James the Just - Part 11 - The Way of a Servant

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Choices are like friendships; there are options.  In an airport choice, you can either get on the plane – or not; you simply cannot do both.  The same can be said of friendship with Christ – you can go to Him, or you can live a worldly, comfortable, selfish life…you just cannot do both!  If you choose Christ and His way, here is the pathway for the rest of your life:

The Priority of a Servant Attitude

I want to share with you a few principles about how to have a servant attitude – which is about as far opposite from a selfish attitude as you can get.  Here are three pieces of the discipleship puzzle:

Puzzle Piece #1.  In Human Relationships Conflict is normal

Genesis to Revelation is all about conflict.  From the time Cain killed his brother…to the Corinthian Christians who sued each other in the courts…to Euodia and Syntyche, sisters in the Philippian church who were constantly sniping at each other, probably over who was going to wear the purple dress on a given Sunday…right down to today…conflict is normal.  The question is, How are you going to deal with the inevitable conflicts in life?

Puzzle Piece #2.  In Christian Discipleship Dealing with Conflict as Believers is Critical

In God’s economy there are only two ways to deal with conflict, selfishly or as servant.  Cain was the selfish example.  He didn’t like the approval his brother got from God, so Cain got rid of Abel; he killed him, the first murder in the history of humankind, recorded on the pages of Genesis.

The servant model is found in many places; the prototype for us, however is Jesus.   In John’s Gospel ^{(Chapter 13)} we find Jesus dealing with the selfishness of the disciples.  Jesus was preparing to go to the cross, so he was preparing the disciples for life without his physical presence to comfort and guide them. 

What were the disciples doing?  They were dividing up the executive perks – arguing over whom was going to sit in the seats of power in the kingdom.  Jesus got up from the table, put on a towel, and, to the amazement of his followers washed twelve pairs of dirty, stinky feet, even the feet of Judas! 

You say, I can’t do that!  I say, You’re plumb on target!

Puzzle Piece #3. You need GRACE to live like that, and grace only comes to the humble.

And he gives grace generously.  As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  So humble yourselves before God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.   James 4.6-7(NLT)

Humility isn’t an easy thing.  The word humble in the language of the New Testament comes from a few words linked together which mean, literally, face in the dust.

During the latter stages of World War II Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency, by the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn took him aside and gave him some advice on being humble:

From here on out, you're going to have lots of people around you.  They'll try to put up a wall around you and cut you off from any ideas but theirs.  They'll tell you what a great man you are, Harry.  But you and I both know you ain't.^[2]

For You Today

There’s a human tendency to hide our low-down ways, and exalt our more noble attributes.  Where I was raised we had a good, old fashioned term for that – braggin’.  To receive grace is to put your face in the dust.  It is to turn everything upside down from the way the world gives its approval.  It is to recognize the truth about you and sin…and agree with God.  So, the questions before the house, then, are;

·      am I ready to follow Christ all the way? 

·      am I ready to exalt my low ways (confess my sins), and hide my good points (not depend on my self-goodness)? 

·      Am I?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of  Wikimedia Commons     Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker)