During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Piccadilly Circus after the war. He said, first would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky. Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner's caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, 'And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?' And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, 'We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal. "
Isn’t it always the case? The big guys get all the glory and the little guys are often ignored or even ridiculed. We bring the same worldly understanding when it comes to ministry and serving God. We carry certain wrong notions about ministry. We tend to think that ministry is only done by highly gifted people and it has to be done in public, such as public preaching, singing, music, dance, drama etc. No doubt there is a place for public ministry. But where did we get the notion that ministry has to be glamorous? Isn’t it true that more often than usual the church’s mission is accomplished by people with their "faces to the coal" It is not the mega stars, but the unsung heroes who work tirelessly behind the scenes. In God’s service there is no one insignificant and no job is too small. Every one has a role to play and every small act counts in building the Church. What role do you play in our Church?
Where do we draw our inspiration from for service, none other than our servant King Jesus, who modeled a different style of leadership? Let’s look at what the Bible says about servant hood. What does it mean to serve God? What are the practical ways to get involved in our Church and community?
I. THE BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING OF SERVANT HOOD.
In our post modern world the word servant is not a glamorous word. It doesn’t always carry a positive connotation. It is often associated with slavery and oppression. Most people would rather be leaders but would they want to be servants? Yet throughout the Bible we have numerous examples of men and women who understood their role and life’s calling as the servants of the most high God. What is your understanding of servant hood?
When God delivered the children of Israel from their slavery what was his primary reason? We find the answer in the message he had asked Moses to deliver to Pharaoh. “Let my people go that they may serve me.” (Exodus 9:1) What did God require of Israel? In Deut 10:12-13, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” What does he require from us today? It is not that we are doing a big favor to God by serving him, in actuality as the scriptures suggest, serving God is “for our own good.” (Vs 13)
Joshua in his farewell speech challenged the Israelites with these words “Fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness.” We hear him say these famous words in Joshua 24:15, “But as for me and my household we will serve the LORD,” In other words Joshua was saying, even if all Israel had failed to serve God, I and my household are determined to serve God only and not all the idols that the Israelites were blindly running after.
In the New Testament the apostles saw themselves as servants of God. One of them was the Apostle Paul. The most learned of them all, he wrote thirteen books of the Bible. He didn’t see himself as a scholar rather called himself a “bond servant of Christ” Romans 1:1, Titus 1:1, which literally means “a slave of Christ”, A slave of Christ? For some people this may be unthinkable.
II. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SERVE GOD?
Before we answer that question let’s look at the meaning of the word servant. In Old English the word servant is used for a domestic worker. A domestic worker is someone who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping. Responsibilities may also include cooking, doing laundry and ironing, food shopping and other household errands."
The word servant" in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms.
Both these words denote a man who is not at his own disposal, but is his master's purchased property. Bought to serve his master's needs, to wait on his master’s call every moment, the slave's sole business is to do as he is told. As slaves did not have rights, how about us now that we belong to Him? We are not our own we have been bought by a price.(I Cor 6:19-20).
The Apostle Paul reminded the Roman believers that once they were slaves to sin, but now they were set free from sin and have become slaves to God.” Romans 6:22. Therefore Christian service means, first and foremost, living out a slave relationship to one's Savior. We surrender our lives to God; we will make Jesus as LORD of our lives. I realized when I gave my life to God I became his slave. I am his bond slave which means I forgo all my rights. I learn to say Lord not my will but let your will be done. If Paul saw himself as a slave of Christ, how do you to look at yourself? We have an open invitation from Paul to imitate him (I Cor 4:16) In fact he urges us to follow his example as he followed Christ’ example. (I Cor 11:1)
III. HOW CAN WE PRACTICALLY SERVE GOD?
In India it is popularly said, “Manav seva, Prabhu seva–Serving man is serving God,” There is some truth in it. But they take it to another extreme thinking that by serving people they can obtain salvation. Where as in Christianity we don’t serve people in order to get saved but because of it. Jesus placed a great value in serving people by being kind and caring to them. He indirectly attributed, when we serve people in one way we are serving Him. In Matthew 25 we read, how God would separate people as a shepherd would separate sheep from goats. The King will send people either to heaven or hell based on what they have done or not done to the poor and the needy. He tells the righteous, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, and you did for me.” When we serve people we won’t loose our reward.
You see me serving as a Pastor, sharing God’s word each Sunday from the pulpit, but that was not how I began my ministry. As a young Christian I wanted to serve God, but I didn’t know how. I went to my pastor and asked him if there was any way I could serve God; he gave me an opportunity to serve in the Church. My job was to lay the mats on the floor, placing the song books and collecting them back after Sunday service. That was my introduction to serve God. In YWAM I did all kinds of manual jobs including cleaning toilets. Some of you want to serve God, but you are looking for great opportunities of ministry to fall down from heaven. It doesn’t work that way. Don’t wait for great doors to open up for ministry. You can start today. Begin small, find something useful to do in the Church. As you are faithful in little things God can entrust you with bigger responsibilities.
All of us have equal opportunities to serve God. If you are looking for opportunities to serve in the Church you may want to consider helping in any one of these areas. Our church can certainly benefit by your voluntary service. We need, greeters, ushers, nursery workers, Sunday school teachers, help with sound system and computers, creating church bulletins, power point, singers and musicians, youth workers, help with hospitality, kitchen and Sunday refreshments, outreach events, Good news club, maintenance tasks, lawn mowing, gardening, once the winter begins, help with plowing the snow, cleaning the parking lot.
As the saying goes, “where there is a will there is a way” If you have a desire to serve we can find you something to serve. I am aware that many in our Church voluntarily give many hours of their time to serve in the Church, but others I believe need to take the encouragement from the scriptures and start getting involved.
If you are a follower of Christ you can’t just sit on the fence and watch others do all the work. There are no spectators in the Kingdom of God. If our master and Lord worked and served are we expected to anything less? Gal 5:13, tells us, “to serve one another in Love” How can we do that?
IV. HOW DID CHRIST MODEL SERVANT HOOD?
We have a great example in our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus preached, and lived out a different kind of authority and showed a different way to become great. He condemned the so called popular way of becoming great by these words, in Mark 10:41-45, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus is showing us a way how to become a leader. He is insisting that any one who wants to become great in life or a great leader they must become servants first. How many so called Leadership development institutes and pundits would promote this style of leadership? Let me share an illustration on servant leadership:
During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. Their leader was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, "Sir, I am a corporal!"
The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." It was none other than George Washington. What humility for a world class leader?
In closing let’s look at how Christ modeled servant hood. Let me highlight a few verses from John 13th Chapter. Do you remember the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples? It took place towards the end of Jesus’ mission on earth. Jesus was fully aware where he came from and where he was going. He also knew that the father had given him the power over all things. He got up from the meal, took of his outer garments, wrapped a towel around his waist began to wash the feet of the disciples and dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him. It required humility for Jesus to wash the feet of his disciples.
To this astonished group of disciples he said, John 13:12-17, “Do you understand what I have done for you? He asked them. You call me teacher and Lord and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth; no servant is greater than his master… Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.(John 13:12-17).
Serving God is indeed a great blessing for us. What is that blessing? In John 12:26, he said, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and wherever I am my servant also will be. My father will honor the one who serves me.” When we serve Christ faithfully, the greatest blessing both here on earth and in heaven is his presence. My hope is that in the end when we all get to heaven will we hear our master say, “well done, good and faithful servant…Come and share your master’s happiness? (Matt 25:21)
