April 30, 2023
Serve Others
Luke 22:24-27
Who is the greatest? That’s a question that has been discussed at many dinner tables and has been a topic of conversation for centuries. This was even the topic of conversation at Jesus' last meal here on earth. While we can have different opinions when it comes to who the greatest athlete is or perhaps the greatest musician, when God speaks on the subject we no longer need to have an opinion about it. The standard has been set by the Most High God. Jesus did not comment on who was the greatest musician or athlete at His last supper, but He did comment on who’s the greatest in God’s Kingdom. That’s what I want to look at this morning. How does Jesus define greatness in His Kingdom?
Greatness does not come from titles. - Luke 22:24-25
24 Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. 25 Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’
This wasn’t the first time that Jesus had heard the question, “Who’s the greatest?”. He’d been asked by family members of His disciples and He had heard it from the disciples themselves, but this time it would be different. Even though He had answered this question each time He was asked, He revealed a little more about the true and complete answer to that question. This time Jesus would decisively and conclusively answer the question, “Who is the greatest?”. He answers this question by using a method that we see throughout all the Gospels and that is to contrast this world to the Kingdom of God. Jesus talks first about the world by mentioning two titles that would have been known to all the disciples who were there that evening. The first is a king or someone who came to power just because of their birth or maybe even by their might. The second title mentioned is the “great men”. These men were very wealthy and would even use this wealth to impact their community in positive ways. Once they were given the title of “great men” they were the envy of all their peers. These two groups were using their titles to “lord over people” to say they were greater because of those titles. It almost seems like Jesus might be saying this was the way to be great, but remember Jesus is contrasting this with the Kingdom of God. Philippians 2:6-11 says that Jesus didn’t even take the fact that He was God as something to “lord over” anyone with. If anyone had the right to use a title, Jesus would have been the one - He was God. How about the rest of us? Paul says the same thing In Philippians 3. He goes over all sorts of titles and accomplishments he was entitled to have and could have bragged to everyone about it to make them jealous, but he said he counts it all as rubbish when compared to knowing Jesus Christ. We might be tempted to boast in titles that the world gives us, or in titles that we have worked so hard to obtain, but titles do not make us great in God’s Kingdom.
Greatness does not come from what people think of you. - Luke 22:24-25
24 Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. 25 Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’
Most of us want to please other people - some more than others. In some way, shape, form, or fashion we all want people to like us and speak well of us. Jesus is saying that even if everyone speaks highly of you and calls you a friend, this is not what makes you great. It’s not what people think of you, but it’s what God thinks about you that matters. Paul says in Galatians 1:10 that he’s not trying to win the approval of people, but rather God’s approval. Proverbs 29:25 says when we try to win the approval of man it lays a snare, but those who trust in the Lord are safe. It’s not people we are trying to impress, but we are seeking to please God. Scripture is very clear on how we go about doing that. It’s through faith and obedience (Hebrews 11:6) that God is pleased with us. While our testimonies in front of people are very important, those testimonies come through obedience to God. When we make sure our faith and our actions that come from that faith (James 2:17) are lined up with God’s Word, everything else including our testimonies will take care of itself. We shouldn’t worry about what people say about us. We need to worry about what God says.
Greatness comes from your humility. - Luke 22:26
26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.
Jesus told them that greatness isn’t about your titles, nor what others think of you, He focuses on what greatness looks like in the Kingdom of God. He prepares them by telling them that it’s going to be different for them than what they have seen and experienced in the world. This is always what Jesus calls us to - something much different than the world but we can be assured it’s always going to be better. Jesus tells the disciples that if they find themselves in a position that the world sees as greater or in a leadership position, they should humble themselves and become a servant. This is exactly what Jesus showed us and calls us to. When we go back and look at Philippians 2:6-11 again we see this is exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t worry about the title of God (even though He was due all honor that comes with it). He humbled himself and became a slave. Many times throughout the scriptures we are called to humble ourselves in order to be lifted up by God (James, 1 Peter). This is our first step to greatness in God’s Kingdom - it’s in humbling ourselves and taking the attitude of a servant. It’s a mental step that will start to show through our actions.
Greatness comes from serving like Jesus. - Luke 22:27
27 Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.
If you remember we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “We exist to…” where we have been exploring our mission statement here at First Baptist Church Bloomfield. After hearing the first three points of this sermon you might have been a little confused, but it was all building to this point. We need to understand that there is more to serving than just showing up and lending a hand. It involves looking past our position and looking past what the world says and expects. It is humbling ourselves like Jesus and serving just like Jesus. This means we have to be ultimately selfless in our service, in our motives, and in our love when we serve just as Jesus did. In order to understand what Jesus is saying we need to understand the context in which He makes this statement. It’s the last supper, the last time Jesus would have a meal with His disciples before His betrayal, abandonment, trial, death, and resurrection. It’s a time when we see Jesus humble Himself and serve His disciples by washing their feet when He was the one who should have been the guest of honor at that meal. Not only did He humble Himself to the status of a servant to wash feet, but He also humbled Himself when He washed the feet of the one who was about to betray Him, the ones who would abandon Him, and the one who would deny Him. Jesus knew everything that was about to happen for the next few hours and He still served in humility those men who would be responsible. He shows the disciples how to partake in the Lord’s supper by showing them that through the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine, His death would come about and the reason He would have to die. Jesus was saying that in order to be great you must serve and must serve the way Jesus did. We must serve selflessly.
You may have noticed that as we have progressed through the steps that we have taken in our mission statement we see fewer and fewer people participate in each progressive step. I’ve seen it described as a funnel - a lot goes in the top but it gets smaller and smaller as you get to the bottom. When we gather disciples, we can gather those who are saved as well as those who are lost. This is the largest group we will be able to reach. Philippians 2:10 tells us that someday EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus is worthy of ALL our praise so when we gather to worship, everyone is invited to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords whether you know Him as your Lord and Savior or not. When we move on to the next step and we grow disciples (and grow as disciples), this can only be those who have been born again and those who are putting forth the effort to grow just like we saw last week. In this step, there are even fewer that will follow through the growth process. Then we come to Serving Others (the step we are talking about today), it’s not that people can’t serve, they can, but it’s much harder to serve like Jesus. We should serve selflessly, serve those who hurt you, serve regardless of what is asked of you, and to carry it out regardless of your position. We are about to partake of the Lord’s Supper this morning. As we reflect on the meaning of the Lord’s Supper I would ask that you also remember how Jesus served and how you can serve more and more like Him.
