Greatness by Servanthood: Mark 10:32-45

Here's God's holy word.

And they, that is Jesus and the disciples, were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them, and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.

And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

And they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him.

And after three days he will rise.

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you?

And they said to him, Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.

Jesus said to them, You do not know what you're asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?

Or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

And they said to him, We are able.

Amen.

So in uh C.S.

Lewis's classic, and many of you have perhaps read that, uh, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, there is uh there's a scene or a chapter in which uh Edmund, one of the four children who are to prophesied, predicted to take up one of the thrones on Kir Paraval with the other three siblings.

He's come back into the camp after uh betraying Aslan and his three siblings to the to the White Witch.

And now that he's back, it it appears that all is safe, that things have been smoothed over.

Aslan has talked with the White Witch, and it now seems like everything's back to normal and everything's good.

But no sooner does all that take place, we're led to see Aslan in the evening begin to remove himself from the camp.

And it prompts Lucy and Susan to go and to follow Aslan to see what's going on.

And it can only be described as Aslan's long, lonely journey to the stone table.

The place where he knows he will hand himself over to the white witch and her minions, and he will give his life.

Mocked, harassed, voluntarily given over in order to ransom Edward and to redeem the many who were under her spell.

But knowing also that there's magic written in the table, the stone table, Aslan would accomplish all this by also being brought back to life.

And the passage that we just read here in Mark is the event in real history that C.S.

Lewis tried to depict in that novel.

And Mark gives us uh a really graphic description here, more graphic than any of the other uh gospel writers, of this uh beginning march of Jesus and the disciples to the cross.

And so we read that Jesus is heading up to Jerusalem.

In one sense, he's heading up to Jerusalem because it was actually an ascent to go to Jerusalem from the plains of uh Perea via Jericho.

That was the route in which they would take to get there.

But it's also an ascent in terms of an ascent in Jesus' heart because uh Jerusalem was God's temple.

And Jerusalem was something of a pilgrimage for many at that time who would go to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices and to worship there.

Jesus, uh, like many others, was going to do that.

And yet, unlike many others, Jesus had come to give a sacrifice and an offering, but it was an offering, a sacrifice of himself.

And so here he is out front, walking ahead of the disciples and those who were following him, and you get the sense of anticipation, just what the atmosphere was like in this particular uh juncture.

Jesus knows that there's a trap waiting for him in Jerusalem.

And so there's this building and this building sense of intensity and focus that Jesus has as he begins to march into that trap that's been set for him there.

There must have been something, I think, in his demeanor, or maybe the look in his eye that that led the disciples or led Mark to record.

The disciples were amazed at his resilience and his resolution to go.

We also read that that many who follow Jesus were encountering real fear over this prospect.

I mean, this was a huge risk.

It's like uh, you know, the saying, you carry fire near your chest.

How do you not get burned?

I mean, this was something that just looked crazy to many.

But Jesus wasn't allowing himself to hang back with the others in order to be persuaded to the contrary.

He was, he was, he was, in a sense, saying, I know my mission.

I'm not here to be persuaded to anything else.

And so he takes the twelve aside and he tells them all of this and what awaits him.

And he says, Well, the Son of Man is gonna be voluntarily handed over to the chief priests and the scribes.

And because the Jews couldn't carry out the death penalty, they would hand him over to the Gentiles.

And the Gentiles would take him and they would harass him and they would disrespect him, they would mock him, spit on him, flog him.

And in the end, he would be sentenced to death.

And you only have to think about that for a bit to wonder just how heavy a news that was for the disciples and those who followed Jesus.

I mean, talk about sobering news, but also talk about courage and love.

Perhaps you and I know something of that sense of anticipation in some degree.

Think of something that has been before you at some point in time.

Uh, it could be a deployment, it could be a hard conversation that you know needs to take place with someone, a challenging calling that you're about to embark on.

It could be a return from holidays back to school, knowing there's perhaps some hostility and peers in your classroom at school or in your office.

Something that has lay before you, and you've known that it's going to involve some kind of difficulty.

We can resonate, I think, with something of that sense of anticipation that lay before Jesus.

And I think how comforting it is to know, even at this point, that our Lord can sympathize with you and I in such times.

I mean, he's the one who tasted all of the bitterness of anticipated suffering himself.

Who knew that what was coming down the road for him was not only was not only uh judgment for man, but was judgment of God.

So he can he can sympathize with you and I over those anticipated sufferings that we might endure or have to go through.

But we know that it was why he came.

He knew very well that the reason why he came was to give his life as a ransom for many.

All through his life he knew that he was about to be crucified.

He came into this world to die.

The scriptures are clear about that.

To become an offering for sin, to take upon himself all of our wrongs, and to bear them in his body on a tree.

The cross.

So we're reminded once again of the deep, deep love of Jesus toward sinners, toward us.

With a resolute purpose.

He saw this need and he went to the cross for you and I to pay our ransom, to secure our freedom.

But the prediction is also clear that after three days he would rise again.

Death wouldn't have the last word.

And we know in the scriptures that he did just that.

Jesus three days later rose again from the dead and is seated now in glory.

But then there's this request that happens on the heels of this that comes from some of Jesus' closest disciples, John and James.

And it's quite jarring because on the heels of this, they ask this question that's quite self-serving.

They say, Jesus, can we sit in glory on your left and on your right in your kingdom?

Can we have these positions of prominence in your kingdom?

And at first it may seem to us a little bit of a question that could be entirely out of left field, like where is this coming from?

But before we're quick to judge, Mark's gospel gives us a little bit of an insight into this.

We notice that there's a context to this that Mark doesn't happen to record here.

But Matthew records that when the disciples, as we looked at last week, said, Lord, we've given up everything to follow you.

Jesus also said at that time, He said, Truly I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

And every one who has left houses or brothers, sisters, fathers, mother, or children, or lands for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

Okay, so that tells us there's a context to that question that they're asking.

Jesus had revealed to them that they would have a position in the kingdom of God.

And so the idea then that probably follows on the heels of that is, and that prompts this question is, well, okay, if we're all going to be sitting on these thrones, can we be the ones closest to you?

Jesus.

Your left lieutenant and your right lieutenant.

Can we be in those places?

And of course, the content, the context, although helpful, doesn't make the request any less self-serving.

And of course, you know, that stirs up a sense of annoyance in the midst of the other disciples, a sense of unfairness.

Like, maybe why didn't we ask that question?

Why didn't we think to ask that?

But it stirred up a sense of annoyance in them.

And at the end of the day, they were trying to get the best positions, and their mother was in it also.

And so you can imagine how this just adds to everything else.

There's the intensity and fear now coupled with the other disciples resenting James and John, which then leads Jesus in great patience to pull them in and to speak to them of the kingdom value of servanthood.

And it's this focus on servanthood that I want this morning to address and consider.

This passage, I think, begs us to ask ourselves: firstly, am I seeking kingdom investment?

Am I seeking kingdom investment?

Am I on mission for Christ?

Second, how should I go about it?

And then thirdly, what should I which what should encourage me to do so?

First, am I seeking kingdom investment?

We see that Jesus doesn't uh correct the disciples here for their ambition.

What he corrects them for is their selfish ambition, which reinforces the fact that investment in the kingdom of God is something that we should ought to seek after.

The scriptures are quite clear that the grace that is given to us through Jesus Christ and the mercy of God is something that ought to be spent.

It's something that ought to be used.

It's something that we ought to spend in His service.

There are those in every church who are content oftentimes to sit on those gifts and those abilities.

What seems to be the prevailing idea is that we would rather bury them than invest and develop them.

Now it's true that there's no reason for any of us to boast in the gifts and the capacities we've been given.

They're from God.

God gives us our abilities, our gifts, our capacities.

All of them are owing to Him.

But He expects us to steward those gifts and abilities in His kingdom.

I know of pastors to date who are left to do it all.

Some of them, some of the situation is probably owing, perhaps to the pastor.

But a lot of it, frankly, falls on the attitudes of people who want to treat a pastor like a waiter, right?

You know, tip him a little bit and then expect him to serve all of our needs.

That's that could be common in a lot of churches.

And meanwhile, the pastor is driven into the ground with the need and the demands and crying out just for one or two reliable co-laborers.

Even if you were to receive those crumbs, a good deal of burden would be lifted off his spirit.

But when you see every member ministry taking place, it's a beautiful thing.

Everyone invested pulling together.

The scriptures talk about pulling together in the body of Christ to see it built up in love.

I mean, that's the dynamic of a beautiful work of God.

But there are others who expect the gospel to advance and the mission to go forth without devotion of hands and head and heart.

They speak of things relating to faith.

There are churches that are very familiar with the scriptures, but they don't show a lot of application of that faith and practice.

But when it comes to gospel advancement, they seem to have a different approach, and it's one that leaves both themselves and others deprived of their investment.

There are also others, I think, who think, well, I can't advance the gospel.

I can't participate in ministries devoted to that purpose because I have a job and it takes up a lot of my time.

I think they're like the husband who comes home and says to his wife, Well, because I've worked a lot of hours in the office, I don't need to serve in the house.

That doesn't go down well in a lot of households that I'm aware of.

And it doesn't serve as an excuse for not serving in God's.

We need to remember that investment in the kingdom of God is necessary for our faith to be exercised.

There are those who don't seek kingdom investment because they lack faith in what God would otherwise provide and the things that they need.

The one thing we're told time and time again in the scriptures, remember, is to ask.

Ask, ask, ask.

Spiritual atrophy is a real problem in the Christian life.

We're not exercising our faith.

We're not asking and seeing God respond to us.

And so there's a spiritual kind of atrophy that happens.

And no longer do we see the same vitality, the spiritual blood circulation just isn't taking place.

But you see, when we ask and we seek and we knock, the ice of unbelief is broken.

The movement in the life that was lacking begins to flow again.

I was, uh, as an example, I was talking to a pastor this week who was coming to me that his church a number of years ago had experienced a considerable period of growth and people coming to know Jesus and souls being saved.

But until recently, he said that had actually declined and hadn't been taking place.

He said recently that they'd begun, therefore, committing themselves back to a season of prayer and earnest seeking of the Lord with a priority on winning souls.

And he was encouraged by the fact that they were now just again beginning to see some of the signs of new life again.

I also had a pastor who wanted to see something of this ignite in our college town when I was a college student.

And he began meeting with several of us as students at the time, and he came into one of our apartments and he asked, could we just take some time in prayer together, praying for the needs of the campus and students on it, and your relationships.

And it wasn't long after we had begun praying, several weeks later, that we all found a newfound zeal that had kind of come up within us, arisen within us, focused on reaching students with the gospel.

And to this day, there's actually a campus ministry that wasn't there when we were first there, that is seeking to bring the gospel to students in that city.

The point is that God is pleased to break the ice of unbelief when we come to Him and we rely on Him.

And we work against that spiritual atrophy when we exercise our muscles, our faith muscles.

Investment is also necessary to guard against a shelter and mind, a shelter and place mindset.

A lot of churches can have that kind of a mindset, shelter and place.

Let's try to escape from everything that's going on out there.

But you remember that Jesus said, There's one mindset I want you to have, and it's a mindset of harvest, not shelter and place.

And to pray to him as the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers for that harvest.

Those with a shelter and place mindset like to devote oftentimes all of their time and energy to moving furniture around.

Just moving the furniture around, keep busy, doing something.

I personally think it's a failure owing to a failure to run on the right gas.

The churches and the people who are most lively are people who run on gospel fuel.

And we see churches that are vibrant because of that and are going forth, and the mission is going forth through the Spirit.

Now it is true that those who walk closely with Jesus may drink more deeply of the cup of suffering for his name.

Jesus made that clear to his disciples, he's made that clear to us that sometimes walking closely with Jesus means that we might face difficulty.

And we might have begin to think, well, because of that, well, maybe I should still walk with Jesus, but just at a little bit of a further distance.

But we need to be careful with that kind of attitude.

My coach back when I was playing rugby would often say to us before a game, he would say, Do you know the number one reason why injuries happen when playing rugby?

He said, It's when you're not giving 100%.

And there was actually a reason for that, because when your body is relaxed and your senses are less aware and less attuned to what's going on, and you're un then you're unable to absorb the pressure of a tackle when it comes.

And therefore, injuries happen.

And so let's not take on that attitude.

Let's seek a close walk with Christ.

Yes, it can be difficult at times, but walking with Jesus is a far greater reward than any difficulty might be.

It is a joy to see the gospel advance when churches are vibrant, when the glory of God, when Jesus Christ is being exalted, when a church is advancing, when the kingdom is being added to.

That is a beautiful thing.

Dear to the heart of God.

God producing fruit through our investment.

Time, talent, treasure, testimony.

Let's employ them all in the service of Christ.

Am I seeking kingdom investment?

Am I on mission?

That's the first thing.

Secondly, how should I go about it?

The truth is that many a mission in Jesus' name has been derailed because of strife between team members on fields or in churches.

That's true.

Oftentimes you go out in the mission field, one of the biggest issues is strife between a team.

It can happen on the field, it can happen in churches.

It's a sign that the flesh and the world is entered into the church, is when people, we see people lording it over one another, when we see people posturing for position, right?

Competing for self-gain.

That's a sign that the world and the flesh is characteristic of a church.

The main driver and root of all this being pride.

What does the scriptures tell us about pride?

Well, it tells us that pride is owing and a chief characteristic of the devil, who, ever since he fell, has arrogantly sought to oppose and compete with God.

I mean, that's at its heart what pride is.

It's a desire to compete with God.

And pride has a lot of children.

Some of them we name jealousy, some of them we name disorder, stubbornness, competitiveness, vanity, self-seeking ambition.

All of those are children of pride that can become a part of a church and seek to create havoc and lose sight of the mission.

It's a thing that confronts you when someone points out an error or a flaw in you and you become self-defensive.

It's the thing that when someone else experiences some kind of gain, you can't celebrate it.

You need to compete against it until you have more.

And so I want to draw attention to that.

It doesn't know how to encourage others because it's always drawing attention to self.

And therefore, in all these things, it destroys the capacity to love.

Because behind it really is a messiah complex.

John Altberg paints the picture like this.

He says, To maintain the illusion that you are the Messiah, you must shut out any evidence to the contrary.

If you want to be your own God, you have to settle for living in a tiny universe where there is room for only one person.

Your world could grow infinitely bigger if you were only willing to become, in the words of a friend of mine, appropriately small.

So we could ask on the heels of that, how big is your universe?

How much time is spent traveling in the lives of others?

What is the thing that you're trying to draw attention to to bring value to yourself?

Tim Keller said it this way: humility is not thinking too much of yourself or thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.

That's at the heart of a humble servanthood.

It's the ability, you see, to look away from ourselves to the interest of others and to stay there for a time for their benefit.

And when we do that, we find ourselves also entering into the hopes, oftentimes, the fears, the longings, the heartaches of others.

Relationships take on a quality where they're other focused.

Now that's a beautiful kingdom value that Jesus would have us to exemplify.

When servanthood is the driver and place of self-serving gain, it is a beautiful thing to behold.

And God's mission goes forth.

That's the second thing.

The third is so then how are we encouraged to pursue servanthood?

We're encouraged here in this passage towards servanthood when we're reminded that Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he humbled himself even to death on a cross.

Not grasping, but serving.

Even if you are you're you're a you're someone on the mission field in the most remote part of the world, you can serve if that's at the heart.

Not grasping, but serving.

Richard Foster states the truth of how hard this can be for us, though.

He says this more than any other single way, the grace of humility is worked into our lives through the discipline of service.

Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service.

And nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving and hiddenness.

For the flesh whines against service, but screams against hidden service.

It strains and pulls for honor and recognition.

So, did you get that?

The flesh will whine if called to service, but it screams against hidden service.

Why?

Because we want to pull toward honor and recognition.

And what's behind that?

Well, competing passions, warring desires that ask, what's in it for me?

That's at the heart of that.

But you see, Jesus' servant heart cuts through all of this.

How?

Well, by giving you his spirit, by serving within you.

It still amazes me that Jesus was not only willing to come into this world to serve and to die on a cross, but he was also willing for his spirit to come and to occupy all the disordered desires of Josh Dayak.

I mean, that's servanthood right there.

And yet he does it.

And he does it in order to bring about something more beautiful than what takes place when that happens.

He moves within you and I to take these desires that don't serve the kingdom of God to the cross.

And you see, to do that is the most liberating thing in all of the world.

Because the truth of the gospel you see is that you and I have died together with Christ.

That's what the gospel tells us.

It's no longer you and I who live.

Which means Josh Diac died a long time ago.

And likewise, when you came to saving faith, you died also.

You came to commit your life to Jesus.

And likewise you died to your old nature.

That's true of all of us who are in Christ.

And you see, that's more than just a theological concept to know.

All right?

This is something that is a deeply practical reality that you can take into every single interaction that you have with someone else and so serve them and not yourself.

Because it now means that grasping an inflated ego and thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, all of that is no longer for you and is no longer for me.

All of that died with our old nature.

All of that was crucified with Christ.

Clawing for position and power at the expense of others is no longer for you.

Asserting yourself in order to gain recognition, in order to feel valued is no longer for you.

And it's not for you because you already have everything that you need.

Because the truth is, not only have you died, the gospel tells us, but you've also been raised to new life.

What now lives in you and I is the servant-hearted nature of Christ within us.

So then we ask the question, what then is ours?

And the answer to that is acceptance with God.

You are already deeply, deeply loved.

You don't have to go looking for it.

You already have salvation.

You don't have to work for it.

Your position in heaven is already secured.

You don't have to compete for it.

His power is already at work within you.

You don't have to climb over others in order for that to have a powerful influence in your life and in your soul.

All of that is yours in Christ Jesus.

And so, how does that transform the way we live?

Because it means that you and I can serve freely, not out of prideful insecurity or fear, but out of fullness.

You and I can serve out of fullness.

You can serve and do so without competition, you can serve willingly, even if no one notices.

Because you have everything that you need, and most importantly, God notices.

And so, because of this, you can serve with a single lie and a resolute focus on the interest of others.

To comfort them, to help them, to uplift, to encourage, and to rejoice for their sakes.

You can be all in and serving the interest of others.

That kind of servant-hearted humility is what constitutes true greatness in the kingdom of God.

May we all serve cheerfully to glorify his name.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Oh Lord, we praise you and thank you.

Reminded once again of just how deeply and graciously you have served us.

Lord, we do confess that we so often want to respond out of the flesh.

But Lord, in your great love, we thank you that you are God who has served us even to death itself, and you continue to serve us still.

And so, Lord, we ask and we pray, Lord, would you make us a people who, when you come again, would be adorned with hearts that even show just in small measure something of your servant-hearted nature.

Oh Lord, would you fan that to a flame within us that we might seek one another's interests, serve one another, serve your mission?

And so in doing, Lord, glorify your name.

Oh Father, we ask and we pray, would you do that work among us?

We would praise you, Lord, for all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.