It's Balanced With a Disciplined Obedience - Service

Richard Foster, in his book The Celebration of Discipline, says this: In some ways, we would prefer to hear Jesus' call to deny father and mother, houses, and land for the sake of the gospel. Than his word to wash feet. Radical self-denial gives the feel of adventure. If we forsake all, we even have the chance of glorious martyrdom. But in service we are banished to the mundane, the ordinary, and the trivial. And nobody likes that, do they? Nobody likes the day in and day out, mundane. Aspects of service.

And so tonight, we're not talking about public ministry as much as we're talking about private ministry. When everybody else is gone home, when the place is empty, when no one's around to watch you except Except God Himself. That's when the discipline of service begins to reign supreme, sequestered in nursery duty. Operating the tape equipment by yourself in the back room, stuffing the bulletins, picking up in the auditorium after everybody's left. Washing dishes after a church potluck, sweeping or cleaning the church.

And it even goes beyond the church walls to babys for your neighbor. For free. Taking meals to hurting families, running errands to those who can't get out, even cutting grass for a vacationer. The mundane acts of service. Donald Whitney, in his book, The Spiritual Discipline, says this: Serving must become a spiritual discipline. The flesh connives against its hiddenness and sameness. Two of the deadliest of our sins, sloth and pride, loathe serving. They paint glazes on our eyes and put chains on our hands and feet so that we don't serve as we know we should or even as we want to.

If we don't discipline ourselves to serve for the sake of Christ and His kingdom, we'll serve only occasionally or when it is convenient or self-serving. The bottom line is, we just don't like to serve. We don't like to get our hands dirty. If it's going to give us some kind of accolades or recognition, then it's not so bad. But if we're going to do it when no one else is around. Then it becomes very, very difficult. That's why it's a discipline. And so tonight I want to cover four areas with you.

I want to talk about the correlation in service, the correlation between The hypocritical kind of service versus humble service. In other words, false service versus true, biblical service. And then the expectation: why does God expect us to serve? Thirdly, the motivation.

What moves us to serve, my fellow man? And fourthly, the realization: what is service really all about? And what must I know if I'm to practice the discipline? Service. First of all, the correlation.

I want to correlate for you: hypocritical service versus humble service, false versus true biblical service. If true service is to be understood in practice, it must be distinguished clearly from that which is false service. So here's the correlation: number one.

Hypocritical service is interested in humanity. Humble service is interest in idolizing Divinity. There's a difference there. Hypocritical service is interested in me. It's interested in those around me as to what they will do for me. Hypocritical service is focused on. Me, not God. It's focused on my glory and not God's glory. It's manipulative in nature. I do it for what it gives in return. That's hypocritical service. One that's interested in humanity, not one that idolizes divinity. Hypocritical service impairs our community, the community of believers.

But humble service improves the unity. The reason hypocritical service impairs a community is because it's not true heartfelt service for the sake of the body and the glory of God. It puts others in our debt. They are made to feel like they owe you, and relationships are ruptured. But humble service builds community. It quietly goes about its business with no demands. It draws, it binds, it heals, it builds. And as Romans 13, 8, and 10 say, Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. Love does no wrong to a neighbor.

You know that God is using you to serve your fellow man when it improves the unity of your church instead of impairing the community of that church. That's the correlation. And as we look at those things, we can begin to see where we fit.

Do we serve? How do we serve? Why do we serve? Second of all, the expectation. Why are we expected to serve? Why does God want us to serve? And let me give you three reasons: three expectations as to why we serve.

Number one is because Service is inherent in our cleansing. Hebrews 9, verse 13. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heif sprinkling, those who have been defiled. Sanctified for the cleansing of the flesh. How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works? To ser the living God. When God calls you, when God cleanses you, the unique thing about the new covenant. Is that it removes sin?

The old covenant was a symbol of what blood would do for sin. The new covenant is the fulfillment of the old, in fact, that it washes away and cleanses man from his sin. Whereas the Old Testament the blood would cover sin, the New Testament, the New Covenant, Jesus Christ's blood, washes away man's sin. And Christ cleanses you. Why? So you can go to heaven? Sorta. Well, not sort, of course. But he cleanses you. Why? So, you might serve the living God. You see, your service up to that point is not for God, it's for yourself.

But once you become a Christian, You're free from all the guilt. You're free from the sin. You're freed up to serve. And so, when the blood of Jesus Christ washes the sin away, Christ says, Now you're free to serve me.

Like those in Thessalonica in chapter 1, verse 9. They turned to God from idol to do what? To serve the living and true God. They had served self. They had served other idols. But when the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you, what happens then? Now, for the very first time, you're freed to serve God.

Your conscience is clean. Why? Because the blood of Jesus Christ washes away the sin and the guilt associated with that sin. Say you're freed up to do what God wants you to do. So, the reason God expects us to serve is because it's inherent in our cleansing. Number two, it's because it inhabits our comm.

Turn me over to 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10 reads this: As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. God has called us to serve Him, and we are to serve one another, and in so doing, we serve Him. So, God has given us a gift, and He wants us to exercise that gift. He wants us to be able to use it in serving our fellow man. Over in Psalm 100, verse 2, it says, Serve the Lord with gladness. Don't just serve him, but when you serve him, do it with the proper attitude.

Do it with joy. Do it with gladness. There's no such thing as spiritual unemployment. There's no such thing as spiritual retirement. You don't retire from serving God. You serve God from the moment you are saved until you go to heaven. And when you get to heaven, you're going serve Him all the more. But service is inherent. Inherited in our cleansing, inherited our cleansing, excuse me. And it inhabits our commission. God says, I want you to serve me.

I've called you to serve your fellow brethren. And I've gifted you, I've equipped you to do that. I've given you a special gift. And thirdly, it's incorporated in His commands.

Deuteronomy chapter 13, verse number 4, reads as follows: It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must serve. Keep His commandments and obey Him, serve Him, and hold fast. To him. In the midst of God's commands, are his command to serve, or it's his command to serve, and we are expected to obey God's commands. We're his children. Thirdly, the motivation.

What's going to get me out of bed to serve? What's going to get me involved in the race? What's going to put me on the playing field? What's going to really, what's it going to take to. To get me off of dying, three things. Number one is the forgiveness and faithfulness of my F.

1 Samuel 12. Verse number 24. The prophet Samuel exhorted the people of God to serve us with these words. Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart, for consider what great things he has done for you. Why do you serve him? Because of the great things he has done for you. The psalmist said in Psalm 103, these words: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits. And then he lists the benefits who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit.

Who crowns you with loving kind and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Why do you serve God? Number one, because of absolution.

Number two, because of restoration. Number three, because of elevation. Number four, because of your coronation. And number five, because of satisfaction. Just thought I'd all that for you, and just in case you wanted to write that down. It's all right there. We serve God. Why? Because of what He's done: His forgiveness. And his faithfulness to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. His faithfulness to guide us and lead us and to be there with us. But there's a second motivation: it's because of the lowliness and the love of my Lord.

The lowliness and love of my Lord. You know the story over in John chapter 13, verses 12 to 16. Christ had washed the disciples' feet. And having finished that wonderful example of humility, he says to his men in John 13: I gave you an example. That you also should do as I did to you. Verse number 15. Truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed. If you do them, you see, the great thing about our Lord is that he would never get anything in return.

You see, he washed their feet knowing they would never be able to wash his feet. He served his men knowing they could never effectually serve him. And so for him to stoop down. And present himself lowly and to demonstrate his love as the master of the universe. He is the Lord of creation. And it's that example that motivates me to serve other people. Galatians 5:13 says that we're to serve one another in love. Over in 2 Corinthians 5:14, Paul says, The love of Christ compels me. Understanding that he would give his life for me, understand that he would come to earth for me, understand that in the state of my sin.

He loved me enough to die for me. He didn't wait for me to clean up my act. He didn't wait for me to get my act together. He didn't wait for me to come to him because he kn I wouldn't come. So he came to me. The lowliness and love of my Lord should motivate me to serve other people because He is the greatest example. And thirdly, the security and strength of the Spirit.

Is the third motivation? The security and the strength of the Spirit. 1 Peter 4:11 is the verse: Whoever serves, let him do so by the strength which God supplies. It's God who supplies the strength for you to serve. It's the Lord God who has given you His Spirit to ind your life. And so Paul says, when you serve, make sure you do it with the energy that's supplied by God, and that energy comes through His Spirit. And so the reason I am motivated to serve is because I don't have to muster up enough.

Gumption to do it, God's Spirit is going to motivate me and strengthen me to do it, and He is the one who gives me the security in that serving. That's why I serve the Lord God. That's the motivation. The Holy Spirit has taken up residence in my life. With that presence comes a gift. That's a spiritual gift, energized and enabled by His Spirit. Fourthly, and in closing, the realization. If I'm going to serve, what must I realize? Four things. Number one, serving is hard work.

I'll be honest with you folks, it ain't easy. It's hard work. And nobody really likes hard work today, do they? Looking for the easy way out. Easy way through school, easy way to make money. That's why those infom on TV are so good. You know, just do this, you'll be a millionaire in two months, or six months, or a year. Always looking for the easy buck, right? But service isn that way. It's hard work. It's not easy. Paul said it well over in Colossians. I think it's, yeah, Colossians chapter 1, verse number 28.

He said this. We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also, I Labor, striving according to his power, which mightily works within me. He says, Look, I'm laboring here. Service isn't misery, service is agony. Isn't that good? It's good to know that, isn't it? You see, when you get involved in the work of the Lord, it's an agonizing kind of work. It's hard work. You think Jesus came and walked through the ease of life?

Not at all. He had a tough life. John 4:3. My food, Christ said, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. He says, that's what I'm about. That's my food. Number two, service is humbling.

Mark chapter 1. You know the story? It says in Mark chapter 1 these words. Very interesting. And it came about, verse number 9, in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John. In the Jordan. Very interesting. You see, when John the Baptist baptized, it indicated that people had repented of their sins. But Jesus had no sin. He was the Son of God, the perfect Son of God. So why would He have to be baptized? The reason being is because Jesus came to bear the sins of man.

He came to identify with man. When Jesus came to earth and was baptized, he was identifying with you and me, not in the fact that he was sinful, but he would be the one. Through that picture of the crucifixion and the death and burial and resurrection of our Lord by going down into the water and coming back up out of the water. Would symbolize what he came to do to bear your sins. He had no sin, that's why he could do that. But you see, it had to be humbling for him, didn't it? Had to be humbling for him to set aside his divine attributes, to set aside all royalty, to set aside the kingliness that he had.

To ser man. Isaiah 53, verse 6 says that the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And when Jesus was baptized, that was the closest he came to ever identifying with man's sin. And boy, that had to be a humbling experience for him because he was sinless. He was perfect. But he wanted to identify. He didn't sin. He identified with man's sin by picturing to them what he was going to do to remove. They're sin. Service is hard work. Service is humbling. Thirdly, service is helpful.

When you serve people, you go to help them. Remember Dorcas in Acts chapter 9, verse number 39? She made coats and garments for the widows. When you serve somebody, you're ultimately going to help them. When you serve somebody, you're going to help them materially. You're going to help them emotionally. You're going to help them relationally. It says over in Titus chapter 3, verse number 2, that you are to speak evil of no one. You can serve your brother by not speaking evil of your brother. Why?

Because you're guarding his reputation. When's the last time you served your brother by guarding his reputation? That's an important act of service. You're not going to speak evil of any br. That's hard for most of us to do. Galatians 6: says that we're to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Most of us have so many burdens that we can't even begin to hold ourselves up. And so Paul says, You come alongside your brother. You bear his burden. You help carry the load with him.

And when you do, you fulfill the law of Christ because the law of Christ Is summed up in the fact that we love our brother and you want to serve your fellow man. It was Dietrich Bon in his book, Life Together, who said these words. The second service that one should perform for another in the Christian community is that of active helpfulness.

This means initially simply assistance in trifling external matters. There is a multitude of these things wherever people live together. Nobody is too good for the meanest service. One who worries about the loss of time. That such petty outward acts of helpfulness entail is usually taking the import of its own career too solemnly. That's very interesting. Because the bottom line is time, isn it? I don't have the time to do that. How many times have we heard that in the church? I just don't have time to sing in the choir.

I just don't have the time. To teach Sunday school. I just don't have the time to prepare to teach Sunday school. I don't have the time to work in the church, to clean the church offices I don't have the time. If you don't have the time to serve God, folks, you're in big trouble, man, because God expects you to serve Him. I don't have time to go to the hospital. I don't have time to take them a meal. I don't have time to watch their kids. I got my own kids I got to watch. How many excuses can we give?

You can give a lot of them. Bon says, you take your career too seriously. In other words, your career is not that big a deal. Neither is your time. But the time you put in for God, that's a big deal. That's a big deal. Because why? You're not. Teaching the kids. You're not singing for the choir director. You're not singing for the people. You're teaching for God, you're singing for God, you're sweeping for God, you're living for God. That's why it's all for God, not for anybody else. Because if you're sing You're singing for the wrong reasons.

If you're teaching for the people, you're teaching for the wrong reasons. If you're sweeping for the recognition of the people, you're Sweeping for the wrong reasons, right? You do it for God. He's your audience. Forget about the rest of us. He's the audience. That's the important thing. Service is helpful. That's why we do it. We don't do it because we help people. We do it because it's helpful. We do it primarily because God expects us to. And last, and most important, service is honorable. It's honorable.

That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:5, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not futile. It's not empty, it's not in vain. It makes a difference. You know where it makes a difference? It makes a difference in heaven. Sad to say, that's not good enough for most of us, is it? Serving your spouse, serving your children, serving at the church. Serving in your community for the glory of God is rewarded in eternity. There might be some benefits today.

There might be some accolades today. But in all reality, God says, whatever you do for me, it's not done in vain.

And one day it will be rewarded. How do I know? The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 6, verse 10, For God is not unjust, so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name. In having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. That's good, isn't it? Because you see, when the pastor forgets it, when the elders forget it, when your leader forgets it, and forget to say, hey, man, great job. Appreciate what you did. You did such a fine job in that ministry. When they forget to thank you, when they forget to recognize you.

God doesn't forget. He never forgets. He sees it all. And one day, he'll reward that because you did it for him. The question you need to ask yourself is: Can you pray, Lord Jesus, I would so appreciate it if you would bring me someone today. That I can serve. That's how you ought to close your prayer time in the morning before you go to work. Lord Jesus, bring me someone today. I can serve.