AN ATTITUDE OF SERVITUDE
- A Christian is the least of all for the sake of all
- Christ became the least of all for the sake of all
How would you describe yourself? If I asked you to describe yourself with one word, what would it be? Patient? Caring? Considerate? Loyal? Trusting? Hard headed? Pessimistic? Optimistic? Maybe a better question would be: How would someone else describe you? If I asked someone who knew you well to describe you with just one word, would they pick them some word you would? Would they think of a positive characteristic that you have or a negative one? Let me ask you this: Would you or anyone else describe you with the word “servant”? I don’t think anyone that I know would think of me as a “servant” before anything else. And I don’t think I would automatically describe myself as a servant if I only had one word to choose. And isn’t that kind of sad? Isn’t it kind of sad that no one I know what think of the word “servant” when they thought of me? Especially since Jesus himself says, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Jesus calls on us to be servants. Christians are supposed to be servants. But that description doesn’t seem to fit most of us at all.
And I think that’s partly due to the fact that we don’t want to be servants! We don’t grow up hoping to be a servant. We don’t dream about being a servant one day for the rest of our lives. We want to be honored and respected. We want to be looked up to and asked for our advice. We want to get to a point in our lives where we don’t have to do the mundane and menial tasks - but that they are done for us. We would rather be the foreman than the day-laborer. We would much rather be the boss than the employee. Being a servant might be where we have to start but it certainly isn’t where we want to end up.
Jesus’ twelve disciples were just as averse to being a servant as we are today. That position was looked down upon 2000 years ago in the land of Israel as it is in 2009 in the United States. The disciples didn’t want to be servants. The disciples were Jesus’ Chosen Twelve, after all! They wanted to be honored and respected. They wanted to be looked up to and asked for advice. And so as the disciples were walking down the road one day, they began to argue. And their argument was about which one of them was the greatest.
Doesn’t it surprise you sometimes that Jesus’ own disciples would say things like this? Isn’t it surprising how far they could fall from the gospel that Jesus always proclaimed? But considering the things that had happened recently in the lives of the disciples, it really isn’t all that surprising that they would be talking about what they were talking about along the road that day. Because not too long before this incident, Jesus had predicted his death and resurrection for the first time. And when Peter took him aside to discourage him from going through with it, Jesus turned around and rebuked Peter in front of the rest of the disciples. Peter had been the leader of the twelve. But now that Jesus had verbally chastised him and even called Peter “Satan” himself, some of the other disciples probably started to question Peter’s leadership credentials. Maybe someone else was better qualified to lead this group. Maybe Peter should keep his mouth shut and someone else should step into his place... And then to add fuel to that fire, just six days later Jesus was transfigured on top of a mountain. But if you remember that story, only Peter, James, and John were allowed to go up there with him. And if the disciples were as sinful then as we are today, I can imagine that this special privilege caused a little bit of haughtiness in these three disciples and a little bit of jealousy in the other nine. There may have been a little bit of tension within the group. And so now, on the road to Capernaum, the air is finally cleared. Who’s better? Who’s greater? Who’s more popular? Who’s better equipped? Who has more natural talent? Who’s going to be the leader once Jesus is gone? Who’s number one in rank and who’s number twelve? There’s no mention of Jesus’ future sacrifice in their conversation, just a whole lot of selfishness. There’s no talk here about being a servant, only about who was superior. It is a sad scene in the lives of the disciples. A scene that would come up again. It is a scene that could be taken right out of our own lives, couldn’t it?
Because an attitude of servitude is hard to come by? Being a servant is seen as demeaning, even degrading at times. Being a servant means purposely lowering yourself beneath others and treating them as if they were superior. And because that’s such an unthinkable thing for human beings to willingly do, we rarely do it, even as Christians. Instead of lifting others up, we tend to put others down. Instead of helping them with their faults, we like to expose them. Because we love to compare, don’t we? We love to evaluate others and see how we stack up against them. We even do that with our fellow Christians. “That person is so annoying. I’m certainly a little more likeable than they are.” “That person is completely self-centered. I’m much more caring and considerate of others.” “That person is nowhere near reliable. At least I’m dependable enough that people can count on me and I do the things that I say I’m going to do.” Of course, that’s not an attitude of servitude at all; that’s an attitude of superiority. That is placing fellow brothers and sisters in Christ underneath us because of the apparent faults that we have perceived.
And unfortunately that kind of attitude affects the way we view how we think they should live their lives as well. One Christian will think, “I’m at every function of this congregation, helping out with every project, present at every opportunity… but this other person who is also a member of the same congregation is never here, never helping out, never participating in anything that we try to do. Who do they think they are? How can they claim to be a strong Christian if they don’t do what they are supposed to do? Why don’t they pick it up a bit if they really claim to love the Lord?” But then on the other side a Christian might say, “That person is such a hypocrite. He/She claims to do all these things for the Lord, but they just want to look good. I’m sure they have ulterior motives. I’m much better off just staying away from them.” These kinds of thoughts are not all that uncommon, are they? We like to evaluate whether or not someone’s life measures up to the faith they claim to have. We like to question their motives. We like to doubt their sincerity. My friends, stop it. Stop comparing yourselves to others. Because that is not an attitude of servitude; that’s an attitude of superiority. It does no good trying to match up your life with the life of another because fruits of faith will always differ from Christian to Christian. And one fruit of faith does not make one person more “Christian” than another; it simply shows that we are different and unique and sinful human beings who might struggle with one aspect of godly living more than another. A Christian’s life is not about who can come out looking better. A Christian’s life is about serving those who are no good at all.
Take a look at the life of Christ. He was not interested in his superiority over us - even though he was superior in every way! Instead, the God of all “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7). The King of the universe became a subject of earthly rulers. The Lord of lords was arrested by a midnight mob. The Almighty himself was condemned and killed as a common criminal. Jesus was not set on subjecting this world to himself; he was set on subjecting himself for the world. He came not to gloat, but to give. And he showed that attitude of servitude in many different ways at many different times: at the wedding at Cana when he turned the water into wine to help out the host, by helping countless individuals whom society despised, by healing the sick and helpless who were outside of the nation of Israel, by washing his disciples feet in the upper room, by healing the servant of the high priest when his ear was cut off in the Garden of Gethsemane, and ultimately by giving up his life on the beams of the cross for none who deserve it, but for all who don’t. Jesus came to serve. The Greatest came to be the Least. And that is what he did. Not so that he would look good, but so that you would be forgiven. That was all he wanted: that your sins would be completely washed away. And so he sacrificed himself for you. And he did that because he did not want anything for himself; he wanted everything for you.
And you’ve got it. You’ve got it all. You have forgiveness and salvation and peace and joy and you will one day reign in heaven with your Savior because one day 2000 years ago the King of heaven became your Servant. You’ve got it all. And now that you’ve got it all, now that you’ve been given everything, give everything to everyone else. Now that the Lord has lifted you up to his right hand, bend down on your hands and knees to do whatever it takes for others to see their Savior as well. Serve them. Sacrifice for them. Do everything you can for them because Christ has done everything for you. That is what being a servant is all about. That is what being a Christian is all about.
“If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” That is hard to do. It is difficult to consciously and purposely make an effort to be the least, to be the lowest, to be the servant of everyone in every way. Because that would mean you would not have any time left for yourself. You would always have to be helping. You would always have to be caring. You would always have to be sacrificing. You would always have to be acting like Christ. You would always be acting like a Christian. And that is hard to do. In fact, it’s impossible to do perfectly. But it’s a joy to do well. Because it is pleasing to your Lord. Continue to strive to be a servant. And pray to your God that he might grant you an attitude of servitude for the rest of your days. Ask him that he would make you the most humble servant there ever was. Pray that after you leave this earth, those you leave behind will remember you as a kind and caring servant, and nothing more. Because in serving others you are serving the Servant himself. And what a joy it is to be able to do something for the one who has already done everything for you.
Amen.
“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” - 1 Cor. 6:11
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