Service

 

Text: Matthew 20:28

Proposition: How did Jesus serve?

Service is a popular topic right now. President Obama has called on Americans to do more service for one another. I hope he succeeds in getting people to serve one another. It would be nice if he could do it without government funding. This morning we want to look at Jesus. He is the greatest example of service. Many of the things he did were where people didn’t see the good that he did. He has influenced more people in history than anyone. Five hundred years from now, most people probably won’t know who Barak Obama was, but the name of Jesus will still be known all over the world. This is because of the service that he did while on earth. It wasn’t because he led powerful armies and conquered foreign lands. It wasn’t because he was a great inventor. It wasn’t because he was a great politician. It wasn’t because he wrote great works of literature. It wasn’t because of the great speeches he made, but because his speech matched his life of service.

I.                    Without a show

II.                 He denied himself

III.               How can we serve

I.                    Without a show (Why did Jesus serve others secretly?)

A.     Jesus served others without a show

1.      Mark 1:40-45

2.      Matthew 9:27-30

3.      Mark 5:22-23 and 35-43

B.     He wasn’t healing people to be noticed by men.

1. Matthew 6:1-4

2.      Jesus wasn’t a showman. He was healing people because he cared for them and wanted to help them.

3.      Jesus healed a leprous man. He gave sight to two blind men, and he raised a girl from the dead and told them not to tell anyone.

4.      Jesus wasn’t healing people so that he could get his name in the newspaper or be on TV. He wasn’t doing photo ops (photograph opportunity) like a politician. 

C.     We should serve others without a show

1.      If people find out the good things we do there is not much we can do about that.

2.      I Timothy 5:24-25

3.      If we do bad things people find out. If we do good they usually find out also, but we need to do good not so that people find out the great things we do, but to please our father in heaven. He will repay us for the good we do.

II.                 He denied himself. (How did Jesus deny himself?)

A. He didn’t give in to lust

1.      Matthew 4:1-10

2.      Jesus denied himself. He didn’t let his hunger for food cause him to sin. He didn’t give in to Satan and sin because he hadn’t eaten for forty days.

a.       Many people would justify sin so that they could eat. Stealing food is wrong even if you are hungry.

b.      Proverbs 6:30-31

c.       Being a prostitute is still sin, even if you are doing it to feed your children. Selling drugs is still wrong even if you are doing it to feed your family.

d.      Making a habit of forsaking the assembly is still sin even if you are working to pay your bills

3.      He didn’t give in to the boastful pride of life. 

a.       He didn’t have to prove to Satan that He was important and that he was the Son of God.

b.      Jesus wasn’t going to test God to show Satan that he was important.

c.       He wasn’t going to bow to Satan to be able to rule over the kingdoms of the world

4.      He didn’t give in to the lust of the eyes

a.       He saw all the kingdoms of the world. He didn’t bow to Satan so that he could rule over them.

b.      He wasn’t like Adam and Eve. He didn’t let food tempt Him into sinning.

B. Self denial is what we must do in order to serve other people.

1. If I am going to serve other people I have to deny myself. Serving others       means I am going to have to give up something I want and give it to someone else.

2.            I must be willing to give up my time, money, or possessions to serve other people.

3.            Self-denial isn’t always fun. Sometimes it is. It is fun to do things for other people. It is fun to give things away.

4.            Acts 20:35

5.            Cyrus and Ariel made some birthday presents for me. Cyrus made me a paper tray. He said all the scratch paper on your desk is a mess and I thought you needed something to keep it together.

6.            Christmas time is coming. People are out buying gifts for their friends and family. I am not as excited about opening gifts as I was when I was young. I would almost rather not get some gifts. I have more stuff than I need already, but it is fun to get things for other people.

7.            He was humble

a.       John 13:1-15

b.      Jesus was the greatest among them

c.       The apostles didn’t want to wash feet they were important. They were going to be on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28)

d.      Washing feet was a dirty job for servants. Jesus gave them a lesson on being a humble servant.

C. Jesus was compassionate

1. Mark 8:1-7

a.       Jesus wasn’t worried about if he was going to have enough to eat. He wanted to feed the people. He knew He could provide for the people. He fed them before they went home.

b.      Sharing food is enjoyable. People rich and poor like to share food.

c.       My neighbor across the street likes to keep track of what is going on in the neighborhood. She said to me one day, “You have had a lot of company lately. How can you afford to feed those people?” I said, “We have lots of food. We can eat pretty cheap.”

d.      God can multiply. He gives us so much.

e.       I have a friend who loves to fish and hunt. He brought us a cooler full of catfish one evening. He brought a bucketful of white bass and crappie another time. We had several fish fries from what he brought. It was all free. We have a garden that lets us eat cheap also.

f.        God provides for us when we are willing to serve others.

2. Jesus had compassion on the widow at Nain.

a.       Luke 7:11-15

b.      This woman needed help. She was a widow already and now her son was dead. She had no means of support. Jesus stopped the funeral and raised her son from the dead. He was compassionate.

D.     He gave his life

1.      Matthew 10:35-45

2.      James and John were ready to be rulers, but they weren’t ready to be servants. They wanted to sit on thrones. Jesus came to be a servant. He was going to give everything he had. He gave his life. So that we can be forgiven of our sin. He came to serve others.

III.               How can we serve

A. Work

1. I Timothy 4:11-12

2.Work so that we won’t be in need and we can share with others

3.      "A rich man sent his servant to the marketplace, and there the servant came upon a beggar. The beggar fell to his knees and cried out, "Please sir, might you spare some of your master's money so that I might have a bite to eat?" The servant replied, "What have you done for my master that you should be given some of my master's money? Is there no good that you can do in the world that you must grovel at my feet and beg??" The servant walked away giving the beggar nothing, for the servant had nothing of his own to give. But the beggar followed the servant to the rich man's home. He began working in the master's fields for free. He weeded the fields. He planted the seeds. He watered and pruned the vines. He gathered the grapes at harvest time, and pressed the grapes into wine. When the rich man heard about what the beggar was doing, he sent his servant to bring the beggar to him. "What shall I do with the beggar?", the servant asked. The rich man replied, "He is no longer a beggar, but is my son. Bring him into my home, he shall eat with me!"
------ "The Beggar's Lesson", unknown source; this version comes thanks to Lynn Tracci.(e-sword)

4.      Ephesians 4:28, Working provides for you and people in need

B. Serve where you are

1.      Jesus served people wherever he was. He was always on a mission trip. He didn’t wait for a special mission trip to serve people. He found people who needed something where he was.

2.      He didn’t wait for the Ladies Aid Society or some other organization to decide who they were going to help. He didn’t wait until he had enough people to sponsor his dream mission. He helped people where he was.

3.      Serve your neighbors. Serve your family. Deny yourself and do the dishes for your wife once in a while.

4.      Take a meal to someone who just got out of the hospital.

5.      Make people feel like you care. Learn their names. Learn the names of their children. Take time to listen.

6.      Tell people the gospel message. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. That is why Jesus served. He wanted to tell them the most important thing he had to offer. It wasn’t that they were healed from their disease or they got a free meal. It was that he came that they might have life and have it abundantly. Tell them they can have life and have it abundantly. Tell them about believing in Jesus as the Son of God. Tell them about repentance of sin and confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in their heart Jesus was raised from the dead. Then tell them of being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

We are to be servants. Jesus came to serve.

Philippians 2:1-9

We are here to serve. Serve others even if you won’t receive the recognition you want or the appreciation you want. A servant serves because that is his duty. (Luke 17:10) Our Master in heaven will make sure we are repaid for our service. If we are serving only for the recognition of men that is our reward. Serve to please our Master in heaven