Mark 10:35-37; 41-45 November 9, 2008
“To Serve with Love”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
35James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Let’s say you and your buddy just landed new jobs. Your boss is tough, but very, very smart, and very, very popular. You just know that your boss is going to make it big someday – maybe even someday soon. And so you and your buddy start talking together about how you can get in on the action. You think of different strategies that are inconspicuous – sly even. But they’ll take too long, and you just don’t know how long you have. And so you decide to just go for it. You decide to just lay your cards on the table and ask for what you want. “So boss, we know you’re going places. We can see things are going to go well for you. So, here’s the deal: when you get into that corner office, James and I would like to have the offices on either side of you. What d’ya say?”
Several months ago, I listened to one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard on 1 Corinthians 13:4, “Love is not jealous,” preached by Dr. Haddon Robinson. In the sermon about the pitfalls of being jealous or envious, Dr. Robinson said something like this: “Don’t desire to swap lives with someone unless you’re willing to swap everything they’ve got.” In other words, if you want the next-in-line position of the guy in the corner office, you better be eager to take on the pile of work he takes home with him every night, the stress of putting out fires every other hour, and the exhaustion that comes with traveling from one end of the country to the other, staying in hotels apart from his family, and the wake up call that comes just hours after finally falling asleep with his laptop on his chest.
If you want to be able to take off every weekend like your co-worker to go to the hunting cabin, you better also be ready to take on the sadness that he carries because of an absent father and a demanding spouse.
If you want all the most fashionable clothes and the perfect thin body just so you can fit in with the popular crowd, then you better also be ready to take on the pressure necessary to maintain your position with the ‘in’ people, and you better be ready to live with the reality of broken promises and empty relationships.
The brothers, James and John, wanted a position of power and glory. They came right out and asked Jesus for the best spots once his kingdom was established. But were they willing to swap being “me first” people in order to become like Jesus – to become “God first, and others second, and me third” people? Jesus tells them that becoming a sacrificial servant of all is the only way to satisfy the deep longing within them – that longing for our lives to matter for something bigger than ourselves.
Last Sunday we talked about being good stewards (good managers) of all God has given to us. Last Sunday was about giving back to God a portion of what we receive from him.
Today, we are still focusing on stewardship – but today we are focusing on the stewardship of our time – asking ourselves this question: For my sake, Jesus became a sacrificial servant, freely giving himself away for me. In gratitude to him and to carry on his message, how am I serving others, freely giving myself away for Jesus?
We were all created by God, in God’s image, in order to make a contribution to this world. We weren’t created just to take up space, to get all we can get, to get our own way, and then die without ever bringing honor to the one who gave us life. In Ephesians 2:10, in the Living Bible, the Apostle Paul writes, “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.” But not just helping others in order to say, “Hey, I helped someone,” …not just helping others to get a pat on the back or a thank you note. We serve others because God says that’s how we can discover the core of who we really are in Christ – through giving ourselves away, and it doesn’t have to be a big “wow” thing. Small or hidden acts of service often make the biggest difference. Rick Warren points out in his book The Purpose Driven Life, “In my home, the most important light is not the large chandelier in our dining room, but the little night light that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up at night.” We have been created to help others, to serve others in whatever way we can so that the sacrificial servant life of Jesus will continue to minister to people in the world today.
The ways that we can serve each other are endless. Absolutely endless. Let’s take a little survey here:
Anyone who has ever taught Sunday school, stand up.
Anyone who has ever read a Bible story to a child, stand up.
Anyone who has ever prayed out loud with another person, stand up.
Anyone who has ever prayed for another person (silently or out loud), stand up.
Anyone who has ever mowed the grass for someone who couldn’t mow it themselves, stand up.
Anyone who has ever taken a meal to someone home from the hospital, stand up.
Anyone who ever helped with the Turkey Supper, stand up.
Anyone who has ever been in a sacred choir, stand up.
Anyone who has ever worked with the youth group, stand up.
Anyone who has ever made a prayer shawl, stand up.
Anyone who filled a Christmas shoebox, stand up.
Anyone who ever invited someone to church, stand up.
Anyone who ever welcomed a stranger who came to church, stand up.
Anyone who ever served on a church board, stand up.
Anyone who ever weeded a neighbor’s yard, painted a neighbor’s porch, taken out a neighbor’s trash, called a neighbor to make sure they were okay, stand up.
Anyone who has ever put any amount of money in the offering plate, stand up.
Anyone who has ever served in the nursery, stand up.
Anyone who has ever served as a greeter, a lay leader, or a roller and slider, stand up.
Anyone who has ever gone on a mission trip, stand up.
Anyone who has gone Christmas caroling, please stand and sing, “O Come, All Ye Faithful…”
Do you get the point? There are so many ways to serve. Endless ways to serve. And remember this: we serve God when we serve others, because in serving others, that’s the way another person’s heart begins to soften – as their most basic needs are met – and then as the heart softens, the truth about Jesus that lives in our hearts can find its true home in another’s heart as well.
Just last week, this beautiful silver ‘thing’ was found in the kitchen cupboards. See how beautiful it is with the cross on the top? The question became, “What is it – and how can it be used?” After many ideas, like – is it a teapot where you would put hot water in the base, or for an iced drink with cold water, Ruth Frazier thought perhaps it was to squirt juice into people’s mouths as they came forward for communion. And that led to the discovery of the true purpose for this beautiful object: It is designed to fill the communion cups without spillage. See how it works? You squeeze this little thumb valve here, and out comes the liquid. Amazing – and beautiful at the same time! Since I’ve been around, I think we’ve bought 3 different cheap kinds of cup fillers. None of them have worked very well. Joni keeps going back to squeezing a paper cup so it has a pouring spout. But here’s the thing: This amazing cup filler was here in the church the whole time! It was here – but it was hidden – not able to be used. And that’s a huge lesson for us all: All the gifts we need to make this church run smoothly in order to minister to the greatest amount of people are right here among us. This is the earthly Body of Christ now. Do you think God would call us to function as Christ’s body here on earth and not make sure that we have all the pieces and parts that we need to do it well? Surely not. But everyone has to do their part – and not hide their gifts in the darkness.
So, to wrap up this message today, here are a couple of easy-to-remember lessons to take home:
Like this special container, you too, are beautiful in the eyes of God. God, your heavenly Father looks at you and says, “Wow. You are spectacular!” Young, old, big, little, introvert, extrovert, type A, type B, white, black, and anything in between – “You are spectacular!”
Like this special container, you too, have a purpose that is a perfect fit with how you were made. It may take a while to figure it out, but keep trying – keep serving in various ways, keep laughing, keep reading the Scripture, keep praying – and you will eventually discover that place of service that becomes more satisfying to you than anything you could ever do to serve yourself.
Like this special container, in order to do what it was made to do, it has to be full on the inside. The best serving work we can do for the Lord, is work that we do out of the fullness of the Holy Spirit within us. Otherwise, we’re just working out of our own efforts, and those efforts will eventually dry up and cause tension in the body.
Like this special container, once we are filled up, we can serve a lot of people – make a difference in a lot of people’s lives for Jesus’ sake.
Jesus said, “for the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” He is Adonai, our Master. As his disciples, it’s our calling to copy the Master – to live our lives not to be served, but to serve!
In your bulletin today, you will find an insert that lists all sorts of ways that you can serve the Lord through the work of this congregation. It takes a lot to keep things going smoothly around here – and the very best way to keep it going smoothly is to spread the work around so that no one person, or group of people, run dry.
Please take a few moments to write your name, your phone, and your email (if you have one), and then circle some ways that you’d like to be asked to serve here. You’ll notice that the bottom part of the slip has to do with committing to church membership. I included that on this slip, because it is my conviction that it is an act of love and service to God and his people to make a commitment to a particular congregation – to say to those around you, “I choose to plant my feet right here and serve alongside you through thick and thin, to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with you. And I’m willing to speak vows of service to demonstrate and to seal my commitment.” If you want to know more about inquiring into membership, please answer the questions at the bottom of the insert.
For the sake of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom, may God help us serve Him by serving those around us, freely giving ourselves away graciously, boldly, and joyfully. Thanks be to God, Amen.
“To Serve with Love”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
35James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Let’s say you and your buddy just landed new jobs. Your boss is tough, but very, very smart, and very, very popular. You just know that your boss is going to make it big someday – maybe even someday soon. And so you and your buddy start talking together about how you can get in on the action. You think of different strategies that are inconspicuous – sly even. But they’ll take too long, and you just don’t know how long you have. And so you decide to just go for it. You decide to just lay your cards on the table and ask for what you want. “So boss, we know you’re going places. We can see things are going to go well for you. So, here’s the deal: when you get into that corner office, James and I would like to have the offices on either side of you. What d’ya say?”
Several months ago, I listened to one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard on 1 Corinthians 13:4, “Love is not jealous,” preached by Dr. Haddon Robinson. In the sermon about the pitfalls of being jealous or envious, Dr. Robinson said something like this: “Don’t desire to swap lives with someone unless you’re willing to swap everything they’ve got.” In other words, if you want the next-in-line position of the guy in the corner office, you better be eager to take on the pile of work he takes home with him every night, the stress of putting out fires every other hour, and the exhaustion that comes with traveling from one end of the country to the other, staying in hotels apart from his family, and the wake up call that comes just hours after finally falling asleep with his laptop on his chest.
If you want to be able to take off every weekend like your co-worker to go to the hunting cabin, you better also be ready to take on the sadness that he carries because of an absent father and a demanding spouse.
If you want all the most fashionable clothes and the perfect thin body just so you can fit in with the popular crowd, then you better also be ready to take on the pressure necessary to maintain your position with the ‘in’ people, and you better be ready to live with the reality of broken promises and empty relationships.
The brothers, James and John, wanted a position of power and glory. They came right out and asked Jesus for the best spots once his kingdom was established. But were they willing to swap being “me first” people in order to become like Jesus – to become “God first, and others second, and me third” people? Jesus tells them that becoming a sacrificial servant of all is the only way to satisfy the deep longing within them – that longing for our lives to matter for something bigger than ourselves.
Last Sunday we talked about being good stewards (good managers) of all God has given to us. Last Sunday was about giving back to God a portion of what we receive from him.
Today, we are still focusing on stewardship – but today we are focusing on the stewardship of our time – asking ourselves this question: For my sake, Jesus became a sacrificial servant, freely giving himself away for me. In gratitude to him and to carry on his message, how am I serving others, freely giving myself away for Jesus?
We were all created by God, in God’s image, in order to make a contribution to this world. We weren’t created just to take up space, to get all we can get, to get our own way, and then die without ever bringing honor to the one who gave us life. In Ephesians 2:10, in the Living Bible, the Apostle Paul writes, “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.” But not just helping others in order to say, “Hey, I helped someone,” …not just helping others to get a pat on the back or a thank you note. We serve others because God says that’s how we can discover the core of who we really are in Christ – through giving ourselves away, and it doesn’t have to be a big “wow” thing. Small or hidden acts of service often make the biggest difference. Rick Warren points out in his book The Purpose Driven Life, “In my home, the most important light is not the large chandelier in our dining room, but the little night light that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up at night.” We have been created to help others, to serve others in whatever way we can so that the sacrificial servant life of Jesus will continue to minister to people in the world today.
The ways that we can serve each other are endless. Absolutely endless. Let’s take a little survey here:
Anyone who has ever taught Sunday school, stand up.
Anyone who has ever read a Bible story to a child, stand up.
Anyone who has ever prayed out loud with another person, stand up.
Anyone who has ever prayed for another person (silently or out loud), stand up.
Anyone who has ever mowed the grass for someone who couldn’t mow it themselves, stand up.
Anyone who has ever taken a meal to someone home from the hospital, stand up.
Anyone who ever helped with the Turkey Supper, stand up.
Anyone who has ever been in a sacred choir, stand up.
Anyone who has ever worked with the youth group, stand up.
Anyone who has ever made a prayer shawl, stand up.
Anyone who filled a Christmas shoebox, stand up.
Anyone who ever invited someone to church, stand up.
Anyone who ever welcomed a stranger who came to church, stand up.
Anyone who ever served on a church board, stand up.
Anyone who ever weeded a neighbor’s yard, painted a neighbor’s porch, taken out a neighbor’s trash, called a neighbor to make sure they were okay, stand up.
Anyone who has ever put any amount of money in the offering plate, stand up.
Anyone who has ever served in the nursery, stand up.
Anyone who has ever served as a greeter, a lay leader, or a roller and slider, stand up.
Anyone who has ever gone on a mission trip, stand up.
Anyone who has gone Christmas caroling, please stand and sing, “O Come, All Ye Faithful…”
Do you get the point? There are so many ways to serve. Endless ways to serve. And remember this: we serve God when we serve others, because in serving others, that’s the way another person’s heart begins to soften – as their most basic needs are met – and then as the heart softens, the truth about Jesus that lives in our hearts can find its true home in another’s heart as well.
Just last week, this beautiful silver ‘thing’ was found in the kitchen cupboards. See how beautiful it is with the cross on the top? The question became, “What is it – and how can it be used?” After many ideas, like – is it a teapot where you would put hot water in the base, or for an iced drink with cold water, Ruth Frazier thought perhaps it was to squirt juice into people’s mouths as they came forward for communion. And that led to the discovery of the true purpose for this beautiful object: It is designed to fill the communion cups without spillage. See how it works? You squeeze this little thumb valve here, and out comes the liquid. Amazing – and beautiful at the same time! Since I’ve been around, I think we’ve bought 3 different cheap kinds of cup fillers. None of them have worked very well. Joni keeps going back to squeezing a paper cup so it has a pouring spout. But here’s the thing: This amazing cup filler was here in the church the whole time! It was here – but it was hidden – not able to be used. And that’s a huge lesson for us all: All the gifts we need to make this church run smoothly in order to minister to the greatest amount of people are right here among us. This is the earthly Body of Christ now. Do you think God would call us to function as Christ’s body here on earth and not make sure that we have all the pieces and parts that we need to do it well? Surely not. But everyone has to do their part – and not hide their gifts in the darkness.
So, to wrap up this message today, here are a couple of easy-to-remember lessons to take home:
Like this special container, you too, are beautiful in the eyes of God. God, your heavenly Father looks at you and says, “Wow. You are spectacular!” Young, old, big, little, introvert, extrovert, type A, type B, white, black, and anything in between – “You are spectacular!”
Like this special container, you too, have a purpose that is a perfect fit with how you were made. It may take a while to figure it out, but keep trying – keep serving in various ways, keep laughing, keep reading the Scripture, keep praying – and you will eventually discover that place of service that becomes more satisfying to you than anything you could ever do to serve yourself.
Like this special container, in order to do what it was made to do, it has to be full on the inside. The best serving work we can do for the Lord, is work that we do out of the fullness of the Holy Spirit within us. Otherwise, we’re just working out of our own efforts, and those efforts will eventually dry up and cause tension in the body.
Like this special container, once we are filled up, we can serve a lot of people – make a difference in a lot of people’s lives for Jesus’ sake.
Jesus said, “for the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” He is Adonai, our Master. As his disciples, it’s our calling to copy the Master – to live our lives not to be served, but to serve!
In your bulletin today, you will find an insert that lists all sorts of ways that you can serve the Lord through the work of this congregation. It takes a lot to keep things going smoothly around here – and the very best way to keep it going smoothly is to spread the work around so that no one person, or group of people, run dry.
Please take a few moments to write your name, your phone, and your email (if you have one), and then circle some ways that you’d like to be asked to serve here. You’ll notice that the bottom part of the slip has to do with committing to church membership. I included that on this slip, because it is my conviction that it is an act of love and service to God and his people to make a commitment to a particular congregation – to say to those around you, “I choose to plant my feet right here and serve alongside you through thick and thin, to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with you. And I’m willing to speak vows of service to demonstrate and to seal my commitment.” If you want to know more about inquiring into membership, please answer the questions at the bottom of the insert.
For the sake of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom, may God help us serve Him by serving those around us, freely giving ourselves away graciously, boldly, and joyfully. Thanks be to God, Amen.
