Becoming a Servant-Minded Community

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The Lord's word for us this morning comes from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 20, 17 through 28.

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem.

On the way, he took the twelve aside and said to them,

We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.

They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.

On the third day, he will be raised to life.

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

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.

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, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.

These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.

When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.

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.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Thank you, Brian.

Good morning.

My name is Andrew.

I'm one of the pastors here at Christ Church.

And it's great to be with you.

I'm sharing God's word with you this morning.

Will you pray with me?

Lord God, we have not come to witness a powerful preacher, but to encounter your powerful word spoken to us from the lips of Jesus.

And I just ask that we would so experience the Spirit, so encounter your Son,

that we'd be changed by the ordinary preaching of your word.

So make much of our little.

Do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

All right, so I'm not sure if Cody and Stevie Texan are tuning in, but I did want to give them a shout out.

They just had their newborns this week safely.

We're super happy about that.

Yeah, I'm super excited for them.

First-time parents, beautiful little boys, twins, Samuel and Luke Texan.

We'll call them the Texan twins, all right?

The Texan twins.

And, you know, this really got me reminiscing about my first time as a parent.

That was four years ago.

Kami is four now.

And I just remember four years ago holding that little baby girl in my arms, fresh out of the womb.

And I was like, man, I want this girl to be great.

I want her to be great.

And so I did all the things, right?

Skin on skin time with mommy and daddy.

I read to her.

I sang to her.

I smothered her with affection.

I even tried to enhance her physical capabilities.

Just one day old, I was like having her bounce up on my lap trying to make her do baby squats.

I would touch her fingers to increase her tactile senses and let her touch a bunch of different things to increase her dexterity.

I put a basketball next to her to familiarize her with the game.

I just, I really wanted her to be great.

An absolutely great human being according to all the metrics of greatness, at least in my mind.

And imagine that's what Cody and Stevie want for their boys.

It's what all of the parents in this room probably want for their kids, what all of our parents probably wanted for us.

We all want to be great.

And we all want those we love to be great.

And it was no different in the days of Jesus than it is today when a mother, not unlike any other parent in this room,

approached her Messiah King, seeking the greatness of her beloved boys, two of Jesus' innermost disciples, James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

And yet what we see here is that in typical Jesus fashion, he neither denies nor grants this short-sighted request,

but instead he points them beyond themselves, beyond their present understandings of who he is and what true greatness is.

And he points them to a far more profound understanding of himself and of true greatness.

He points them to the fact that when we miss the crux of the cross, we miss the greatness of greatness.

And that's God's word to us today.

When we miss the crux of the cross, we miss the greatness of greatness.

Now let's set the scene here first.

Look with me at verse 17.

Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem.

So this is his final journey, his journey to the cross.

And you just can imagine the things that he's feeling on his way there, right?

And so it's not surprising that he wants to talk about what's heaviest upon his heart with his crew.

So it says,

Like remember, he's got quite an entourage, but it says he takes his closest friends aside,

wanting to share with them what's on his heart, what's on his mind.

And even though he's shared this at least twice with them already in Matthew's gospel account,

and even though they typically seem to not really understand what he's talking about

or just kind of seem to brush it off normally,

he tries to be vulnerable with them again.

And he wants them to know.

He wants to prepare them for what's going to happen.

So he says to them in verse 18,

And what he does is he gives them even more information than he'd previously given them.

In verse 19, he says that he's going to be delivered to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.

And he says on the third day he will be raised to life.

So imagine you're his close friends,

and he pulls you aside and he spills his guts to you like this.

And he's not only your close friend,

he's the one you believe to be the Messiah,

the one who you believe is sent from God, right?

The authoritative voice of God, the prophetic voice right there with you.

How might you respond to all these things that Jesus just said

about his crucifixion and his resurrection?

You would think that his closest friends would be distressed, right?

Or if they didn't understand, they'd be like,

you know, tell me more, please.

I mean, Jesus was saying some pretty wild things, right?

Condemned by the chief priests in the temple,

flogged and mocked by both the Jewish establishment and Gentile Romans,

crucified, and then like raised from the dead?

What are you talking about?

Raised from the dead.

But what verse?

But what does verse 20 say?

What does verse 20 say?

Right after Jesus speaks about his crucifixion and his resurrection,

there is no consolation.

There are no questions.

It's like he hasn't said anything at all.

Verse 20,

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons

and kneeling down asked something from him.

And you know the NIV says asked a favor of him,

but I think that's actually too generous in my opinion.

In the Greek, it actually says she asked something from him.

Like she's out to just get something from him.

And so he asked her in verse 21,

what do you want?

What do you desire?

And she commands him.

She gives an imperative.

In the Greek, it's not actually grant, but it says say.

She says,

Say, Jesus,

Say that these two sons of mine may sit at your right and left.

Effectively, make them your prime minister and your chief of staff in your kingdom.

And if that seems like an incredibly awkward transition from verse 19 to 20,

it is.

It is an awkward transition.

But you know, I think that this gospel writer knew exactly what he was doing

by recording this major non sequitur.

And I spent a lot of time this week trying to figure out,

puzzling as to why this chapter was written the way that it is.

Like what was the logical flow between verse 19 and verse 20?

Like why would anyone think it was cool or okay or natural

to so abruptly change the topic of conversation

and the flow of thought to demand something of Jesus

after he'd just gotten vulnerable with them,

sharing what was on his heart with his dearest friends

about some really deep stuff like being mocked and flogged and crucified.

But then it hit me.

This transition from verse 19 to verse 20

was probably supposed to strike me as odd and discordant.

And not only was this inappropriate and awkward of James and John and their mom,

but I think God was trying to show me this week

that this wasn't just a reflection of the Zebedee family,

but it was also a mirror reflecting me.

And how I too so often approach the Lord, my King, my Messiah,

not as the King of Kings crucified in my place,

but more as a genie than a sacrificial master.

It's a reflection of how I so often ignore the main thing that Jesus is about,

the main thing that's on his heart,

and instead bring to him the things on my own self-centered agenda list.

And we all do this.

We do this all the time, don't we?

Like if someone asks us,

how can I pray for you?

What do we say?

We ask people to pray that God would help us

achieve our own self-determined goals

toward our own greatness, right?

That God would help me do well in my test.

That he would help me do well in my performance.

That he would grant me favorable outcomes at work, right?

Better circumstances to make me great.

To make me great at whatever it is I'm pursuing.

We all do this.

I'm preaching right now,

and I probably asked someone this week,

can you just pray that God would give me a good sermon to preach?

Make me a good preacher?

Give me good pastoral counsel?

But you know,

if we only ever approach Jesus

as an all-powerful king,

and not as a crucified king,

we will only ever approach him wrongly.

We will only ever pray the wrong kinds of prayers,

and missing the crux of the cross,

we will miss the greatness of true greatness,

his greatness.

Now look,

I'm not saying that these kinds of prayers

should never come upon our lips,

or that God doesn't care about our lives,

or the things that we ask for.

In fact, he does.

He cares more than we do about our lives,

and he wants us to bring every little thing

on our minds,

on our hearts,

to him.

I would even say that God wants us to be great.

Notice,

Jesus doesn't rebuke or reproach the Zebedee family here.

He doesn't scold them for being arrogant,

or prideful,

or selfish,

or worldly.

Like,

who do you think you are?

How dare you pursue greatness?

No,

Jesus doesn't have anything against greatness,

or ambition,

in and of itself.

In fact,

in the scriptures,

the scriptures teach that we are wired,

to pursue greatness.

It's part of what it means to be human,

to be made in the great,

and glorious image of God,

to fulfill God's first words to humanity,

to be fruitful,

and to multiply those fruit,

and to expand over the earth,

and to rule the earth,

and to exercise dominion,

as children of our kingly creator.

We should all want to be great,

because God made us to be great.

In our classrooms,

in our workplaces,

in our families,

our relationships,

in our hobbies,

as students,

employees,

employers,

as parents,

siblings,

spouses,

athletes,

artists,

scientists,

professionals,

to use and develop the gifts

he's given to each of us

to be a blessing to the world.

Because our greatness reflects

God's greatness.

It's like what Eric Liddell said,

the Olympians,

in that movie,

The Chariots of Fire,

said this to his sister,

I believe that God made me for a purpose.

He made me fast.

And when I run,

I feel his pleasure.

To give it up would be to hold him in contempt.

It's not just fun.

To win is to honor him.

So the Zebedee family's desire for greatness

wasn't wrong.

But what was wrong

was their understanding of greatness.

That's what went wrong.

See, what went wrong

with their understanding of greatness

is that they only understood

half the gospel.

They only understood half the gospel.

Yes, James and John

and their mother

rightly believed

Jesus is king.

Jesus is Messiah.

It even says she

knelt before him.

They clearly understood

something of Jesus' greatness.

And they sought their own greatness

by proximity to his.

That's right.

That's good.

But what they failed to understand

was the other half of the gospel.

That Jesus would be

a crucified king.

And that his true greatness

didn't just come from some

generic crown upon his head

but specifically

from his crown of thorns.

See, by ignoring Jesus'

vulnerable discussion

about the suffering

he was about to face,

by missing the crux of the cross,

they were missing

the greatness

of his greatness.

And so what Jesus does

is he gently and patiently

tries to redirect them

to his cross

and to the truth

about what real greatness

is about.

So I want to have us

turn our attention now

to Jesus' teaching

on true greatness.

Look with me at verse 22.

In verse 22,

it's clear to Jesus

that they have no idea

what true greatness is.

You don't know

what you are asking,

he says.

And so the first thing he does

is he tries to help

them connect the dots

between his cross

and his greatness.

And so he asks them,

can you drink the cup

I am going to drink?

I'm going to explain more

about that cup in a minute,

but what you at least

need to know

is that it's not

a desirable thing

to drink this cup.

It's the same cup

that Jesus desperately

pleads with his Father

about in the garden.

Father,

if it is possible,

may this cup

be taken away from me.

Yet not what I will,

but yours be done.

And it's a cup of suffering

and sorrow

and anguish

and loneliness

and forsakenness.

And so by asking

this question,

Jesus is indicating

that the way to greatness

involves drinking

a bitter cup,

a bitter cup of suffering

and hardship.

He's saying that the road

to greatness

isn't a walk in the park.

It's costly.

It's hard to swallow.

It's not just a matter

of asking your mom

to get you a nice seat

next to the king.

No.

It's like Dr. King said,

nothing worthwhile

is gained without sacrifice.

It's costly.

Jesus says to the sons

of Zebedee,

do you really know

what it takes,

what it costs?

Are you really able

to drink this cup

all the way down

to the last,

most bitter dregs?

And it's not quite clear

that they do understand

what Jesus is communicating

to them

about the bitter cost

of greatness

in his kingdom.

Because James and John

are like,

yeah,

we can drink it.

We got this.

Yeah, Jesus,

we'll be your cup bearers,

whatever it takes

to share your greatness.

We can pay it.

We can pay the cost.

But really,

they have no idea.

So Jesus continues

in verse 23.

He says,

well,

you say you can

and I can even tell you now

that you will indeed

drink from my cup,

but regardless,

to sit at my right

or left,

it's not for me to grant.

These places belong

to those for whom

they have been prepared

by my Father,

Jesus says.

And this is the next thing

that we learn about greatness.

It not only involves

a bitter cup,

but ultimately,

greatness is judged

and decided

by the Father.

Jesus,

their great Messiah

and King

is setting for them

an example of greatness.

And it's not about

seizing authority,

but rather submitting

to authority.

The authority

of our Father

in heaven.

Jesus is saying,

look guys,

honestly,

I myself,

the Messiah,

I don't even have

the authority

to grant who will be

at my right

or my left

because even I am

under the authority

of my Father.

And He decides,

not me.

You guys want to be

at my left

and right in the kingdom,

but don't forget

whose kingdom this is.

How did I teach you

to pray?

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done.

And Jesus consistently

points them back

to not my will be done,

but my Father's.

You know,

in Mark's gospel account

of this story,

the two sons are recorded

saying to Jesus,

they say,

teacher,

we want you to do

for us

whatever we ask.

And I think this is,

this really betrays,

I think,

their understanding

of greatness

in the kingdom of God.

They think that greatness

is about getting

whatever you want,

having that much authority.

And that's what so many of us

think when we think

of greatness as well,

don't we?

We think of power.

We think of authority.

We think of self-determination.

When I put my basketball,

right,

into my newborn Cammie's hands,

what was I thinking?

I want her to dominate,

all right?

I want her to dominate

on the court.

I want her to have her way

with her opponents.

When I read to her,

what was I thinking?

I want her to be great

at school.

I want her to be able

to get into whatever school

she wants,

right?

But what if greatness

isn't about ascending

to some status

where we can always

have our way,

where we can always

impose our will?

What if greatness

is submission

to the Father's way?

What if the best

and greatest way

to be human

is not freedom

from the Father,

but following the Father?

Like, think about that

for a second.

If greatness

is about getting

our own way

and it's not about

going God's way,

what kind of a world

would that lead to?

Everyone pursuing greatness

and thus everyone

pursuing the power

and authority

to go their own way.

What would ensue?

What would ensue

but vicious,

cutthroat competition

and division

and hatred?

And I mean,

that's exactly

what happens here

with the other ten disciples.

Verse 24 says,

they're indignant.

Yo, bro,

you asked your mom,

you tried to use your mom

to manipulate Jesus

into one upping us

in the kingdom of God?

Their misunderstanding

of greatness

only turned community

into competition

and friendships

into fighting.

So Jesus sets

all of them straight

in verse 25.

You know that the rulers

of the Gentiles

lord it over them

and their high officials

or as it says

in the Greek,

the great ones

exercise authority

over them.

And what he's saying

is that in every other kingdom,

in every other kingdom,

rulers are overlords

and the great ones

wield authority.

And to them,

this makes complete sense,

right?

Because why wouldn't

rulers rule

over those who are under them?

And why wouldn't

the great ones

exercise authority

over the lesser ones,

right?

But according to Jesus,

verse 26,

not so with you.

Not so in my kingdom,

he says,

for unlike any other,

Jesus' kingdom

is an upside-down kingdom.

With no social hierarchy,

it's ordered by an economy

of love and service.

Verse 26,

not so with you,

Jesus says.

Instead,

whoever wants to become

great among you

must be your servant

and whoever wants

to be first

must be your slave.

And you have to understand

that especially

in Jesus' ancient

pre-Christian world,

ruling,

not serving,

was the greatest status.

A servant worked for hire

to maintain

their master's property.

And a slave

was forced

into service,

right?

As one commentator puts it,

a slave was virtually

a non-person,

someone with no rights,

no existence

of their own.

Rather,

they existed solely

to serve others.

Doesn't that sound awful?

Like,

these are the lowest,

the lowest possible positions

in society

that Jesus is talking about.

And yet,

what he's doing here

is he's reversing

their status

to great and first

in the kingdom economy.

And not in some,

like,

abstract,

conceptual,

idealistic way,

but he makes it personal.

He holds himself

the king of kings,

the king of the kingdom of God

to the same standard.

And he offers himself

as the prime example

of this servant-hearted,

even self-sacrificing

greatness.

Verse 27.

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.

Jesus points them

to true greatness

by pointing them

to his cross.

He's saying,

I'm the Messiah.

I'm the king.

And even I didn't come

to be served,

but to serve.

And not just to serve,

but to sacrifice,

to sacrifice my whole life

as a ransom.

So according to Jesus,

greatness doesn't primarily

consist in getting,

but in giving.

Not in asserting supremacy,

but in assuming servanthood.

And Jesus calls

every citizen

of his kingdom,

both then

and now today,

to pursue

this kind of greatness

through self-denying,

sacrificial service

after the pattern

of his cross.

Now I wish

I could end

the sermon here,

right?

But I'm pretty sure

that for a lot of us,

myself included,

like for those of us

who've grown up

in the church,

and honestly,

even for those of us here

who aren't even Christians,

a sermon like this

probably seems

pretty standard,

unsurprising,

and therefore redundant,

and probably uninspiring,

right?

No duh,

Pastor Andrew.

Of course a Christian minister

is going to get behind

the pulpit

and say something like this.

Yeah, we got it.

Be more like Jesus.

Serve more like Jesus.

Love more like Jesus.

Sacrifice more like Jesus.

Okie dokie.

I'll try harder this week.

I'll try harder

to wash a few more dishes

at home, right?

To give a little bit more

effort at work.

To block out

Saturday, June 24th,

on my calendar

for the next Project Peace

day of service, right?

How's that for

sacrificial service?

I got this.

I got this.

And I don't at all mean

to discourage

or downplay

any such resolutions.

But if try harder

is all that you've heard

today,

then I've totally

failed you

and you haven't

heard the gospel.

Dude, this isn't some

moralistic,

love your neighbor better,

give more,

serve more sermon.

If all we heard

from Jesus today

is a challenge

to make some

moderate behavioral

modifications,

then I'm afraid

we all have still

missed the crux

of the cross

and the greatness

of greatness.

Like really,

if our only takeaway

from Jesus' words here

is to just

moderately try

a little bit harder

to love our neighbors

like Jesus,

then honestly,

we're probably

not actually pursuing

the greatness

that God wants

for us.

But some other

kind of greatness,

another kind of greatness

patterned more

after a conventional crown

than Jesus'

crown of thorns.

And if that's the case,

then we have totally

missed the crux

of the cross

and the greatness

of Jesus' greatness.

greatness.

And we need to be

honest with ourselves

if that's the case.

Because if that's the case,

the good news about Jesus

isn't actually

very good news to us.

And we can't even

call it a gospel.

Like perhaps the good news

of Jesus

that the way up

is down,

that the cross

precedes the crown,

that it is better

to give than to receive.

Perhaps this news

about God

becoming a servant

and humbling himself

unto death

on a cross

to pay the ransom

for his beloved people,

perhaps we find this

to be more of a threat

to our pursuit of greatness

than actual good news.

Maybe we prefer

alternate empires

and don't actually

want to live

in a kingdom

where just anyone

can be great

not through self-assertion

but through

self-abandonment.

You see,

that's what we really

need to consider

this morning.

Not just whether

we understand

Jesus' teaching

about greatness

with our heads

and not even just

whether we are

copying Jesus'

model of greatness

with our hands,

we need to consider

whether we are

truly convinced

of Jesus'

cross-shaped

greatness

in our hearts.

Whether we believe

what he says

about true greatness

and greatness'

inextricable

link

to his cross.

Or else,

all this stuff

about self-denial

and submission

and sacrifice

and service,

not only will

we never be able

to live it out,

but we won't want to

because it won't make

any sense to us.

See,

if we only read

this passage of Scripture

as a word from Jesus

about how we're supposed

to live and die

for others

just like he did,

we've missed

the most important part

of what he's saying.

Like,

yes,

we ought to live

and die

for others like Jesus,

but it's only when

we first realize

that he is the one

who has lived

and died

for us.

That we will ever

even understand

how we can do

the same

for others.

The crux of the cross

is that the bitter cup

reserved for us.

The bitter cup

was reserved for us.

The cup,

the prophets

and the psalmists

spoke about foaming

with bitter wrath

and judgment

reserved for all those

who neglected

to do justice

and love mercy

and walk humbly

before their God.

The poison cup,

every single one of us

deserve to drink.

Jesus,

though it was

his worst nightmare

and though

he deserved nothing

but the sweetest

overflowing cup

in the banquet

of banquets in heaven,

he drank our cup

in our place.

The creator of the universe

came into the world,

but his existence

among us

was not to be served

as the creator

that he is,

but rather to serve

his creatures

as the savior

that he chose

to become

graciously,

voluntarily.

And he gave his life

in the place

of our lives

as a ransom

to purchase

our liberation.

And guess what?

The scriptures tell us

that therefore,

precisely because

he humbled himself

and became a servant

unto death

on a cross,

God exalted him

to the highest place

and gave him the name

above every name

that every knee

will bow

and every tongue

confess that he is Lord.

The crucified servant

is the great

and exalted one,

risen and seated on high.

And this,

this is the gospel.

Good news

of a better kingdom.

Good news

of a better identity,

a better purpose.

Good news

of a better way

to live.

The good news

that Jesus' greatness

was not for the purpose

of serving himself,

nor our greatness

for the purpose

of serving ourselves.

The gospel

is the only news

that can liberate us

from our slavery

to ourselves

and make us cheerful,

sacrificial servants.

This transformational news

of the crucified

and exalted Christ.

Now, can you imagine?

Can you imagine

what kind of a spirit-filled people

the church might be

if we believed

this liberating gospel?

If we inhabited

this upside-down kingdom?

And if we went forth

into our schools,

into our neighborhoods,

into our workplaces,

our clubs,

our homes,

subverting all

the broken hierarchies

and insisting

upon being servants,

willing to give

all of ourselves

for the sake of others.

What if we were

the kind of people

that bore witness

to a cross-shaped greatness,

pursuing the liberation

of all those

held captive

to all these lesser kingdoms

other than the kingdom of Christ?

That's what

the greatest of Christ's

citizens do.

Because in Christ,

every obstacle

has already been removed.

We don't need to worry

about being served.

We don't need to be worried

about being served anymore.

Because Christ has already

served us to the full.

No more vying to sit

at His right or left.

We are happily seated with Him

in the heavenly places.

No more giving begrudgingly

out of our scarcity.

We can give lavishly

of ourselves,

even unto death,

giving out of the spring

of His abundant

resurrection life.

Because Christ Church,

ours is the greatness

of Christ.

The cross-shaped

greatness of Christ.

A very existence

on this planet,

not primarily for ourselves,

but for the good

of the city.

For the glory of Christ.

And that's the kind

of people He's wanting

to make us into.

Will you pray with me?

Lord, we confess

that being a servant

is not attractive to us.

But as soon as we confess that,

we realize

that that must mean

that Jesus is not

that attractive.

Help us to see the beauty

of a God

who became a servant.

and help us to be so ravished

by that truth

that you make us

cheerful servants ourselves.

Pouring ourselves out.

Not in a legalistic way,

but out of love for Christ.

The one who loved us,

gave Himself for us.

A ransom.

The one who drank

the cup for us.

We soften our hearts

to the gospel,

we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.