“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 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 20:26-28)
I want to talk to you today about a subject that most of us have never given very much thought to. I want to talk to you about becoming a Servant. It has always been a sign of prestige to be able to hire servants, people who would take care of the concerns of a master, the head of the household. But in the worldly sense, it is not usually considered a very ambitious desire to become a servant. In fact, the world would teach us to do everything in our power to have others to serve us in some way. We think about hiring a housekeeper, a chef, a babysitter, a driver, someone to do our laundry...But then again, the Kingdom of God is not based on the system of the world, and in seeking to become more Christ-like in our walk with Him, He teaches us in these scriptures the principle of servanthood.
Jesus also left us some very practical examples of becoming a servant. In John 13:5-17 He taught the disciples a very basic lesson on servanthood by washing their feet, a job which normally belonged to the servant of the household. When a guest would enter the house, the servant would bring out a basin of water in order to refresh him after a long journey, and welcome him to the master’s household. But here was Jesus, the One they called Master, the One they knew as the Son of God, the Messiah, humbling Himself to perform this demeaning task out of a heart of love for His disciples. Notice verses 13-16 He says, “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.”
Throughout scripture we are taught to esteem others higher than ourselves and not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. If we humble ourselves, then God will exalt us in His time, for the very purposes which He desires to fulfill in our lives. The truth is, in Jesus Christ we are set free to serve! We are no longer held in bondage of the “self” life, but we are called to freedom. We don’t serve because we are required to, but rather because of the love of God, which He has shed abroad in our hearts. That love is our motivation to serve others. If you truly love someone, then you want to serve them.
When we think of the life and attitude of a true servant, his whole purpose in life is only to please his master, and he dedicates himself completely to that cause. He isn’t concerned with receiving honor or glory for himself, but the approval of his master is his reason for being. Our Master is Jesus Christ, so as we seek to serve Him with our lives, we don’t need to look for earthly rewards or recognition. Knowing that our Master is pleased is enough to fill our hearts with joy. So, in what ways do we go about to serving the Lord with our lives?
Jesus told us the law of the New Covenant is love:
1) love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind; and
2) love our neighbor as ourselves. (Luke 10:27)
This is how we please God with our service. To love God as the scripture commands, we must worship Him. John 4:24 tells us, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” We must also obey Him. John 14:15 says, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” In this way we show our complete devotion to Him.
Matthew 25:35-36 gives us some insight as to how we are to love others as ourselves, “For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to me.” And in verse 40, He gives us the true key, the reason we reach to one another with a heart of love, the very motive of a servant’s heart, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” We serve our Master as we serve one another.
Is there victory in being a servant? If we place our hopes on Heaven, when we one day meet our Redeemer, our Master, our Savior face to face, what a blessed day to hear Jesus say to each of us (vs.34), “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Our rewards?? Be assured, if we have lived this life pleasing to the Father, our treasures will be stored for us in Heaven, where neither rust corrodes, nor moth destroys, nor thieves break in to steal.
Let us reach to the height of the task of a servant. There is no greater blessing in all the world. Glory to God!
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