Chosen to Serve

 

[Our service of Sunday, January 16th, 2022, was canceled due to the snow and icy conditions.  The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 23rd of January, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Today's service also included the ordination of two Deacons and the installation of church officers.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

In my invocation, I read where Jesus said that He came to serve, not to be served.  He also said that if we want to be among the greatest, we must be as a servant to all others.

This morning we ordained two people to the service of our Lord and then installed them and two others to the service of our church.  But Jesus didn’t mean just church leaders when He told us to be servants; He meant all of us.

The practice of ordaining and installing church leaders and servants had its start in the early church, not too long after Jesus returned home to heaven.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Luke recorded for us in verses 1 through 8 of chapter 6 of his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, and I’ll be reading this from the New Revised Standard Version of our Holy Bible…

1 Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2 And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4 while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” 5 What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

--Acts 6:1-8 (NRSV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for the example of service the early church gives us.  Thank You for showing us, through our Bible scriptures, needs within our community that we can fill, such as feeding the hungry, providing drink and clothing and shelter for the needy, nurturing those who would come to know Jesus as Lord.  Please help us be good servants, and to be humble in our service.  And please, Father, protect us from all of Satan’s tricks and schemes.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  May we serve You by our service to others.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

In his book Celebration of Discipline, in the chapter titled “The Discipline of Service”, theologian Richard Foster distinguishes between self-righteous service and true service.  In it he writes:

Self-righteous service comes through human effort.  True service comes from a relationship with the divine Other deep inside.

Self-righteous service is impressed with the "big deal".  True service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service.

Self-righteous service requires external rewards.  True service rests contented in hiddenness.

Self-righteous service is highly concerned about results.  True service is free of the need to calculate results.

Self-righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve.  True service is indiscriminate in its ministry.

Self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims.  True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need.

Self-righteous service is temporary.  True service is a life-style.

Self-righteous service is without sensitivity. It insists on meeting the need even when to do so would be destructive.  True service can withhold the service as freely as perform it.

Self-righteous service fractures community.  True service, on the other hand, builds community.

I think we all have a good feel for what it means to be self-righteous, but you may find the dictionary definition to be interesting.  To be self-righteous is to be confident of one's own righteousness, especially when smugly moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others.  I imagine we’re all a little guilty of that at one time or another.  Maybe we’ve sometime gotten up on our high horse and pointed our finger at others, accusing them of the same thing we ourselves have done?

Self-righteous service is smug, moralistic, and mostly self-serving.  It’s helping out in the soup line or with Meals-On-Wheels once a year - or once every four years - so we can get our name and photo in the papers or on TV.

True service, though, the kind of service God expects of us, is self-less.  It is giving, even when it hurts to give.  It is putting others ahead of self.  It is given freely, without expectations of payback or reward.  It is love, and the sharing of the love of Jesus.

From our scripture reading this morning, we should be able to see that our office of Deacon came from the early church’s decision to send certain of the disciples out into the community to see to the needs of the community.  And God blessed the church and these early Deacons for their efforts, for we see that the number of followers and believers increased and that Stephen performed great wonders and works among the people.

So, when we are told to be servants, who is it we are supposed to serve?  The implication that we’ve seen so far is that we serve other people, those whose needs are great.  But let’s go back a little and look at the time shortly after His baptism when Jesus is being tempted by Satan in the wilderness.  Please listen as I read from the 4th chapter of the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, verses 8 through 10…

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

--Matthew 4:8-10 (NKJV)

“You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”  If we are to only serve God, what about those needy people?  And how does this reconcile with what we earlier read about self-righteous versus true service?

Let me read something to you that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, from chapter 16, verses 17 through 19 of his letter to the Romans…

17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. 19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent concerning evil.

--Romans 16:17-19 (NKJV)

Now Paul is talking about what is going on in that church in Rome, and how there are some causing division and discord within the family.  Since they are serving their own bellies, as Paul puts it, deceiving the hearts of the less informed with smooth words and flattering speech, I think we can say their service is self-righteous.  And they are not serving our Lord Jesus.  Paul uses this example to educate us, so that we might be wise in what is good, and innocent concerning what is evil.

So that is two examples of our Bible scripture directing us to serve our Lord God, and our Lord Jesus who is God.  True service, not the self-righteous variety.

But family, here’s the kicker.  When we serve other people, when we see to the needs of those less fortunate, of those more helpless, then we are indeed serving God.  For this is His commandment, to love others as we love ourselves, as Jesus loves us.  We serve God by following His command, by loving others.  And when we truly love others, we will exercise that love through our service to them.  Jesus came to serve rather than to be served, and He served God the Father by loving us more than even His own mortal life.

Family, we have chosen a few people from among ourselves to serve our church family.  But let’s not forget that we have all been chosen, by our Lord Jesus, to serve our community as well.  Let’s all be good servants.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who gave His all for us.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your own Son to serve us by redeeming our sin.  Through Him and the examples of the early church, You show us what true service is.  Thank You, Father, for Your instruction and examples.  But Father, sometimes we serve for the wrong reasons.  Sometimes we become more concerned about being served that about serving.  Forgive us those times, Father, and remind us of why Jesus came to us.  Please help us show Your love to others through our love and service.  Help us be better, truer servants, to You and to our fellow man.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, when You gave us the command to love others as You love us, this was to show us how to serve.  We serve You by serving others, and we serve them through our love.  Please, Lord, help us be more loving, more forgiving, so that we can be better servants.  Forgive us, Jesus, when we fail to love and serve because of all the strains of life.  Help us remember all You went through just for us, and how You never stopped loving, never stopped serving others.  And Jesus, please strengthen us through these very difficult times.  Heal those hurts that separate and divide us, in our communities and even within Your church family.  Help us remain true and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.