try to jockey their way, I remember being in a in a conversation with someone, it was a sad situation this guy he was an elder in a church and he was telling me what was going on and they're outside of our denomination right but he was telling me about in their church they had a senior pastor and and he had brain cancer and he died he had served the church for 35 years and he had two interns and and these two interns within a month of this senior pastor dying, they started to position themselves. Tried to put themselves in good with different elders and tried to have conversations with people to try to get them to lean their way and vote for one intern or the other intern to become the pastor. And it eventually started ripping the congregation apart because these men were not desiring to minister to the people whose hearts were broken that their pastor just died of brain cancer.

What they wanted was that senior pastor role. They missed it. Guess what? Neither of those men are in the church anymore. Both of them left. because the church recognized that their love for power, their love for that position actually disqualified them from that position. This is the way that the world operates, those who rule over them, and it's because of the pride and the desire of those who rule. Look with me again at verse 42. You know, right? This is a truism.

You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them. And the great ones exercise authority over them. This idea of lord it over them, this idea that they always got to let everybody know who's in charge. You've never had a boss like that, have you? Who always wants to make sure you know what the rankings are. That they're the manager and then there's an assistant manager and you're just a worker. They always gotta know that they're the ones on top, and they're gonna let everyone else know on top.

And children, don't think that this, you don't know this either, because I know of plenty of families that leave an older sibling at home with two or three younger ones, and all of a sudden, the one kid, the oldest kid is put in charge for, it's like 10 minutes, and they're like, mom and dad, put me in charge. And you're gonna listen to me, and you're gonna obey your elders, you understand? Right? This happens even in families. This is a lording it over people. He says, you know that that's how people act.

With self-importance and self-aggrandizement. We see this all the time as leaders build their huge palaces and homes. As leaders will build entire monuments to themselves. Make themselves more important. They'll lord it over others. It's all about their own promotion. It's not just lording it over them. Look at the second part of what Jesus says. The rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them. And their great ones exercise authority over them. Now, the New King James translates that a little bit weakly. It's not strong enough, right? When it says, their great ones exercise authority over them. This isn't just a normal use of exercising authority. This is abusive tyranny. Right? This is despotism. This is using all the power and all the force they have to get their way.

I remember when I was in the Navy, every year we had promotions. You would have a test, and you would have performance reviews, and blah, blah, blah. And then you would wait for the list to come out, and there would be a list of everybody who was promoted. And you dreaded that day, because you knew in a month that someone was going to get a new rank on their collar. And we would say, the Chevron went to their heads. All of a sudden, they went from just being your friend in the shop to being the biggest jerk on the ship.

Because they're going to make sure everybody is listening to them. Because now they have all the rights and privileges of the office. Jesus, that's how the Gentiles do it. They rule over them for their own good. That's what we see in countries that are ruled by tyrants. As they'll starve their people so they can live in luxury. As they strip their own people of freedom and agency so they're able to maintain their own power. As they line their own pockets while their people live in poverty.

Jesus said, that's what the world is like. Verse 33, yet. Yet it shall not be so among. He's saying y'all, but I'm going to say us. It cannot be that way amongst us. Elder Pilling today made mention that we're going to be having an elder election in the beginning of August. If you see in a man those types of qualities that they're hungry for power, hungry for rule, they like to lord things over people. Stay away from that man with a 10-foot pole. It's better for you to write the word no on your ballot than it is to put someone who's power hungry as an elder.

Because they won't be about God's kingdom, they'll be about building their own kingdom. See, Jesus takes the human value structure and he turns it on its head Right? In a society in which Jesus lived, this was expected. That people who had authority were allowed to use that authority at their discretion. And that the people who were subject to them, their duty was to honor those in authority and obey them. But Jesus turns that value structure on its head.

I mean, you know what it's like to Thank the Lord when it's not so amongst you. You know what it's like to have a good boss and what it's like to have a bad boss, don't you? You know what it's like to have a boss who wants to see you develop, who wants to pay you well. I remember hearing of a boss who his workers worked for him well. And at one point, one of the workers, they got sick for a month and a half. They couldn't come into work. And unexpectedly, every week, a check just arrived in the mail. They weren't working anymore, but the boss was still going to care for them. He was going to serve them, even though it was costing him profit.

Caring for somebody was better than lining their own money. Some of the best leaders possible are those who know their people and want to serve them. I remember talking to recently, well not too recently, but a couple years ago, a CEO, I just happened to be in the right environment, where I was talking to a CEO of a large, very large company in Southeast Iowa. And I was talking to the CEO, I just asked him, I said, so what's your favorite part of your job? And it only took him about half a second. He said, I love That I get to care for the families of our workers.

That I get to try to pay them as much as I can. I get to provide as best benefits for them as I can. I get to have all the bargaining against insurance companies to try to get the best healthcare possible for our workers. And I want to see their families taken care of.

And I thought, that's the heart, that's why that man's the CEO. And that's why that company didn't have a huge turnover rate, but a good retention rate, because the leadership started with loving the people. I can speak from my own life, but the man who shared the gospel with me was my boss on the ship. My master chief shared the gospel with me, and even though he was five pay grades higher than I was, would have coffee with me at church. would invite me to his house for Thanksgiving. Forget the fraternization rules, this is my brother in Jesus Christ and I'm having him over to my house because he's a single guy with no one for Christmas. We're having him over.

You know what it's like to be loved by those who are over you. Some of the best pastors and the best elders who I've ever had are those who cared for little children. Those who weren't afraid to get down on their knees and play with kids. Those who invited us to their house even though we, let's face it, we were not the big donors in the church. We were poor college students and they loved us. Elders who showed up and helped us move, not just into the neighborhood, but even helped us pack up our stuff to leave.

I taught, I remember one pastor, I'll just throw out his name because he can complain to me later, but one of the reasons why I ended up at Eastvale for eight years was because my car broke down. And I went to prayer meeting at Eastvale and I talked to Micah for about 30 seconds about my car breaking down. He found out Olivia, my fiancee at the time, was an hour and 15 minutes away.

And he said, well, you could borrow my car. Do you know how to drive stick shift? I said, no. He said, OK, get in the car. I'll teach you. And so he taught me how to drive stick shift in the snow, in the hills of western Pennsylvania. This guy's crazy. And then after half an hour, he threw me the keys and he said, see you on Sunday. Why? Because he saw a need. He saw, okay, yeah, it's going to hurt. We'll go down to a one-car family. But I got this jalopy of a G.O. that I can get, what's the insurance on that, like 25 cents a day or something? You know, that's fine. Just let him take the car and I could serve him and care for him. He didn't know me for more than a week. But he loved our family.

In the Bible we see this, right? Jesus takes these words, right? But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. We see this in the earliest chapters of the church in the book of Acts. It's almost as soon as Pentecost is preached that they have the membership roles and they start figuring out who are the widows, who are those who need food, and they get together a list for how to show mercy. We see them selling all their things, selling the stuff that they have, holding stuff in common so they could care for those in the congregation who have need. The ancient church was known for this, even at times despised for this. As the Romans would go and they would desert their unwanted children in the fields, it was Christians who would go and rescue unwanted babies from the field who had been abandoned by their Roman parents and raise them as our own. It was Christians who would go for days of fasting so they could save up their money and save their food and go and give it to poor people. The stories abound in the ancient church of this. And it continued on for years and years, even in our American context.

Have you ever stopped and wondered why so many hospitals are named Hope? Grace? Providence? Mercy? Because Christians ought to take this seriously. It's not just out there, right? This is the point at which as the toddler pastor amongst you, I just get to gloat. I get to gloat about you and seeing your service. There's some of it that's like historical, right? I mean, I remember reading a history about this congregation when the first pastor of this church, James McDonald, died.

His wife was still a young, well, she's a little bit older lady, but she needed to be cared for. And this church bought her a field and a house to live in and cared for her. This congregation has brought in children before into their homes to care for them.

Many of you have sacrificed for years upon years, decades upon decades, teaching little children. Just this past week you proved that you know these words are true as many of you gave up not just one day but two days, some of you multiple days to sacrifice for people you don't even know. Babysitting their kids, feeding their little ones, setting things up and just trying to love people.

I see and my heart rejoices after we have a fellowship meal every time when nobody asks you all, but all of a sudden I start seeing people wiping down tables and sweeping floors and cleaning things up. It brings joy to my heart to see you serve others for Jesus's glory. Many of you do these things and they're not even done where people can see them. Many of you are humble in your service, and you do things that people don't even see. Serving people, giving people rides, giving people food, giving people cards of care, calling people when they're not here, texting people words of encouragement, when nobody else is going to see it, but just because you want to love others.

This is what Jesus is talking about here. He's talking about visiting nursing homes and bringing meals to sick, writing cards and praying with others. Because this is what Jesus is talking about when he says, whoever, verse 44, and whoever of you desires to be first of all shall be slave of all. But see, Jesus wasn't just preaching it, Jesus was living it. Verse 45, Jesus speaks to his disciples, those who are about to be the leaders of the church, and he tells them that he's going to do it himself. Look with me at verse 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. Jesus came as a Son of Man. Right? This is, if you want to go home and have fun doing some Bible research context, go read Deuteronomy, or sorry, Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7, Jesus is saying, I am the Son of Man. I am the King who is going to come. I am the One who is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And you know what? I didn't come to be served. But I came to be served.

Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. The Apostle Paul would write these words. Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made of himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus came. He was pre-incarnate. He was the commander of the armies of heaven. And he humbled himself. And he served. Jesus came, not just to have people think he was awesome. But the Lord of Lords came and he touched leopards, lepers. I don't think he touched leopards, lepers. The Prince of Peace came and he fed hungry people. The Lord of Glory appeared And He wept with those who wept and mourned with those who mourned. And the Eternal Son of God placed His hands upon the blind and gave them their sight back. See, Jesus wasn't just going to talk the talk.

He was going to walk the walk. He was going to serve. But His service would go far beyond what His disciples would. See, He's calling them to service, but Jesus was going to show them the end of His service. Look at the very last part of verse 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. Jesus would come and serve to the point of death, even death on a cross. He would come and serve.

This is why we had to read Isaiah 52 verse 12. Because it is Jesus who is the Great Servant who is prophesied in Isaiah 52 and 53. It was Jesus who would go and give of His own life to be a ransom, to redeem His people, to buy them from their sin and death, from the wrath of God. Ephesians 1-7 says, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.

And in Galatians 3.13, it says, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. This word here, where it says he's going to be a ransom, is the price paid for redemption. First Peter will tell us that you have been redeemed not with gold and silver or any any perishing thing, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was going to show his service, even in dying for you. Jesus, as your Lord, he loves you. He's no tyrant. He doesn't lord his authority over you, but he cares for you. He shepherds you. See, when we understand the gospel nature of what Jesus is saying here, that He's the one who's going to show them this pattern, and that it's a royal road of love and of service, of humility, then we understand that our good works were never about redeeming ourselves.

But our good works are because we love like Jesus loved. We love the orphan and the widow because Jesus has loved us. We serve and love children because Jesus has loved and served children. We clean tables because Jesus is our example. We sweep floors because Jesus has loved us. We give money to the poor because Jesus has loved us. We sacrifice for others because of what Jesus has done for us. Jesus has loved you and Jesus does love you. What is the response to that type of leadership? Love others. Love others.

So as you walk out of here today, I'm going to give you a challenge this week. Go ahead, you can even write it on the backside of your notes and underneath the prayer items. Just put Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And every day, When you wake up, tuck this into your Bible, that's assuming you're gonna read your Bible every day, put it somewhere, staple it to your forehead, I don't know, put it somewhere you're gonna have it every day, and ask yourself, what act of selfless love can I do for another person today?

Closing Prayer

Because Jesus has loved me. We must cultivate in our hearts a love for Jesus Christ that spills out into good works of loving others. Jesus laid that pattern for us. May we have the Holy Spirit to go and actually live these words of loving others. Let's pray. Father, you have redeemed us. You have paid the ransom price. Father, please let us Be those who would serve others. We need your spirit to do this, Lord. It's easy to serve others out of selfishness. It's easy to deceive ourselves. It's also easy to grow weary. God, we pray that your spirit might renew our strength. That you would open our eyes to see the needs around us. And that we would be those who would serve others. that we would truly love from a heart of gratefulness, of humility, and of gratitude.

We pray these things in Jesus's name. Amen. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural Southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.