Matthew
20:20-21, 25-28 (NIV) 20 Then the
mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked
a favor of him. 21 “What is it you
want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may
sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and
their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not
so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your
servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV) 5 In
your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very
nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own
advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to death — even death on a
cross!
How
do you feel about being a servant? The servant image in our society seems to be
both positive and negative. After all, we hear our leaders say that they want
to be “public servants,” and they do. But most of them like the perks of power
that go with such noble service.
The
image of a servant is not entirely bad, but there is a nagging negative to it.
A real servant, without the perks, seems weak and spineless, unable to get
ahead, naïve, lacking in self-esteem. The key for understanding the kind of
servant we are to be is Jesus Himself … just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve.
This is crucial. We are to be a servant in the way
that Jesus was a servant. We do not understand the meaning of that word unless
we understand it from Him. Jesus served people, but He was not a people
pleaser. He took the needs of people seriously, but they did not set the agenda
for His service. He fed the poor and hungry, but said they need more. They
needed good news that would inspire them to a new life, and He gave that to
them. He acted responsibly toward people but seemed to feel no obligation to
them. He healed those who came to Him, but He did not try to heal everyone in
the region. He never seemed to worry about people taking advantage of Him. He
was known for serving the poor, but He served the rich and powerful as well.
Jesus wants to set us free from needing to be upwardly mobile in the
ranks and calls us to be a servant that we might also be free … and to give his life as a ransom for many. The
word ransom for us usually means ransom money given to a kidnapper. In Jesus’
day it was the money paid to free a slave. Jesus wants to ransom us from a
mind-set that keeps us in bondage. He wants to give us a new way of seeing and
doing life. You shall be a servant.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 6, 1994
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
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