We recently held a Ministry Team Night here at GLC. These nights offer a chance for the ministries to get on the same page, work through different ministry needs, and connect as a ministry team. If you are part of the ministry here, you need to make the effort to attend. This is especially important as we transition to two services. At the last Ministry Team Night, I spent the first half of the night providing a framework for why we serve in a ministry. The material might have felt basic, but that was intentional. It is always good to get back to the foundation behind why we serve in ministry, especially when we recognize how quickly we can lose sight of that foundation. The gist of the talk centered around three truths. Why serve in ministry? 1) Jesus is Lord; 2) Jesus served us; 3) We serve like Jesus. For this blog post, I want you to consider the fact that Jesus served us.

 

The New Testament is abundantly clear about this point: Jesus Christ has served us. He couched his whole mission to seek and save the lost as an act of service. He told the disciples in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” His journey to the cross was a journey of serving us. In Philippians 2:5-8, Paul fleshes out what that act of service entailed: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus left his privileged position with the Father to come to this sin-riddled world…to serve us. He chose to serve us. He took on flesh for us. He died for us. Jesus served us!

 

What an amazing thought - a thought that should encourage, comfort, and wow us. Jesus served us. Consider who Jesus is. According to Philippians 2, he lived with the Father, untouched by the frailty of humanity. He didn’t know tiredness, pain, or discomfort. Yet, he left that position of power to serve us. A few verses later, Paul looks forward to a day when the whole of humanity will recognize what has always been true of Jesus. They will confess that Jesus is Lord (v. 11). That is who Jesus is. He is Lord. He is the one who created the world (John 1:1-3) and is the one who has all authority over the whole universe (Matt 28:19). And yet, he served us. 

 

In Luke 22:25-27, Jesus reminded his disciples of how they were to lead in a manner different from the surrounding culture. In doing so, he told them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” Jesus’ point at the end of the passage highlights the amazing reality that he served us! It’s clear that Jesus is the one who should be served, yet he served us. Despite being greater, he still served us.

 

Secondly, consider who we are. We are the created. We are weak, frail, and mortal. The psalmist in Psalm 8 looks at the vastness of the universe and the power of God that created it and then looks at the frailty of humanity. He notes in verses 3-4, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?” We are completely dependent upon God for our strength, and yet, he served us.

 

Not only are we physically frail, but we are also morally inferior. We are morally bankrupt–born into this world in that condition. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are born in rebellion, spiritually fallen, not seeking the God who made us (Rom 3:10-11). “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,” writes Paul in Ephesians 2:1-3. It would be understandable for Jesus to serve those who serve and obey him. But to serve those who are rebellious against him–that’s difficult to fathom. He served us when we didn’t deserve it. It was while we were still sinners that he died for us (Rom 5:8). 

 

Need some encouragement? Need a motive to serve the Lord today? Consider this: Jesus served us.

Your Servant in the Lord,