April 19, 2009 - Pastor Tim

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Luke 22:24-30

What a wonderful Resurrection Sunday we had last week! My thanks to all who helped make Easter such a grand day around here!

This morning, the Sunday afternoon Easter, I want to begin something I’ve never done before—that means that you’re all “guinea pigs” as we try something new! I’m going to begin a series of sermons I’m calling, “Looking at the Cross through Resurrection Eyes.” I’ve typically spent the Lenten season, the weeks prior to Easter, retracing the steps to the Cross through one of the four Gospel accounts—and that’s certainly appropriate as we try to grasp the significance of what Christ has done for us and to capture the breadth of the wonder of the Resurrection. As I was doing my sermon planning, I got to thinking about the early days of the Church—and how the Resurrection shaped who they became. And I began to think through the fact that all of the events leading up to the Cross suddenly took on new meaning once they were on the Resurrection side of things! Surely there was a lot of lively interaction after the Resurrection, bringing new meaning to all of what Jesus taught and lived in those final days.

I invite you to turn with me to Luke, chapter 22. The stage had already been set for what was about to happen. Judas had already agreed to the devious ploy of the betrayal. Jesus was gathered with His disciples in the Upper Room, and had just shared the Last Supper with them, instituting what we often call “communion” or “the Lord’s supper.” But did you realize that right after that most solemn moment, the disciples got into an argument? All things considered, their timing was terrible! Their behavior was shocking, to say the least. It was the last thing Jesus wanted to hear right then! It must have been all Jesus could do to keep from smacking them all upside the head, trying to knock some sense into them. But in His patient way, Jesus used it as an opportunity to teach them some extremely important things about His Kingdom.

Listen as I read—

[Read Luke 22:24-30, NIV]

God’s desire in His covenantal relationship with Israel, that we read about it in the Old Testament, was that while all the other nations had kings, God Himself was to be the King of Israel. As you may recall, the people weren’t happy with that, and whined and fussed about it until God finally gave in and gave them a king. And, all in all, the kingship of Israel proved to be a terrible disappointment. The nation split into two, divided by two men who were determined to be king. It wasn’t a pretty thing!

Then came Jesus—hailed by many as “the King of the Jews.” There are times when we refer to Him as “King Jesus,” or “Christ the King.” And Jesus Himself often spoke about His kingdom, though He always spoke of it in terms that contradicted the normal expectations of a kingdom. Jesus redefined a kingdom.

What do we think of when we think of a king?

• Power. Absolutely! Kings get what they want.
• Control. We think of authoritarian rule.
• Wealth. For some reason, I think of silver and gold.
• Extravagant living. The king can afford it, can’t he? And people expect it of a king.
• A throne and a crown—the center of attention, being in the place of greatest prominence.
• Servants. Kings were meant to be served. There were kings—and then there was everyone else.
• Honor, pomp and circumstance…grand entrances…everyone bowing down.

And was that the kind of king Jesus would ever be? Was that the kind of kingdom He aspired to have? Not in the least!

Matthew and Mark both record a similar scene and conversation to the one we just read from Luke’s Gospel. In Matthew and Mark, it took place just prior to what we know as His Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem. The mother of James and John had come to Him, asking if her two boys could be on either side of Jesus when He came into His kingdom. They were so much thinking about all the old paradigms of kings and kingdoms, that they couldn’t grasp the fact that Jesus had something all together different in mind—even though He’d been modeling it for them all along! He said her, “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

When the other disciples learned about James and John’s mother’s request, they were angry! They were probably lining up their moms to go talk with Jesus, too! But Jesus called them together then and said to them,

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. (Matthew 20:25-28, NIV)

Luke tells us then about the same old argument popping up in the hours before Jesus was arrested, the eve of His death on a Roman cross. It was incredible that in such a time the disciples would be thinking of their own power and control and prestige and honor!

Would you like to understand more about Christ’s Kingdom? Do you want to know what Jesus’ kingship is all about? Can I answer it in a nutshell? If you want to know what Jesus’ kingship is all about, look at the Cross! If you want to know what kind of king Jesus was, look at the Cross! If you want to understand what His Kingdom is all about, look at the Cross!

What do I mean by that? Jesus’ Kingdom was not about power, control, wealth, extravagant living, a throne or a crown! The Kingdom of Jesus is about serving—and ultimately laying down our lives for others, loving so very much that we would do whatever we have to do for the sake of the well-being of others.

Jesus acknowledged that secular rulers or leaders “lord it over” others, but Jesus made it clear that this was not the way of His Kingdom—He wouldn’t do that and certainly didn’t want His followers doing it either. Years later, when Peter wrote his first letter to the church, he wrote instructions to the elders of the church, admonishing them to

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers…not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:2-3).

Jesus acknowledged that while others like to have titles bestowed on themselves, that’s not how it’s to be in His kingdom. He said, “But you are not to be like that.” The greatest is to be like the youngest—which, certainly in their culture, reflected subservience to the others. The person who rules is to be like the one who serves. In the social custom of the New Testament times, the person sitting at the dinner table certainly had a higher social standing than the person who was moving around the table, serving the food. And it’s hard for us to read this passage, thinking of the setting in which Jesus spoke these words, and not be reminded of what John’s Gospel tells us happened on that same evening, as Jesus got down on His hands and knees and went around the room, washing the feet of His disciples as a common servant would do.

Don’t you know that, after the Resurrection, the Disciples had to be shaking their heads in disbelief that they had ever talked and acted in such a way just a few days before? They must have felt so ashamed! Jesus had shown them “the full extent of His love” when He went to the Cross, and they had to have been humbled to the core that they had ever fussed over prominence within their own little circle. They had so terribly missed the point!

I saw the other day the most interesting challenge to our cultural icons. I’m honestly not much into the TV reality shows that are seeking out talent, but who seem to enjoy humiliating a lot of people along the way. But the eyes and ears of lots of people were taken back this week when a very plain 47-year-old, unemployed Scotswoman took the stage on Britain’s version of “America’s Got Talent”—called, appropriately, “Britain’s Got Talent.” The crowd and the judges were all set for a good laugh at her expense—just watch their body language at the outset. The table was clearly set for humiliation and defeat…until she began to sing…

[play Utube video of Susan Boyle]

Her voice was incredible! And the jeers and snickers quickly turned to acclaim, as she broke the expectation that to captivate the hearts of people with musical talent you must be stunningly beautiful and debonair. I frankly enjoyed the breakdown of the paradigm, and hope that it accomplishes far more than just a momentary shakeup. And maybe we can come alongside that shakeup this morning to allow the Holy Spirit to shake up our ideas and aspirations about what it means to be great. It’s not what we thought it was!

So, how are we going to respond? How’s this to be lived out in our lives—in a world that too often berates the seemingly not-so-shining-stars and lifts up others for all the wrong reasons?…that pays professional baseball players and movie divas millions of dollars every year but pays schoolteachers and police officers and helping professionals minimally? Despite the shining moment of a Susan Boyle, our world doesn’t generally applaud simple people! It doesn’t applaud servants! So how are we to live out the teachings of Jesus in our world? How are we going to pursue “success” and how are we going to redefine it?

Can I go back to the simple answer I gave you a few moments ago relating to what Jesus’ kingship is all about? Look at the Cross. How are we to live out the teachings of Jesus in our world? What’s it going to look like? What is success? What is greatness? Look at the Cross.

Jesus set aside His glory and any prominence people gave to Him, and embraced the Cross. That’s not what we expected from a King, is it? But, oh what an impact that King has had on our lives! He is the Resurrected King, Lord of our Lives—and He is with us still, everyday, empowering us to rise above the sin of this world and to live as part of His Kingdom! He invites us to greatness—but He redefines what that means!

So, how are we to live? We’re to serve. We’re to lay down our lives as Jesus did. We’re to give our lives for the sake of others. We’re to love—and love so deeply that we forget our preoccupation with ourselves and any selfish desires and self-centered ambitions. We’re to give no thought for how important we may seem to be in the eyes of others or what wonderful titles others might give to us. We are to, in effect, wash the feet of others.

No doubt, one of the great examples of such self-sacrificing service to others in our era was found in the person of the one known as Mother Teresa. At the ceremony for 11 new members of her order of nuns, the then frail and stooped Mother Teresa said,

Love, to be real, must cost. It must hurt. It must empty us of self. (Mother Teresa)

The disciples of Jesus in those days before His crucifixion were so easily distracted by their own aspirations to greatness. And we live in a world that presses us to do the same—every day! But Jesus said that greatness in His eyes isn’t marked by how long we live, how well-known or how popular we are, nor how rich we are at retirement. Jesus said that the measure of life is in our service—how we learned to give our lives away for others. George Truitt, a great Baptist preacher of generations ago, said—

It is not the talents one has that makes him great, however many and brilliant they may be; it is not the vast amount of study that gives mental enrichment to the mind and life; it is not in shining social qualities; it is not the large accumulation of wealth that secures peace and honor. In none of these measured by God’s standards does greatness reside. The true greatness consists in the use of all the talents one has in unselfish ministry to others. (George W. Truitt)

A lot of people have been helped by Alcoholics Anonymous. They speak of four paradoxes:

We surrender to win.

We give away to keep.

We suffer to get well.

We die to live.

Jesus, I believe, would add another: To lead, we serve…to be great, we take on the role of the servant. To be great in His Kingdom is not to sit at the most important table or demand the biggest office or the largest salary, and certainly not the most attention. To be great in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is to learn to serve as He did and to love as He did…giving our lives for the sake of others.

How’s this going to look in the church? Can I answer that with a little story? It was published in Servant Magazine several years ago (Jan/Feb 1989), though I don’t know the name of the one who wrote it. He apparently was the pastor of a rather large church—perhaps with 5000 every Sunday. He tells of running into a woman at the grocery store who sought him out, wagged her finger at him, saying, “I left your church!” And she was more than glad to tell him why—“Because you weren’t meeting my needs.” He said, “I don’t ever recollect seeing you before, let alone talking to you, let alone knowing your needs. Did you ever tell anyone specifically what your needs were?” She couldn’t recall that she had, so he raised another question. “Can you tell me, if we have 5,000 people sitting in that church, all with your attitude, how anyone’s needs are going to be met? If you reserve the right to have that attitude, then you must give everybody the freedom to have that attitude. And if everybody has that attitude, who on earth is going to do all the need-meeting?” The woman didn’t back down, demanding still who would meet all the people’s needs. The pastor was quicker than I’d be while standing in the grocery store, and he simply said, “This is what will work: when people stop sitting in the pew saying, ‘They’re not meeting my needs’ and start saying, ‘Whose needs can I meet?’ Then needs will be met. When the servant spirit flourishes in a congregation, then they minister to each other as unto the Lord.’”

He was right on target, wasn’t he? And the same thing works in our homes and at our work and in the community. How many struggling marriages would be turned around if both husband and wife determined to meet the needs of the other? How many conflicts that you deal with at work would be resolved if you just set out to “wash the feet,” so to speak, of your co-workers?

And those who are truly great in the Kingdom of Heaven have somehow figured that out, and are following in the footsteps of Jesus, who loved so much that He willingly laid down His life for us. It was His mission in life, and according to the passage we read this morning, He’s given us a commission to do the same. He’s called us to be great in His Kingdom—which doesn’t correlate at all to how greatness is perceived in our world. He has redefined greatness!

Think with me a moment. Who do you know that you believe might be among the greatest in Christ’s Kingdom? Who in your life has best reflected the heart and spirit of Jesus Christ? It’s not always the people of great position or status! For you, it may have been a grandparent, or a Sunday School teacher when you were a kid, or a school teacher who took a special interest in you, or a next-door neighbor, or a youth worker, or the co-worker who lead you to Christ. Maybe it was your mom or dad. They are the people who loved you unconditionally, who took the commission of Christ seriously and poured out their lives for you. Along the road to success, they got it figured out—that Jesus had redefined “success”! He had redefined greatness!

Would you this morning ask the Lord to help you reassess what you’re pursuing? Would you ask Him if what you’re pursuing is really “greatness” in His eyes? Would you allow Him to help you redirect your pursuits and your aspirations—for His Kingdom’s sake?