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Serving with Humility
33 Plays2 months ago
Series: Acceptance of Jesus' Mission
Mark 9:14-50
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Biblical Paradox
00:00:00
Speaker
One of the many benefits of having a Bible-believing foundational church like this is I can give you a verse like Matthew 20, 16, and I know all of you will recite it for me. How do I know that? Because I'll start something like this. The first shall be last and the... The first shall be last and the...
00:00:30
Speaker
Yes, thank you. Do we really believe that? I'm not so sure. You know how I know that? Well, I was at potluck lunch last week. I saw a whole bunch of y'all, elbowing each other, jockeying for position, that coveted position at the front of the line.
00:01:01
Speaker
You know who you are. There's no judgment. There's no condemnation. But isn't that just like us?
True Service & Humility
00:01:09
Speaker
but We say the first shall be last, but none of us here really wants to be last, do we? Jesus tells us He came to serve, not to.
00:01:26
Speaker
Matthew 2028, by the way. He came to serve, not to be served. But none of us here this morning really wants to serve, do we? We'd rather be served, especially when it comes to the insignificant and the unimportant. We don't want to serve those people.
00:01:52
Speaker
We'd rather be served, but I'm here to tell you this morning, friends, that in your discipleship journey, it is going to involve just that, to humbly and diligently serve the last and the least. It's the opposite of the worldview, by the way. The worldview would tell you that you must be first when it comes to position.
00:02:19
Speaker
that you must do it yourself, pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you want to be the most powerful. Power and position in the world's view is all about you. We're going to see today from the Scripture that God's view turns the world's view on its head. That if we really want to follow Christ, we're going to have to humbly and diligently serve the last and the least.
Dependence on God: Lessons from Mark 9
00:02:48
Speaker
And that's what we're going to look at this morning, Mark chapter 9. Serving with humility will will require two things. It will require us ah to depend on God and to serve the least. And we're going to look at two accounts, two stories, if you will, today. um The poor disciples are going to get it again today. you know If you were here last week, you saw that they like but kind of failed in their endeavor last week. They they have another endeavor this week in which they tried to exercise a demon and they fail in that. They are powerless in that. We also see that they're going to argue about who's the who's the greatest among them. And it's ah it's a a battle of position. And we're going to see where true power and true position comes from. And we're going to look at how that applies to our lives today. Hopefully you have your outline. ah You'll see that's where we're going today. mark
00:03:39
Speaker
Chapter 9. Mark Chapter 9, where are we at on this journey? Well, you'll remember last week as we were on our way, we said this is the new act. This is Act 2. And you'll remember last week we talked about the first passion prediction. This is the first time Jesus told his disciples, hey, this is what it's going to look like. I'm going to go to the cross. I'm going to suffer. I'm going to die. I'm going to be raised from the dead. But this is the template of what it looks like to be a disciple to which they scratched their head and kind of said, I don't um don't really get that. I get it, but I don't really get it. That was last week. This week we're going to start again. We're going to see the second passion prediction. Jesus is once again going to tell his disciples, this is what it's going to look like. This is what it's going to look like to be a disciple. But that passion prediction is sandwiched, if you will, right between these two stories. The first story is this failed exorcism.
00:04:33
Speaker
And the second story, well, it's this jockeying for position at the potluck table. So let's start here of Matthew 9, starting in verse 14. It'll be on your screen if you don't have your Bibles. Verse 14 says, when they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them. And some teachers of the religious law were arguing with them. And when the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe. And they ran to greet him.
00:05:04
Speaker
What is all this arguing about? Jesus asked. One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, teacher, I i brought my son so that you could heal him. He's possessed by an evil spirit that won't let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and it becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out this evil spirit, but they couldn't do it. Jesus said to them,
00:05:33
Speaker
You faithless people, how long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." So they brought the boy, but when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.
00:05:51
Speaker
to which Jesus asked, how long has this been happening? And he replied, since he was a little boy and the spirit often throws him into the fire or into the water trying to kill him, have mercy on us and help us if you can. What do you mean if I can, Jesus asks? Anything is possible if a person believes. And the father instantly cried out, I do believe, but help me overcome my my unbelief.
00:06:20
Speaker
And when Jesus saw the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak. And he said, I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again. And then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. And the boy appeared to be dead and a murmuring crowd, ah the a murmur ran through the crowd and as the people said, he's dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet and he stood.
00:06:50
Speaker
What's happening here in this first story, in this first account? it's it's It's an account that is just, for lack of a better word, saturated in faith. right We see Jesus, he he laments this lack of faith for this generation. He calls them this unbelieving, or your translation may say, a faithless generation. And he Jesus tells the Father that all things are possible for the one who has faith, the one who faith, my own lack of unbelief. This whole story is just saturated with faith, what it means to have faith. But the main complaint is seen right here in verse 18. Look with me, verse 18. This is the the Father says,
00:07:50
Speaker
I've asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirits, but they were unable. They can't do it. Which, if you just remember in your very short-term memory, just a couple weeks ago, Jesus sent these same disciples out to do what? Yeah, to heal and to cast out demons.
The Role of Prayer in Spiritual Power
00:08:13
Speaker
And we were told they were successful, right? They cast out demons. So it's not a matter of whether or not they're capable of casting out demons. Something else is going on here with this story.
00:08:29
Speaker
Why are they not able? That's the question. it's this It's this picture, if you will, and I think we read this, and because we're not familiar with exorcism, we have this young boy who who has what we today might call epileptic seizure or something like that. The foaming at the mouth, the the you know gyrating all over the floor. It's this picture, if you will, of a tug of war happening.
00:08:56
Speaker
You have the demonic on one side you know pulling this kid, and the disciples on the other side are trying to get this a demon out, and they're just not strong enough. your This is this word that we see here. It's it's this battling back and forth. It's not a matter of capability. It's they simply don't have enough power. They are powerless.
00:09:17
Speaker
to get this demon out to which Jesus says in verse 19, oh you unbelieving generation. Who is he talking to by the way there? Yeah, the disciples. Most most commentators will say, he's he's not even though there's a crowd here, he's focusing on the disciples. He's like, how long do I have to be with you? How long do I have to demonstrate this to you that it really is a matter of faith? You have to go out and perform this miracle, but because you have a lack of faith, you almost want to read in iss Jesus' kind of sighs here like, you unbelieving folks.
00:09:55
Speaker
You should be able to do this. Matter of fact, you've been out doing it before. The problem here is that the disciples, I think, even though the text is not explicit, we'll see a little bit further down. It gives us a hint. The disciples are trying to do this, I think, on their own. This is somebody who's already gone through the motions and have been successful in an exorcism, and then they come upon this boy, and they're probably like, yep, I got this. I know what to do.
00:10:25
Speaker
and they start going through the rituals, maybe saying some words, maybe doing a picture like this tug of war, and it's not working. To which Jesus comes and says, hey, you unbelieving disciples, do you not understand the lack of faith that you have? The irony is the one who has faith is who? The Father.
00:10:52
Speaker
right The Father says, help me in my unbelief. I at least have enough wherewithal that I'm i'm asking, Lord, will you will you do what your disciples couldn't do? I don't even have enough, but help me in my unbelief.
00:11:10
Speaker
And I think there's something credible about a man's confession of unbelief, that that's the moment to which he starts believing. I, Lord, I need your help. I can't do this on my own. And it's this cry out loud of help me in my unbelief. The very people who should have had the belief don't. And the father here is demonstrating some belief. And I think this week as I thought, what is probably the most common area that we struggle in our Christian walk, in our Christian journey, in our discipleship journey. It's this idea of doing things in our own power. I put in quotes, let's just get it done. Let's get her done. What does get her done mean? That means you get it done. I get it done. In my own power, in my own strength. In other words, we're trying to accomplish kingdom tasks with worldly power.
00:12:12
Speaker
Kingdom tasked with worldly power, and we wonder why we struggle, or we fail, or we become frustrated, or we become burned out.
00:12:24
Speaker
Just like the disciples experienced here, it doesn't work unless something happens, unless we do something. So what should the disciples have done? Well, let's continue reading. Verse 28, 29 says,
00:12:37
Speaker
After when Jesus was alone in the house with the disciples, they asked him, why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit? And Jesus replied, this kind can only be cast out by prayer. It's an interesting side note, right? So there's this public demonstration and the disciples fail miserably, publicly.
00:13:02
Speaker
like They can't do it. They're trying to do it in their own strength and they fail miserably, to which Jesus takes them privately and says, here's why it failed. You didn't stay connected in prayer. It's this dependence on God in prayer.
00:13:26
Speaker
How do we do this is what I put in question mark to me and I highlight it. How do we go about our day-to-day lives humbly seeking God in prayer? And if you were at the men's breakfast this past Saturday, we talked a little bit about prayer what and what this looks like. How can we be humbly dependent on prayer? Well, I put a note, while you're at Ireland's this week, you're probably not going to experience an exorcism on aisle five.
00:13:57
Speaker
But you are going to experience some type of obstacle, some type of task that is going to be outside of your natural power. Maybe it's a difficult person at work. Maybe it's a strained relationship. Maybe it's a spiritual unbelief that you have and you've walked into church today and you thought to yourself, I'm just going to sit in the back and watch these Baptists and see what happens.
00:14:25
Speaker
Maybe that's you today. Maybe you're here and the challenge I have for you this week is when you get to that moment, that challenge, that task, instead of trying to do it on your own, instead of trying to get it done, maybe you ought to go to God in prayer.
Understanding Jesus' Teachings on Humility
00:14:42
Speaker
That should be our first response, by the way. What is our likely response, our natural response, our fallen response? I'm gonna worry about that.
00:14:53
Speaker
I'm going to try to do it on my own and then I'm going to get stressed out. I'm going to get burned out. I'm going to get frustrated because things aren't happening in in my timetable. It's funny how God's timetable often doesn't line up with our own timetable. You need to go to God in prayer. And I just put repeat after me, I need Jesus.
00:15:22
Speaker
I need Jesus. If you're taking notes, that might be a good thing this week. As you get to that obstacle, as you get to that task, that one that you think I'm gonna go ahead and do on my own, you just remind yourself, I need Jesus. Okay, that's the first account. Let's look here at the sandwiched part in the middle, the second passion prediction, Mark chapter thirty chapter nine, verse 30, and the following says this. It says, now leaving that region,
00:15:53
Speaker
They traveled through Galilee, and Jesus didn't want anyone to know he was there, for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. And he said to them, the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead. But they didn't understand what he was saying, however they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
00:16:16
Speaker
And after they arrived in Capernaum and settled in the house, Jesus asked the disciples, hey, what were you to discussing out on the road? But they didn't answer because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. And he sat down, called the disciple, the 12 disciples over to him, and he said, whoever wants to be first must take the last place and to be servant over a servant of everyone else. Let's pause there.
00:16:41
Speaker
So it's interesting, right, he gives this first account of what it looks like to be powerless on your own, and the remedy that to have real true power, you must be dependent upon and connected to Jesus. Right in the middle is the passion story, followed up by this second account of position, right? It's it's who's gonna be first, and Jesus tells him, I know who's gonna be first, it's the person who's gonna be last in my kingdom.
00:17:10
Speaker
It's an interesting take. He tells his disciples here for a second time, look, the Son of Man is to be given over. This is a paradidotai. This is the word literally meaning it is a certainty. He will indeed be given over. It's the same verb used of John the Baptist when John the Baptist's fate was happening. John was given over. Judas's betrayal, same verb here, paradidotai.
00:17:41
Speaker
The irony is here, it tells us that the son of man is to be given over into the hands of man. The one who has authority over men is indeed giving himself into the hands of men. To be killed, to be tortured, to be spit upon last week, to be hung upon the cross, to be killed, dead, buried in third three days,
00:18:07
Speaker
he'll He'll rise again, to which the disciples again, for the second time, do what? Huh? What? What is that you say?
00:18:19
Speaker
That's interesting, right? It's an interesting response. They didn't understand. And I and i and understand this, and I say this in the most loving pastoral way.
00:18:31
Speaker
um We have the benefit of hindsight. We have God's Word. We have the Scripture. But you can imagine hearing this as a disciple the second time from Jesus. And in friends, it's not in a parable form. It's not convoluted. It's very clear-cut. He says, the Son of Man will, and then he lists it out. He's gonna be betrayed. He's gonna be handed over to the enemies. He's gonna be killed. In three days, he later, he will rise from the dead.
00:19:03
Speaker
No ambiguity there. But the disciples still don't get it. How do we know they don't get it? Well, here's the interesting thing. I've read this account many, many times. And I will tell you, I came to almost a new revelation this last week as I read through it again. I think maybe they did kind of get it this time.
00:19:29
Speaker
Why is that? Because they start talking about what are they gonna do when the master is gone. right Maybe the first time Jesus gave this passion prediction, maybe they're like, eh, I don't know about this this. This is not what we signed up for. you know I'm not willing to follow this guy to the cross. But then right afterwards, he gives a second prediction to which they're probably thinking to himself, okay, maybe this is really gonna happen. but What are we gonna do?
00:19:57
Speaker
What are we gonna do when Jesus isn't here anymore? I know, let's argue about who's gonna be first. Of the 12, right? To which we laugh, but friends, we're all jockeying for position, somehow, in life. We're all jockeying to be first, because I haven't seen one of you at the potluck say, I can't wait to stand at the back of the line.
00:20:28
Speaker
Oh, I know. I'm going to get some emails about the potluck.
00:20:33
Speaker
The beauty of this, I just want us to see, is the first account dealt with power. The second account is dealing here with position. And the remedy to this worldview of if you want power, go do it yourself.
Servanthood Illustrated
00:20:47
Speaker
Jesus says, now I'm going to turn that on its head. If you want real power, you've got to be connected to me.
00:20:54
Speaker
You want real position? The world tells you. you know Nike has it all over everything they have. Just go do it. You go do it. that By the way, that's what that says. Nike's logo doesn't say, go get God and y'all too do it. you You do it. Jesus takes that and flips it. You want real position in the kingdom? Let me tell you, even though you're arguing, which which I love this, and your translation and my translation should line up real pretty here,
00:21:22
Speaker
um It doesn't say that they were out arguing. It says Jesus heard them arguing about something, to which he says, you know, hey, what were you arguing about? Does Jesus not know what they were arguing about? He knows what they were arguing about. He knows this is a battle of position. He knows they're jockeying for position. And he says, oh, you really want to know what the real deal is? You want to have position in my kingdom? This is what it's going to take. And he says what? Right here. If you want to be first in my kingdom, you must be If you want to gain position in my kingdom, you must suffer, just like me. You want to gain real position in the kingdom? Not only must you be last, but you must serve the very least. What does that look like today? i love this I love this illustration because all I have to say is two words.
00:22:21
Speaker
And I want to see your reaction. And I'm looking, I'm scanning. Foot washing.
00:22:29
Speaker
If I were to come to you right now and I put my Bible down and I just started walking out, I'm not going to call anybody out in particular. But if I walked up to you and I said, you know, I'm just here this morning and I got my pale, um if you would just take off your shoes real quick, I'm going to wash your feet. Right? What's our natural response? Oh, no, you're not.
00:22:53
Speaker
Ladies, some of y'all will be like, I haven't had my pedicure, you're not touching these feet. Some of you men may be in that same boat. Our natural response is what? Oh no, Lord, you're not gonna wash my feet. What's he demonstrating there in the foot washing?
00:23:15
Speaker
Thank you, yes. He came not to be served, but to in the model was, let me show you what the very least of the people, the servants, the people who would wash your dirty feet when you came in from outside when you were wearing sandals, Jesus, the Savior, Jesus, the Messiah is gonna get down on his hands and feet and wash your dirty feet.
00:23:48
Speaker
He gives us this model of what it looks like to suffer to serve the least and in in ideally become the least. And he gives us this beautiful picture, if you'll just look with me quick, thirty thirty ah verse and the next two verses here. Let me move down, sorry, 35.
00:24:15
Speaker
35, he says, he sat down, called the 12 disciples over and says, whoever wants to be first, must take last place and the servant must be there. Now here's the picture 36, then he put a little child among them, taking the child in his arms and he said to them, anyone who wants to welcome a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also the father who sent me.
00:24:37
Speaker
The picture here, friends, is a child, the very least on the social scale, the person who has no authority, who's under the care of somebody else, who is without the right of self-determination. He says, this is the type of person that you will serve. You will serve the least. As a matter of fact, you're going to go even one step farther, and that's going to be your mission on earth. It's this, you wanna argue about position and who's gonna be the greatest? Jesus says, let me give you the solution to that. I'm gonna overturn that prideful pursuit for power and position that you have. Instead, I just want you to go out and serve like children. I want you to serve the least. Being a servant to the least is perhaps the most significant attitude you and I can have as a disciple.
00:25:30
Speaker
So how do we go about doing this in a real life situation this week? This is where I want to land today.
00:25:42
Speaker
I'll just take potluck, for example. Real world, tangible, concrete application this week. How do we go about humbly serving one another? ah You simply have to go around and pick up people's trash.
00:26:00
Speaker
at the next potluck. Real world, tangible solution. You want to serve somebody in a very modern way this this week? Do you want to do a foot washing this week, this upcoming potluck? This is the first way you do it. You simply go over and you grab somebody's trash from their table. And so let me throw that away. Many of you who have been there see me do that, right?
00:26:29
Speaker
To which I will tell you, ah this is what I typically hear from people. Oh no, pastor, you don't need to take that for me. Right? Pastor, don't wash my feet. Don't you dare do that. I'm capable of taking my what? Own trash. I've heard that too.
00:26:56
Speaker
To which I respond, really?
00:27:00
Speaker
Do you really not want me to take your trash? Your pastor? The person who's supposed to be modeling what a servant leader looks like?
00:27:16
Speaker
Help pick up people's trash. That's the first thing you can do. Help pick up the chairs. Help pick up the leftovers. It's shocking to me how many people ah do what I call dine and dash.
Extending Servanthood Beyond the Church
00:27:32
Speaker
You know what dine and dash is in the Baptist Circle, by the way? Has anybody ever explained that to you? It's at a potluck where you're the first in line and you eat and then you're out the door. To which I often say in a very practical and loving way, do you have any idea how that food gets put up or how those chairs get put up or how those tables get put up?
00:27:53
Speaker
We don't have a potluck committee crew that does all that. There's not a separate paid cleanup crew that comes in and puts all that stuff up. How can you step out of your comfort zone this week? How can you serve your fellow brother and sister in Christ in all humility? um When you're finished eating and to your full, which everybody is, by the way, at potluck here, we eat very well. Somebody told me this is a Baptist tradition that all of our functions revolve around food, I would believe that. After you're full this potluck Sunday, grab your neighbor's trash. And if you're that neighbor, let them take it and just simply say thank you. Thank you for showing me that. Thank you for modeling that for me. And if you're able and capable and, Peggy, this is not you, I don't want you putting up chairs and tables this next Sunday.
00:28:48
Speaker
But if you're you can do it, stay after it. Pitch in. Say, how can I help you? I mean, Howdy's family did this one Sunday, and I was floored because you don't realize the amount of effort that takes to pick up all those chairs. Cindy and I did it last week, and and halfway through we sat down and took a break because I was out of breath. And I thought, we need to have some young families here. I'm getting too old for this. How about outside these walls?
00:29:17
Speaker
elbowbo
00:29:19
Speaker
How about serving somebody in a servant way this week? What does that look like outside of these walls? Because we all like serving each other, right? You should. How about that person outside of the walls? Well, I put, how about the detention center on the way to Rockdale? You know that place that's right out there that serves troubled teens? How about you simply go over there, find out how you can serve the least there? How about the pregnancy center that we support in Rockdale?
00:29:50
Speaker
How many of y'all have ever called over there? Hey, how can we show up? How can we help out? Friends, I'm here to tell you this morning that your discipleship journey involves humbly and diligently serving the last and the least.
Conclusion: Humility and Faith in Service
00:30:08
Speaker
We just need to do it, as Nike says.
00:30:14
Speaker
May we be a people who maintains this attitude of humility as we serve the seemingly insignificant or the unimportant, completely relying on God's power in both prayer and in faith and all God's people said. Amen.