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How Can I Serve You? For the last two Sunday’s we have been looking at things to say no to and why Christ followers say no to some things. Today I want to look at what it was that Jesus said a big yes to.

There is a small group exercise that asks the participants to answer the question, what would you do if you only had a week to live. What would you do with your time if you only had a few hours to live?

This is exactly what happened in the life of Jesus. Behind Him was three years of ministry. The picking of the twelve disciples, the teaching and healing of the people, all of that is now over. All His time is gone except for a few hours.

What would He do? How would He spend it? Jesus on at least twelve occasions had taken His disciples aside and taught them in more details on whatever subject He had been teaching the multitudes.

Now He does it again. He chooses to teach them with a great metaphor and living illustration. He was trying to drive home the point that serving is the natural healthy result of being a disciple. Christ followers serve others.

When we talk about people who serve there may be certain recognizable name that surface. This week Bob Hope turned 100. He will long be remembered for serving the American troops during by providing entertainment for them when they were away from home. That has become much more of his legacy then the corny jokes and the movies he made in his career. Another personality who is now deceased but still stands tall as a reminder of what it means to serve is Mother Theresa. This diminutive nun served the poor and broken people of India for many years and she served as a voice for the needy. A voice that caused us to pause from our affluent lives and ask ourselves what we were doing to serve others.

Locally when we think of serving others we may think of organizations that exist to serve others.

Here are just a few examples: Heartbeats which serves pregnant women and women who are considering an abortion or even those who have had an abortion, the Main Place which serves a variety of social needs in the community and New Beginnings which serves the needs of

Let’s examine this great story in the life of Jesus that clearly teaches us what is at the heart of a Christ follower.

1. Saying Yes Means Seeing What Jesus Sees. Christ followers have the eyes of Christ.

Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal. Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?” (Mark 13:1-6)

Christ followers will see what Jesus sees. That is not always easy. The whole reason we are celebrating volunteers today is because they see what Jesus sees.

The Disciples didn’t even always get this right. They all saw the same thing on this day or did they? They all saw a basin of water and a towel. The disciples saw an opportunity to be served by someone else but Jesus saw an opportunity to serve someone else.

If you truly want to follow Christ it is critical that you get this point.

I am afraid that the majority of church members in America have bought into the notion that church is about them. It is easier that way, I will grant you that. If church is about you then all you have to do is show up, get your attendance ticket punched and go on about you merry life while the world around you remains untouched by the message of Jesus Christ.

It is one of the biggest tragedies of modern times. The culture around us is changing and moving further from what the Bible teaches and the church is moving further from the culture so they don’t have to deal with it. Where does that leave us? It leaves us with a culture that is becoming more ungodly every day and with a majority of churches that are becoming more ungodly everyday. You cannot ignore the culture or neighborhood you live in and be a Christ follower. You have to do the mission that Christ left us to do. The church should provide you place to do and live out that mission.

It has been a persistent problem for over 2000 years. We have always had a hard time seeing what Jesus sees.

We would rather fuss over the color of piece of carpeting or what the platform or foyer should look like then get involved in touching others with the message of the gospel.

Go with me to a well in Samaria. The disciples see a broken down woman. An outcast. They have come to hate Samaritans. They are racially prejudiced against them.

In John 4. Tell the story.

Jesus didn’t hesitate. He saw the potential to serve this woman by giving her the life changing message.

During a shopping trip to a department store, I was looking around for a salesperson so I could pay for my purchase. Finally I ran into a woman wearing the store's ID tag.

"Excuse me," I said. "I'm trying to locate a cashier."

"I cant' help you," she briskly replied, barely slowing down. "I work in customer service." And she walked away.

That’s kind of funny until you put it in the context of the church. How many time have we walked away from opportunities because we failed to see what Jesus sees?

2. Saying Yes Means Knowing What Jesus Knows. Christ followers have the mind of Christ.

Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.” Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!” Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.” “Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!” Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table. (Mark 13:7-12a)

It is hard sometimes for us to know what Christ is doing or wanting to do. It is much easier to fall into a tradition that is comfortable and never ask questions like can we do it better or is this ministry still working? As humans we love to fall into habits and patterns that stifle our creativity and allow us to not have to think about what we are doing and why we are doing it.

Having the mind of Christ means that we value others above self.
Having the mind of Christ means that we are constantly thinking of ways to live out our lives in a way that touches others with the only message in the world that can give hope and love.

What are you thinking about these days?
What is it that captivates your time and energy?
What is it that stimulates you mentally? For many people the only mental stimulation they receive is whatever Hollywood can produce. It’s no wonder some people never seem to think much about what God wants them to do with their talents and lives.

We are celebrating serving today because the people who serve are people who are striving to have the mind of Christ and seeking to do His will.

“They thought they'd failed miserably. Sixteen Chinese Christians went to a rural area to plant churches but got absolutely no response from the people. They were destitute, living in the forest, scavenging for enough food to keep them alive. Discouraged, they fasted for a week and prayed for God's guidance. When they gathered to discuss what they should do, each person said that God was saying to stay and "wash their feet."For three years, they sat on the side of the road with buckets of water offering to wash the farmer's feet as they were going and coming from the fields. The offer annoyed the farmers who regularly beat the evangelists and poured their water over them. But the Christians didn't give up. Finally, one of the farmers let one of the Christians wash his feet and when he did, the other farmers relented. For three months they washed 1500 farmer's feet, twice a day. Until one of the farmers asked, "Why are you doing this?"Three years and three months after they decided to stay and "wash feet" they finally got to proclaim the gospel. A few weeks later, the gospel had triumphed in the hearts of the farmers and they all placed their faith in Jesus Christ, as did another 50,000 residents of the region within 2 years.” —The Commission, June 2002, p. 26

You see having the mind of Christ is what Paul was writing about in Phil.2, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God; thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took on the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”Those verses were preceded by Paul writing these words, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” When you have the mind of Christ you know and understand that you don’t have all the answers. When you have the mind of Christ you pray and seek to know how He is moving in the world today. You want to know what kind of ministries will really reach people today. You will want to know what it is that you can do to serve this present culture.

Too often we assume the position and attitude of: “Here is our ministry and this is the way we do it because we always done it this way and if you want what we have (Jesus) you are going to have to come and get it our way.” What kind of an attitude is that? We want to be fresh and innovative. We want to find the best ways to reach people and then implement them. Life in Christ comes to us on its way to someone else. Congregations should focus outward instead of inward. Congregations exist for those who are not a part of them. Life is meant to be given away not kept. God does not honor congregations that merely seek to survive and serve each other. Howard Snyder in Liberating the Church, “Church people think about how to get people to church. Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world will change the church, kingdom people work to see the church change the world.”Elton Trueblood, “The test of the vitality of a religion can be seen in its impact on the culture.”

3. Saying Yes Means Doing What Jesus Does. Christ followers are the hands of Christ.

Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.” (Mark 13:12b-17)

Last week I told you a part of Robertson McQuilken’s story. He was a university president who resigned to take care of his wife. Because of her declining health and memory it would have been understandable if he would have placed her in a nursing facility but he chose out of love to care for her at home. While it was an incredible and commendable gesture a former student one day ask him, “Do you miss being president?” As he reflected on the question he put his wondering into a prayer:

“Father, I like this assignment, and I have no regrets. But if a coach puts a man on the bench, he must not want him in the game. You needn’t tell me of course, but I’d like to know—why didn’t you need me in the game?”

He writes, “I didn’t sleep well that night and awoke contemplating the puzzle. Muriel was still mobile at that time, so we set out on our morning walk around the block. She wasn’t too sure on her feet, so we went slowly and held hands as we always do. This day I heard footsteps behind me and looked back to see the familiar form of a local derelict behind us. He staggered past us, then turned and looked us up and down. “Tha’s good. I likes ‘at,” he said. “Tha’s real good. I likes it.” He turned and headed back down the street, mumbling to himself over and over again, “Tha’s good. I like it.”

McQuilken continues, “When Muriel and I reached our little garden and sat down, his words came back to me. Then the realization hit me: God had spoken through an inebriated old derelict. It was God who was whispering to my spirit, ‘I likes it. Tha’s good,’ I said it aloud. “God, I may be on the bench, but if you like it and say it’s good, that’s all that counts.”

What does serving look like?
It looks like Jesus.
It looks exactly like what we want this church to become known for.

Every Tuesday evening a crowd gathers at a home in a well-worn suburban neighborhood south of Chicago. Among those attending the meetings are drug users and problem gamblers. These meetings have a different purpose- evangelizing new Christians and to build their faith. More than 20 people from age 9 to 63 gather every week on foot or in vehicles that fill the cramped street, to praise God, and learn about his love. The meetings are led by Nathan & Angela Thomas, who are the youth/children's pastors at a new church plant in this neighborhood.

Nathan and Angela left a secure position at church in Nebraska to join Nathan's parents in starting this new outreach. When asked why he chose to give up a secure position to risk reaching out to this blue-collar Chicago neighborhood, Nathan says, “We had no money. But the scariest thing to me isn't lack of money—it's being out of the will of God." —Pentecostal Evangel, Suburban church plant grows, July 14, 2002. Submitted by Jim Sandell.

Erwin McManus in his book, An Unstoppable Force, (pg.156) and on the Mosaic Church website says that, “Many of us love religion all too much and God all too little. We love ourselves too much and the world too little. Kim, my wife, is an exception; she is one of those rare people who loves profoundly. Sometimes it's an incredible irritant because I'm always challenged by how hard I have to work at loving. For example, once we were in one of our church plants, and it was pouring down rain. I didn't want to get my good suit wet, so I did spiritual things in the building to avoid helping people to their cars. It was an act of absolute selfishness, but I thought I had gotten away with it until Kim walked up and said, "These people need a ride home." Inwardly, I responded in a decidedly unbiblical way, but I agreed to take them home. We rushed out to the car and I got completely soaked. We dropped them off, and as I drove home silently in this monsoon, Kim pointed out a man walking by the side of the road. At her insistence, I stopped and ran out in the rain. The man was a transient with a cart that had fallen over, and he was disoriented and confused. I had to reassemble his cart in the driving rain. Then I started to pick up his belongings, and I realized it was literally garbage. I am a clean freak and this physically sickened me. Nevertheless, we picked up all his garbage, and only then did it providentially stop raining! I thought to myself, "This man is going to receive Jesus because this will make a really good story." So I shared Jesus with him and he said, "I'm just not interested." Pulling out a wet business card, he continued, "If your church has garbage they'd like to give away, I'd love to have it." I was fuming. I helped this man by getting drenched and exhibiting incredible love for him and he wanted my garbage and rejected my God. I got in our car without a word and Kim started crying. I thought she was upset that my attitude in helping this man was less than Christ-like, but instead she said, "That was the greatest sermon you ever preached." I've never forgotten those words.”

Before we start getting all inspired about better strategies and effective methodologies and church growth and models, we need to ask ourselves if we really love people. Are our hearts broken for a lost and hurting world? Are we motivated by love.”

The question you must ask yourself if you truly want to be a Christ follower is simply this: How can I serve others?

What are you doing that touches others?

2003/06/01