“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its
flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot
as worthless. “You are the light of the
world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and
then puts it under a basket. Instead, a
lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your
good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly
Father. “Don’t misunderstand why I have
come. I did not come to abolish the law
of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth,
until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will
disappear until its purpose is achieved.
Matthew 5:13-18
For you have been called to live in
freedom, my brothers and sisters. But
don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another
in love. Galatians 5:13
The Word of God for us, the People of God .
We have been spending time
with Jesus on “the Mount” – the sermon of our Lord; two-thousand, three hundred
and eighty-four words[1]
introduced by the “beatitudes” and ending with the astonishment of all the
listeners marveling over how Jesus taught with such awesome authority. This was heaven’s proposal for how to live if
we want to take seriously the idea of loving God.
There have been virtually
libraries of books written on the beatitudes alone, let alone the other 109
verses of Jesus’ sermon. In choosing to
preach seven sermons on “the sermon”
I am obviously not exhausting everything that could be said about living as a
follower of Jesus Christ; I have simply chosen the seven topics that have been
the most important for me in growing as Jesus’ disciple these last fifty-plus
years.
As we live the Christian
life and grow into our discipleship we become like a garment woven together
with holy thread…the strands all provide and receive strength from each
other. Christ is all, and in all[2].
Each of these exhortations
to living a Godly life is a component and a bridge. Each is vitally-important; none greater than
any other. Each provides a pathway to
the others. The first four topics we
covered were:
·
Believing in Christ (faith)
·
Developing a relationship with Christ in prayer
·
Forgiving (and being forgiven) by others
·
Giving (developing our life in Christ through stewardship)
Today’s theme is serving as a slave. Within the Bible’s 1200 chapters, there are
more than 1450 references to the word “servant” or “serve”. Something which is mentioned that often
demands our attention.
Let’s look at developing our
lives of discipleship through serving as a slave. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking…wasn’t slavery outlawed? Well, yes, of course it is outlawed to make
someone else a slave to anyone. But, in
discipleship, becoming God’s servant is something for which we volunteer; we
choose to be slaves of God.
Three words of relationship
There are three words in the
language of the New Testament that are used to describe serving. These ancient Greek words, from “weakest to
strongest” (from a Christian perspective), are latreuo, diakonos and doulos,
forming a progression of relationship to Jesus.
latreuo
The weakest relationship is
that of legalities. The word latreuo is translated
"minister" in many cases, and it speaks of the one who is hired to perform
a service. Many people see their
relationship to God as dutiful, paying an obligation, or a legal responsibility
to "worship" God. This is weak
in thinking and theology. If God wanted
people who were going to "pay Him back" he surely would look elsewhere. How can you repay the cross?
diakonos
The next strongest
relationship is the diakonos, or “friendly host” to Jesus. We get our word “deacon” from this word. It describes the one who follows-after Jesus
to be a heartfelt lover of the Lord.
Today there are many in our society who love the idea of "doing
something for Jesus." They go to
church, give, and serve on committees and boards. It is a nice picture of nice people doing
nice things in a nice way. As long as
everything stays "nice," everything will be "nice." However, we know that this isn't a nice
world. It is a world touched, gripped
and ripped by sin. Not everything in the
church, home or public place will be nice and ideal.
doulos
The third word is doulos, or
"slave." This is the strongest
word for relationship to Jesus. It
literally means "bond-slave," the person who had no choice with his
own life. In ancient times a bond-slave
was committed for life to serve the master of the house.
It requires commitment to
give yourself to someone. Paul, James,
Peter, John and many early disciples referred to themselves as the bond-slaves
(doulos) of Christ. This is the
strongest word of relationship because it requires the most bridges
burned. The latreuo is a hired servant,
so he is there for what he'll receive in payment. The diakonos is serving because of favored
conditions.
The doulos, because of the
cross and God’s mercy and grace, is there to lose himself in life-long, loving
disposal to the Master's wishes. Do you
see the progression? It goes from
receiving wages (weakest relationship) to giving self (strongest relationship).
Now, the essence of our text
can be explained in the light of those three words. When Paul said, "...by love serve one another." he used the word
"doulos." The relationship is
based on giving ourselves to one another – servant/slavehood. He didn't use "latreuo," saying we
have an obligation to serve like a hired waiter. He didn't say "diakonos,"
indicating "hanging-out with the brethren" until the going got rough. He said, "doulos;” we are to be slaves,
devoted to each other, even as we claim to be devoted to Christ. Those who consider themselves slaves to
everyone in the body are considered greatest in the body by the head of the
body.
and whoever wishes
to be first among you must be slave of all.
Mark 10:44 (NRSV)
It is the
same with winning souls, visiting the sick and serving the body. Being Christ’s servant means you do the work
because you are His. When in compassion you
meet the needs of people instead of just judging them will be truly serving. In the parable of the Good
Samaritan, the true servant of God's will was the man who put aside racial,
economic and religious barriers to meet someone's dire need:
Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:36 - 37 (NRSV)
There are thousands of
people in this community who need the ministry of this body. Those who have consecrated themselves to
serve the body will really be serving the Master
And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just
as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you
did it to me.’ Matthew 25:40 (NRSV)
When he woke up in the
morning, he was excited. Jesus would pay
a visit to him sometime during the day.
He swept his shop clean, prepared a delicious meal, and waited for the visit.
In the morning a hungry
exhausted child came to his shop, so Martin fed her and let her rest for a
while. At mid-day an old woman happened
by. The woman was cold and
shivering. Martin gave her a warm shawl
and she went on her way. Late in the
afternoon, a barefooted beggar came to his door, and Martin gave him a pair of shoes. But Jesus did not come.
When Martin went to bed that
night he was disappointed. That night
Jesus once again appeared in a dream to him.
Lord, why did you not visit me
today? Martin asked in all sincerity.
Jesus then replied, Martin,
three times I visited you. First as a
little child, then as an old woman, and finally as a beggar.
When we help a needy person,
when we offer food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, we are actually
helping Jesus. When we care for the
forgotten of our society, as Jesus did, we are actually helping Jesus.[3]
So…serve one
another?
We can take that to heart in
varied ways. We can serve each other
like Salome' did for the John the Baptist, she served his head on a
platter. That's the world's way.
We can latreuo one another like hired
servants, just doing what we do because it is our duty to do things around the
church.
We can diakonos one another like fair
weather friends, being nice among the nice as long as everything's nice.
–
or –
We can be Biblical slaves, doulos, committed to each other,
filled with mercy, meeting needs, doing it with love as unto the Lord.
Father,
help us to let go of this world’s ways and sing the song of life service the
way You showed us, towel, basin, and cross.
Let it be so in each of our lives…Amen!
Title Image:
Pixabay.com
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation Matthew
10:24-39©
[1] In the NRSV
[2] Colossians 3:11
[3]Piero Ferrucci, Inevitable Grace, (Los Angeles, Jeremy
P. Tarcher, Inc, 1990) 90-91
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