Serving People is Serving Christ.

Everybody is a servant. From the wealthiest to the poorest, to the haves and have nots, from royalty to peasants, Black or White, Hispanic or Asian, we all serve. The question is whom or better yet what are we serving?

The Greatest Will Be a Servant

We are citizens of heaven.  Because of our new citizenship our lives have been turned upside down. As a matter of fact the Kingdom is upside down. Everything that the world values is antithetical to what Jesus commands us to value. Prestige, power, wealth, position, fan-base, notoriety, fame and worldly success is what this world system values. However hear what Jesus says:

11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

The day we became disciples we became servants. Alan says “no one loves being a servant”. We plan out our lives to get to the position of people serving us. And when we do plan to be servants it is for the purpose of being paid well for it. However, the type of servant Jesus’ day were the abased of society. They were the nobodys, the have nots, the losers, the scum feeders and the day we became believers our goal becomes to get the lowest, because in our kingdom that is the highest.

Servanthood: Sheeps and Goats

At the end of Matthew 25 Jesus gives an allegory about the entrance into the Kingdom. As I see this, it is a picture of servanthood. Those who wanted to be served are the goats, those who served are the sheep.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

The righteous are puzzled about Jesus’ recognition of them. They ask “when did we see you“? Jesus’ response is just as puzzling. He said “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers you did it to me.  Now the wicked are just as puzzled they asked:

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’

Jesus’ responds the same way “as you didn’t do it to them, you didn’t do it to me either” (paraphrasing). And their judgment is final.

When you look at the list, there was nothing about correct theology. Nothing about what kind of church you attended, nothing about how many scriptures we knew, nothing about how many people we lead to Christ. There is nothing about church service, or honoring your pastor. There was nothing about soteriology, pneumatology or eschatology. Jesus list is very, very simple. Serve others and inherit the kingdom! These people seem to be the most marginalized in all of the world and these are the people Jesus expects  no demands us to serve.

Loving Defined By Serving

The New Covenant is rooted in this “love one another”. But not only that the whole law is summed up in “love God and love your neighbor”. Without this love no one will see the Kingdom of God. I think nothing defines this better for us religious people much like the parable of the “Good Samaritan”. Much like the pharisees we are very pious. But often time our religion looks nothing like the “pure religion” that James talks about. in James 1:27. But back to the parable in Luke 10:25-37. Here we see Jesus define love without once using the word.

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Our love is to be put on display like the Samaritan. Often times we allow nonbelievers to be more gracious, generous, loving, sacrificial and patient than us. Often times, there are nonbelievers at AIDS clinics, given AIDS relief to Africa, drilling wells for nations crippled by abject poverty. While we sit in our nice religion edifices listening to good sermons, or in our homes reading good books, or manicuring our nice lawns. Often times the “Samaritans” our showing us up and we are busy arguing over if regeneration proceeds faith. None of these things are bad; however, when that is ALL we serve but we profess with our lips that we love like Jesus we are lying to ourselves.

In Closing

Our religion, knowledge, understanding or anything else doesn’t matter if we are not using our resources to serve others sacrificially. I am not talking about a once a month check the box type of volunteerism. No! I am talking about a self-sacrificing love for other people that puts Christ on display. Many of the books that I read about the early church, talks a great deal about their service and very little about their theology. These Christians were known because they served and loved people who were treated worse than used toilet paper. Dave Black spoke how the early church were called “life gamblers”. Because they would go into to towns where people were fleeing for their lives. They would take care of the elderly, the orphan, the widows, their theology produced a servant heart that transformed people. And that is what I am now praying for. I now understand why Alan often talks about service, because service is the disposition of Christ and we are His disciples it is to be our disposition. He went to the cross in His service how far are we (I) willing to go?