Well, as most of you know, the main staple or main diet for preaching around here. is expository preaching. We've kind of deviated from that here in recent weeks. One of the advantages, of course, there are many virtues to expository preaching, going verse by verse, paragraph by paragraph, and then going through the whole book of the Bible like we've been doing through Joshua. But one of the advantages to that is we're all able to kind of know where we're at in a particular study. We know generally where we've been, where we're going, how close we are to the end of that study. We don't have that same advantage when it comes to thematic studies like we've been doing here on Sunday mornings here for the last few months. I will let you know we are kind of on the backstretch of this series on Christian community or Christian fellowship, but we do have a few more aspects I want to touch on. And the one I want to touch on this morning is the idea of serving. Service, serving one another. There's a constellation of one another verses in the Bible that we could look at which touch on this aspect of Christian fellowship quite clearly. Is there a little bit of an echo with this? Okay, is there any way we can maybe toy with this a little bit? All right, now you don't hear me? Okay, can you hear me now? It's not a cell phone commercial here. How are we doing now, okay? We'll keep pressing on. There are a lot of different one another commands that I do think touch on this idea of service. One of the most obvious ones is found in Galatians 5.13 which says, That's a good verse for us to keep in mind when we're tempted to abuse our Christian liberty. That verse makes it very clear that Christ has freed us, but he has not freed us to selfish indulgence of the flesh, but rather to use our liberty for what purpose? Service. To serve one another. Let me give you a few other verses that are kind of in this service constellation. 1 Corinthians 12.25 says, care for one another. 1 Peter 4.10, minister to one another. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another. Ephesians 5.21, submit to one another in the fear of Christ. Romans 12.10, be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor. 1 Peter 4.9, be hospitable to one another. Be kind to one another. Encourage one another. Bear one another's burdens. Be humble toward one another." It says, "...clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." So those are some verses that don't necessarily use the words serve one another, but they are all generally saying in some aspect that we do need to give of ourselves to one another in service. I'm sure we could come up with a lot of other verses that touch on this idea of service, and we could take this particular topic in a lot of different directions this morning. The only point I'm trying to make now is many community concepts cluster around this idea of service. When you think about serving one another in Christ, it's a very broad aspect to Christian fellowship. In fact, as we've gone through our series for the last several weeks, a lot of the streets we have traveled down intersect with this idea of serving one another. loving one another, encouraging, edifying, forgiving one another, confronting one another when it comes to restoring one another. All of these themes, and we can name others, in some way do intersect with the idea of service. The Bible is crystal clear. We need to serve one another. Servanthood ought to dominate our lives within Christian community. And yet I want to say, as I've said before in this series, we're dealing with a topic here that rubs against our flesh and certainly our culture in a big way. Both our sin nature as well as our culture gravitates towards pride and self-gratification, self-service, self-glorification, rather than humble service unto others. The pride that dwells within us is very strong. And because it is, it is a hindrance to our service to others. Of course, our pride has quite the pedigree. Satan expressed pride. He felt that he could be equal or should be equal with God in status. From him, of course, Adam and Eve, in pride, rebelled against God and has come all the way down to us. Let's understand, pride was not only the earliest sin, but it is inherent to all sin. It's at the core of all of our sin. Recently deceased British theologian John Stott writes, And so it should not come as a surprise to us that God opposes pride so vehemently. It is odious to Him. It is offensive to Him. It is disgusting to Him. Proverbs 6, 16, and 17, the Lord hates a proud look. Later in that same book of Proverbs, the personified wisdom of God says, I hate pride and arrogance. And then in Proverbs 16, 15, the divine perspective on pride further reveals everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Be assured, He will not go unpunished. Pride. God hates it. Why is it, though, that God opposes pride so vehemently? The reason is as simple as this. Essentially, pride is trying to take away God's supremacy from Him. It is asserting ourself in the place of God. Contending with His glory. And therefore, depriving Him of what He alone is worthy of. C.J. Mahaney defines pride this way, Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him. Pride is insidious, it is ugly, it is destructive. It's why the son of Connecticut, Jonathan Edwards, once wrote, This is very bad news for us. You know what Edwards is saying? He's basically saying the enemy of pride dwells within us deeply. It takes up residence and it refuses to be expelled from our hearts without putting up a fight. I mean, haven't you experienced this? The moment that you think you have finally licked your pride, and you think humility has come in and resided and taken the place of your pride, what do you find out? Humility rips off his mask and exposes himself to actually be pride. And this is bad. But it gets even worse for us. Because not only does our flesh conspire against us, but so does our culture. The world does not applaud humility, does it? It doesn't lift up servanthood. Instead, the world applauds serving yourself, looking out for yourself. The world does not look for places to serve, but rather to be served. But Christ has called us, the church, the redeemed community, to the exact opposite calling in life. We are called to serve one another. The world says, he who has the most toys in the inn wins. Jesus says, he who has the dirtiest towel from service wins. The world says, put yourself first. Jesus says, put others first. The world says, climb the corporate ladder to greatness. Jesus says, descend down the ladder, and that's where you'll find greatness. The world is about egotism. Christianity is about altruism. The world is about self-will. Christianity is about self-abandonment. The follower of Jesus learns from his master. The more you lose yourself, the more you gain. The more you lose of yourself, the more you find yourself. Although it cuts against the grain of our flesh and again, against the grain of our culture, John Stott is again correct when he states, at every stage of our Christian development and every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend. Okay? But how do we get better acquainted with our greatest friend and put at greater distance our greatest enemy? It only comes when we are honestly willing to look at the Scriptures and compare our sinful selves with holy God. When we do that, we will be humbled. Now, I mention all of this about humility. Because this characteristic is preliminary to service unto others. And service, of course, is part and parcel to koinonia, to fellowship, to Christian community. Remember earlier on in the series we said fellowship is sharing ourselves with others. It is giving of ourselves to others. Giving of our time, our talents, our money, our possessions, our energy. I say all that to say this, pride always is going to lead you to self-service. Humility is going to lead you to the service of others. You're going to share of yourself with others for the purpose of building them up in Christ. Now, this all sounds good, and of course it is because it's based on the Bible, but if we're going to practice humble service, it would be helpful to have a good example, wouldn't it? A model that could inspire us as well as teach us what servanthood is really all about. And of course the best model for that is the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what I first of all want to address this morning. Christ as the consummate servant. Jesus made himself of no reputation. He came in the form of a servant. In order to accomplish the purposes and plans of the Father, for redemption. And because he humbled himself, what do we learn in Philippians 2? We learn that God has highly exalted him. Jesus was the chief servant. And therefore, he is the prototype that we are to copy and be conformed to. We certainly read about Christ being a servant in the New Testament, but we read about him, first of all, being a servant in the Old Testament. There are a lot of passages which point to the coming Messiah being a servant. For example, in Isaiah, there are four passages known as the Servant Songs. Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 53. In each of those songs, the Messiah is referred to as the Lord's servant. Does that strike you as odd? The Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ, is known as a servant? That doesn't seem to be becoming for God in the flesh. It seems to almost denigrate who He is. But it has nothing to do with denigration. It has to do with describing who He really is. Summarizing the servant songs, Robert France describes Christ's servanthood when he writes the following. And he's picking these out from those four Isaiah songs. He says, "...the servant was chosen by the Lord and endued with the Spirit. He was taught by the Lord and found his strength in Him. It was the Lord's will that he should suffer. He was weak, unimpressive, and scorned by men, meek, gentle, and uncomplaining. Despite his innocence, he was subject to constant suffering so as to be reduced to near despair. But his trust was in the Lord. He obeyed him and persevered until he was victorious. Of course, the New Testament picks up on all of this. We read, as I said in Philippians 2, that Jesus took on the very nature of a servant. Matthew 20, 28 speaks to this when it says, When you think about Christ in service, You have to think about his whole life. The whole incarnation of Christ was about his service. You can dip into any point of Christ's life and ministry on earth and you will see in some way his service to God and service to others. Jesus was all about being a servant. But there is one moment in the life and ministry of Christ that really stands out. A moment that really captures the quintessential nature of Him being a servant. And it's the moment in which He washed the dirt-laden, grimy feet of His disciples. We read about it in John 13. It was an episode that actually occurred on the night in which the Passover meal was to be observed. On that evening, Jesus knew that He was about to be betrayed by Judas. And He also knew that He was going to die on a Roman cross the next day. And so from a human perspective, here is a man who had every right to only be thinking about himself, but as we see demonstrated with the washing of the feet of the disciples, he thought about others. His focus was on them, not on Him. He watched the feet of His followers. We've got to understand, that never happened before. That sort of thing just did not happen in that culture. A host would not be the one to wash the feet of his guests. And in this case, Jesus was playing the role of host. Instead, that undignified task was reserved for the lowest household servant. It was a slave duty. The host didn't do that. He didn't wash the feet. A slave did. And here you have not only a host, but a rabbi of a huge movement doing this. Of course, the reason why they did this is because their streets were dusty and they wore sandals. And so you here have Jesus, God in the flesh, filling up a basin of water, grabbing a towel, and scrubbing the feet of his followers. Can you imagine being there and seeing that? Can you imagine God slumping down to cleanse the souls of these men's feet? Yeah, you can imagine it, if you're his true child. because you know that He has cleansed your soul. On that night, Jesus was fully aware of His own divine dignity when He did this. John writes, Think about that. It was not in spite of his greatness as God, but because of his greatness that Jesus served. And from his example of true greatness, we learn that true greatness is not determined so much by rank or position, but by service. This is the principle of greatness Jesus taught, for example, on another occasion when He said to the disciples, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Listen, Jesus was well aware that the Father had given to Him all things. All things were under His authority. Christ's humiliating incarnation did not diminish that or alter that reality in any way. Jesus knew He was the eternal Son of God. He knew He was the author and creator, sustainer of the universe. He knew He was omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God. He knew all of that about himself, and yet in full knowledge of who he was and his authority, he got up from the table and he went down to the lowest place. Let's understand, in the mind of Jesus, acts of mundane service like this, washing feet didn't diminish his greatness, but was a part of his greatness and actually accentuated his greatness. Again, this conflicts with our natural thinking, doesn't it? Even after we're converted We can struggle with this kind of servant-hearted mentality. We certainly know that the disciples struggled with this. We see them at the Last Supper vying for rank and position. They wanted to know who was best. And we learn from earlier in the Gospels, this was nothing new with them. You remember what the mother of James and John requested of Jesus? She said, make My boys to sit on Your left hand and Your right hand in Your kingdom. Quite the request. And then later, at the Last Supper, we're talking about this incident of Him washing their feet. What were they doing right before this? They were bickering with one another, quarreling with one another, as to who was the greatest. That was the whole reason why they failed to wash each other's feet. They were so concerned about themselves and elevating themselves, they didn't look down at the ground and notice that nobody's feet had been washed, including the feet of Jesus. Nobody came forward. Not John, not Peter. No one came forward and said, hey, there's no household slave here. Let me wash your feet, man. None of them said that. They were too caught up in their own egos. Now our actions And our attitudes today might not be as overt as they were on that Passover night. We tend to be a lot more subtle today and more refined when it comes to having this kind of attitude. But the fact is, we can still strive for position and recognition rather than serve others. But this ought not to be. Instead, we have to serve and promote one another. We have to take on the mentality of service that Jesus had, a mentality that is so aptly put in that ancient hymn to Christ found in Philippians 2, which says, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Jesus was the consummate servant. He models for us what true service looks like. And what does it look like? It looks like this. You give your life for others. Jesus did that, as we just read, to the point of death. A criminal's death on a cross. Now, more than likely, God is not going to require us to sacrificially die for others. But we do give of our lives to others in this sense. We give of everything we have to God and to others. Our possessions, our money, our time, our energies. This leads us to our next point, and that is the characteristics of servants. Since I'm sure all of us would acknowledge that Christ is the consummate example of servant-heartedness, We need to now identify some characteristics that demonstrate that we are indeed copying him. So drawing from John 13's foot washing incident, I want to note some characteristics here this morning of what it is to be a servant. First of all, servants are prompted by love to serve. From John 13, verse 1 we read, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come, that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. In spite of His imminent torture and death, Christ continued to love His disciples to the very end. As the foot washing demonstrated, He always had their best interest in mind. And that really is a basic definition of what it is to love others. Having their best interest in mind. A second characteristic we see from John 13. Servants are always on the lookout for meeting needs. While the disciples were only concerned with themselves and their advancement, Jesus observed needs that they had. Now there were needs that they weren't even aware that they had. And yet, Christ, who had a keen perception, He had an observant eye when it came to the needs of others, focuses right in on their need. And likewise, as God's children, we always ought to be looking around. Looking at the needs of others. Seeing how we can be a help and blessing to them. But of course, we know servants don't just watch, do they? they also take action, they serve. The next characteristic. Servants take action, but let's understand this, they don't do it with a lot of fanfare. John 13, verse 4 says, On that night, Jesus didn't stand up in front of the disciples and say to you, OK, men, quiet down here. Now, I've noticed that you guys are just full of yourself. You are so full of pride. And I'm now going to demonstrate for you in an object lesson what it is to be really humble. So watch me. He didn't do that, did he? There was no announcement of what he was about to do. Instead, he just quietly got up, took a towel, and started rinsing off the feet of these disciples. He took action. They had dirty feet, a physical need. They were full of pride, a spiritual need, an issue that He would address with His teaching. But initially, He didn't say anything to them. It wasn't until Peter protested that Jesus began to explain why He did what He did. And likewise, as we see needs, both physical as well as spiritual, We need to take action, but as we take action, we don't have to broadcast it to the whole world. Action without announcement is the idea here. We don't call attention to ourselves in the hope that people will think well of us for doing a good deed. Next, servants serve in a downward direction. Jesus, the master, served his subordinates, his followers. He served downward. And that's one of the chief characteristics of a biblical servant, of a Christ-like servant. He serves those who are beneath him in position or station in life. This is something important for us to remember. It's relatively easy, isn't it, at work or in your home or other places? It's relatively easy to serve those that are acknowledged to be above you in station in life. I mean, even the world recognizes that. But it's quite counterintuitive to serve those who are regarded to be beneath you. In the world, the lesser serves the greater. In the world, the poor serves the rich. The uneducated serves the educated. The one without a title at work serves the guy who's got the fancy title at work. But in Christ's kingdom, all of that gets turned on its head. It's totally reversed. Jesus teaches, in my kingdom, here's the rule. The rich, you serve the poor. Educated, the uneducated. If you've got a title, you serve those that don't. This is one of the reasons that Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire. Even secular historians were fascinated by how Christians who had higher rank served Christians in lower rank. For example, it was not uncommon in the early church for wealthy Christians to host a bunch of other Christians in their homes. And not only host them, but literally the rich Christians would serve the poor Christians. And all of this spoke volumes about the transforming power of the Gospel. And the world took notice. And the Gospel spread. In our homes, we must all serve one another. But husbands and fathers ought to be the chief servants. Men, let me say, you lead. and you teach by your example and your words. Are you the chief servant? Yes, helping out with things in the home, helping your children. But let me just really press upon the men here today because I feel very burdened about this. You have to step up and take the spiritual leadership in your home. You have to teach by your words and your example. It is sad that so many professing Christian men will put so many other things ahead of the Lord in their homes. Sports, work, even things that their kids are doing in school. And they just don't have time, they say. They don't have time to have family devotions with their family each night. Catechize their children, pray with their children. They just don't have the time. Well, I pass that on to my wife. That's not her responsibility! Yes, it's wonderful. She helps. Thank God for our godly mothers and wives. But men, it is your responsibility according to the Scriptures. And if you are not doing it, you are hating the souls of your children. Hating them. But I'm a good dad. I'm always with them at sports and school. You're hating their souls. Now, you can get proud here, men. You can get proud here and say, pastor, But understand, even in that reaction, you're teaching your kids something. You are teaching them. You say, I don't go around teaching. I lay it up to my wife. Well, you're teaching them all right. But you're teaching them in a negative example. You teach them what it is to respect the Lord's day or not. You teach them if the Word of God is central in your home or not. So what I'm trying to say to you, if you're going to lead by example when it comes to serving, I want to encourage you to serve where God has told you to serve in your home and be the spiritual leader there. This is crucial for the health of our church, health of our families. You need to man up. And that might mean repenting. It may mean you leading by example and saying, kids, wife, forgive me. I have sinned and I'm going to change. I'm going to serve this family as God has told me to serve it. To serve the Lord. A lot of that's extra, but the point is husbands and fathers have to be the chief servants. In our church, We all must serve one another, obviously, but the leaders need to be the chief servants. In our workplaces, as Christians, we ought to be the ones who are known as the most servant-hearted, always looking out for the needs of others. Another characteristic, servants do not have to have special abilities, but they must have a special attitude. Now obviously Jesus had some special abilities. He was God in the flesh. He proved that He was God with all the miracles and His teaching with authority. But it's interesting here, when He makes this point about servanthood, He doesn't pull out some great sign or wonder or some miracle to prove this point. Instead, what does He do? He teaches using a most mundane example. Washing feet. something that anybody can do. Listen, believer, to serve the Lord and to serve others doesn't require some unique ability that's only reserved for certain special people. Instead, the Lord has given every one of his children a gift or numerous gifts that they can and they must use to serve the body of Christ. You say, I don't have a special ability. Let me ask you, can you wash people's feet? And we understand that was kind of a custom in that day. We're not literally asking, you know, we're not going to all peel off our shoes after the service this morning. Maybe somebody will. But the point is, could you do something like that? Then do it. Serve the Lord, even in the mundane. Yes, others may consider what you do as mundane, but the Lord will not, and His is the opinion, His is the only opinion that matters. Folks, don't get me wrong. What we do for the Lord and others is important. But what we do, our action, is not as important as our attitude while we do it. That is what God is looking for. It's not so much the task or the ability. It's about our attitude. When we are doing things for the Lord and doing things for others, God wants to see a servant's heart behind it all. That's what He's looking for. And I can say, as God has given me the opportunity to observe some of you, it's a joyful thing to see how you do serve one another. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it, to see members in the body of Christ minister to one another just as Jesus did. It's a glorious thing. And I thank God for the servant hearts that many of you have. Next characteristic, servants look beneath the service and then winsomely meet the deepest needs of others. Jesus saw and he perceived the deepest needs of his disciples. He realized their deepest need was a spiritual need. He heard them quarreling. He looked down and he saw their feet. Those were the symptoms. He knew to look at a deeper level. It was actually their pride that was the biggest issue, right? And so in a very winsome way, Christ used the reality of their dirty feet to cut beneath the surface. He washed their feet to point out their pride. He washed their feet to point out that they were only thinking about themselves and not others. And likewise, just as Christ heard beyond their words and he saw beyond their dirty feet, we have to see beyond the surface needs of others to the deepest needs. We need to make sure that we're meeting the surface needs. If somebody's hungry, feed them. But also look beyond the hunger. Look to the spiritual needs that that person has and minister to them in that way. Next, servants are not embarrassed to serve others. What's going on here? Well, in part, Peter is embarrassed for Jesus. Jesus, we've got to keep up appearances. We've got a certain image to protect. You're not supposed to be doing this. What are you doing, Jesus? It appears all wrong to Peter. Why was he thinking this way? He was thinking this way because he was too self-conscious. He was too focused on appearance. But Jesus didn't care. Jesus wasn't thinking about how he appeared. Why? Because his focus was on the good of others. He wasn't embarrassed because he wasn't self-absorbed. He wasn't trying to keep up a certain image. And so let me ask you this morning, what's really going on in your heart when you refuse to do certain tasks? When you feel that certain tasks are beneath you. What's really going on when you won't minister to other people because in some way you kind of feel like they're beneath you? Or what's going on when perhaps you're here at church, maybe a service or some other setting, and you slip up while you're praying or while you're singing or while you're speaking, and you get so embarrassed while you're serving? What's at the source of all that embarrassment? The source is, is you're too self-focused. You're too worried about your image, rather than thinking about others. Keeping up an image, keeping up appearances. You think, how do I appear? What do others think about me? Friends, when we slip into this, we need to look again at Almighty God stooping down to rinse off the feet, the grimy, dirty feet of some very difficult disciples. We have to also see that He not only did this for them, but He also served us. And seeing this, when we see his self-forgetfulness, it's going to help us to forget ourselves as we serve others. Next characteristic. Servants serve others by rebuking and telling the truth. Just because Jesus took the lowest place in this particular incident doesn't mean that he was weak. In fact, he showed his strength by serving in this way. We see this reality further evidenced by his rebuke of Peter again in John 13. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Typical Peter here. Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew who would betray him. Therefore, he said, you are not all clean. Although Jesus loved Peter enough to serve him, that didn't make him timid, did it? It didn't make him timid when it came to confronting the arrogance and the extremism of Peter. Folks, let's understand. Servants are not weak people. They are the strongest of all people. I say this because there's often a misconception, even among believers, that if you're serving others, that somehow you're weak. No, Jesus teaches us otherwise. You've probably heard it before, meekness is not weakness, it is strength under control. Jesus demonstrated that. He also demonstrated His strength by correcting Peter. He told the truth to Peter as well as the other disciples. And we have to keep this in mind because again, some people have the idea that if you're to be a servant to other people, you can never confront them. Your job is to only affirm them in their sins. But that's just not biblical. You remember here recently, we talked about restoring one another. And I want to just say this again, Restoring one another when there has been sin, that involves confrontation, is a way that we must serve one another in the church. A final characteristic I want to point out is from John 13, 12, actually verses 15 through 17, after Jesus had washed the feet of the disciples, He reclined at the table and he exhorted them in this way. He says, for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed or happy are you if you do them. Elsewhere in the Scriptures, Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. Folks, that is not just a financial statement. That speaks to all areas of our lives. It is always more blessed to give of our time, of our energies, of our efforts in service to others. God gives us a happiness and a joy when we serve others that we simply cannot have. when we're only serving ourselves. Why is that? Because we were created. We were created not to be self-focused. Remember, that's at the origin of sin. But rather to be other-focused, to be God-focused. And so when we are serving others as we should, we're tapping into what we were created to do. And when we tap into that, we tap into God's joy and God's happiness. And yet, we must understand this morning Along with the joy that there is in service, there are also challenges. It's the next point I want to touch on briefly. The challenges of servants. One of the great perks, one of the great joys of serving others is we know that we are imitating our Savior. But we've also got to understand as we are imitating our Savior, that means we're also sharing in his sufferings. When we serve others, there will be challenges. There will be difficulties that spring up. Someone has once said, the true test of whether we are a servant is that we don't mind being treated like one. In Luke 17, Jesus describes some challenges facing us if we will be servant of others. Let me read those verses. Jesus said, In which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and sit down to eat? But will he not rather say to him, prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do. Now, some would deem these words by Jesus. rather harsh and offensive according to modern sensibilities. But we've got to understand, Jesus is just reflecting the typical attitude in that day between master and servant. And if the truth be told, even in the church, this same attitude exists. It's often hidden, but it exists. And it presents challenges to would-be servants. One challenge we can see from the passage I just read is this, the challenge of inconsideration. From the verses I just read a moment ago, the master was insensitive. He was inconsiderate of his servant. The servant had been out there laboring all day. He was tired. He was hungry. And what does the master say to him? Go rustle me up some grub. I'm hungry. I want to eat. And I want you to serve it to me. When we serve, even in the body of Christ, unfortunately, there can be a lack of consideration from others. Even professing believers can be self-absorbed and have a sense of entitlement. And we just need to understand this. If we are going to take the role of a servant as Christ wants us to take, we've got to understand people are just going to treat you like a servant. Some will expect you to serve. Some will demand that you serve. Some will be impatient with you. Some will be thoughtless towards you. Unfortunately, in our homes and in our church, people will be inconsiderate. Now, should it be that way? Absolutely not. But realistically, will it be that way at times? Yeah. Because we're sinners and the people we live with are sinners. And there will be inconsiderate actions that take place. And so the question I have for you as a servant is, what are you going to do when people are inconsiderate towards you? Are you going to be inconsiderate back to them? Is that how you're going to handle it? I hope not. Rather than resenting their actions and attitudes, we should learn to bear it and keep serving like Christ did. A second challenge is the challenge of ingratitude. Again, from John 17, we see ingratitude on the part of the master toward his servants. Again, verse 9, Jesus asks this question, does the master thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? And Jesus answers and says, I think not. As servants, we cannot serve God and other people dependent on the thanks of other people. We don't serve to get the approval or to be seen by people. If we do, we're going to stop serving. We're going to dry up in that regard rather quickly. No, we serve to be seen of God, who sees the thoughts and intents of our hearts. Again, in our homes and in our church. We ought to be thanking one another for the services provided, and yet we've got to understand sometimes people are not going to thank us as they should, as often as they should, as sincerely as they should, and yet we must be bound and determined to still serve. Why? Because Jesus served us. Are you thankful that He served you? That His whole life was a life of service for your benefit? Are you thankful for that? Then you will reflect that thankfulness, that gratitude by serving others, by following His example as He has told you to do. If we don't serve others, we are, in essence, saying we're not thankful for what the Lord's done for us. We're brushing Him off, we're blowing Him off. We demonstrate our thankfulness by serving others. We can't let the ingratitude of others determine our gratitude shown to our Savior. So we have to deal with some challenges, and one of those is ingratitude, and we have to come to grips with that. Another thing that we have to come to grips with is this, that in the end, ultimately, we really are unworthy servants. And that's the last challenge I want to mention here. The challenge of unworthiness. And if the truth be told, this is probably the most difficult challenge. Why? Because it assaults our pride. Jesus again, verse 10, says, So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say this, we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do. Very challenging, isn't it? Goes against our pride. Jesus is saying, when you're mistreated, you should respond by saying, at least within yourself, it's okay. It's okay. I am an unworthy servant. I have not deserved the least of God's favor. I have not deserved God's grace. I'm just thankful that I am a servant. How can we think this way? It's only possible when we are focused on Christ and not ourselves. Only when we feel indebted to Christ will we be free from demanding others feel indebted to us. This is where servant-heartedness begins. When we understand that we are debtors of mercy! And we deserve none of the mercy, none of the grace that we have gotten from God. And as we keep preaching that to ourselves, we're not gonna be as wrapped up in, have people thanked me? Have people been considerate towards me? Have people seen me to be the great person I am? We're not gonna be wrapped up in those things. We're gonna feel indebted to serve others because Christ served us. And here's the glorious thing. When we do serve others, We will receive reward of the Lord because He sees all acts done in secret as well as in public, which leads to this next point, the compensation of servants. I just want to read you one quick verse here from Luke again, Luke 12, 37. A very fascinating verse. in regard to how the Lord rewards us for servanthood. Jesus said, You can tell from the context of that verse that Jesus is referring to his second coming. And it seems that he is saying here, in some capacity, he will serve his faithful servants at his return. It's remarkable to think about. William Hendrickson notes, what is promised here, therefore, is that our Lord, at His second coming, will, in a manner consonant with His glory and majesty, wait on His faithful servants. It's amazing to think about, isn't it? Not only did Jesus, both in His heart and with His hand, demonstrate service, but we learn here from this verse, when He comes again, that same attitude of service will pop up again. He not only practiced what he preached when he was on earth, we learn that he will continue to practice it in the future. Why is that? Why is it that he who is infinitely greater than us will serve us who are infinitely lesser than him? He will do it because it is a part of his very character. Part of his very eternal character. And he will get glory to himself for doing it. Do we understand service is a part of who God is? The question now is, is it a part of us? As God's children, are we imitating our Father? Are we imitating our elder brother, Jesus? Let me give you, in closing here this morning, a checklist, a checkup for servants. And you actually have this, I believe, in your bulletin this morning. I printed it out for you because there's no way you can write down all of these quick enough. But I would encourage you to take this home with you this week, and certainly after this week, and periodically check up on yourself to see your servant status. How are you serving others? Let me give you several questions here to ponder this morning. First, of late, have I been reflecting on how Christ served me and responded with worship and service? What are the ways Christ served others and how can I better imitate Him in those ways? What are the ways I am consistently serving others? How am I serving the brethren with my time, with my talents, with my money, with my possessions, with my energies? How can I improve my service to others in all these areas? How is pride preventing me from serving others as I should? How is pride sneaking into my service to God and other people? Am I serving in these areas with a true servant's heart, or am I serving with a selfish motive? Do I resent being treated as a servant when I serve, or do I count it a joy to identify with Christ in these ways? Do I help others advance ahead of me, and then rejoice when they do? What are some new ways I can serve others? Has love to God and others been prompting my service? Have I been on the lookout for meeting the needs of others, or have I grown apathetic? Have I served others to gain attention from them, or have I purposely sought out ways to serve without people knowing I am serving? Have I been serving downward, or only serving those considered above me? Have I been serving my unconverted neighbors, coworkers, friends, and relatives? Have I been looking beneath the surface needs of people to meet their deeper spiritual needs as well? Have I been embarrassed to serve others because I want to maintain a certain image? Have I served the brethren by restoring them when they have sinned? Have I been experiencing joy from my service? If not, what sins are blocking that joy? Have I allowed the inconsiderateness or ingratitude of others to slow down or stop my service to others? Am I remembering my indebtedness to Christ who served me and thus feeling indebted to serve others? Am I only serving others when it's convenient for me? Am I seizing opportunities to serve when it is inconvenient knowing that the Lord has given those opportunities to me? Have I been reaching out and serving newcomers at church? Is my church better off because of me, or do I need to start serving more? If everyone in my church served as I do, how would the church function? Am I resolved to never retire from faithfully serving in the church? And finally, based on the above questions, what do I need to repent of How should I change? Let's pray. Lord, we are so thankful.