October 30, 2005
"A Man's Motivation to Serve"
What Makes God Smile?—Part 5
Matthew 20:17-28
Why is it that some men are so highly motivated and others lukewarm about serving?
1. It's all about me! (The enemy's lie.)
Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. "What is your request?" he asked. She replied, "In your Kingdom, will you let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one at your right and the other at your left?"
—Matthew 20:20-21 (NLT)
When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.
—Matthew 20:24 (NLT)
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
—Colossians 2:8
2. It's not about you. (Jesus' truth)
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. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-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."
—Matthew 20:25-28
Upside Down Living
"We misunderstand this passage if we read it merely as instruction on how to become great. It is rather, a statement on how those who are great are to behave. To be "great" and to live as a servant is one of the most difficult of spiritual attainments. But it is also the pattern of life for which this bruised and aching world waits and without which it will never manage a decent existence."
—Dallas Willard, Spirit of the Disciplines
"Most of us know that we will never be the greatest, just don't let us be the least. Then Jesus took the towel and the basin and redefined greatness. In some ways we would prefer Jesus' call to deny father and mother, houses and land for the sake of the gospel, than the word to wash feet. Radical self-denial gives the feel of adventure... Service banishes us to the mundane, the ordinary, the trivial."
—Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
Question: Where do you get the motivation for upside down living?
3. It all about Jesus. (In the presence of a holy God)
"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup...
—Matthew 20:22-23
"No man lives or dies for himself."
Lifework: What does upside down living look like?
Routine Faithfulness
The basis for a Christian's judgment. (__________________)
Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
—1 Corinthians 4:2 (NKJV)
Faithfulness in daily activities.
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
—1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)
Faithfulness in difficulty.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
—2 Corinthians 4:16
Faithfulness in prayer.
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up.
—Luke 18:1 (NLT)
Faithfulness in good works.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
—Galatians 6:9
Faithfulness in sharing the "Good News".
It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work [of telling his Good News to others], and so we never give up.
—2 Corinthians 4:1 (TLB)
My commitment: ______________________________________________________