1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,920 Well, this is a day for celebrating the team and so it seemed to me that it would be a good time 2 00:00:05,920 –> 00:00:12,000 for us to look at some perhaps neglected words of the Lord Jesus Christ that he spoke to his own 3 00:00:12,720 –> 00:00:19,600 ministry team. Now try and imagine what this must have been like to actually be on Jesus’ 4 00:00:20,160 –> 00:00:25,360 ministry team, personally led by the Lord Jesus Christ, 5 00:00:26,320 –> 00:00:31,200 and he gathers the team together. They’ve been together with him now for three years 6 00:00:31,200 –> 00:00:38,480 serving and at this point they’ve evidently run into a few difficulties. And Luke records for us 7 00:00:38,480 –> 00:00:46,080 a fascinating scene in which Jesus opened their eyes to a whole new understanding of what it 8 00:00:46,080 –> 00:00:51,119 means to be involved in ministry. I’m going to look at three things together from this passage. 9 00:00:51,119 –> 00:00:56,400 I hope you’ll have your bible open in front of you. The first is the tension that arose in the 10 00:00:56,400 –> 00:01:03,119 team. The second is the challenge that Jesus gave to the team, and the third is the encouragement 11 00:01:03,119 –> 00:01:09,040 that Jesus offered for the team. First of all then as we jump straight in this morning the 12 00:01:09,040 –> 00:01:17,120 tension in the team. Notice Luke chapter 22 in verse 24, we’re told that a dispute arose 13 00:01:18,000 –> 00:01:25,220 among them. Now, I actually find that rather helpful. To know that there were tensions even 14 00:01:25,220 –> 00:01:31,480 in the ministry team led by the Lord Jesus Christ actually is something of a relief. Here was the 15 00:01:31,480 –> 00:01:41,019 greatest ministry team ever put together. And they operated under the direct personal leadership of 16 00:01:41,019 –> 00:01:48,059 the Lord Jesus Christ, himself. And even in that team we’re told that there was a dispute that 17 00:01:48,059 –> 00:01:53,180 arose. Now, it’s easy to get the idea, you know, that if we all loved Jesus that there won’t ever 18 00:01:53,180 –> 00:01:58,940 be any tensions in the course of ministry. But it’s quite obvious just from opening our Bibles 19 00:01:58,940 –> 00:02:03,639 this morning that that is not the case. And so the first thing that I think that we should 20 00:02:03,639 –> 00:02:10,979 learn here is not to get too discouraged if from time to time there are tensions in the 21 00:02:10,979 –> 00:02:16,559 team. It’s part of life, and what I want us to notice for our encouragement is that it was 22 00:02:16,559 –> 00:02:24,399 through these tensions that Jesus opened the eyes of the disciples to a whole new understanding 23 00:02:24,399 –> 00:02:31,460 of ministry. Now, notice that the dispute was about which of them was considered to be the 24 00:02:31,460 –> 00:02:37,960 greatest. And it’s not difficult to understand how this came about. Jesus had just told them 25 00:02:38,020 –> 00:02:43,360 that one of them was going to blow it and betray Him. And, in verse 23, you’ll see there that they 26 00:02:43,360 –> 00:02:47,199 all began to ask the question, now which of us is this likely to be? Who’s going to be the one 27 00:02:47,199 –> 00:02:53,740 who blows it? So, it’s rather like at the end of high school, when the seniors have all these 28 00:02:53,740 –> 00:02:57,720 questions. You know, who’s the most likely to succeed, and they have a vote, and who is 29 00:02:57,720 –> 00:03:02,580 the most likely to be famous, and so forth and so on. Here, the disciples are doing something like 30 00:03:02,660 –> 00:03:08,539 that. Who’s the most likely to fail? Who do we think is the most likely to betray Jesus? And 31 00:03:08,539 –> 00:03:12,960 no doubt someone after a while said, Look it’s a little bit negative. Why don’t we talk about 32 00:03:12,960 –> 00:03:18,539 who’s most likely to succeed. And, so they get on to that discussion, and they’re now talking about 33 00:03:18,539 –> 00:03:25,279 who is going to have the greatest ministry impact. I can remember discussions like this 34 00:03:25,279 –> 00:03:30,759 at college. Who do you think is going to do something really significant for the kingdom 35 00:03:30,839 –> 00:03:36,979 of God. And we have these kind of discussions all the time, don’t we. Oh she will be a marvelous 36 00:03:36,979 –> 00:03:43,820 mother. They will make a marvelous couple. He would make an awesome leader. Boy, 37 00:03:43,820 –> 00:03:49,020 if she was in charge things would really get cooking around here. You know the sort 38 00:03:49,020 –> 00:03:54,020 of thing. Every time folks in business, the same in the church, are seeking to hire someone the 39 00:03:54,020 –> 00:04:00,179 process is the same. You’re seeking to identify those who you believe can make a significant 40 00:04:00,179 –> 00:04:06,259 impact in the work to which you have turned your hand. So these are the great questions 41 00:04:06,259 –> 00:04:11,460 of life, and I think it is very significant to look at what Jesus says here. Look at what he 42 00:04:11,460 –> 00:04:19,980 says. Verse 25, the kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those who exercise authority 43 00:04:19,980 –> 00:04:25,700 over them call themselves benefactors. Now when Jesus talks about the kings of the Gentiles he’s 44 00:04:25,700 –> 00:04:31,500 talking about the way things work in the world. And the world’s way of making an impact is very 45 00:04:31,500 –> 00:04:39,579 simple. It’s about position, kings. It’s about power, exercising authority, and it’s about 46 00:04:39,579 –> 00:04:47,779 recognition, having a name. Jesus says liking to be called benefactors. The world’s way of 47 00:04:48,540 –> 00:04:55,540 impact then is by exercising power. It’s all about position, it’s all about recognition. 48 00:04:55,540 –> 00:05:03,600 But notice Jesus says it’s not to be like that with you, for this very simple reason. Most 49 00:05:03,600 –> 00:05:08,500 of us actually have very little power. And when it comes to the work of the kingdom of God, 50 00:05:08,500 –> 00:05:16,920 we don’t have the power that we need at all. I mean, which of us can open the eyes of somebody 51 00:05:17,000 –> 00:05:26,000 who is spiritually blind? Which of us can soften the heart of someone who is spiritually hard? 52 00:05:26,000 –> 00:05:35,700 Which of us can give life to someone who is spiritually dead? Now see, we cannot do these 53 00:05:35,700 –> 00:05:41,059 things. We do not have the power to do these things, so the effect of our ministry has to 54 00:05:41,339 –> 00:05:47,420 in another way. These are the things that only God can do. We don’t have that kind of 55 00:05:47,420 –> 00:05:52,959 power. So Jesus says verse 26, you’re not to be like that. Your impact’s not going to 56 00:05:52,959 –> 00:05:57,859 come through power, position, and recognition. Instead, verse 26, the greatest among you 57 00:05:57,859 –> 00:06:04,519 should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 58 00:06:04,519 –> 00:06:10,940 Now, before we get into what Jesus said here, I want us just very briefly to notice what 59 00:06:10,940 –> 00:06:21,940 He didn’t say. Jesus did not rebuke them for seeking greatness. What He did was to 60 00:06:21,940 –> 00:06:27,820 correct their understanding of how greatness in the kingdom of God is achieved. 61 00:06:27,820 –> 00:06:34,899 See, Jesus never suppresses the desire to do something great. He doesn’t say, Oh, it’s 62 00:06:34,899 –> 00:06:39,660 a terrible thing that any of you folks should want to be significant in your contribution 63 00:06:39,660 –> 00:06:45,660 to the kingdom of God. It’s not a wrong thing to want to make an impact for Christ’s kingdom. 64 00:06:45,660 –> 00:06:50,899 What Jesus does with people who have that desire is He draws our attention as to how 65 00:06:50,899 –> 00:07:00,519 that will actually take place, and so that leads us to the challenge to the team. 66 00:07:00,519 –> 00:07:07,559 Notice the challenge. Verse 26. The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and 67 00:07:07,559 –> 00:07:14,260 the one who rules like the one who serves. Now, how many of us in this congregation, 68 00:07:14,260 –> 00:07:21,920 a quick show of hands, was born the youngest in our family? How many of us are the youngest 69 00:07:21,920 –> 00:07:27,440 in the family of our birth? Well, a fair number and a few maybe not wanting to admit to it. 70 00:07:27,440 –> 00:07:31,920 Thank you very much. This is very interesting, isn’t it? This is the whole issue of birth 71 00:07:32,559 –> 00:07:38,320 order—anyone interested in birth order issues, right here in the teaching of Jesus. 72 00:07:38,320 –> 00:07:43,600 My my wife is the second of six children, 73 00:07:44,559 –> 00:07:48,320 all of them now married, and the youngest, Kathy, is now a mother of two, herself. 74 00:07:48,320 –> 00:07:54,000 The whole family gets together for a few days every summer, and I have noticed that at some 75 00:07:54,000 –> 00:08:01,279 point just about every year, the six siblings get round to the question of why it was 76 00:08:01,279 –> 00:08:10,559 that the youngest, Kathy, who’s 14 years younger than Karen, had an easier time growing up than 77 00:08:10,559 –> 00:08:18,160 anybody else. No doubt my in-laws by the time they got to the sixth were absolutely exhausted 78 00:08:18,160 –> 00:08:23,679 and had almost given up, but the rest have all noticed that the youngest was allowed 79 00:08:23,679 –> 00:08:28,000 out later in her teenage years, seemed to have much more privilege and much more freedom and 80 00:08:28,000 –> 00:08:32,880 many more opportunities and whenever we get around to telling stories and Kathy, the youngest begins 81 00:08:32,880 –> 00:08:40,080 to speak, you will get a chorus of folks saying we would never have got away with that, we were 82 00:08:40,080 –> 00:08:45,039 never allowed to do that and so forth and so on. It is very interesting, isn’t it? In our culture 83 00:08:45,039 –> 00:08:49,119 it is sometimes the case that the youngest is the one who gets the easiest ride. 84 00:08:49,679 –> 00:08:54,320 It is amazing in fact how our culture is turned around. I was thinking about this when i was a kid 85 00:08:55,280 –> 00:09:01,760 if there was a meal that was put out say in the church hall after the service, the rule 86 00:09:01,760 –> 00:09:09,280 was very simple. Adults go first and after the adults have got their food then the kids come 87 00:09:09,280 –> 00:09:15,440 up to the table and polish off the rest. Now, it happens the other way around, kids go first 88 00:09:16,000 –> 00:09:23,599 polish off the lot and adults go home hungry. So we often pay a great deal of attention 89 00:09:23,599 –> 00:09:29,599 to the youngest but of course among the kids themselves, nothing much has changed since the 90 00:09:29,599 –> 00:09:38,239 time of Jesus. If you were the youngest you know that you were in for a hard time from your 91 00:09:38,239 –> 00:09:44,880 siblings. Get this, do that, I’m stronger than you. Remember I’m bigger. The youngest is the 92 00:09:44,880 –> 00:09:49,359 one who ends up in the position of doing what the other brother or sister once done 93 00:09:49,359 –> 00:09:59,679 and Jesus says that’s for all of us where true greatness begins. Be like the youngest, be like 94 00:09:59,679 –> 00:10:05,679 the one who serves. He’s really saying the same thing in two different ways. He’s making it clear 95 00:10:05,679 –> 00:10:10,559 that true greatness in the kingdom of God is not about power, it’s not about position, it’s not 96 00:10:10,559 –> 00:10:20,000 about getting big recognition. In God’s kingdom positions held matter much less than service 97 00:10:20,799 –> 00:10:28,159 rendered. Now, this of course is good news for all of us because it opens up the opportunity of 98 00:10:28,159 –> 00:10:34,640 true greatness to all of God’s people. Most of us, let’s be honest, will never be in positions 99 00:10:34,640 –> 00:10:44,159 of great power and recognition, but all of us have the opportunity to serve. Now, what does 100 00:10:44,159 –> 00:10:51,760 it look like to be a servant? What is, as it were, the profile of one who takes the position of the 101 00:10:51,760 –> 00:11:00,320 youngest and learns how to serve? I want to suggest three questions that reflect the heart of a 102 00:11:00,320 –> 00:11:10,400 servant, and they all come directly from the example of Jesus. Number one, a true servant 103 00:11:10,400 –> 00:11:20,719 asks the question, what needs to be done? And that is very, very different from asking, what do I want 104 00:11:21,280 –> 00:11:28,719 to do? See, servants, if you think about it, are not in the position of choosing what they fancy 105 00:11:28,719 –> 00:11:35,039 doing. Servants are in the position of recognizing what needs to be done and getting on and doing it. 106 00:11:36,400 –> 00:11:42,960 I have to tell you, I have been deeply moved and profoundly encouraged 107 00:11:44,559 –> 00:11:50,640 by the number of people who have showed the heart of a servant in regard to our ministry planning 108 00:11:51,520 –> 00:11:58,000 to seek to make a greater impact in the fall. In our staff prayer meeting time just this 109 00:11:58,000 –> 00:12:03,520 week our children’s pastors were sharing the way in which so many of their key ministry leaders 110 00:12:04,320 –> 00:12:11,919 have come forward and they’ve simply said, look I’m available to serve on Sunday morning. Use me 111 00:12:11,919 –> 00:12:20,159 wherever you need me most. That is fantastic and Jesus says that’s true greatness. 112 00:12:20,159 –> 00:12:28,880 Right there, that is the spirit of a servant. Now I was reminded thinking about this this week 113 00:12:28,880 –> 00:12:37,700 of a seasoned pastor in his senior years who spoke to a group of us on one occasion 114 00:12:37,700 –> 00:12:45,500 about the way in which he had seen a change within his own heart over his years in ministry 115 00:12:46,440 –> 00:12:53,960 what he said, I will never forget it. When I was young he said, I offered all that I 116 00:12:53,960 –> 00:13:01,039 am and all that I have to Jesus Christ and all I wanted was to be useful in his kingdom. 117 00:13:01,039 –> 00:13:08,799 But as the years went by, I developed a list of conditions and he began to list what they 118 00:13:09,320 –> 00:13:14,679 that he wanted to serve so long as it was in this country and not overseas. 119 00:13:14,679 –> 00:13:20,679 That he wanted to serve so long as it was in a growing church. That he wanted 120 00:13:20,679 –> 00:13:24,619 to serve so long as he was free to pursue other studies and so on the list 121 00:13:24,619 –> 00:13:29,359 went, as one after another thing was added to it over the years. And then he 122 00:13:29,359 –> 00:13:35,979 said, one day God spoke to me. And I was faced with this question, when did I 123 00:13:36,000 –> 00:13:43,080 begin writing conditions? How did I get from the place in my early years when I 124 00:13:43,080 –> 00:13:49,219 said here I am Lord, wholly available to this place in my later years where 125 00:13:49,219 –> 00:13:55,239 everything that Christ might call me to do gets run through a grid of crippling 126 00:13:55,239 –> 00:14:05,200 conditions. I find that very certain. How could we move from a position of saying 127 00:14:05,440 –> 00:14:09,760 here I am wholly available to running anything that the Lord might want us to 128 00:14:09,760 –> 00:14:17,299 do through a grid of crippling conditions? It’s so easy to put 129 00:14:17,299 –> 00:14:21,900 ourselves in the position of the master, and to go through life saying what do I 130 00:14:21,900 –> 00:14:26,700 want to do? Instead of what is it that really needs to be done for the advance 131 00:14:26,700 –> 00:14:33,679 and the cause of Christ’s kingdom. And I am so thankful, aren’t you, this morning 132 00:14:33,859 –> 00:14:37,820 Jesus Christ came to the Garden of Gethsemane, he did not ask the question 133 00:14:37,820 –> 00:14:43,859 what do I want to do? Where would you and I be if Jesus had asked that question in 134 00:14:43,859 –> 00:14:49,659 the Garden of Gethsemane? But you see the mindset of Jesus was that he had taken 135 00:14:49,659 –> 00:14:55,320 the position of a servant, and he knew what needed to be done. And even if it 136 00:14:55,320 –> 00:15:01,500 involved a cross, it was ready to do it. And I do not know of anyone who has had 137 00:15:01,500 –> 00:15:05,960 a ministry that has had a significant impact for the kingdom of God who did 138 00:15:05,960 –> 00:15:10,739 not, at some point, have to press through that which was difficult and that which 139 00:15:10,739 –> 00:15:17,260 was painful, that which I did not want to do. Yet it needed to be done for the 140 00:15:17,260 –> 00:15:26,479 advance of the kingdom. And there we discover the heart of a servant. Jesus 141 00:15:26,479 –> 00:15:31,739 says, I am among you as one who serves. That’s what it looks like. 142 00:15:31,739 –> 00:15:37,679 Second question, how can I be a blessing? Which is very different from asking the 143 00:15:37,679 –> 00:15:42,799 question, how can I be blessed? And you might find it helpful to think about 144 00:15:42,799 –> 00:15:49,799 this with two pictures. The picture of a dam. And the picture of a pipe. Now, think 145 00:15:49,799 –> 00:15:56,400 about it. Water comes to a dam. Water flows through a pipe. And there’s a big 146 00:15:56,440 –> 00:16:00,799 difference. And I found this very helpful in thinking about ministry. God 147 00:16:00,799 –> 00:16:06,580 never pours His blessing into our lives so that it may end with us like a dam. He 148 00:16:06,580 –> 00:16:10,719 pours His blessing into our lives so that it may flow through us, and reach 149 00:16:10,719 –> 00:16:15,739 others in ministry. This is all the way through the Bible. Think of what God said 150 00:16:15,739 –> 00:16:24,000 to Abraham. Abraham, I will bless you. And if it had ended there, none of us would 151 00:16:24,020 –> 00:16:27,919 be here today. God blesses Abraham, good for Abraham. 152 00:16:27,919 –> 00:16:32,679 It doesn’t have anything to do with us. But you see, it didn’t end there. God said, 153 00:16:32,679 –> 00:16:38,719 I will bless you and through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 154 00:16:38,719 –> 00:16:42,320 That’s why we’re here today. That the nations of the world have been 155 00:16:42,320 –> 00:16:46,479 gathered into Jesus Christ and we’ve come to faith. And that’s part of the 156 00:16:46,520 –> 00:16:50,679 fulfilling of God’s blessing in the promise through Abraham. 157 00:16:50,679 –> 00:16:58,840 You see, the servant knows that his first priority is not so much to find blessing, 158 00:16:58,840 –> 00:17:03,320 but to be a blessing. Many, many people in this world running around saying, 159 00:17:03,320 –> 00:17:06,780 how can I get more blessing? Where can I go to get more blessing? 160 00:17:06,780 –> 00:17:12,199 And the spirit of a servant says, how can I be more of a blessing? 161 00:17:12,199 –> 00:17:20,280 That’s where true greatness in God’s kingdom begins. It happens in big ways. 162 00:17:20,280 –> 00:17:25,880 It happens in tiny little ways. Let me give you one specific example just from this week. 163 00:17:25,880 –> 00:17:35,780 A kid in high school who has no friends—pretty tough in high school if you have no friends. 164 00:17:36,300 –> 00:17:44,119 And one of our little groups of kids in high school ministry here just made a decision to 165 00:17:44,119 –> 00:17:52,560 invite him when they were hanging out together this week. You see, it was a move of mindset from 166 00:17:52,560 –> 00:17:57,459 how can we have fun together—how can we be blessed? How could we be a blessing? And we 167 00:17:57,459 –> 00:18:01,140 could actually be a blessing as a little group of kids hanging out together if we 168 00:18:01,439 –> 00:18:06,479 invited him who has no friends to come and be part of our little group. You want to see the 169 00:18:06,479 –> 00:18:13,640 blessing that has come to that kid this week through a few high schoolers from this church 170 00:18:13,640 –> 00:18:20,579 who grasp a little bit of what it means to be a servant. And not to go through a life saying, 171 00:18:20,579 –> 00:18:27,520 how can we be blessed? What do we want to do? But how can we be a blessing? And you see, 172 00:18:27,540 –> 00:18:32,219 that is, of course, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, I am among you as one who serves. 173 00:18:32,219 –> 00:18:39,579 He was blessed. He was at the right hand of the Father. But he wasn’t content just to hold that 174 00:18:39,579 –> 00:18:45,739 blessing. He takes the form of a servant. Why? So that he may bring us, who are outside of that 175 00:18:45,739 –> 00:18:52,300 blessing, into that blessing so that he may not be as a dam, but rather be a pipeline, 176 00:18:52,400 –> 00:18:58,060 a conduit of the blessing of God flowing into your life and into mine. That’s where true 177 00:18:58,060 –> 00:19:08,020 greatness begins. And here’s a third question that reflects the heart of a servant. What more 178 00:19:08,020 –> 00:19:18,640 can I do? And that is very different from asking the question, how soon can I be done? And to 179 00:19:18,640 –> 00:19:23,140 understand this, you need to grasp a very remarkable tradition that was established 180 00:19:23,140 –> 00:19:29,339 in the Old Testament. You can read about it in Deuteronomy chapter 15, and I just 181 00:19:29,339 –> 00:19:36,000 want to quote from verse 12. It’s about what happened to servants, among God’s people, 182 00:19:36,000 –> 00:19:45,780 after a number of years. If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman—this is Deuteronomy 15.12—sells 183 00:19:45,920 –> 00:19:54,660 himself to you, and serves you, for six years, in the seventh year you must let him go. So there 184 00:19:54,660 –> 00:20:02,939 was a limitation upon the service that could be imposed on a person. Six years. The seventh year, 185 00:20:02,939 –> 00:20:07,459 you’ve got to let him go, and it continues, when you let him go, let him go with a good 186 00:20:07,459 –> 00:20:14,800 golden handshake, give him some of the bounty with which God has blessed you. But, and here 187 00:20:14,800 –> 00:20:24,099 we read in Deuteronomy chapter 15, in verse 16. If your servant says to you, I do not want to 188 00:20:24,099 –> 00:20:29,260 leave you—so here’s a servant now who has served for six years—and he says at the end of the six 189 00:20:29,260 –> 00:20:35,859 years, you know, I don’t want to go, I like it here—he says, I don’t want to leave you because 190 00:20:35,859 –> 00:20:43,319 he loves you, and he loves your family and he’s well off with you, then here is what you are to 191 00:20:43,819 –> 00:20:54,359 do. You are to take an awl—there’s an awl—and you’re to go to the doorpost of your house, 192 00:20:54,359 –> 00:21:03,979 and you’re to do a little bit of ear-piercing. You’re to push the awl through his earlobe into 193 00:21:04,660 –> 00:21:15,780 and he will become your servant for life. Now, this is obviously a very happy situation. Here 194 00:21:15,780 –> 00:21:21,420 is the servant who has been working for six years, but he has felt so bonded to the master 195 00:21:21,420 –> 00:21:26,619 he serves and the family to which he now belongs that when it comes to the end of the six years, 196 00:21:26,619 –> 00:21:32,020 he says, I don’t want to go. And so, God says in the Old Testament law, if he doesn’t want to go, 197 00:21:32,140 –> 00:21:36,579 he should not have to go. He should have the opportunity to be a life servant, 198 00:21:36,579 –> 00:21:42,520 not a servant who is there under duress, not one who’s forced to be there, but one who has 199 00:21:42,520 –> 00:21:50,520 offered himself as a lifetime servant to the family that he loves. And here’s how 200 00:21:50,520 –> 00:21:55,699 you’re to mark this. There will be this mark that has come from the piercing of his ear 201 00:21:56,079 –> 00:22:03,219 by the door posts of your house, and he will be marked as a servant for life. Now, this is a 202 00:22:03,219 –> 00:22:08,000 wonderful thing, and I’m very glad to tell you that, as you leave this morning, 203 00:22:08,000 –> 00:22:14,479 the elders of the church will be standing by each of the exit doors with an all and a hap—no, 204 00:22:14,479 –> 00:22:18,619 don’t worry about it, really, some folks look terribly serious and terribly worried 205 00:22:18,619 –> 00:22:24,619 about all of this. But you know, there is a beautiful, beautiful picture here. 206 00:22:25,099 –> 00:22:30,420 There’s a world of a difference between the servant who serves, saying, 207 00:22:30,420 –> 00:22:36,140 how soon can I get done and get out of here, the servant who says, 208 00:22:36,140 –> 00:22:40,459 I’ve got six years to go and at the end I’m out of here and it can’t come too quickly. 209 00:22:40,459 –> 00:22:45,540 There’s a world of a difference between that servant and the servant who says, 210 00:22:45,540 –> 00:22:50,219 you know, I’ve come to love this master, and I’ve come to love this family, 211 00:22:50,959 –> 00:22:57,540 and I’ve come to love this house, and I would like to continue to offer myself, 212 00:22:57,540 –> 00:23:06,119 I’m not asking how soon can I be done, I’m asking, what more can I do. 213 00:23:06,119 –> 00:23:17,359 And again, you see, this is the example of Jesus because he did not become a servant by force, 214 00:23:17,920 –> 00:23:28,640 he became a servant by choice, and he became a servant for life. He didn’t stop after his death 215 00:23:28,640 –> 00:23:33,920 and his resurrection, even after his ascension, we’re told, what’s he doing now? He always lives 216 00:23:33,920 –> 00:23:45,439 to make intercession for us, he’s bringing us through this Christian life. And the sign of his 217 00:23:45,680 –> 00:23:55,119 lifelong service is that he was pierced, not through his ear, but through his hands, 218 00:23:57,119 –> 00:24:01,599 and through his feet, and through his sight. 219 00:24:03,839 –> 00:24:07,359 So the challenge for us today is surely this. Do we have the heart of a servant? 220 00:24:09,359 –> 00:24:12,479 What needs to be done to extend God’s kingdom? 221 00:24:15,439 –> 00:24:19,280 How can I be a blessing, seeing as I have already been so blessed? 222 00:24:21,439 –> 00:24:27,599 What more can I do? Because service isn’t something that’s some kind of obligation imposed 223 00:24:27,599 –> 00:24:32,719 on me. I’ve come to love this master, and love this family, and love this house, and I want to 224 00:24:32,719 –> 00:24:39,920 offer to serve in all the ways that I possibly can. That leads to the very last thing just very 225 00:24:39,920 –> 00:24:46,719 briefly—a word of encouragement to the team. Notice what Jesus says in verse 226 00:24:46,719 –> 00:24:57,839 28. You are those, He says, who have stood by me in my trials. You have stood by me in my trials. 227 00:24:57,839 –> 00:25:03,839 Now this is Jesus talking to the disciples. And this is an extraordinary statement. 228 00:25:05,119 –> 00:25:09,439 You see, for all of those who are teachers here—we have a lot of teachers in this congregation— 229 00:25:10,079 –> 00:25:17,760 and for those of us who might fancy a try, how would you grade the disciples on their three 230 00:25:17,760 –> 00:25:24,800 years in public ministry with Jesus? You got to remember the occasion when Jesus had to say to 231 00:25:24,800 –> 00:25:30,880 them, Where is your faith? The other time when he said to them, Do you still not understand? 232 00:25:32,000 –> 00:25:36,880 The time when Peter tried to stop Jesus going to the cross and Jesus detected the note of Satan 233 00:25:36,880 –> 00:25:41,599 in the words of his friend. And the fact that Jesus even at this moment knew that within a 234 00:25:41,599 –> 00:25:47,280 few hours they’d all forsake him in the garden of Gethsemane and run away. So I don’t honestly 235 00:25:47,280 –> 00:25:52,239 think, with the best will in the world, that these guys are on extra credit. Do you? How would 236 00:25:52,239 –> 00:25:59,439 you grade them? I think that if you’re to look at the performance of the disciples over that three 237 00:25:59,439 –> 00:26:05,920 year period, you probably have these three dreaded words that some of us got on our report card, 238 00:26:05,920 –> 00:26:13,520 could do better. Right, that was always the one you didn’t want to get. Could do better. 239 00:26:15,280 –> 00:26:16,959 And yet look at what Jesus says about them. 240 00:26:19,520 –> 00:26:23,520 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 241 00:26:24,560 –> 00:26:27,839 When he talks about his trials, he’s talking about the whole of his public ministry. 242 00:26:28,640 –> 00:26:34,959 Hear where introduced to something that I find wonderfully encouraging, it is the generous 243 00:26:34,959 –> 00:26:42,800 judgment of Jesus towards those who are his own. Here we find Jesus taking what is good 244 00:26:43,839 –> 00:26:47,040 and focusing his whole attention on it. 245 00:26:48,319 –> 00:26:54,239 I find this such a blessing because many of us, as we look at the service that we have 246 00:26:54,479 –> 00:26:58,800 that we have offered to Jesus Christ, have that sense, you know, it could have been more, 247 00:26:58,800 –> 00:27:03,119 and we made mistakes here, and our attitude wasn’t all that it might have been there, 248 00:27:03,119 –> 00:27:06,959 and there are things that we said that we wish that we hadn’t, and it could have been more, 249 00:27:06,959 –> 00:27:10,560 and it could have been better, and nothing that we ever did was perfect, or even all 250 00:27:10,560 –> 00:27:17,520 that it might have been. And maybe as you look at your service for Jesus Christ, even on this day, 251 00:27:18,400 –> 00:27:24,920 that is a little bit of how you feel. Well, remember the generous judgment of Jesus. 252 00:27:24,920 –> 00:27:32,439 Those who belong to Christ are children of God, and he does not look at your ministry with the 253 00:27:32,439 –> 00:27:38,239 eye of a strict examiner, but he looks at your ministry with the eye of a loving Father, 254 00:27:38,239 –> 00:27:47,439 and he sees the beauty in what is offered far, far more than he sees the flaw that may have 255 00:27:47,439 –> 00:27:58,119 been in it. And so he says to his disciples, I confer on you a kingdom. Now, I expect they 256 00:27:58,119 –> 00:28:07,699 didn’t have the faintest idea what he meant, but they surely know it now, and one day we will too. 257 00:28:08,000 –> 00:28:22,439 Let’s pray together, shall we? Father in heaven, we want to count for your kingdom, and we thank 258 00:28:22,439 –> 00:28:28,520 you for showing us the way in which that can happen. We thank you that it’s not just for 259 00:28:28,520 –> 00:28:36,520 those who hold positions of power, but that the impact that really counts in your kingdom is open 260 00:28:36,520 –> 00:28:47,119 to every person. Give us the spirit of a servant, we pray, the spirit that rises above the grid of 261 00:28:47,119 –> 00:28:55,180 a thousand conditions and sees with open eyes what needs to be done and is ready to throw ourselves 262 00:28:55,180 –> 00:29:04,800 into what it takes for your kingdom to move forward. Deliver us from the spirit that is 263 00:29:04,800 –> 00:29:12,719 constantly seeking our own blessing, and give us rather the spirit of Jesus, that came into the 264 00:29:12,719 –> 00:29:20,520 world in order that others should be blessed. May we not be those who serve with our eyes at 265 00:29:20,520 –> 00:29:26,880 where on the clock, with a sense of doing our time and then it being up to someone else to step up 266 00:29:26,920 –> 00:29:36,239 to the plate, but rather with the spirit of the servant who said, I don’t want to go. The spirit 267 00:29:36,239 –> 00:29:50,839 of Jesus, who was pierced as the servant for life, and even now ministers to bring us through. So may 268 00:29:50,900 –> 00:29:59,400 we be encouraged as we remember together that you see not so much the flaws in our ministry but rather 269 00:29:59,400 –> 00:30:06,439 the heart from which it arose. We pray that as a church and individually this may be a day when 270 00:30:06,439 –> 00:30:15,319 truly and from the heart we offer ourselves freshly into your hands to use us wherever 271 00:30:15,319 –> 00:30:22,660 and however you choose for the advance of your kingdom and the glory of your Son in 272 00:30:22,660 –> 00:30:29,520 whose name we pray together. God’s people said Amen.