“Don’t assume you
have to be extraordinary to be used by God.
You don’t have to have exceptional
gifts, talents, abilities, or connections. God specializes in using ordinary
people whose limitations and weaknesses make them ideal showcases for His
greatness and glory.” Nancy Leigh DeMoss
April is National Volunteer Month. It began in Canada in 1943 and came to the States in
1974. It took on a new energy with President George Bush’s 1990 “Points of
Light” speech encouraging volunteerism.
At Grace, we are so thankful for volunteers, yet we’re not just volunteers. We’re called to something much greater and with much more significance. As believers, we are serving the Lord Jesus Christ. It goes back to an upper room where Jesus took on a slave’s task and washed His disciples’ feet.
After our Lord had washed their feet, He makes a shocking statement: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet” (John 13:17). He was their Lord. Today Jesus would be “the boss.” You’d have thought that Jesus would have said, “Now wash my feet,” but He doesn’t. Instead, He urges them to do the one thing that was hard to do, that they didn’t want to do – serve each other.
It’s easy to serve the boss or whoever is in charge. It’s easy to serve our families, whether our spouses or children or even our grandchildren. That’s natural. It’s not natural to serve those that you’re not “naturally” related to. In fact, it’s unnatural. Yet, as Christ-followers, we are supernaturally related. Because of the cross, we’re brothers and sisters in Christ. No one becomes a Christian by serving, yet Christians are saved to serve. A believer who doesn’t serve the Lord and others has missed God’s will and is an anomaly.
It can be difficult to say exactly what a servant does, but you know one when you see one. It is hard to get a good definition of what servanthood is, but you know what it is when you experience it. Today when we’re honoring and showing special appreciation to all of the volunteers at Grace Church, we don’t dare attempt to list them out – there are so many who serve the Lord here at Grace that we knew that we’d overlook some.
In that upper room lesson, Jesus teaches us that serving Him is more often than not, humble and unnoticed. For example, when was the last time that you noticed the restaurant worker clearing and wiping tables as you were dining out? You probably didn’t…and that’s what Jesus has called us to. Very few of His servants are famous as this world counts fame. Few of them are great. There is no reason that you’d know any of them but they make a difference in eternity. What does it mean to serve the Lord?
We serve an audience of One. It’s a repeated theme of Scripture. In our occupations, marriages and homes, community and church, or wherever – we are first to be serving the Lord. We do what we do for Him. If no one notices, He always notices. It’s so freeing and helps keep our motivation in check. Our sinful hearts want to be noticed. Yet when we serve to be noticed, we lose being noticed by the One who ultimately counts.
Being a servant begins with an attitude not an action. Being a servant doesn’t start with what you do, it begins with the attitude of your heart. The most important attitude is that of love. No service is acceptable to the Lord without love. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Service without love is drudgery. It often can breed resentment and pride. Yet love for God purifies our service and lightens the burdens that we face in this life as we do the Lord’s work. It’s not a coincidence that Paul’s extended treatment of love in 1 Corinthians 13 comes in the middle of a section where he is teaching the church about the use of spiritual gifts and serving the Lord in their local church community.
Servants come in all sizes, all shapes, and all colors. Those who serve the Lord are some of the most ordinary people in the world. Mannford George Guchki said, “The servant of God may be a very ordinary person with a very ordinary manner of life.” No one is too young or too old. It was a young servant girl that God used to bring General Namaan to Himself (2 Kings 5). A little fellow giving up his lunch was used by Jesus to feed 5,000 (John 6). Two of the individuals who first saw Baby Jesus were senior senior saints, Simeon and Anna (Luke 2). No one is too young or too old to serve the Lord. Our retirement program is literally out of this world!
Anyone can be a servant if they have a servant’s heart. What is it that makes the difference between being a servant and not being a servant? Is it mowing a neighbor’s lawn? Is it taking a meal to someone who is sick? Is it giving money to those in need? No, because you can mow a lawn with a servant’s heart or you can do it out of a sense of obligation. You can make a meal because you want to serve somebody, or you can do it because you want to win favor and have them praise you. You can give money because you really want to help, or you can give money in order to curry favor with somebody. The same action can be the action of a servant or the action of a proud, self-serving person. What makes the difference is the motivation inside your heart. When we do what we do as to the Lord, it’s so freeing!
Some believers will find it easier to be a servant than others. Perhaps because of our background, temperament or even position in life, some find it easier to serve. Yet, God’s Word commands us all to be servants whether we find it easy or difficult.
The Lord Jesus is the model of being a servant for us. There are two verses we ought to tattoo on our souls. Mark 10:45, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” and Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Why did He come? He was a servant and came to serve. Look nearly anywhere in the Gospels and you will find Jesus serving. He’s our example. We are to be like Him. We are to serve because He first served us!
We’re so thankful for those who serve the Lord at Grace! It’s a privilege to honor you! You’re following in the footsteps of our Savior!
At Grace, we are so thankful for volunteers, yet we’re not just volunteers. We’re called to something much greater and with much more significance. As believers, we are serving the Lord Jesus Christ. It goes back to an upper room where Jesus took on a slave’s task and washed His disciples’ feet.
After our Lord had washed their feet, He makes a shocking statement: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet” (John 13:17). He was their Lord. Today Jesus would be “the boss.” You’d have thought that Jesus would have said, “Now wash my feet,” but He doesn’t. Instead, He urges them to do the one thing that was hard to do, that they didn’t want to do – serve each other.
It’s easy to serve the boss or whoever is in charge. It’s easy to serve our families, whether our spouses or children or even our grandchildren. That’s natural. It’s not natural to serve those that you’re not “naturally” related to. In fact, it’s unnatural. Yet, as Christ-followers, we are supernaturally related. Because of the cross, we’re brothers and sisters in Christ. No one becomes a Christian by serving, yet Christians are saved to serve. A believer who doesn’t serve the Lord and others has missed God’s will and is an anomaly.
It can be difficult to say exactly what a servant does, but you know one when you see one. It is hard to get a good definition of what servanthood is, but you know what it is when you experience it. Today when we’re honoring and showing special appreciation to all of the volunteers at Grace Church, we don’t dare attempt to list them out – there are so many who serve the Lord here at Grace that we knew that we’d overlook some.
In that upper room lesson, Jesus teaches us that serving Him is more often than not, humble and unnoticed. For example, when was the last time that you noticed the restaurant worker clearing and wiping tables as you were dining out? You probably didn’t…and that’s what Jesus has called us to. Very few of His servants are famous as this world counts fame. Few of them are great. There is no reason that you’d know any of them but they make a difference in eternity. What does it mean to serve the Lord?
We serve an audience of One. It’s a repeated theme of Scripture. In our occupations, marriages and homes, community and church, or wherever – we are first to be serving the Lord. We do what we do for Him. If no one notices, He always notices. It’s so freeing and helps keep our motivation in check. Our sinful hearts want to be noticed. Yet when we serve to be noticed, we lose being noticed by the One who ultimately counts.
Being a servant begins with an attitude not an action. Being a servant doesn’t start with what you do, it begins with the attitude of your heart. The most important attitude is that of love. No service is acceptable to the Lord without love. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Service without love is drudgery. It often can breed resentment and pride. Yet love for God purifies our service and lightens the burdens that we face in this life as we do the Lord’s work. It’s not a coincidence that Paul’s extended treatment of love in 1 Corinthians 13 comes in the middle of a section where he is teaching the church about the use of spiritual gifts and serving the Lord in their local church community.
Servants come in all sizes, all shapes, and all colors. Those who serve the Lord are some of the most ordinary people in the world. Mannford George Guchki said, “The servant of God may be a very ordinary person with a very ordinary manner of life.” No one is too young or too old. It was a young servant girl that God used to bring General Namaan to Himself (2 Kings 5). A little fellow giving up his lunch was used by Jesus to feed 5,000 (John 6). Two of the individuals who first saw Baby Jesus were senior senior saints, Simeon and Anna (Luke 2). No one is too young or too old to serve the Lord. Our retirement program is literally out of this world!
Anyone can be a servant if they have a servant’s heart. What is it that makes the difference between being a servant and not being a servant? Is it mowing a neighbor’s lawn? Is it taking a meal to someone who is sick? Is it giving money to those in need? No, because you can mow a lawn with a servant’s heart or you can do it out of a sense of obligation. You can make a meal because you want to serve somebody, or you can do it because you want to win favor and have them praise you. You can give money because you really want to help, or you can give money in order to curry favor with somebody. The same action can be the action of a servant or the action of a proud, self-serving person. What makes the difference is the motivation inside your heart. When we do what we do as to the Lord, it’s so freeing!
Some believers will find it easier to be a servant than others. Perhaps because of our background, temperament or even position in life, some find it easier to serve. Yet, God’s Word commands us all to be servants whether we find it easy or difficult.
The Lord Jesus is the model of being a servant for us. There are two verses we ought to tattoo on our souls. Mark 10:45, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” and Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Why did He come? He was a servant and came to serve. Look nearly anywhere in the Gospels and you will find Jesus serving. He’s our example. We are to be like Him. We are to serve because He first served us!
We’re so thankful for those who serve the Lord at Grace! It’s a privilege to honor you! You’re following in the footsteps of our Savior!
Can
we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web
page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more
about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus
changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org
to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.
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