In his book The Volunteer Revolution Bill Hybels writes, "Every local churchgoer has a choice to make. He can park in his usual spot in the church parking lot, make his way to a comfortable seat in a favorite row, watch a good service, chat with friends, and then go home. That choice makes for a nice, safe Sunday morning experience. Or he can throw himself into an adventure by rolling up his sleeves, joining a team of like-minded servants, and helping to build the local church God has called him to be part of."
What I love about Lakeside, and what that video demonstrates, is that we really are a team of like-minded servants. We really do work together to build God’s kingdom. We can feel good about the fact that we are a church that puts our religion into action by serving one another and by serving needs in our community. So many of you are already busy at work and at home, but you choose to get involved with the church. You choose to get involved in other people’s needs. For you, serving is far more satisfying than sitting on the sidelines being a spectator.
The Bible teaches that God is glorified when we let our light shine before men. He is glorified when we are sincerely focused on serving him. Read Matthew 5:16. Our good deeds provoke people to praise our Father in heaven. As the early Church praised God and did good deeds, we are told that they enjoyed the favor of all the people, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
This should be a Sunday for celebrating God’s work in our lives and for celebrating service. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) says, "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
God created us to be servants.
Serving isn’t just something we do as a side job, a hobby, or a seasonal activity. Serving is what God created us to do. Servants are who he created us to be. It has always been interesting to me that throughout the New Testament whenever the apostle Paul would write a letter to a church, he would always identify himself as a servant of Christ Jesus. The apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:1 (NIV) referred to himself as a, "servant and apostle of Jesus Christ." Jude, the author of the book of Jude in Jude 1:1 (NIV) referred to himself as a, "servant of Jesus Christ." James, the author of the book of James in James 1:1 (NIV) says he is, "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." Jesus, the Son of God, in Philippians 2:6-7 (NIV) is referred to as, "Who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..." Jesus, in Mark 10:45 (NIV) declares that he, "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Being a servant isn’t an occasional pursuit for the Christian. It is the essence of being a follower of Christ. It is the essence of God’s very nature. In the divine economy of things, greatness is being the servant of all. We are servants of the most high God. Servanthood magnifies God’s character and it attracts people to God. It provokes them to praise our Father in heaven. Our service in the Lord should be celebrated!
You have probably noticed dozens of balloons located along the walls in this room. What I would like everyone to do is to stand up and grab a balloon. Keep your eye out and make sure everyone gets a balloon. After you grab a balloon, remain standing. Now in a moment what I want you to do is to give your balloon to another person. But first, let me lay down the ground rules.
(1) You can go anywhere in this room and you can give your balloon to anyone.
(2) You can give your balloon away as many times as you want, even after the service.
(3) No one can have more than one balloon in her possession at a time.
(4) When you give your balloon to someone, thank him for the specific way you have seen him be a servant. If you don’t know how that person has been a servant, thank them for being a servant anyway. Not everyone serves visibly.
You will have several minutes, so give your balloon away several times! Then after a few minutes we can all settle back down into our seats.
Nehemiah was an example of a godly servant.
In the Old Testament it was Nehemiah who was a servant. He had an ambitious plan to rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem and to spark revival among the people of Israel. But great plans, even great kingdom plans, mean nothing if we're not first willing to become servants. When Nehemiah spoke to God in Nehemiah 1:6 (NIV) he prayed, "...let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel."
In Nehemiah 1:10-11 (NIV) he continues to pray, "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name."
In prayer, Nehemiah was humbling himself as a servant. He was saying to God, "I am your servant. We are your servants. Use me mightily." Some of the most exciting movements of God in history have come on the heels of God’s people acknowledging, "We are your servants." All the great ones including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua, Moses, Isaiah, and Elijah were servants. Wherever God’s people are willing to humble themselves in service to others, God moves.
If you have read the story of Nehemiah, you know that the city walls were rebuilt. You know that a great revival erupted in the city of Jerusalem. You know that thousands of people returned to that city to find God and renew their covenant with him. You know that God worked one miracle after another, protecting his people from harm and bringing success to their plans. But what you may not remember is that it was all made possible because God’s people, starting with Nehemiah, said, "Here we are. Use us. We are your servants."
No one is excluded from being a servant.
One of the most memorable chapters in the story of Nehemiah is in Nehemiah 3.Nehemiah attempts to list all the people who contributed to the building of the wall. High priests, fathers, sons, daughters, nobles, goldsmiths, perfume-makers, rulers, levites, countrymen, temple servants, guards, and merchants were all included in Nehemiah's list. Age has nothing to do with being a servant. You can be young or old. I think of the little children who help us with the food drive, but I also think of Earl Tipps who is over ninrty years in age helping deliver food to the mission in his truck.
Gender has nothing to do with being a servant. Men or women can be servants. Status has nothing to do with being a servant. It doesn’t matter whether you are a king, a ruler, a CEO, a manager, a worker, a laborer, or a homemaker. No one is excluded from servanthood.
Responsibility has nothing to do with being a servant. Your spiritual gifts have nothing to do with being a servant. When building the wall, priests stood shoulder to shoulder with perfume makers. No one ever said, "Oh, I can’t lift that load." Or, "I can’t get dirt under my fingernails." Or, "That’s not my spiritual gift"
Amount of sacrifice has nothing to do with being a servant. We are called to make large and small sacrifices. No two people make the same sacrifice.
Being a servant is something for everyone in the church. I really like what Bill Hybels says in his book about being a servant. He says, "The power of the church is truly in the power of everybody as men and women, young and old, offer their gifts to work out God’s redemptive plan." "In God's kingdom, the way to the top is become a faithful servant and a humble servant."
In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (NIV), the apostle Paul talks about the power of everyone serving. "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free— and we were all given the one Spirit to drink."
"Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body."
"The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don’t need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don’t need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
I think it is that last verse that is most significant. "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." We are part of something bigger than ourselves. We belong to one another. We are part of the body of Christ. The very definition of service is to work for or give to someone else. Service means existing for God. It means existing for others. We are strongest, and God is most glorified, when we stop existing for ourselves and begin existing for his glory. How can we get this idea of existing for God and others more firmly fixed in our minds?
As we come to our time of offering, I want this to be a time of dedication. Normally, the ushers pass the offering trays up and down the aisles. But this morning the ushers are going to be stationed at different places in the sanctuary.
We want you to take a few moments to pray out loud with your family, pray with your friends, pray with one another, or even to pray by yourself. Most definitely pray that God will use these gifts for building his kingdom. Pray that the food we have collected and offered to God outside in the truck, will bring glory to God. But take some time to offer yourself to God as his servant. Ask him to use you as his instrument of praise. The worship team will come now and lead us in a song. As they do, pray. And when you are ready, bring your gifts to the ushers.