Serve

Jesus, thank you for your love.

Thank you for the fact that you are here, that your presence is among us, God, and we believe very simply that you want our lives to be better.

You do not promise us an easy life.

You never have.

You are so honest with us, God, but you do promise us real life.

You do promise us something so much more than the imitation of life that we're sold so often.

So, God, we want your life.

We want real life that has meaning and purpose.

And we ask this morning that you open our minds and our hearts so that we can receive it, so that we can learn from your word and apply it to our lives.

And we ask this in your name, Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, for a little over a month, we have been in a series called Defined.

Defined.

And the idea behind this series is very simple.

Our lives are not defined by our circumstances, they're defined by our decisions.

And I've said that so many times, you're probably tired of hearing it, but it's it's a really important thing for us to remember because what we hear a lot in life is that there are moments that define us.

We have defining moments in life, and that's that's partially true.

But in reality, we have defining decisions.

There are moments that happen to us in life, situations that occur, circumstances we face, that present us with the ability to make a choice, to make a decision that will define our lives.

And so our lives are not defined by our circumstances, and that's a really good thing because if my circumstances define me, I'm not defined by much a lot of the time.

But God tells us in his word that he's given us the power to choose the quality and the trajectory of our lives, and so it's the decisions that we make that define us.

That's how Jesus lived his life.

His circumstances did not define him, and thankfully so, because Jesus faced some really challenging circumstances.

I don't think there's one person in this room that would trade our worst day with Jesus' worst day.

But his circumstances did not define him.

He did not live an easy life, but he lived a good life.

He lived a life that had impact.

In fact, no one has ever lived a life that's had the kind of lasting impression on the world that Jesus' life had.

You can look at so many aspects of who he is and just see the life that is him.

I mean, think about his passion, for example.

No one has ever been more passionate than Jesus.

No one in history lived a more passionate life.

And we know that for a few reasons.

Number one, you can look at scripture and you can just see it.

You can see the emotion and the passion, the heartache that he experiences, the joy, the anger at times when he sees injustice.

I mean, Jesus was not stoic as he so often portrayed in film or in art.

But we know that he's the most passionate person that ever lived because we actually invented the word passion to describe Jesus.

Words get invented all the time.

The word selfie was added to the dictionary in 2013.

So that is a real word now.

Your children might have that word on a spelling test one day.

You never know.

Selfie.

The word passion was invented to describe Jesus.

It did not exist before he lived.

There's a Latin word passio.

It was first used in the second century to describe the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross.

And that might seem strange to us, passion suffering, but you know that when you're really passionate about something, you suffer for it.

When you're really passionate about something, you're willing to endure a lot to see that thing succeed.

And so Jesus is passion.

That word was invented to describe him, and it wasn't until the 13th century that it was expanded into a broader context and used to describe just any extreme emotion.

But for a thousand years, at its creation, the word passion exclusively described Jesus.

And so we know that Jesus is the most passionate person that ever lived because we had to invent the word passion just to describe his life.

See, I love the fact that this series is called Defined because Jesus redefined what it means to live life.

He redefined what it means to be a human being, to live a life with purpose and meaning.

And if we want a life that's defined by the passion of Jesus, if we want a life that's defined by the love of Jesus, by the power of Jesus, then we need to let Jesus redefine life for us.

We need to live by his definition, not the definition of this world, not even our own.

And if you search scripture, you'll find time after time where Jesus is teaching and he is redefining life for his followers.

Matthew 20 is one such example.

And if you have a Bible, feel free to open up to Matthew 20 or go to it on your phone.

We'll have the verses on the screens, but today we're going to spend some time just in this one section and really look at it.

Matthew 20, we're going to start in verse 20, so 2020.

This is a moment that it's really, really big for Jesus' disciples.

This is a moment where Jesus is going to redefine what he is teaching, what he's doing, what he's bringing about in the world.

In verse 20, it begins this way.

She knelt respectfully to ask a favor.

What is your request?

He asked.

She replied, In your kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one at your right and the other on your left.

But Jesus answered by saying to them, You don't know what you're asking.

Are you able to drink the bitter cup of suffering that I'm about to drink?

Jesus knew that the cross was coming.

And they replied, Oh, yes, we are absolutely able.

Jesus told them, Well, you will indeed drink from my bitter cup.

He's saying, You will endure hardships, you'll have trials because you follow me.

You absolutely will.

But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left.

My father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.

And when the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.

They're angry because they want the same thing that James and John want.

They just didn't think about playing the mom card and getting their mom to ask for them.

They didn't have that idea.

Okay?

See, here's what's going on.

This will stop here for a second because Jesus was constantly talking about this thing called the kingdom of God.

If you read the Gospels, you'll see Jesus use this phrase, kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven, often.

And it was a very loaded phrase for the people in his culture.

The Jewish people were waiting for the kingdom of God to come.

They had been oppressed by Rome, and before Rome, it was Assyria and Babylonia, all these other places, had oppressed the Jewish people, and so they were waiting for a Messiah to come and rescue them and set up a new kingdom, a kingdom where they would reign, a kingdom where they would have the power.

That's what they had been promised, and that's what they were thinking.

So Jesus shows up and he is the Messiah, and he's talking about this kingdom, and then he does this thing that God does all the time, and it really makes us mad if we're honest.

He says, Oh no, no, I was talking about a spiritual kingdom in your heart.

And they go, We don't want that.

That we don't need that.

We need a physical kingdom.

You know, there's times where you pray for God to change your life, and he starts to change you, and that's not what you asked, right?

God, I don't want you to mess with me.

I wanted you to mess with everybody else.

I wanted you to change my boss and my job and my bank account, but don't, you know, you pray, God, help me in my finances.

Don't make me more responsible.

Don't don't make me like budget and do those things.

Just put more in my bank account.

That's what I that's what I want to do.

See, the people, they they wanted Jesus to change their circumstances, but Jesus wanted to change them.

He was he was not using a cop-out by saying, no, no, it's a kingdom in your heart, because because here's the great thing about it earthly kingdoms fade.

But the spiritual kingdom that Jesus established will never fade.

See, he established this kingdom, this kingdom in which God can reign in our lives, regardless of whatever government is in power.

God rules our hearts.

And since Jesus established this spiritual kingdom, there have been countless empires and nations that have risen and fallen, but his kingdom remains.

He knew what he was doing.

The people thought they needed their circumstances to change.

God knew better, he needed them to change.

He needed them to be free of the impression of the oppression that comes from sin.

That's just not what they wanted.

So even though Jesus taught them this and he would go over this, the disciples had a really hard time letting go of this idea of a physical kingdom.

They still want that.

And so what they're asking, they're saying, Jesus, when you get done with all the spiritual stuff, because we know you're gonna get that out of the way, and then you do the physical stuff, the important stuff, can we please be on your right and left?

In other words, can we occupy the positions of the highest authority?

This would be like you having a friend running for president, and you saying, Hey, when you get elected, can I be the vice president and can my brother be the speaker of the house?

That's what they want.

And Jesus says, You don't know what you're asking.

You really don't.

The very next verse, verse 25, he says, this.

Jesus called them together.

Remember, the disciples are fighting over who's gonna be on the right or the left, or how close they're gonna be to the center where Jesus is reigning.

They're fighting over the cabinet positions, essentially.

And Jesus says, You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, talking about their rule.

And officials flaunt their authority over those under them.

In one statement, Jesus sums up the way authority tends to work in our world.

Have you ever known someone that got a very small amount of authority and used it to make other people miserable?

They're called older siblings, right?

Those of us that grew up with them.

Mom and dad leave, and the brothers in charge, and if you're the younger sibling, you go, oh no, this is gonna be so bad, so bad, right?

And if only it stayed contained to our childhoods, if only it it was only like a brother-sister relationship where that happened, but no, no, no, there are people, there are adults, there are there are people that get a very small amount of authority, just a little bit of power, and it inflates them and they use it, they lord it over people, they make other people's lives miserable just because they can.

How many of us have have worked with someone like that?

Absolutely.

I won't ask how many of us are working with someone like that right now, but the hands would be many.

I've worked with people like that myself.

In fact, when I was in college, I had a job, I waited tables at this restaurant called a Buelos.

You've heard me talk about it before because it was it was an amazing, amazing restaurant.

I loved it.

I I've never eaten better than when I was a server.

I mean, I ate amazing food working there and it paid my bills, so it was a pretty good gig.

Um, just so you know, the closest to Buelos is in Chattanooga.

And so if you have nothing going on for the rest of the day, right, I encourage you to drive an hour and 20 minutes or whatever it is to Chattanooga.

It's right off an exit, easy to find, and eat at a Buelos.

And if you go there, if you decide to do this, please allow me to order for you, if you don't mind.

You need to order this dish called the Los Majores de la Casa.

Okay, I have a picture of it, the Los Majores de la Casa.

Now, okay.

Some of you were when I first said drive to Chattanooga, you were like, that's ridiculous.

And now you're like, well, maybe.

Um okay, let me explain this to you.

It's great side items, that's all good.

These these bacon wrapped steak medallions, those are amazing.

Uh, but the real star of this plate, Los Mojores de la Casa, it means best of the house, um, it's those shrimp that you see.

Now, some of you may love shrimp, some of you maybe not, but if you if you even tolerate seafood, these shrimp, they're guys.

I might get tears in my eyes just describing it.

Okay, so so here's what they are.

They are jumbo shrimp, and that is an oxymoron, I know, but they are giant shrimp, okay?

They are stuffed with a blend of cheeses and a sliver of jalapeno, right?

Just to give it a little kick.

And they're wrapped in bacon and cooked on a wood fire grill.

I mean, come on.

Who's going to Chattanooga with me as soon as this is done?

Let's let's take a road trip, all right?

You guys can take that off the screen, otherwise, it's torture.

So, so these shrimp, they're they're unbelievable.

Well, one day I'm I'm waiting on this table, and they had ordered the best of the house.

It's pretty expensive.

It was a nice restaurant, something I couldn't afford to order normally.

Um, and I'm I'm taking their plates, they're done.

And all of a sudden, all of a sudden, this woman tells me to just take hers and throw it away.

She's done.

But but see, there's this lone, giant bacon-wrapped shrimp sitting on the plate.

And I'm confused.

I was 21 years old, and you know, bacon-wrapped jumbo shrimp stuff with cheese and jalapenos, don't they don't come around that often.

So I looked at her, I said, ma'am, I'd be happy to box this up for you.

I mean, it's it's a bacon-wrapped shrimp.

Um, she says, No, no, I'm done.

I've I'm I'm not gonna take it home, just take it back, throw it away.

And so I'm kind of like the disciples, I'm indignant at this point.

I'm a little upset, but I'm containing myself, and I take her plate and I go back to the kitchen and I'm walking to the trash can and I'm looking at the shrimp and I'm looking at the trash, and I had a crisis of conscience.

Like, time slowed down, and I'm I'm making these decisions in my mind, and I just have to be honest, I I couldn't do it.

I I couldn't I couldn't throw it away.

And so I did one of these numbers where you just kind of like you look, see if anyone's looking, and I I very slyly grabbed the shrimp and I dropped it into a pocket in my apron.

And I and I went on, and then and then like 20 minutes later, when the coast was clear and no one was around, I reached in my pocket, I grabbed the shrimp, I ate it, and it was it was it was so good, guys.

It was so amazing.

And I know you're judging me, I understand, I don't care, but you never tasted these shrimp.

Drive to Chattanooga today, have it, and then you tell me if I was wrong.

I made the right decision, okay?

And I'm I believe in honesty, and so I'll just I wish I could tell you it was the only time I did that.

I wish I could say it was a one-time thing.

But it did become somewhat normal.

I don't know why so many people didn't finish the shrimp.

They got full, they they filled up on bread.

I don't know what they did, but but I want you to know I had standards, okay?

I'm not an animal, so I did not mix the shrimp with cash or my pens.

I had many pockets in the apron.

There was a dedicated pocket for shrimp, all right?

It was a shrimp pocket.

The only thing that went in there was shrimp.

It feels good to get that off my chest.

I feel really good to share that.

Now that's out in the open.

We can all be friends.

So, so suffice it to say, I loved working at this restaurant.

I really enjoyed the shrimp, but there was this one part of it that made it really hard.

And it its name was Ryan.

And if your name is Ryan, I'm sure you're an amazing person.

But this Ryan, this Ryan was that guy who gets a little bit of power and uses it to make everyone miserable.

See, Ryan was a server like me.

He was not a manager, he wasn't an assistant manager, he was not a manager in training.

He was, like the rest of us, a servant, a server.

That's all he was.

But every once in a while, Ryan would be what they call the shift leader.

And if you've ever worked in a restaurant, here's kind of how it usually works.

You have side work that you have to do as a server, which means at the end of the night, when you're done, when your tables are done, you clean your table, and then you go into the kitchen and you clean some other stuff.

And then the the shift leader, which sometimes is a manager, but at our restaurant, it was a server that was appointed to this role.

This is hall monitor level authority, okay?

This is not a lot of authority, but the shift leader would come and they just look at your stuff, see if you did it, and then sign off so you can go home.

That's the only authority they have.

They decide when you leave.

And when Ryan was the shift leader, oh my goodness.

He would he would mess with you just to mess with you.

I mean, he he got inflated, he walked around like he was a dictator or something like that, and and he would often make you do things twice, even if you did it well the first time just to do it.

He he had impossible standards, standards that he himself never lived up to, because I was a shift leader too, and I checked his tables, okay?

So he didn't live by those standards, he just adopted them once he became the ship leader.

And sometimes he would even mess with you just by making you wait for him to check you out.

So you'd say, Hey, I'm done.

Can you just sign off?

Can you check so I can go home?

And he'd say, Well, I'm kind of busy right now, you just need to wait.

And so I would sit there, angry, eating my shrimp from my pocket, just waiting, right?

Just waiting for this for this Ryan to check me out.

It was awful.

And that's how it works in this world, right?

That's what Jesus says.

People get a little bit of authority, a little bit of power, and they lord it over other people.

They use it as a means of self-importance.

And this is Jesus setting up the redefining moment for his disciples.

He goes on in verse 26 to say this not so with you.

Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.

And whoever wants to be the 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 is echoing something he taught previously in Matthew 20, actually, verse 16, Jesus says this the last will be first, and the first will be last.

Jesus is saying, hey, if you want to aspire to greatness in God's kingdom, and by the way, there's nothing wrong with that.

There's nothing wrong with desiring to live a life of greatness.

To live a life where you know that God has worked through you, you know that this world is a better place because you have lived.

There's nothing wrong with desiring that, but Jesus says, hey, if you desire that, if that's what you want, if you want to live a life that gets God's attention, a life that God looks at and says, Yes, you're living life the way I would live life because he showed us what he would do if he lived life.

It's called Jesus.

He says, serve.

If you want to be first, put yourself last.

If you aspire to greatness in God's kingdom, live to serve.

Our lives are absolutely defined by our decisions.

And there is a decision that we can make today, that we can make every day in our lives that will define us for better or worse.

It's this decision.

Will I live to be served, or will I live to serve?

Will I live to be served, or will I live to serve?

See, we look at Jesus in his life, and we see at every turn, he served people.

If you read Matthew chapter 14, you'll read the story of Jesus going to get some me time, some alone time, some time with God to recharge, to rest, to refresh a little bit.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

And heavens knows that Jesus deserved that.

He had earned that, but see, people are never ending.

There's always another problem to solve, there's always another issue that needs fixed.

And while Jesus is going to get his alone time, a few thousand people show up to see him.

And does Jesus say, hey, come back tomorrow?

I am exhausted.

I've had a long three years, I just need a break.

No.

Jesus puts aside his personal time and he teaches these people for hours and he heals them and he feeds them.

Why?

Because Jesus did not come to be served, he came to serve.

If you read John chapter 13, you'll read the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, which is gross.

John 13 · chapter mention

It just is.

Way grosser than my shrimp thing.

So if you judge me for eating shrimp off someone's plate, Jesus washed feet, and just that's way worse.

Way worse.

In the culture at that time, washing feet was something that was done customarily, but it was always performed by the lowest ranking servant in a household.

The lowest ranking servant.

Even the middle-ranked servants would not wash feet, but Jesus washes his disciples' feet right before they have their last meal together.

Why?

Because Jesus did not come to be served, he came to serve.

And we need to remember that when Jesus served, he was not putting aside some minuscule amount of authority.

This is not Jesus laying aside shift leader authority, hall monitor authority.

This is Jesus laying aside more authority than anyone in this world could ever imagine.

Listen to what Jesus says about himself in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18.

Matthew 28:18

He says, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

So when we see Jesus putting aside his personal time, washing feet, serving people, this is Jesus.

This is the King of kings.

This is the Lord of Lords.

This is the man who spoke to the wind and the wind obeyed him.

This is the man that just stood somewhere near a demon and a demon was terrified and screamed and ran away in terror.

This is a man that has the authority to say to whatever corner of the universe, do what I say, and the universe would obey.

Jesus has ultimate authority and he laid that authority aside.

Why?

To serve us.

To serve you and to serve me.

Jesus lived his life as a servant.

Gave his life on the cross.

And to this day, his spirit, the Holy Spirit, serves us.

Jesus chose to live as a servant.

He redefined life.

He said, hey, you aspire to be great.

Aspire to serve.

Live to serve.

See the amazing thing about Jesus.

The incredible thing about his teachings is that they work.

They work.

A lot of what Jesus says sounds crazy.

It does.

If you want to be first, be last.

I played sports.

I don't know how it works.

The team at the bottom does not get a trophy, right?

Jesus He's correct because because here's the truth.

Have you ever known someone that lives to be served?

And it's pretty easy to recognize when that's happening.

I've been this person before.

Where you believe that the world exists for you.

You believe that everything should be working together for your convenience.

Because when you live like that, are you happy?

If you live to be served, or are you someone that enjoys life?

No, the answer is no.

In fact, if you live to be served, you are setting yourself up for constant disappointment because the world does not exist for your convenience.

And you'll be reminded of that daily.

You're driving in traffic, and someone had the audacity to get in an accident.

And for them, that might mean injury.

For them, that might mean financial hardship, but for us it means 20 more minutes in the car, right?

And we're indignant because the world is not working for my convenience.

Or I'm going through a drive-thru, and the person working at the drive-thru is 15 and it's their first job and they're new and I'm upset because it's taking five more minutes than it normally does.

And I decided to leave for work at the last possible second to be on time, and everything had to go right.

I made that decision, but this person in the drive-thru making me breakfast so I don't have to make it, they are, oh, they're not serving me the way I need to be served.

They're inconveniencing me.

See, if you live to be served, you are always disappointed.

If you believe that the world exists for you, you're setting yourself up for constant frustration.

Constant frustration.

But if you live like Jesus and you turn it around and you believe that you exist for the world and not the other way around, you're not frustrated.

You're not disappointed because you don't expect everything to go your way.

You don't expect to be served.

You live to serve.

So you're not upset when there's a traffic jam.

You're not as upset when something holds you up.

You're not even upset when someone doesn't come through for you the way you hope they would, because you know what?

They don't exist for that reason.

We live to serve.

Our lives are freer, our lives are more enjoyable.

And here's the amazing thing.

This is where it just comes together because Jesus is so correct.

He's so right.

When you live to serve, God elevates you.

And that's what Jesus is promising.

If you choose to be last, God will make you first.

You will experience blessings.

Your your life will be elevated because you serve.

I was a server and I ate like a king.

I'm not just talking about the shrimp, okay?

I'm not just talking about the pocket shrimp.

Okay, those were those were like cherries on top.

But here's the truth.

I've never eaten as well as I did when I was a server.

Now I'm I'm older.

I can actually afford to go to that restaurant more often than I could have back then.

I was 21 in college, but but maybe, maybe I could afford to eat that food once every two weeks.

Back then I ate it every day.

See, my job was to bring people food, but I ate better than any of them, and I wasn't paying for it.

I mean, it was awesome.

At that restaurant, it was our job to be able to describe to our customers what the food tasted like.

So we were required to eat every item on the menu so we had personal knowledge of how it tasted.

And there were days where my manager, I remember this day, came to me and said, Justin, you haven't had this one item on the menu.

And I said, No, I haven't gotten around to it.

He said, Well, you need to eat it today.

And I said, Okay, I'll take one for the team and have that steak and you know, enchilada menu.

Yeah, sure, I'll do that.

I mean, that that was it was awesome.

Sometimes the chefs would would make these items that aren't on the menu.

They're better than what's on the menu because they would get bored making the same stuff over and over again.

So they would create these unbelievable meals, and we would get to eat it.

Sometimes the restaurant would have new items that they were working on to put on the menu, but before they put them on the menu, we got to taste them, we got to test them.

It was just, you know, one of those one of those parts of the job.

Okay, I gotta do this.

I'll get my fork, I'll do my duty.

I've never eaten better than I did when I was a server.

Because when you live to serve, when you live to serve in God's eyes, you're the king.

I was a server that ate like a king, and God says to all of us, hey, if you want to be great in my kingdom, serve.

Live to serve.

Do you want, do you want to advance in your career?

Serve.

I'm not saying that every company that we work for is going to recognize this, but if you if you serve your company, if you serve your employer, if you serve your coworkers, if you serve your employees, if you if you don't just work at your job, but you serve at your job, and that is not recognized, and that is not rewarded, if that's not noticed, then it's time to move on.

But see, I do believe in most cases you will be noticed, because it is not that hard to find someone who will work hard for their own gain.

But it is rare, it is rare to find someone who will serve for the gain of others.

Owen D.

Young was a very wealthy, very successful lawyer that lived a few decades ago.

He has this quote: people who can put themselves in the place of other people, who can understand the workings of their minds, need never worry about what the future has in store for them.

It's people who live to serve.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, Dale Carnegie from the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, it's one of the best books ever written.

He says, the world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking.

He wrote that in the 1930s and it hasn't changed.

And this is the best part.

So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage.

He has little competition.

I mean, the way the world works is really simple.

The more rare something is, the more valuable it is.

A person who is willing to do more than work hard for their own gain, but a person who serves the people around them for their gain, that person is rare, and that person is generally noticed and rewarded.

Serve.

Go to work this week and serve your company.

Serve your boss.

Serve your coworkers.

If you're the boss, serve your employees.

You want loyalty?

You want them to give you that extra 10%?

Just serve them.

Ask them how you can help.

Ask them how you can make their life easier.

That's what it means to serve.

To inconvenience yourself for someone else's convenience.

To make your life a little bit harder so you can make someone else's life a little bit easier.

Yep.

So serve.

What about relationships?

Those are easy, right?

When you think about relationships, how often, and I'm not saying this is all the time, because there are moments and there are times where we have legitimate frustrations with people we're in relationships with, whether it's a spouse, whether it's it's a friend, a parent, you name it.

But how often when we get really frustrated with another human being, how often, if we're honest with ourselves, is our frustration simply the result of us believing that person is not meeting our need.

And is that is that living to serve or is that living to be served?

Marriage is just an easy example.

I know not of us, not all of us are married.

Some of us have been married, don't want to be married again.

Some of us have been married, would like to be married again, and I doubt there's one of us in the room that says, you know what, this time around, I'm not going for that guy that serves me.

No way.

No.

I want to find someone insensitive to my needs.

I want to find someone that puts themselves first.

That's what I know.

Of course not.

We all want to be in a relationship with someone who has a servant's heart.

We absolutely do.

So if we want that, we need to be that.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul says about marriage.

In Ephesians chapter 5, I'm going to read from the message version.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

This is easily the most challenging part of scripture you can ever imagine as far as it goes with relationships.

But man, if people would just live this, the number of problems in the world that wouldn't exist would be mind-blowing.

Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

Some translations will say, submit to one another.

In my house, submit is the S-word.

But if you submit to one another, right, it works.

Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ.

The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering, but by cherishing.

So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

Now, ladies who have maybe grown up in church, you've probably heard these verses before, right?

Wives submit to your husbands.

You're like, yay, great, good, got it.

Men love these verses.

Like these are some of men's favorite verses.

And they always love to quote this section, but skip the part that was right before that says submit to one another.

And they also love to skip the next part, which is way harder.

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives.

Exactly as Christ did for the church.

A love marked by giving, not getting.

In other words, a love marked by serving, not by being served.

Christ's love makes the church whole, his words evoke her beauty.

Everything he does and says is designed to bring out the best of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness, and that is how husbands ought to love their wives.

They're really doing themselves a favor since they're already one in marriage.

You could sum all of that up by saying, just relentlessly serve each other.

Serve each other.

You want to see your marriage change?

Serve your spouse.

And if you're sitting here and you realize that the person you're married to is really good at serving you, but you don't serve them in kind, then just change.

If you want to see a relationship with a friend or a coworker transform, serve them.

Because when we serve, when we put ourselves last, God puts us first.

It works.

It works.

And so I ask, I encourage, I challenge you today to make a decision.

Decide to serve.

In fact, I'll go so far as to say this right now, I just want you to think of someone.

Let someone come into the forefront of your mind, someone that maybe you're frustrated with, someone that you love, maybe someone that you just know needs something good to happen in their lives.

And I want you to decide, decide now to serve that person this week.

The question you could ask yourself is who am I going to serve today?

Who am I going to serve today?

It might be the person sitting right next to you.

Might be someone you work with.

You know, it might be the person that's going to be your server at the restaurant you might go to when we're done.

You have the ability, by the way, to turn the tables on them.

They think they're going to serve you, but you know going in you're going to serve them.

And so before they mess up your order and forget to refill your drink or do what I do, is I order unsweet tea.

I'm one of the weird ones that orders unsweet tea.

And they kind of go, you meant sweet tea, so they just bring me sweet tea.

Happens all the time.

Before they mess it all up, decide in advance to give them a good tip, regardless of the level of service you get.

And then enjoy that meal because it's actually, it's it's way less pressure that way.

It's so much fun.

In fact, there are times where Megan and I will just decide, hey, we're gonna give this person a really good tip, and and it has nothing to do with the level of service we get.

And it's amazing how often when we decide that, we get really bad service.

Like God is actually gonna, like He's like, okay, you said it.

You ask, I answer.

That's God.

He answers the prayers we sometimes don't want answered.

But but it's actually, I'm serious, it's kind of enjoyable to sit there and realize, you know, I bet this person thinks we're not even gonna leave him a tip because this has not gone well.

But but we're gonna leave him a tip, and you know what we're gonna do?

We're gonna leave him a good tip, and we're not even gonna write a Bible verse on it to like just throw that little stinger in there.

Because you know how we do that sometimes, like here's a good tip, should be at church.

Um we're not, no, we're not gonna do that.

See, living to serve is freeing.

And so I I want you to live free.

Jesus wants you to live free.

If the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords could live to serve, how much easier should it be for us to do the same?

So this week, be first by being last.

Pray with me.

Lord Jesus, thank you so much for teaching us how to live life like you.

You serve us.

You never stop serving us.

And Lord Jesus, to be honest, we don't deserve it, but we need it.

And it is an honor.

It's an honor for any of us, whether we're someone that's been following you for years or or even just someone on the fence, someone still deciding where we stand with you.

It's an honor just to live life like you, God, because the way you live, Jesus, the way you lived your life, it's it's the real way to live life.

It's authentic, it's genuine, it's passionate, it's powerful, and we want our lives to be defined by the way you lived life.

So, God, make us servants.

Give us a heart and a passion for putting others first and ourselves last, so that we can experience what you promise.

We can experience you taking those who choose to be last and making them first in your kingdom.

And we pray all this in your name, Jesus.

Amen.