Did the Grinch Steal Christmas?

I’ve got to confess to a certain amount of grinchiness about the Christmas season. It’s not that I hate Christmas, in fact I like it rather a lot. I like having a Christmas tree nicely decorated in the living room. I like having a bit of snow on the ground for a white Christmas. I like the presents. I like the eggnog. I like the cookies—I really like the cookies!
As far as I’m concerned, all those things are good things. But still I have that Grinch-y problem. Do you remember what the Grinch’s problem was? How’d it go again? “The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. (say it with me now) But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.”
It’s not that I don’t like Christmas itself, it’s just that I often have a small heart about it. See, I like being on the receiving end of Christmas. When I was young, my parents were the ones who bought me gifts. My grandmother and aunts were the ones who made the cookies for me to eat (I love the cookies!). Now that I’m older my wife Stephanie is the one who initiates putting up the tree. She’s the one who makes the cookies and the fudge and those great little white chocolate covered pretzels. I get to enjoy all the benefits of Christmas without really having to work for it myself.
But that’s the problem, isn’t it? What’s Christmas about? Is it better to give . . . or to receive? I receive a lot at Christmas, but do I give?
The problem with Christmas isn’t that we don’t receive enough, but that sooner or later we stop giving, we start becoming selfish. We start thinking that just once—just this once—it would be nice if somebody remembered us for a change. We want to receive.
To show just how prevalent this is, let’s take a quick poll. Raise your hand if any of the following describe you:
· You’ve taken people off your Christmas card list because they never bother to send you a card.
· You’ve ever spent time and effort shopping for the perfect little gift for an office or family gift exchange. You’ve poured your soul into it, smiled knowingly when that one person opened your “Secret Santa” gift . . . and then you opened some dumpy little gift that was obviously a last-minute half-effort and thought, “Well, what in the heck is this?”
· You’ve ever taken the family out to look at all the Christmas decorations, and as you’re driving around you happen across one plain, no-decorations house. Just one house in the middle of a string of beautifully decorated houses and you think, “What, are they Jewish? Whatsamatta, they couldn’t even put a reindeer in the yard?”
· You’ve ever become annoyed at the 25th telemarketer that day who asked for a special Christmas donation for their “worthy cause.”
· You’ve ever let a Christmas pass by without once thanking God for His gift of a Savior.
· You’ve ever said to yourself, “Whew! I’m glad Christmas is over! Now I can get back to my normal life!”


Our problem with Christmas isn’t that we don’t receive enough, but that sooner or later we stop giving. It’s a good thing God doesn’t.
The Apostle Paul said, “3So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.” He’s speaking of our tendency to be selfish, to want to receive. “4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
This “son” that God sent . . . He wasn’t something that was just a one-time gift. He is a gift that is constantly new, that is always fresh. With Jesus Christ in your life you can have God’s best gift every day, because God does not tire of giving Him. God doesn’t stop giving.
God doesn’t stop giving! Stephanie downloaded a song this past week that talked about how the singer wished it could be Christmas every day, and this is exactly what we have in Jesus Christ! I understand—trust me, I really do understand—that this year may go down in history as the worst year you’ve ever had. I understand that you didn’t get all the gifts you wanted. I understand that there is going to be one empty chair around the dinner table this year. I’ve lived through all of that, just like you. I’ve been there, I’ve done that. I know what you’re going through this Christmas.
But even more than that, God understands. When your heart breaks, His heart breaks. God understands the difficulties you face, and because He understands He gives us the gift of Jesus Christ, and because of that gift you can still wake up every morning and say, (Lamentations 3:22-23) “22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Because God loves you, Jesus Christ was born in a lowly manger. His mercies are new every morning. Because God loves you, that little baby grew to become a great teacher, giving us teachings full of wisdom and strength. His mercies are new every morning. Because God loves you, that great teacher became a sacrifice, dying on a cross to take away your sins. His mercies are new every morning. Because God loves you, your crucified Savior rose from the dead, giving you an opportunity for hope and life and never-ending love. His mercies are new every morning.
Through Jesus Christ, God gives and gives and gives and gives and He never gets tired of giving. He’ll keep on giving until the day you die, and all that He asks is that we receive His gift. And through Jesus Christ we will be transformed, because His mercies are new every morning.
I want two things from you this Christmas. The first is simple: receive the gift of God in Jesus Christ. You receive that gift the moment faith is awakened in your heart by the Holy Spirit. The moment you believe, the gift of Christ is yours. You might say, “I’ve believed on that for 50 years, do I still get the gift?” Yes, because God’s gift keeps on giving. That gift is made new for you and given to you every day. But you may also say, “I’m not sure that I’ve ever believed it before, but now I finally think I understand. Do I get the gift?” And again I say, “Yes!” Because if you’ve got the faith to say, “I believe” the gift is already yours, and all the angels in Heaven are rejoicing over God’s gift to you. And whether a believer for 50 years or 50 seconds, the gift is the same: forgiveness, life, and salvation in Jesus Christ. And a priceless gift it is.
The second thing I want from you this Christmas is also simple: join us in giving the gift of Jesus Christ to others this year. We’ve done a lot of talking and dreaming this past year at Our Saviour, and we have come to the conclusion that we want to get deliberate about God’s business. We are going to jump with both feet into a process of finding out just what God would have us do about making giving away the gift of Jesus Christ in our community. It’s going to be big. It’s going to be challenging. But because God has given Himself away to us in Jesus Christ, we want to give ourselves away to others. We want to make it Christmas every day for them, and we are going to join together in figuring out how to do just that. And I want you—yes, you—to join together with us on that journey.
Yes, I know, I know . . . you say to yourself, “Well . . . I don’t have anything to give. I’m selfish. I’m poor. I’m Grinch-y.” But I say that you do have something to give: you have the gift of Jesus Christ that was freely given to you. And in Jesus Christ you have everything to give. Come and join us as we learn how to give ourselves away to others.
You know what? As far as Jesus Christ is concerned, I’ll never get tired of being on the receiving end of Christmas. His gift is something that I’ll never outgrow. It’s a wonderful gift. A beautiful gift. So Christmas will always be a gift to me, and I’ll still enjoy eating the cookies (I love the cookies!). But I am tired of being Grinch-y . . . and I want to change.
(“Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more!”)
But I do know this: I am forgiven for my sins, even my sin of Grinchiness. I have God’s promise that in Jesus Christ, God’s mercies are made new to me every day. Knowing that, knowing what I’ve received in Christ, that will enable me to give to others. Jesus Christ, from cradle to grave, given for me . . . and given for you.

Viewing the End Times: Watch!

For the previous two weeks we’ve talked about the end times. We’ve talked about the Rapture and the believer’s secure knowledge that we have in Christ that we cannot be left behind. We’ve talked about the signs, and while some of them are certainly frightening, we also know that in Christ we will have the strength and courage to face them.
But today there is just one thing we want to focus on, and that is the word “Watch.”
“Watch” is a word that has a kind of double meaning. There’s a dual-edged sword in the word “watch.” For instance, when I was a child, my mother would leave the house and, before she left, she would give me one simple command: Do the dishes. And then she’d leave.
After she left, then, I’d get busy. Busy watching television. Busy reading comic books. Busy messing around. And then, finally, when I looked out the living room window and saw the lights from the car pulling up, I’d rush into the kitchen and start washing.
Now obviously that was no way to honor my mother and her request! My watching had very little to do with being eager for her to come home, but it had everything to do with trying to stay out of trouble when she got there!
But there were other times—probably around Christmas—when I’d be watching out the window for an entirely different reason. When Mom got home I knew that we’d be heading to Grandma’s house. There would be family. There would be good things to eat. There would be love and happiness. When I sat and watched for her return on those occasions, it was with eager expectation of what was to come.
When we look at the end times, we watch for their arrival. And, like my time spent looking out the living room window, there is a dual-edged sword to our watching. On the one hand, to watch is to be alert, to not become lackadaisical, to actively prepare for that Day so that we may escape judgment. But on the other hand, to watch is also to eagerly await the full redemption that we already posses in Christ. The word “watch” is a Law-Gospel statement in and of itself: it is something that both presses us into fearful and reverent action while at the same time comforting us with the knowledge of our salvation. We watch and prepare, but we also watch and wait.
In order to get at the full meaning of how God would have us watch for the Day of His coming, I want to take a brief look at each of our three readings for today. Each of the readings give us a slightly different picture of watching for that Day, but taken altogether they show us what it means to watch.
We’ll begin with the Gospel of Mark. First, let’s hear that again. (congregation member reads Gospel reading)
Mark 13:32-37 32 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-- whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'"
Thank you. Jesus’ words in Mark give us the most basic picture of watching. It’s looking, it’s waiting. “Be on guard! Be alert!” The owner of the house is going to return and the doorkeeper must keep watch for him.
In telling this story, Jesus casts us as the servants and Himself as the master of the house. We don’t know the day nor the hour in which He will return. It could be at any time, on any day. Maybe today. Will that Day catch us by surprise, or are we watching for it?
If we are truly watching for our Master’s return, that Day won’t come as an horrible shock but a pleasant surprise. We continually watch for that Day in order to be alert for when that Day is coming.
The Gospel of Mark tells us to watch by keeping one eye open for Christ’s return. It’s primarily an issue of being alert for that Day. But the Epistle of St. Jude fleshes out the concept of watching a bit more.
(congregation member reads Jude 1:20-25) Jude 1:20-25 20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-- hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Thank you. “Watching,” for Jude, involves two things: He would have us stay faithful—to stay pure—and he would have us stay active.
The context of the book of Jude is centered around the coming of false teachers in the last days. Elsewhere in his book he calls these false teachers blemishes, grumblers, faultfinders that follow their own evil desires. And so if false teachers will abound all the more as the Day of Christ approaches, then we must first keep watch by being faithful to good teaching. We must keep our faith pure.
Now, in order to stay pure we must first be well versed in the basic tenets of the faith. I’m told that the government’s treasure agents are trained by spending countless hours poring over each and every minute detail of genuine twenty-dollar bills. They learn to correctly identify all the hallmarks of the real thing. Why? So that the counterfeit is all the more obvious.
In the same way for us, we must know—we must digest—the hallmarks of authentic Biblical Christianity so that we can more readily spot false teachings. This is what the New Testament calls “pure spiritual milk” . . . and it is what we are to feed upon. The more we know, understand, and believe in pure doctrine, the more we are likely to reject bad spiritual food. That’s how Jude would have us stay pure.
But as I already said, he would also have us stay active. Not just any activity, but an activity that is specifically formed by a great awareness of God’s grace in our lives. Notice Jude’s order of activity: First he says to build up your faith—we need to do those things which keep us rock solid in the faith. I’d suggest that today that means—at the very least—to attend worship on a consistent basis—because in worship we receive God’s Word and Sacraments--, to study God’s Word regularly, and as Jude says, to pray. Doing these things then builds a foundation for the activity that Jude mentions next.
Once our faith foundation is set, then Jude mentions three types of action done for others. The first is a ministry of mercy. Not just any mercy, but a mercy specifically shown to those who doubt. These will be the people who, for whatever reason, are struggling with some issue of the faith. We’re not called to judge them for their doubt, but to exhibit mercy, an compassionate understanding of what it is to struggle with doubt and even, perhaps, disbelief.
The second ministry of action Jude mentions is to “snatch others from the fire.” What fire? The fires of Hell. Remember that every person you meet, every person you see every day, they ultimately have one of only two eternal destinations: Heaven or Hell. What you say to them—or don’t say—directly influences which of those two destinations they will end up in. When we go out of our way and take the time to talk to someone who’s heading down the wrong path, we are making that effort to snatch them from the fire and save them.
The third ministry of action is another ministry of mercy, but this is of a different kind. It is a ministry, I think, not to the spiritually doubting, but to the spiritually dying.
You know someone that has been headed down the wrong path for a long, long time now. And despite your repeated efforts to snatch them from the fire, they have continued to make their own bad choices and insist upon going their own way. What do you do now? Quite honestly, at this point they are probably a bad influence on you. Do you cut off your relationship with them completely in an effort to stay pure?
Jude says, “no.” He says that we must continue to mercifully minister to them, but be very wary of them at the same time. The image he uses is powerful: It is an image of one who ministers to the physical needs of people contaminated by leprosy. Those who would minister to lepers must be merciful, loving, caring . . . but at the same time they must also be very, very careful in handling even the clothing of those they minister to, lest they themselves become contaminated by the same disease. In other words, though we minister in mercy to those who have chosen a lifestyle of sinful behavior, we cannot allow ourselves to join them in their sin. This ministry of mercy is one that says, “I am committed to offering you love and comfort and friendship, but I am also committed to walking down a different path that what you have chosen.”
Mark tells us to be alert. Jude says we watch by staying faithful, staying pure, and staying active. And finally, Isaiah says that we watch by eager expectation.
This, in my mind, is the best type of watching. This is the “going to Grandma’s house” kind of watching. It’s the watching that knows good things are coming, and they are coming soon.
Isaiah 51:4-6 4 "Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: The law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. 5 My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.
Even the first five words in this passage are simply amazing. “Listen to me, my people.” Stop right there . . . “my people.” This is the Lord speaking . . . and He calls us His people.”
You are God’s own people! Chosen children of God! By His work and His choice, you are a precious and valued member of the family of God. You. And to you, His child, God says that Christmas is coming, and there is a big, big gift under the tree with your name on it.
“My righteousness draws near speedily; my salvation is on the way.” This old world can get pretty difficult sometimes, can’t it? This week alone I buried one church member and married two others. I wept tears of grief with those mourning the loss of their precious mother, and I wept tears of joy with those beginning their new life together. It’s been a week of conflicting emotions, but that’s just the way life goes, isn’t it? Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we mourn. Sometimes we feel good, sometimes we hurt deeply.
But God says to me, “My salvation is on the way!” There’s coming a time when the conflict will be over, and in the conflict between grief and joy, joy will be the winner for all eternity. Grief will be gone, regret will be gone . . . and only joy—deep, deep joy of being in the presence of Jesus Christ my precious savior—will be left.
That’s the kind of watching I truly enjoy! Oh, there’s something good, something great to look forward to when Christ returns! And because of Christ’s work for us, each of us, as member of God’s own family, can look forward to that wonderful time.

In Mark, Jesus tells us to be alert. Jude tells us to stay pure and stay active. Isaiah tells us that our redemption is coming . . . but they all tell us to watch. Watch for the Day when Christ will return. Watch and prepare, yes . . . but also watch and wait in eager expectation of good things to come.

Viewing the End Times: When You See These Signs . . .

I remember as a child once hearing a preacher speak about the signs the Bible gives us that will show that Christ’s return is imminent. The one specific sign I remember him mentioning was from Joel 2:31, “31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.”
For some reason, that thought frightened me a great deal. I remember looking out my bedroom window, each night hoping that I wouldn’t see a blood-red moon. I was afraid of my life ending. I was afraid of the turmoil the earth would be thrown into. I was afraid of what might come afterward. Sometimes I’d be so scared of what I might see that I wouldn’t want to look . . . but each night I looked anyway.
There’s something about those signs that strikes fear into our hearts. They can be frightening. We don’t want to face the awful events the Bible describes that will one day come. They are frightful images. When they’re not mysterious and hard to decipher, they’re downright scary. But we can’t ignore them. They’re right there, in God’s Word, proclaiming the Day is drawing ever closer. The signs demand our attention, not just because of what will happen, but what is happening now.
I don’t think that God intended the signs primarily to frighten us, but I do think that He has a purpose for them. His Word sets forth these signs so to bring about some sort of change in our lives. The signs are there, we can often observe them happening right now. But they are also there, pointing to a future time. They are both “now” and “not yet.”
Scripture gives the primary sign of the coming of Christ as being the preaching of the saving Gospel to “all the nations.” Christ says in Matthew 24:14, “14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” This means that we are living—right now—in a missionary age, a time when all believers are to be actively reaching out to the lost.
But has this sign been fully accomplished? Has the Gospel been preached to all nations? Certainly the Gospel has touched all four corners of the earth in some fashion. Every continent, and indeed probably every country, has had the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed in it. The Gospel is intended for every person, but yet we have to admit that every single person has yet heard that Gospel.
So although we are actively reaching out with the Gospel right now, it’s obvious that since Christ has not yet returned that the fulfillment of that sign is still a “not yet.” It’s somewhere in the future. Only God Himself knows when this sign has been truly accomplished. But until that time, we live in the “now” and continue to reach out with that Gospel—across the oceans, across cultures, and even across the street.
The first and primary sign is an evidence of God’s grace, for the Gospel embodies His grace and until it is fulfilled it shows His long-suffering patience. Our God is a God of supreme love. But our God is also a God of supreme judgment. Therefore, the second group of signs are signs that indicate God’s divine judgment upon sin. We live in a world that is under the curse of sin, and every kind of disaster, both natural and man-made, should be a reminder that God’s justice cannot tolerate sin. These signs are the horrific events we see in the news—wars, earthquakes, famine, disease, and even signs in the heavens.
Now, this isn’t to say that people affected by things like war or earthquakes or hurricanes are necessarily targeted as the specific objects of God’s wrath. That wouldn’t be proper—or right—to say. When these things happen, it is a result of the terrible presence of sin in the world, not necessarily the result of a specific sin. But no matter what the cause, there is only one proper response to tragedy: repentance.
These horrible events are a reminder that God, despite His great love for us all, is also a God of judgment. His wrath is demonstrated in part now through these disasters. But for the sake of Christ He has stayed His full judgment . . . for now. There is still time to repent. But there will come a day when the full, terrible anger of His wrath will be poured out, and then there will no longer be a chance for repentance. There will no longer be any opportunity to come humbly to the cross of Christ for forgiveness. These signs are there to remind us of the need for repentance and to give us another opportunity for the same. But they are also there to point to the day when God’s wrath will no longer be held back, and that day will be more terrible than all the disasters of the earth combined.
The first group of signs indicates God’s grace. The second indicates His judgment against sin—both general and specific sin. But the third and final group of the signs of the end of the age and the coming of Christ deal directly with man’s opposition to God and His Kingdom.
Like the other two groups of signs, we can observe them right now. But, also like the other two groups, as the end draws nearer and nearer we will these signs increase in intensity and frequency. We will see tribulation—the persecution of God’s people simply because they are God’s people. We will see apostasy—the denial and rejection of the faith by people once considered believers. And we will see Antichrist.
Throughout the Church’s history Christians have suffered persecution. Horrible stories are told of the Roman Emperor Nero using the bodies of Christians to serve as human torches to light his dinner parties. Others were thrown to half-starved lions during gladiator matches to be torn apart. But it’s not just ancient history. Voice of the Martyrs is a ministry dedicated to the persecuted church of today, and on their website they say “this year an estimated 160,000 believers will die at the hands of their oppressors and over 200 million will be persecuted, arrested, tortured, beaten or jailed. In many nations it is illegal to own a Bible, share your faith, change your faith or allow children under 18 to attend a religious service.” Persecution is real today, right now.
But as bad as it is now, it will only become worse in the future. The book of Revelation details what is called Satan’s “little season”; a mercifully short but incredible intense period of time when Satan will release an all-out attack to destroy the Church of Christ and prevent it from freely preaching the Gospel.
Has this Tribulation begun? It is entirely possible. The Church is under attack in every society, in every culture. But again, only God truly knows. But no matter whether it is now or not yet, the Christian’s response is to be the same. Look to Christ and remain steadfast in the faith until the very end. This persecution is for our benefit, to purify God’s church and to strengthen it, and to cause us all to look ever more to Christ. Luke 21:28 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Sadly, though, some will fall away. This is the sign of apostasy.
Apostasy—falling away from the faith—, like the Tribulation, is a sign of man’s opposition to God because the one who turns away from the faith believes that they can be a rule unto themselves. They no longer desire to walk according to God’s ways, and prefer to strike out on their own. They may turn away from God because they were led astray by false teachers. They may turn away because they do not want to face the horrors of the Tribulation. But the theologian Martin Franzmann rightly points out that “to seek to escape suffering by renouncing the faith is senseless; they will escape present suffering only to find [eternal] doom.”
Finally, man’s opposition to God is culminated in the sign of the Antichrist. The Antichrist is one who will both set himself up as a substitute for Christ as well as oppose the true Christ.
The New Testament speaks of the spirit of Antichrist which is already here. 1 John 4:3, “3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” Every false teacher, everyone who teaches doctrine contrary to God’s Word are opponents of Christ and are, therefore, antichrist.
This is a bit tricky to distinguish, but there is a difference between the spirit of antichrist and the Antichrist himself. Whereas all false teachers are anti-Christ, there is an ultimate Antichrist. The Scriptures reveal this about him: He will take his seat in the “temple of God”—meaning that Antichrist will come from the church. He is not Satan, but he operates by the activity of Satan. He exalts himself, considers that he has divine power and exhibits himself as God. He performs signs and wonders that imitate Christ’s own work, and he brings a wicked deception, a strong delusion that looks like the Gospel but is nothing but falsehood. He denies Christ, persecutes Christians, and will remain until Judgment Day when Christ will slay him.
There remains one sign left that we need to talk about. One more sign that indicates that this world is drawing to a close and that the New Heaven and the New Earth are soon to appear. But unlike the other signs which are quite frightening, this sign gives us hope. It gives us comfort. The final sign—really the ultimate sign—is Jesus Christ Himself.
If we were to look at the other signs alone we may conclude that God was ill-disposed towards mankind. But in Jesus Christ, the “super-sign” we clearly see otherwise. If you ever wonder what God’s attitude towards you is, you need only look to Christ. The Gospel is the ultimate sign of God’s favor—of His love and not His wrath—towards humankind.
But like the other signs, this sign of Jesus Christ is something that we both possess now, today, and will yet receive its ultimate fulfillment in the future.
When Christ died on the cross, He did so only to rise again from the dead. This act of love and sacrifice was done on your behalf. It clearly shows that God truly cares for you, that He desires a relationship with you, that He wants to be with you. And not only that, it also shows that He has the power to be with you today, by grace through faith.
Jesus Christ gave us the Great Commission. Do you remember what it is? Matthew 28:19-20 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” But do you remember what He said immediately after that? “And surely I am with you always . . . to the very end of the age.” We have Christ right now. In all His fullness. In all His glory. In all His love and power and grace and strength. This is our true and rightful claim by faith, the fulfillment of His promise. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
That alone is enough to give us strength to face all of the coming signs. The very creator of Heaven and Earth promises that He Himself will be with us! That He will never leave us nor forsake us! That He cannot divorce Himself from us! With Christ at our side, leading the way, providing us strength, we can face whatever the world and its forces have to throw at us.
But we not only have Christ’s promises now, but we have his promise in the future, as well! We have His promise that will receive an inheritance that can never spoil or fade. A glorious Kingdom in eternity that will be without sorrow, without suffering. This sign—the sign of Jesus Christ—guarantees us that God’s promises are true and faithful. We can trust not only our lives today, but our very eternity, to Him.
I’ll be honest. When I see these signs I still get scared sometimes. But I’m no longer just a scared child staring out of his window, hoping to not see something that might be there. There is now something that conquers that fear: trust in Jesus Christ. Yes, I can still the signs all around me and yes, I know that they will one day get worse. But more than that, I know Jesus Christ is my Savior both now, and in the future as well.
In His most precious name, Amen.

Viewing the End Times: An Unshakable Kingdom

(reading Left Behind) Hey there. With all the readings in the next few weeks focusing on the end times, I thought I’d better do a little research on the subject. You know, it’s pretty amazing, these two guys wrote . . . what? Twelve books dealing just with the end times? You get the impression they must really know their stuff.
It makes me think about when I was younger. I’ve been a Lutheran all my life, and you know as Lutherans we don’t talk about the end times very much. But I had friends who were from other churches where they preached this stuff all the time. And my friends and I would get in these conversations. They’d know all sorts of things about the rapture, the tribulation, the millennial reign of Christ . . . and they’d get me awful worried about the whole thing. They’d tell me that unless I had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and asked Him into my heart that I wouldn’t be counted as a true believer at the end. And like these books, the sheer weight of their knowledge—the way they could put all the Scriptures together, the way they could look at the world and see how Biblical prophecy appeared to be unfolding—the sheer weight of their knowledge made me question just how valid my faith really was.
Now certainly, my childhood friends’ view of the end times is probably the most prevalent view in evangelical Christianity today. A good 90, 95% of the preachers on TV are going to have this Left Behind kind of understanding. You’ve probably heard any number of people—whether they were your friends or a preacher on TV, or maybe in a book—talk about the rapture, the tribulation, the signs of the ends of the age . . . and maybe you thought, “How come pastor has never told us about this?”
So let me see your hands. Who here, like me, has ever worried about being left behind? Why? What made you worry? _________________________

Have you ever worried about the Tribulation? It sounds kind of scary, right? In our Old Testament reading from today, the prophet Daniel records the frightening words of God, saying in Daniel 12:1, “ . . . There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” He’s talking about the end times, about the end of the world, and He says that the whole earth will be in great distress. Elsewhere in Scripture we’re told that the Church specifically will be the target of a great outpouring of Satanic attacks. Believers will be persecuted for their faith. Some will be even be killed. Has thinking about that ever worried anybody here? ___________________

What about the signs of the end of the age? Wars and rumors of wars. Earthquakes. A blood-red moon . . . have you seen any of those signs? Does it make you worry that the end is coming soon? That you might not be ready? That you’ll be left behind?

These things can cause us fear, in part because it’s the other churches that seem to have all the answers. There have been all sorts of church groups that have given different answers. Some say to live a holy life—that’ll make you ready. Some say to invite Jesus into your heart, to pray the Sinner’s Prayer, and that will make you ready. Some in the past have even gone so far as to tell people to sell all their worldly goods, to get rid of all your worldly distractions, and that will make you ready for when Christ comes. If you pay attention, you’ll hear all sorts of answers from good folks as well as from the TV preachers telling you how to make sure you’ll be ready when the Kingdom of God comes.
So how can we be sure we’re ready? What’s our source of comfort and security as we face these questions? What does God’s Word say? Let’s turn to Hebrews chapter twelve for some answers.
The author of Hebrews begins these verses by making a reference to the time when the children of Israel were gathered around Mount Sinai to hear God speak. Such was the holiness of His word that the very earth trembled at His voice. Hebrews 12:26-29 “26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."”
Now this verse, when taken with verse twenty-seven, tells us that God puts everything into two basic categories: those which can be shaken—which is to say those things that can be removed, those things which are not truly permanent—and those things which cannot. “27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken-- that is, created things-- so that what cannot be shaken may remain.”
Things that can be shaken are temporary things. They are not eternal. Which category do you suppose the Kingdom of God belongs to? ______________ Right . . . that which cannot be shaken. The Kingdom of God is permanent. Reliable. Eternal. Unshakable. And . . . it is ours.
Verse twenty-eight goes on to say, “28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful . . .” We . . . are . . . receiving this unshakable Kingdom
Let me ask you a question: If God does something, is it permanent? Will it last? Is it possible for man to undo something that God has decreed as done? Is it possible for man to take back something that God has decreed as given?
When Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3:5, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”, does you believe that He means that those who have been baptized into His name have indeed received the Kingdom of God?
When Paul says in Ephesians 2:8, “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”, do you believe it to say that you have received something that is unshakable? Can God’s gift be trusted?
In Christ we receive forgiveness of sins. In Christ we receive righteousness before God. In Christ we are made part of the Kingdom of God. With faith even as small as a mustard seed, we receive the Kingdom of God in full. Right now. It is already ours, and we are a part of it. We are already receiving it.
This unshakable Kingdom—the Kingdom of God—is something that we already possess! It’s ours! Jesus Christ died on a cross, and when He did He ushered in His Kingdom. It was His death that conquered Satan, that conquered sin, that conquered death. Those things were the things that used to rule, they were the kingdom that reigned in all the earth. But no more. Christ is utterly, completely, and totally victorious. His Kingdom is here, reigning in the hearts and lives of those who believe in Him.
So what does that mean for us? First, let’s begin by doing what the author of Hebrews says to do in Hebrews 12:28, “28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe . . .”
When we come to worship God, we are in a place where He gives His gifts so that we can remain connected to Him. As we gather together in worship He offers us His comforting and powerful Word. That Word tells us that we are members of His family and citizens of His Kingdom. When we worship God, He offers us His Supper. In that Supper He strengthens our faith and renews in our minds the claim He has placed upon us as part of His body, as part of His Kingdom. As we worship Him, we stand before a holy and righteous God. We are totally exposed to Him, there is nothing about us that He does not know. No secret remains hidden, no sin. And yet as we worship Him He comes to us and, for the sake of Jesus Christ, declares us as holy and perfect in His eyes.
That’s what it is to be part of the unshakable Kingdom of God. It is because of Christ and His work. And so it is better than permanent . . . it is eternal. It is unshakable.

So, if we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken . . . can we be “left behind”?
Now, I certainly don’t agree with the Left Behind type of theology. I don’t believe in this notion that all the believers in the world will suddenly just poof away and leave the unbelievers here on earth. The notion of anyone being left behind in that way is simply not clearly taught in the Scriptures, if you ask me.
But there will be a day when Christ returns, when all the earth will be judged, and He will gather all believers to Himself. Could I be left behind with the unbelievers in eternal condemnation? Not if I am already part of God’s Kingdom, I can’t. I don’t need to fear the judgment, I don’t need to fear whether or not God will deem me worthy to enter into eternal life, because He already has given me that in Christ.

If the Kingdom we are receiving cannot be shaken, will even a great tribulation be able to pull us away from Christ?
Although I wish I could say otherwise, I have to say that Christians will suffer—and sometimes suffer greatly—for the cause of Christ. It’s happening in many parts of the world right now. Not so much here in the United States, but it is happening. And it is also my opinion that the sort of persecution we see in other countries will one day happen here. I’m not sure I’m ready for that, personally. I don’t cherish the idea of suffering.
But I do know that, if it were to happen soon—today, even—that I could remain confident in Christ. I could remain confident that no matter what may happen to me in the body, no matter how terrible persecution may become, that Christ’s power and sacrifice would keep me solidly in His Kingdom. No persecution can overcome Christ and His Kingdom.

If the Kingdom we are receiving cannot be shaken, should we fear when we see the signs of the end of the age?
Now, to a certain extent we’ll handle that question next week. But for now it’s enough to say, “No.” For although the signs may trouble us a bit, we know that simply seeing them cannot take the Kingdom away from us. The reason Jesus Himself gives is simple: Luke 17:20-21 20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." Again, we don’t need to fear the coming of the Kingdom because we are already receiving it.
Yeah, I sometimes still envy the left behind guys sometimes because of all the answers they seem to have. But then I remember that it’s not about the number of end-times dots I can connect, but it’s about the One who connected me to God. In Christ I am firmly connected to God. That is a bond that cannot be pulled apart, that cannot leave me behind, and that cannot be shaken.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

Gone . . but not "Gone"

I want to tell you today about a great man of the Christian faith. A man who is certainly among the honored and great saints of God, but a man that you will not read about in any history book. His name was Harold Cash.
As a young child I didn’t know him very well. But as I grew into a young man I learned more and more about him, and my esteem for this man of God has only grown in the years that I’ve known him. Harold was a man that was known by all to be a man of sound convictions. He was firmly grounded in the belief that Jesus Christ was the way, the truth, and the life. Although he wasn’t a pastor, he was nevertheless instrumental in starting no less than three churches in his lifetime.
When a new Bible college was being formed in York, Nebraska, Harold decided that he needed to support that effort in any way he could, and so he joined the staff of that brand-new school. Not as a professor—he didn’t have any formal Bible training or other professional skills that would readily lend themselves to such a job—but as the janitor. But even though he held what many would consider as just a lowly position, his faith and wisdom was so readily evident to all that students would regularly seek him out for advice and instruction. Such was the character of Harold Cash.
Once in my home town, a young man was seeking a church to attend one Sunday morning. So he drove up to the biggest church in town and walked up to the people who were filing in for worship. Rather than joining them as they went inside, he asked just one question. “Excuse me . . . but I’m looking for Harold Cash’s church. Can you tell me where it is?” And those people, as they walked into their own church, gave that young man exact directions to get to the place where Harold Cash was known to worship God every Sunday. Such was the reputation of Harold Cash.
Harold had a slide projector that he would take to different places and use it to present the Gospel story. He was known, even in his sixties, to go and visit the “elderly” and take them communion so that they might be reminded of the goodness of God. He was a dedicated follower of Christ, and some of my fondest memories are of watching him at his regular custom of sitting quietly at his roll-top desk, studying a portion of the Scriptures which were so precious to him, and then gently closing his Bible and singing a hymn to himself. Such was the faith of Harold Cash.
Harold was a man who had a profound impact on a number of people’s lives. But it wasn’t until I was in my thirties that I realized the great gift that I had been given by having this man as part of my family. You see . . . Harold Cash was my grandfather. And when he died in 2001, just a few months after I had entered seminary, I felt a huge void in my life. Even to this day I wish that he were still here. I long to talk to him again to hear his wisdom. I want to know the strength of having his prayers supporting me. I was only just beginning to truly know this wonderful man, and then he was taken from me . . . and I miss him so much.

Now, if I were to go from pew to pew, I am confident that there wouldn’t be a single person in here today—except for maybe baby Malaina—that wouldn’t have a similar story. We all have people that have gone before us into eternity. We miss them . . . we long to talk things over just one more time with them. They are gone, but not forgotten.
But . . . are they truly gone? When someone is “gone” we no longer have any contact with them. There is no bond that ties us together anymore. Is that true of those who have died in Christ?
I don’t think it is. I don’t believe that those who have died in Christ are truly gone from us. I believe we continue to share a bond with them that is even perhaps even greater than the ties that bound us together while they were yet sill living on this earth. We are bound together as the Church of the living God.
When the Bible speaks of the church, it typically speaks of one of two kinds of church. The first kind of church is the one we most readily understand—the local church. The local church is made up of a group of people—members if you will—that call that place their church home. When someone moves on or passes on, their name is removed from the membership roles of that particular place. That’s just the nature of the local church.
But the second type of church that God speaks of in His Word is something a bit more difficult to grasp. A bit more deeper. A bit more profound. The second type of church the Bible speaks of is the Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ is made up of all believers. Now it’s certainly very profound to consider that we as believers are united to all of the other believers alive today. We’re united to our Methodist brothers and sisters here in town, just as well as we are united in Christ to our Lutheran brothers and sisters in other states. But we’re also united to the African believer who sings and dances in joyful worship. We’re united to the Asian believer who quietly meditates upon God’s Word.
But more than that, we’re also united in Christ to all believers throughout all time. Not just the ones in this church, not just the ones in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, not even just the ones who are alive, but all believers. Think about that for a moment: Through the life and death of Jesus Christ we are united in the Body of Christ to the Apostle Paul. We are united to John the Baptist. To Peter. Even to the Old Testament saints like Abraham, David, and Moses. We share a part and a role in the Body of Christ with Martin Luther and Mother Theresa. Romans 12:5 says, “5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
Maybe you’re beginning to see what this means for today, All Saints’ Day. But if you’re not, let me just spell it out. When we by faith in Christ are made part of His Body, we are truly “in Christ”. Can anything separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? No? No power? No authority? No event? Not even death? No . . . no of course not. Therefore, when a believer dies, he or she remains in Christ. They remain, along with us, a part of the Body of Christ, as a fellow member of the Church of the Living God. We remain united with them. They are gone, but not gone.
It always bothers me a bit when you go to a funeral or some such thing and some well-intentioned person suggests that we tell stories about the departed so that they can “live on in our hearts.” The notion seems to be that if we can just keep the memory of our loved ones alive, then somehow we remain bonded together to them.
It always bothers me a bit when I go to a funeral or some such and some well-intentioned person suggest that we tell stories about our loved ones so that we can keep them alive in our hearts. The notion seems to be that we can remain connected to those we love by keeping their memory fresh in our minds. And that would be alright, if that were the best we could hope for.
But we as believers are bound together to the departed saints by something far deeper, far more profound, than just whether or not we can continue to picture their face. We do not mourn as the world mourns, for they mourn as those with no hope. But we have a living hope, because we are bound together by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is true both in our day-to-days lives, but also in a very special way through our church lives, as well.
Consider this: Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” We could consider this another way: When we receive communion, we have fellowship with one another. In communion, we have fellowship with all believers through the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, here on earth we receive the earthly element of bread and wine, but we also receive something much more. We also receive the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Himself. We receive what the departed saints have right before them: Jesus Christ in the flesh. When we receive communion, Jesus Christ stands at the center of it, He is the focus of our attention, and He gives Himself to us. This is very much what happens in Heaven—the saints are gathered around Christ and focus upon Him in their worship even as His gifts have enabled them to be there. So in the moment we receive communion, we join together with the saints in Heaven in the worship of Jesus Christ. You are never closer to your loved one than when you receive communion, for the departed saints are worshipping Him on one side of eternity, and we are worshipping Him on this side, but it is one worship given to Him by one church, the congregation in the round of saints both living and departed.
One day, each of us hopes to join in the voices of the Heavenly choirs as we gather around our Savior and worship Him for all that He has done. That will truly be a cause for rejoicing! To be with the Lord, to touch Him with our own hands . . . what a great gift! What a great treasure!
But for now we still live in this world. And as for me, I am comforted by the fact that I will one day be reunited with my grandfather Harold Cash one day in eternity. But I am also comforted in knowing that I am also united with him right now, today, in Christ.

Martin Luther and the Righteousness of God

I want you to imagine something. I want you to imagine that, for you whole life, you’ve never really been sure of where you stand with God. Imagine you’ve lived your life on a bartering system: If you need something from God you’ve got to be willing to give him a little something first. It’s a system that the church endorses and that you’ve tried to live with.
You’re scared of God. He seems angry, demanding. Ready to punish the slightest infraction with the most severe judgment possible. You know He has limitless power, His holiness is infinite. Compared to Him you feel like you are nothing, not even a speck. I guess you’d actually prefer it to be that way . . . but instead of feeling invisible to God you often feel the heat of His white-hot spotlight blazing upon you. Inspecting you. Testing you. Watching you.
You’ve tried to be good. You’ve tried to do what pleases Him. But still you don’t feel your actions don’t measure up to His long, long list of demands. You’ve made vows and promises and resolutions, you’ve done everything imaginable to live a pure life, but instead of peace all you feel is the stain of sin growing and growing and growing.
Just imagine what it must be like! No matter how extreme you get you can’t feel righteous before God! You lock yourself in your room for days and do nothing but pray, but it doesn’t work. You deny yourself food, trying to fast the sin out of you, but it doesn’t work. You even forgo drinking water, deny yourself sleep, pray through the night, but still there is no release for your soul. You even try beating yourself with whips, desperately trying to use pain to purify yourself and keep your rebellious body under control, but nothing works!
To make matters worse, no one takes you seriously! You feel the taint of sin creeping into you, and so you go to the priest for confession. Unfortunately, he’s tired of seeing you! You’re always there, listing off every single little sin that you can find, ready, willing, and able to do whatever act of penance may be required, but the priest finally just tells you what you know is a lie: He tells you just to do your best and that will be good enough for God. But you know better. You know the righteousness of God is something that can never be appeased through human effort. You know . . . because you’ve tried . . . and you’ve failed.
This is exactly what the young monk Martin Luther was facing. As he lay in his cell in the monastery, day after day after day he would be tortured by the righteousness of God: that lofty, untouchable, unknowable holiness that soundly condemned him at every turn for what he knew himself to be: a sinner.
Until one day when Martin Luther opened up the book of Romans. Until one day when God opened up Luther’s eyes to what the righteousness of God truly is.
Luther began to read in Romans, and as he read he eventually came across chapter three verse nineteen. And if you’ll accept a paraphrase, this is what Luther saw:
“But we know that whatever the law says it says to those under the law, in order that every mouth may be shut and the whole of creation may be held accountable to God . . .” Luther knew that was true. Every time he came to God and tried to offer Him some good work, some good deed, it was as though the Law convicted him before he could even get a word out. “God, I (snap!) . . . Lord, I (snap!)”
Luther found the reason for this as he read on: “for from the works of the law there can be no one who is justified before Him, for through the Law is the knowledge of sin.” Can you imagine the despair he must have felt at that moment? Sure, it’s one thing to know in your heart that trying to be good and following the commandments—trying to produce righteousness in yourself—can’t give you peace before God . . . but it’s another thing entirely to have the Scriptures tell you.
And if you’ve ever tried to be “good” on your own, if you’ve ever really, truly tried to do what’s right so that you can please God, then you know the same thing that Luther did: attempting to keep every commandment of the Law only shows you how completely and totally impossible it is to do just that. If we’re going to be honest with ourselves, we’ll have to admit that “good enough” isn’t good enough for a righteous, holy God.
See, Luther was trapped there, in the same quandary that you and I have been in. We want to do better, we want to do God-pleasing things, we want to get rid of the effects of sin in our lives . . . but what happens? Each and every single time, what happens?
Personal righteousness isn’t a game. There is no off-season. There are no time-outs. In order to make yourself completely, truly righteous you have to be spot-on, each and every time. No errors. No mistakes. No slip-ups. You have to always avoid evil. You have to always do good. Don’t commit any sins, but don’t omit any chance to do good, either. Every action, every deed, every thought, every attitude must be brought perfectly in line with God’s commandments for us to have any kind of personal righteousness at all.
So we’re sunk. A righteous and holy God demands righteousness. A righteousness that we cannot attain, no matter how hard we try, through trying to keep His Law. If you were Martin Luther, what would you do at this point? Imagine his despair: No expectation, no confidence, no hope to produce righteousness in himself at all. Many men would give up at that point. Just give up and go crawl back into the wall.
But the reason why we’re celebrating the Reformation today is because when man is ready to give up, God is just beginning to work! So Luther, crushed to the absolutely lowest point in his entire life, recognizing that all of his efforts had been in vain, reads on: “But now apart from the law” . . . what? Apart from the Law? “Apart from the Law a righteousness of God has been made known . . .” You mean instead of keeping the Law? Instead of trying to be perfect? God has a righteousness that can be obtained through something else rather than torturing myself with keeping the Law?
“Apart from the Law, a righteousness of God has been made known, one that is witnessed to by the law and the prophets—in other words, all of the Scriptures—a righteousness of God through faith . . .” Through faith? A righteousness of God through faith?? “A righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.”

Well, the young monk is stunned. Amazed. All this time he’s been trying to make his personal righteousness live up to the demands of the righteousness of God. But now he reads from God’s very Word that the righteousness of God isn’t a demand, but a gift! It is something that can be received by anyone who believes upon Jesus Christ!
You can feel his burden lifting! Luther’s heart starts to pound, he senses the strange, strange feeling of hope creeping into his belly. He starts to think, “God’s righteousness isn’t a standard to live up to . . . but a gift of holiness to be received through Jesus Christ! I can’t produce that kind of righteousness on my own, and therefore I can’t be pleasing to God on my own . . . but in Jesus Christ I receive God’s very righteousness. God is not my enemy, my judge . . . God is my gracious heavenly Father!”

And he reads on, “For there is no distinction, for all sin and have been inadequate of the glory of God . . .” Well, isn’t that the truth! “for all sin and have been inadequate of the glory of God, and yet are declared righteous without cost by His grace through the deliverance that is in Christ Jesus!” Yeeaaah!
This truth was a monumental life-change for Luther. This truth was a history-making moment for the world. Luther remembers his own reaction to this new epiphany: (followed by a reading from What Luther Says, pg 1225)


This passage in Paul . . . this opens the portal of Paradise to us, as well.


Romans 3:19-28 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Lord, Gift me to be a servant

I want to begin today by frist offering a word of thanks. Certainly to God for all His gifts to us, but more specifically to you, God’s people, for your gifts to the church over the past year.
I want to take the time to thank you for giving because you probably haven’t heard it lately. I realize that you have choices on where your money goes, and you have made a choice to set aside a certain portion of your money to be given to the Lord’s work here at Our Saviour. I appreciate that, and I thank you for it.
I thank you for your giving because of what God’s hand has accomplished through it. Certainly your giving has been the main factor in maintaining this building and providing the salary of a full-time pastor, but there is much more that God has accomplished through you. During the course of this past year your giving has supported a church-wide time of spiritual growth and renewal during our Forty Days of Purpose spiritual campaign. Your giving has been used to provide financial relief for individuals facing unpayable bills. Your giving provided for the spread of God’s Word among the community’s unchurched children during this summer’s vacation Bible school. In short, it is through your giving that God has accomplished His work in each of the five purposes—worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism—here at Our Saviour. And I thank you for your generosity and your willingness to open your wallets and checkbooks so that others may receive the benefit of the blessings God has given you.
Being willing to give—allowing the money God has blessed you with to be passed along to others—is an indication of a servant’s heart. The servant has no financial resources of his own, but rather he uses what belongs to his master in accordance with his master’s priorities. As Christians, we freely acknowledge that we are no longer our own masters, but we are subject to the will and headship of our Lord and master Jesus Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness. As such, we have a new set of priorities that come from God,
Our priorities as Biblical servants are: God, family, others, ourselves. Those priorities are the very nature of every aspect of Biblical servanthood. God has gives us gifts to use in His service, and asks that we use those gifts according to His priorities. As His servants we put our money to work according to those priorities.
The Gospel of Matthew relates how Jesus told a parable about this very thing. Now I want you to realize one thing before we get into that parable. It’s not really about money. The parable of the talents is a story that Jesus tells in order to illustrate the importance of being ready for His return on Judgment Day. Until that day arrives, we are to be busy about our Master’s business. So although it’s not really a parable about money, it is a parable about service. Therefore, we can use what we learn about service in this parable and apply it to our use of money.
Jesus says in Matthew 25:14, “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.”
Let’s stop right there. I want you to note two things: 1) the master isn’t going to be around for awhile, and his business needs to carry on in his absence. He desires that his resources will continue to grow —that his influence will spread—until he comes back. 2) The master entrusts financial resources to his servants in order that they may cause this to happen. 3) Not every servant is given the same amount, but we will see that they all have the same responsibility for what they’ve been given.
We can see quite readily how this applies to us as modern-day Christians. Our Lord ascended into Heaven shortly after His crucifixion and resurrection and will not return bodily until His Second Coming. Yes, He is with us in Spirit, through His Word and His Sacraments, but His work must now continue on through our hands.
Also, like the servants in the parable, the money that we have been given is not truly ours. It belongs to our Master. It belongs to God. It is not ours to do whatever we wish, but it is a trust from God that is given to us in order that we may carry on the work of spreading His influence and growing His Kingdom.
In addition, I think we all recognize that we each have unique financial circumstances. For His own good reason, God has seen fit to give some of us a great deal of money and to others He has given relatively little. He has His own reasons for that—which we’re not going to get into here—but the point is that while some people are given much and some people are given little, there is still only one God who is the giver of all and one purpose for which the money is given.
Continuing on with the parable in verse sixteen, “The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”
Which of those men were truly serving their master? The first two servants went to work and invested the money they had been given in such a way as to increase it. Though they were not working to increase their own wealth, they worked as though they were. Their master’s gifts flowed through them and thus brought increase. But the third? The money he had been entrusted with stopped with him. He buried it, where no one could take it away . . . but no one could receive any benefit from it, either.
Now, I don’t know if this has ever happened here or not, but I have seen in other churches where people get upset and stop giving. Could be they don’t like the pastor or maybe they don’t like where the church is heading, but for whatever reason they get upset and stop giving. In effect, they bury their talents.
Is that their call to make? Does God give us the gift of money so that we can bury it and have no one receive the benefit of it? See, giving has very little to do with feelings. It doesn’t matter if we are upset or happy. It does have, however, have everything to do with being a servant.
A Biblical servant will faithfully and consistently give regardless of his or her personal feelings. If it was our money, then we would have the freedom to make those choices. If it was my money, then I could give as long as I was happy with the person I was giving it to. But it’s not. It’s not my money. God has given us resources in order that we may use them to be about His business. When we refuse to give based upon our personal feelings, then we are, in effect, saying to God that we no longer care about His work or the expansion of His Kingdom. We no longer choose to live as though we are His servants.
At this point a few words are in order about how the Biblical servant handles the money he has been given. A Biblical servant’s first priority is? God. Therefore the first thing—the very first thing—we do with the money we are given is to return a portion of that to God and His work through the local church. Before we give to anything else we give to God. That means we give as a portion of our gross income. Not our take-home pay, but the total gross amount.
I like to recommend the tithe. I recommend that ten percent of your gross income—no matter how big or how small—should be put in the offering plate and given to the Lord to use as He sees fit. Yes, I realize that ten percent of your income can be a significant challenge and sometimes even a strain on your finances, but I also know from personal experience that the servant who gives that ten percent with a free and willing servant’s heart will rarely—if ever—miss that money. God has ways of rewarding faithful servants, and so like I said, I recommend the tithe.
But I also want to be perfectly clear about this. A tithe is my recommendation. I have studied the Scriptures enough to come to the knowledge that the tithe is a worthy and admirable goal for firstfruits giving. But I have also studied enough to know that it is not Law.
In the Old Testament God’s people were commanded to bring their tithe—their ten percent—to God. It was part of the Law that defined them as God’s people. But we are not under Law, but under Grace. We are not defined by what we do, but by our relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, although I recommend the tithe as a good practice for the Biblical servant, it is clear from the New Testament that Paul says in ___________________, “Let each one give what he has decided in his heart to give.” Whatever percentage you have decided to give gives glory to God if you have thought about it and prayed about it and give it joyfully and faithfully.
But back to the parable. In verse nineteen, the master returns home and the two good servants give him they money they had earned with what he had given them. And then he says in verse twenty-one, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
The servants have given, they have caused their master’s wealth and influence to grow, and now he invites them to share his happiness. Have you ever thought about what makes God happy?
There are two things that make God happy. One, He says all of Heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. All of Heaven over just one sinner! He loves to see people come to a saving knowledge of Him through Jesus Christ! He loves to redeem people, to cleanse them through the shed blood of Christ on the cross, to make them into new creations. This is His heart’s true desire: to bring people from death to life. This is what He desired and accomplished in you; this is what He desired and accomplished in me. And God and all the angels rejoiced when it happened.
Have your grasped hold of that fact? That God loves you, that in Christ He has made you one of His own, and that in Christ nothing can ever separate you from God again? There is no sin that is too heinous for Him to forgive. There is no power so strong that can snatch you out of His hands. There is no obstacle too high that He cannot lift you over it. This is what we get, free of charge, when in faith we receive the blessings of forgiveness that Christ won for us on the cross and God makes us one of His children.
Once He brings a new believer into His family, the second thing that He desires is that we would obey His commands. In other words, that we would walk as Christians are to walk, that we would live out our new identity as children of God. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us. He gives us His good gifts in order that we might share them with others and so make Him happy.
For instance, would it make God happy if:
Our Sunday School could grow in numbers?
We could deepen our faith through multiple Bible studies, all happening at different times during the week?
We could give away copies of His word to hundreds of people next year?
We could witness the love of Jesus Christ to our entire community through community-wide events?
We could discover God’s purpose and vision for Our Saviour Lutheran Church?
These are all things we plan to do next year. Things that we can join in sharing the happiness of our Master. Yes, I am serious. No, I am not just dreaming. And yes, these are plans that cannot be accomplished without God’s provision.
Over the course of the next seven days I want you to think about something. I am asking you—as your pastor—to think and pray about those plans I just mentioned. I want you to ask God’s blessing be upon those plans. I want you to pray that we will be able to accomplish all of the tasks that God has given us to do. And I want you to pray about what your financial investment in those plans will be.
Next week, during the church service, we will have an opportunity to commit to giving a certain amount to the Lord’s work at Our Saviour throughout 2007. You will have a giving commitment sheet—just like the one in the bulletin right now—and next week I’ll ask you to fill that out and bring it forward and lay it on the altar as your commitment to God in thanksgiving for the blessings He has given you. Just as your giving helps us to accomplish ministry right now, so will your giving commitment help us to plan for ministry next year.
Now listen . . . I don’t care about your money. But I do care how you choose to use what God has given you. It doesn’t do anybody else any good to take it out back and bury it in the yard. I want you to have a servant’s heart that is committed to working for God by serving others. I want us all to be good and faithful servants, taking what we’ve been given by God and investing that in His Kingdom, making that investment grow, and then giving Him all praise and honor and glory.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.


Take from me my life, make me a servant . . . and let me come share in my Master’s happiness.

Lord, SHAPE me to be a servant!

Last week as we gathered together we talked about how to be a Biblical servant. There were four priorities we considered important—remember what those were? God—family—others—ourselves. It’s just as important to keep those in proper order as it is to remember to make sure we serve in each of those areas on a consistent basis.
We also talked about the progression of service. Service works from our heads to our hearts to our hands. Service that stops with a mental attitude or a passionate belief but doesn’t reach out in tangible acts isn’t truly service, it is selfishness.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3-11, “3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Paul tells us two things in that passage. 1) Jesus Christ is our servant. In Christ we are given an enormous, abundant gift, a gift that overflows and positively begs to be passed on into the lives of others. And 2) we can serve others in abundance because Jesus Christ first served us.
We are given both the blessing and responsibility of using our God-given gifts and talents in service to others. When we make ourselves available to God by serving others, we receive the dual blessing of building God’s Kingdom, and of the personal satisfaction of a job well done. But when we refuse to use our gifts to serve, then we are in violation of God’s plan and we are actually working against Him at that point.
Being of service to God is a matter of allowing His gifts to flow through into blessings for others. Working with God is a life-giving vocation. Ron Chewning, in his book Life at its Best, likens it to the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. The Sea of Galilee receives the gift of water from the mountain rains and in turn passes that water along to the Jordan River. Because it doesn’t withhold that water, the Sea of Galilee is a pleasant place, full of life. Flowers dot the surrounding countryside. People come to lie on its beach and swim in its cool waters. Animals drink from it and receive life-giving moisture. The Sea of Galilee is, in that respect, truly living water.
In contrast to the precious, life-giving waters of the Sea of Galilee, however, is the Dead Sea. The Jordan river receives the overflowing water from the Sea of Galilee and carries it down to the Dead Sea. But the Dead Sea does not give it’s water to anything. It takes without giving, it receives without passing along those blessings. And so the Dead Sea is just that: dead. No fish can live there, no plants can grow. In fact, the water destroys life.
Being a Biblical servant is a life-giving vocation. The Biblical servant receives gifts from God in abundance, and rather than hoard those gifts and thus become a destroyer of life, the Biblical servant graciously passes along what God has given. Service, like water, is best when it flows freely.
But you may be thinking that you don’t know exactly how God would have you serve others. But pay attention to the last part of Ephesians 2:10, “10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
You don’t have to worry about how to serve others, because God has already prepared service for you to do! He already has good works just waiting for you to do! And furthermore, you are already SHAPEd by God to be a servant.
If you remember way, way back to what we learned earlier this year in our Forty Days of Purpose spiritual campaign, you may just remember that we learned about our God-given SHAPE. SHAPE: it’s an acrostic that stands for spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences, and it is how God has prepared us to do works of service for others.
Each of us has been gifted by God in each of those five areas, and each of us has a choice to be a Sea of Galilee and let His gifts flow freely through us onto others, or to be a Dead Sea and hoard them to ourselves. I know which one God asks me to be, and I know which one I want to be. I want to be a servant and be God’s life-giving instrument to others. I think that’s what we all want.
Assuming that’s true, that we all want to be good and faithful servants, let’s talk about how to use our God-given gifts in service to others.
No doubt you’ve heard of what’s called the 80/20 Rule, where eighty percent of the people only do twenty percent of the work. Now that’s not the way God designed it to happen; His intention is that 100% of the people all chip in and work together to accomplish His good purposes. But there’s also a variation on the 80/20 rule that I think we can find helpful, and that is this: A good servant spends eighty percent of his time in serving according to his God-given SHAPE.
Generally speaking, the way in which we serve falls naturally into our area of giftedness. That’s good and appropriate. When we serve according to our particular giftedness, we find service to be energizing. We enjoy it. We reap the double benefit of not only helping others but also of having a good time doing it.
For instance, I spend about eighty percent of my time playing video games . . . .

Okay, not really! But I do make an effort to structure my time and service around those things in which God has gifted me. By operating within my strengths, I find that I have more energy to keep getting up every morning. I find that I want to continue to grow in those strengths, to be even better at what I do so that I can serve others better than I do now.
I have long advocated that God’s people should find the one thing that they love to do in the church, the one thing that in which God has uniquely SHAPEd them for service, and then do that one thing for the glory of God and in service to others. I don’t like it when one person does twenty jobs, I’d rather have twenty passionate people all serving in one job that fits their God-given SHAPE. You know why? Because servants like that can serve week in and week out without burning out. They serve with a passion, they serve with a true servant’s heart, because they are doing what God has SHAPEd them to do. They’d serve even if they weren’t asked, because God made them for that one special work.
But of course, to be a Biblical servant also means that there will be times that we gladly step out of our comfort zone. Yes, please, spend eighty percent of your time serving where God has SHAPEd you, but also remember the Biblical servant has a willing and ready heart that is prepared to do anything at any time.
The Lord once spoke to the prophet Isaiah, saying, Isaiah 6:8 “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Do you remember how Isaiah responded? Isaiah said, “Here am I. Send me! Send me!”
We need more servant hearts like that today! We need more people who cry out to God, “Make me a servant! Whatever you desire, I will do! Wherever you lead me to go, there I will follow! Whatever I can do to help, I’ll do it! Here am I! Send me! Send me!”
I was once told that Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel, would put potential young pastors to a little test. They would come to him and tell him that God had called them to ministry . . . and he would hand them a mop and point them towards the bathroom. “But you don’t understand, pastor . . . God has called me to ministry!” And he would tell them that if they weren’t willing to serve anywhere that needed service, then God couldn’t use them anywhere.
Being a servant demands sacrifice. It demands a willingness to do what God requires for the benefit of others. There are times when God gives us an opportunity to witness the truth of Jesus Christ to people. It doesn’t matter at that point whether or not we consider the gift of evangelism to be part of our SHAPE, it only matters whether or not we do it. Next week we’ll have an opportunity to commit to a certain level of giving to the church over the coming year—we’ll have a sheet just like this one. It doesn’t matter if God has given you great wealth or only a little bit, what will matter is whether or not we will be able to use what we have been given by God in His service. “Here am I, send me! Send me!”
The reason for that is because, in being a Biblical servant, God will often test us with smaller tasks to see if we truly have a servant’s heart. God knows that (Luke 16:10) “10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Even if a task of service doesn’t seem to fit within our SHAPE, very often God will ask us to perform it anyway.
But God also knows that a servant’s heart, once assessed in the small things, can also then be approved in larger things. Jesus, in telling the parable of the talents, relates that the master of the house said to an approved servant, (Matthew 25:21) “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!”
No matter what the task God asks us to do, when we approach it with a servant’s heart we will find that two things are true. 1) That God rewards the servant for his service to others. That may be nothing more than God saying to us, “Well done, my child . . . well done,” or it may be more, but God does reward His faithful servants. And 2) you will find that in Christ God has given you the gifts necessary to get the job done. When He calls us to service, He equips us for service.
God gives us gifts, and He intends for them to flow freely to others. (Philippians 2:5-8) Our “attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!”


Lord Jesus, you gave your life in service to us. Through your shed blood on the cross, we have every good gift imaginable. We have peace with God, we have love, we have life. You have given us the ability to serve others so that you may be glorified and that your name may be praised throughout all the earth. Help us to see where our neighbors are hurting . . . help us to see the needs of our families. Hold us and mold us. Choose us and use us. Lord take our lives . . . and shape us to be servants.

Lord, Make Me a Servant!

For the longest time, being and becoming a servant wasn’t a very popular notion in the United States. We used to hear all the time about taking care of number one. In the eighties especially there was a tendency to think it was a dog-eat-dog world. I remember hearing sayings like, “If you’re not the lead dog, the view never changes.” The idea of being a servant was somehow demeaning.
But thankfully, the attitudes towards serving others has been shifting. Today it’s not uncommon at all to hear of people serving through a special cause. The richest man in the world—Bill Gates (the billionaire, not the pastor)—has established the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and has given away over 525 million dollars in 2006 alone, using his enormous wealth in service to others, bringing vaccines to the poorest of the poor and seeking solutions to the problems of poverty and hunger. But you don’t need to be rich to be a servant to others. Even right here in Hudson a young man named Jarret Patterson saw the need of his fellow classmates to have decent clothing and decided to serve them by establishing the Kid’s Closet.
Though they may not specifically view themselves as servants—they may say things like “I just want to help” in reality this new trend towards helping others is a trend towards highlighting the importance of servanthood.
Servanthood—being a servant to others—is a good concept. We serve by helping people to address their needs. We serve by giving of our time, our gifts, and our resources. This can happen at any place and at any time. But as admirable as servanthood is, there is a much deeper, much richer concept that can only be practiced by those saved by the grace of Jesus Christ: Biblical servanthood.
The concept of Biblical servanthood is different than just regular acts of service! Throughout all of Scripture we are given examples of men and women who were in the role of serving others. Moses was a servant to the people of Israel as he led them through the desert and into the land promised them by God. King Solomon served the people by building a temple in which they could worship the one true God. And of course, for the ultimate example in being a servant we look to Jesus Christ.
While regular servanthood seeks to address people’s needs—whether those needs are physical, emotional, educational, agricultural, financial, or whatever—Biblical servanthood not only can address all of those but specifically seeks to do so according to God’s will and plan. In other words, Biblical servanthood both seeks to honor our relationship with God and also seeks to address people’s true need: their need to be connected to God.
Before we all go running out and begin serving, however, let’s get an idea of how Biblical servanthood works.
First, there is a proper order of priorities to keep in mind with all aspects of Biblical servanthood. We want to know who to put first in our list of priorities. Any guesses as to Whom that might be? Right, the answer of course is God! If you remember back from your catechism days, the First Commandment is . . . “You shall have no other gods before Me.” What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in Gold above all things. So as we think about Biblical servanthood, it’s good and right to keep God in our #1 of priorities.
Before we go any further with that list of priorities, though, maybe we should stop and talk about how we keep God at #1 as we serve.
There is a two-part definition of service. The first part is to supply the needs of others. Which brings up an interesting question: What needs does God have? What needs does He have? Having a need means that we lack something, some possession, some power to meet that need. Is there anything an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present God, infinite in His power and wisdom, supremely majestic in His glory, He who alone is truly complete and self-sufficient . . . is there anything that this God lacks? No . . . no, of course not. In this sense, we cannot serve God.
So if we cannot serve God by supplying His needs, how can we serve God? The second part of the definition of service gives us that answer. The first part of service is to supply the needs of others, but the second part is that a servant fulfills the requirements of another. In other words, while we cannot serve God, we can be of service to Him. In still other words, though God Himself has no needs for us to supply, He nevertheless chooses us as His instrument of supplying the needs of others.
Jesus explains it this way in Matthew 25:31-40, “31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”
When we are of service to God—when God uses us to serve others—that is true Biblical service. The progression of true Biblical service goes like this: head to heart to hands. Biblical service begins with the knowledge that God has served me in the best way possible by reconciling Himself to me through Jesus Christ. It continues with the knowledge that He richly and daily supplies all my needs and that He would also use me to supply the needs of others.
From my head it moves to my heart, as I not just understand but passionately believe that my God is able to make all grace abound in me, so that in all things and at all times, having everything that I need, I will be able to abound in every good work, that in Christ I will be made rich in every way, so that, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:11, I can be generous on every occasion, and through that generosity God will be praised.
And then, as my mental attitude of service goes from my head, transforms into a passionate belief in my heart, it finds tangible expression in my hands as I perform acts of service to those in need. 1 John 3:17-18 says, “7 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” Service works from our heads to our hearts to our hands.
To be of service to God we serve the people He has placed around us. So to pick back up with our list of priorities, being a Biblical servant means keeping the order of: God—family—others—you. God first—because He is above all other things. Then family—because the Scriptures make it clear through numerous passages like that family—that kin—is one of the greatest gifts and also one of the greatest responsibilities God gives us. This is such a strong emphasis that Paul actually says in 1 Timothy 5:8, “8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Then others—because they are the very reason why God leaves us on this earth. Hebrews 13:16 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. And then, last but not exactly least, you. You will need to take some time for yourself in order to be an effective servant.
Each of us gets the same allotment of time as all of the others. 365 days per year, seven days per week, twenty-four hours per day. If anyone here has figured out how to get more than twenty-fours hours in a day, then let me in on the secret! But each of us also has the ability to manage those twenty-four hours to maximize the use we get out of them.
Since we all get the same amount of time, the key to managing it successfully is setting priorities and making goals. Our priorities are: God—family—others—me. Our goal is to be of service to God by serving others: our goal is for God to make us servants. Our example is none other than Jesus Christ.
Even Jesus Christ took time for Himself. Have you ever thought about that? Yes, He was truly God, having power and authority, but He was also truly man. He got tired. He needed time to tend to His own needs. He needed time by Himself to recharge.
The Gospels of Mark and Luke tell us it was Jesus’ habit to withdraw by Himself at certain times to be refreshed and to pray. So take note of that: even the best servant in the history of mankind realized His need for rest and recharging. We can’t hope to be a Biblical servant unless we also take the time that is necessary for private communion with God.
But it is even more impossible to be a Biblical servant unless we first allow Christ to serve us. Jesus Christ is not only your God and your Savior, He is your servant, as well! In Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus Himself says, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28 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.”
We love because He first loved us, and we serve because He first served us, as well! He is great because He chose to be a servant, to humble Himself and to do what your needs required. Your needs required a sacrifice to cover your inability to properly please God. By ourselves we cannot please God nor be of service to Him. But (Revelation 5:12) “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Through the service of Jesus Christ done for us, we too can reach out in God’s service to others.
Twenty-four hours in a day, and each day will bring opportunities in each of those four priorities. You may choose—as some people do—to spend the entire day in serving yourself . . . but then you’ll never become a servant. You’ll have your priorities wrong.
Instead, follow the example of Jesus Christ. Believe upon Him, receive His forgiveness, and then go forward and use the time you have been given in service to others.
1 Peter 4:10-11 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.