Introduction
On 21 April 1947 our Queen, who was then Princess Elizabeth, delivered a speech during a tour of South Africa. It was her 21st birthday,
“My whole life,” she said, “whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” It is said that her words moved Winston Churchill to tears.
She has absolutely kept her word. Now in her 96th year, 3 decades beyond retirement age, she is still absolutely dedicated to service. Even after the death of her beloved husband Prince Philip earlier this year, she was back at work just days later, without showing the faintest hint of self-interest, or self-pity. She is truly a servant queen.
The concept of a servant king or queen was unheard of at the time of Jesus. The idea had never occurred to anyone anywhere in the world. Indeed, it would have seemed bizarre.
King Herod, for example, never called himself a servant. It is said that he was prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition. The Caesars in Rome would have considered it insulting to be called servants. The pharaohs of Egypt and the great kings of Babylon likewise.
Even the godliest kings in Israel’s history, once they ascend to the throne, never once use the word ‘servant’ to describe their relationship to their subjects. I’ve noticed this as I’ve been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel this month; David frequently speaks of himself in the third person as ‘your servant’ - until he becomes king - when that language stops abruptly.
But Jesus, the one we call the King of kings and Lord of lords, said, “The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves… I am among you as one who serves.”
And he said this; “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
Servanthood in Jesus’ Day
In the strictly hierarchical society of the first century, everyone knew their place. Everyone had a rank. The second lowest servant had the unpleasant and demeaning task of unfastening people’s sandals. But that servant was considered above having to wash the feet afterwards. That most humiliating and least dignified of household tasks was for the servant one rung below at the very bottom of the food chain.
The idea of washing the feet of somebody below you in the pecking order was laughable. Even to wash the feet of someone on the same level as you simply wasn’t the done thing.
John the Baptist looked at Jesus and said, “I am not worthy of untying his sandals” but Jesus, equal in glory and majesty with God the Father, washed feet.
And when he got up, he looked at his startled and disorientated disciples, and said this; “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.”
We are looking at some of the one anothers in the New Testament. Some people experience church as if it were a football match. 22 people in desperate need of a rest watched by 22,000 people in desperate need of exercise.
But in the Bible, church is never a spectator sport. It is an interactive community where no one is a passive observer. In other words, everyone gets to play.
So, as we’ve seen, there are dozens of exhortations given to churches with the phrase one another. Love one another. Forgive one another. Pray for one another. Welcome one another. Speak the truth to one another. Encourage one another. Exhort one another. And this week I want to explore what Galatians 5.13 means when it says, “serve one another humbly in love.”
The word ‘serve’, with its associated words servant, serving, service and so on appears over 200 times in the New Testament. (The word in Greek is diakonos for those of you who care). It literally means ‘to run errands’, ‘to attend to’ or ‘to wait at table, to supply food and drink’ or some other menial role.
It is never with status or prestige. It is always associated with humility, lowliness and practical assistance.
Jesus commands it to all who call themselves his followers but he particularly insists on it for those who are appointed as leaders. Alpha’s Nicky Gumbel sums it up unforgettably. “For Jesus,” he says, “if service is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you.”
Whatever kind of leadership role you might have; as a supervisor at work, at home as a parent, as an elder, a trustee, a youth or children’s leader, a small group leader, as having any kind of responsibility – you are called to think of yourself, not a superior, but as a servant.
We’re going to look together at Mark 10.32-45.
Background
Mark chapter 10 situates Jesus and his entourage travelling south in the Jordan valley, towards Jericho which is more or less the lowest point on the Earth’s surface. From there they will turn west and press on uphill to Jerusalem where Jesus will meet his fate.
Here's what it says.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “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.”
Let’s pray…
Jesus’ ministry is building to a climax. Though he has spoken plainly and without ambiguity on at least two occasions already about what he knows is going to happen to him; it does not appear to have registered with his disciples at all.
A Recurrent Misunderstanding
Some are amazed and some are frightened, because they can sense that things are building up to some sort of dramatic climax. Maybe an audacious uprising?
So, in v32-34 Jesus calls the twelve to him and again patiently explains in great detail that this is not the programme.
Instead, what’s going to happen is this; the religious elite are going to collude with the Roman authorities to arrest him, pass sentence and send him to a violent and shameful death, after which he will rise again.
This is a deeply personal and traumatic disclosure. Jesus says, in words of one syllable, “When we get to Jerusalem I’m going to be rejected. They’re going to mock me, publicly humiliate me, spit in my face, beat me up and then they’re going to kill me. This is not a metaphor. I really am going to die.”
What do you suppose would be a fitting response to these words? Would it not be to show some loyalty and support? Would it not be appropriate for the twelve to be aggrieved and upset, to show Jesus they care, to serve him in this moment of great distress? To ask him, “How can we help?”
But there is nothing in the text here, nor in the other Gospels that record the same incident, to suggest that any of them either feel or display the slightest compassion or empathy for their Lord and Master.
Could it be that all twelve of them simply fail to understand a perfectly simple statement, in plain language, that Jesus has articulated to them at least three times?
Or is rather it that they are so self-absorbed, so up themselves, so obsessed with their own status and rank, that they just don’t care?
It seems to be the latter, because in v35-40 Mark tells us about a frankly pathetic request from James and John.
Bear in mind that in the previous chapter, the twelve not only discuss, but in fact argue amongst themselves as they walk along the road about which of them stands where in the pecking order. This is therefore a recurring theme.
They raise their voices and bicker about who’s top of the food chain? Who’s the alpha male? Who’s the most distinguished and exalted of the apostles? Who’s going to Right Reverend, who’s going to be Most Reverend, who’s going to be Very Reverend?
It’s embarrassing and cringeworthy. This is like the seven dwarfs in a bitter dispute over which one is the tallest!
So, in Mark 9.35, Jesus sits down, calls the Twelve to him and says, Look. “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
But now, one chapter later, we learn that Jesus’ words have fallen on deaf ears. James and John, two fishermen who never succeed in catching a single fish in the entire Bible unless Jesus does a miracle for them, sneakily have a word with Jesus.
“Teacher,” they say to a man who has spoken to them twice recently about his imminent, harrowing death, “we want you to do for us… whatever we ask.”
Jesus has every right to explode with frustration and tell these men how much their insensitivity and selfish ambition hurt him.
But, instead, Jesus the servant of all, shows breathtaking patience and self-control. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asks.
How about, “Can we have the honour of helping you carry your cross when it comes to the crucifixion?”
But no. Instead, they say, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” In other words, “We want prestige. We want to be famous. We want to be admired.”
Jesus, speaking of his death, when he will drink the cup of God’s wrath against sin and be plunged into depths of sorrow and agony, asks James and John if they think they can go through what he will go through.
Maybe they think the cup is a cup of celebration. Maybe they think about Jesus’ baptism as the moment when heaven opens and a voice says “This is my beloved son!”
So they say, “Oh, no problem.” And Jesus, as ever, is absolutely straight with them. “Well, you will”, he says.
But James and John are focused on what’s important to them. What about the seats of honour at the top table? What about the honorary knighthoods? That’s what they want to hear.
Which is when the other ten disciples get wind of what James and John are up to and start kicking off. They begin to squabble. These bald men are still fighting over a comb! So Jesus focuses with amazing restraint and patience - yet again - on what they need to hear.
They need to hear that, in the kingdom of God, serving one another is a basic requirement. It is non-negotiable. It is (and always will be) an essential and indispensable feature of the church Jesus is building.
It’s not going to be like the Romans who throw their weight around and bark orders to their subordinates. Leaders in Jesus’ day got their way by intimidation and bullying. Everyone else existed to run around and massage the boss’s ego. But Jesus could not be more emphatic. “Read my lips. This is not the way we are going to do things.”
Phil Dooley, lead pastor of Hillsong in Cape Town, says this about in his church, “The best [leadership] teams are made up of a bunch of nobodies who love everybody and serve anybody and don’t care about becoming a somebody.”
Where did he get that from? He got that from Jesus who says here: “Instead, whoever wants to become great among you… [note, he doesn’t rebuke their desire for greatness; he simply tells them they’re going about it the wrong way]. “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.”
This why he came. He willingly laid aside all his heavenly majesty, he humbled himself, he gladly took the form of a servant, putting others first.
His laying down his life as a ransom cancelled out forever all your sins, however bad and however many, ended your alienation from God, set you right with him as a son or daughter, opened up for you a door to heaven that no one can shut, and etched your name in the book of life from which it will never be erased
And if you have never turned to Christ in grateful faith for what he did for you, and if right now, God is speaking to you and giving you a chance to take the greatest step in life you can ever take, take it. Do it today.
Don't make the mistake of putting it off forever. The Bible says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” So I’m inviting you today; ask God to take care of your past and lay down your life to Jesus Christ.
Serve One Another
I hope it is clear why we value serving one another humbly in love.
Jesus gave it all for us, delivering us from hell and seating us in the throne of the heavens. Therefore, in response, the least we can do to give 100% for him, and for one another. Jesus gave it all. 95% commitment from me in return is 5% short.
I know a man who, until recently, had one of the top jobs in the NHS here in the Tess Valley. It came with a lot of prestige and no doubt paid handsomely. It was also complex, demanding, non-stop stressful and carried a huge burden of responsibility.
But this self-effacing man found time - he made time - to serve coffee at church, host a midweek group in his home and was never above sweeping up after children’s outreach activities. Serve one another humbly in love.
Is your life (work, family, marriage if you’re married, church, leisure, finances)… is your life marked more by getting or giving?
Put another way, are you primarily motivated by what you hope to get out of church or by what you want to put into it?
Washington DC church leader Mark Batterson says, “If you do little things like they were big things, God will do big things like they were little things.” Serve one another humbly in love.
Tim Matthews, of Love Church in Bournemouth says to new people in his church, “Find a job that you want to do here before you’re asked to do one that you don’t!” Serve one another humbly in love.
What makes you happy? I know many people who are unhappy and unfulfilled because they are oriented for being served, passive and self-centred rather than living with a servant heart.
Are you serving at King’s? Are you a player or a spectator? What are the passions God has put in your heart? Why don’t you ask one of the elders, “How can I serve here? What needs doing?”
Ending
As I end, I wanted to be able to invite people who feel that God is stirring them forward for prayer ministry. We can’t do that yet. It won’t be long now but we must be patient.
But I want to give you an opportunity to respond in a concrete way. Serving is not about being passive so in a moment I’m going to ask you to stand, where you are, if you feel God is speaking to you about serving. And I’ll ask the Holy Spirit to anoint you and empower you for service.
Don’t look around the hall and don’t worry about what others think; this is between you and God.
So if this morning you feel you want to get into gear - or go up a gear - in serving others, or if you feel stirred to renew your devotion to service, or if you simply want to be motivated not to be served but to serve will you stand please.
Prayer…
Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 20 June 2021
