Disclaimer: Please forgive any typographical, grammatical, and/or content errors in the following notes. They are not meant to be an exact transcription, but rather a helpful guide for those who appreciate the written word along with the spoken word. If you have any questions on what was taught, feel free to reach out on our ‘Contact Us’ page.
We have a special guest here today. And really today is a special service all together so if God has brought you here there’s likely a good reason and that’s exciting. So I’m going to ask Dr. Bailey to come down. We’ve asked Dr. Bailey to come today because Vine has been given the opportunity to come worship at Liberty and the heart of Bethlehem and where there is a great need. Without the same heart that Dr. Bailey has for this community we wouldn’t be sitting here today. I don’t know how many of you know what the life of a principal looks like, especially of the largest school district in the region, but there’s a lot to it—burden, effort, tireless work and something that Niko has shared with me about Dr. Bailey is just this underlying spirit of humility and how he approaches everything and how he has a heart for service and serving other people and really just wanted to lift him up today and other than the pieces we’ll touch on in prayer, he’s also a Lafayette Leopard. And if you know me, I’m also a fellow Pard, some other Pards in the room, and we play Lehigh this week so Go Pards! So Dr. Bailey please come down and we’ll pray for you and we have a gift, nothing huge, but maybe something where you can take your wife out to dinner and spend some time in rest and relaxation. So let’s surround Dr. Bailey with community and lift him up to the Lord. [Prayer.]
Before we get into our message here today we would like to acknowledge our veterans. [Appreciation for Service.]
Today we’re going to take a pause from Joshua and focus topically on the topic of service. Service is the fruit, but it’s not the root. Lets focus on what the root of all God-honoring service is and where it comes from and from this place we can mature in our walk and naturally activate different levels of service and sacrifice in our life. To illustrate this I’d like to start with a story from my own life (and my mom will acknowledge this because she’s in it).
Back when I first started my career, I took this thing my Fortune 500 company put me through called a Korn Ferry exam. This exam was meant to measure personality traits of a future manager or leader of an organization. It asks a bunch of questions, how you would make decisions, handle conflict resolution, all these types of things. When you’re done with the exam it maps out your personality traits on a line graph and it puts the traits against the average manager and average executive. So, I took the exam and was pretty nervous and I was flipping through the results and I came to the overview page that goes over the five main personality traits that were mapped. At first, I saw how I was in line with the average manager and executive and I was feeling pretty good and then we got to the fourth out of five and for me it was like the cliff that the road runner comes to. Anyone want to guess what the trait was? [guesses] So I’ll just break the ice. That personality trait was humility. So I looked at this and I thought, there’s no way. This has to be wrong. I’m a humble guy. So I took the test home to my parents looking for affirmation that this test was wrong. I said can you believe this? This silly exam says I have no humility. This has got to be crazy right? Do you think I have humility? My mom and my dad looked at each other and shook their heads, no.
This was a huge wake up call to me and one of those reflection points in life that you really remember. At this point in time, even though I had accepted Christ, I really didn’t fathom or understand what it means that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. So why do I share this on a topic that supposed to be about service? Because as followers of Christ the main characteristic in his personality, in his identity that we’re supposed to exemplify and mimic is the characteristic of humility. It’s from this root of Christ-like humility that love flows and ultimately from this flowing love comes God-honoring service. Simply put, service is just another form of worship to our God.
Isaiah 66:2 says, “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” So let’s take a closer look at how different Christ’s approach to service and leadership was to the leaders of his day. Matthew 20:25-28 says, “But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- The pride of the Gentile leaders (verse 25)
Clearly, Christ is calling out this prideful, egotistical leader—the one who wants to top-down manage everything and lord it over people. Right now, you may be visualizing one of those leaders that you may have experienced in your life, who lords power over you. Before we go too far down that thinking path of how much that person stinks, let’s take a second and just reflect upon our own hearts a little bit further. Let’s ask ourselves an important question. How does pride impact my service?
Folks tend to think in groupings of three, so I write down three types of manifestations of pride that I have observed over time that will impact service.
The three are in no particular order: selfishness, fear, and idolatry. (If you were in a bible study with me many years ago, the first time I heard the word “idolater” I pronounced it “idel-laters.”)
Selfishness is usually pretty clear. It’s as simple as, right now I should be serving that person to glorify Christ, but I’d rather be serving myself. I think every single one of us here have done that at times. Where we know that we feel the Spirit moving and giving us that nudge, but we’d rather just do ‘this’ for me. Here’s another personal illustration: It’s Sunday and I’ve just done the good husband and father thing of going to church. Check. All I want to do is just watch the Eagles lose on my couch and hang out and relax. My wife just had our third baby and I’m watching her walking around the house trying to keep the baby from crying and I see clothes that need to be put away and dishes that need to be done, but I worked all week and that’s my role—to be the income earner for the house, and I’m the leader of the house, and let’s be honest, she wanted to be a stay at home mom anyway. In reality it’s not about any of that stuff or roles. It’s about my pride and selfishness. So, yes, fellas, I put us all on the hook today to follow Christ into our kitchens to those dishes without grumbling and serve our wives well and ultimately what we’re doing is lifting up the name of the Lord in our houses. One of the main places we can serve. Sometimes we’re just like those gentile rulers and oftentimes to the people closest to us. Where we want to lord our position and power over them. Luke 9:23 states, “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.””
The second prideful manifestation is fear. Have you ever had a fear of serving? Here’s an example. I’m willing to bring the spaghettios to service and drop them in a box because I have extra cans and maybe they’ll help somebody. But going down to that homeless shelter, where there’s dangerous people who might be addicted to drugs, have a violent past…I’m not going to go into that community where there’s guns and stuff, it’s not smart or safe. I’m not going to go around all those people where I could get sick. Have you ever experienced fear that prevents you from service? Ask yourself, do you really trust God with your life? Do you believe if you’re doing God’s work that He’s going to go before you and protect you? Are you convinced that where you’re going from here is better than where you are today? Where would we find Jesus if he were here walking among us? Would he just be dropping spaghettios in a box or would he be going into those tough communities with the downcast and the downtrodden, the hurting, the people who have pain.
Maybe that’s not you. Maybe it affects you as insecurity? Something like- I don’t really have that much to offer. I’m new to this Christian thing and so I’m quiet and service and sharing the gospel isn’t really my thing. I’ll leave that to the elders and leave that to the people who know. All fear is rooted in our desire to be in control and our desire to want to be on the throne in our own life and not trusting God with that position. If your fear is manifesting as insecurity, you’re not only walking in prideful fear but you’re believing a lie. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:” So brothers and sisters, your gifts are different than my gifts. They may be in differing varying degrees compared to the person sitting next to you. But every single one of us has a gift. And all of our gifts are to be used to build up the kingdom and glorify God. So don’t believe that lie that you don’t have a gift, or it can’t be used, that you shouldn’t activate your gifts for the purpose of glorifying the kingdom.
On to our third manifestation of pride, idolatry. R.C. Sproul said, “We are all servants. The question is, “Who will we serve?” There’s a ton of service that happens everyday in this world that has a lot of earthly value. But the difficult reality to hear is that it has no eternal value if it’s not motivated by the desire to please God. Often we don’t even realize we’re serving because we’re actually seeking recognition. Or that we’re serving for some kind of exchange or return of earthy value that we can gain. Or because there’s some cause that can benefit other than Christ that we’ve made an idol in our lives. And because this one can be a tough one to hear and trust me I know I’ve done this before many times myself, I’m going to flesh it out with another illustration. I’ve lost family members to cancer and so I might become very passionate about the cause of beating cancer, the American Cancer Society, let’s say. And my passion for beating cancer may get me to the point of being really involved in the events going on there and come up with more funding to be able to prolong the lives of those battling cancer. I may join the board and go on a fundraising campaign. Don’t get me wrong, those are all good things, so I’m not saying it’s not good. What I’m saying is that for me as a believer, if it ends there and I’m not using those opportunities to pray for people to be healed of the cancer, but at some point whether it’s cancer or car accident or heart attack, you’re going to die. There is a life beyond this where you can find eternal value and you can live in the peace of Jesus Christ. And so if I’m not using these opportunities to share the gospel, the good news, then as a Chritian, a believer, I’m missing the mark. And even more so if I’m doing it because I want the American Cancer Society to give me a shout out on their social media page as their top fundraiser. Then I’m really off track. So please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying don’t fundraise for cancer. What I’m saying is, all of these other causes have a lot of earthly value, but only one thing, sharing the gospel, has eternal value. So this might sound ridiculous. You may be hearing this and thinking I just don’t get this guy. I understand, but the reality is that if you’re motivated to serve by anything else other than the desire to please God, whatever that thing is that’s motivating you that is an idol because it’s being placed above God in your life. So plug it in. Maybe it’s money, maybe it’s recognition, maybe it’s more influence, maybe it’s your family. Whatever it is, if it’s motivating you more than pleasing God, then it’s an idol. For believers and unbelievers, John Calvin said, “Our hearts are idol making factories.” So that’s why I know I can say, myself included, that we’ve never done this before. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Matthew 6:19-21 says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Now that we’ve gotten through this first point in the message where we’ve gone over this pride whether it looks like lording it over someone, whether it looks like fear or insecurity, or an idol that you’re making out of something and placing about God, whatever that looks like for you in terms of how pride manifests in your life, let’s move forward now in the conversation and look at that second half of Matthew and look at the humility of Christ.
- The humility of Christ (verse 26-28)
So if pride is the root of all evil, then humility is the root of all blessing and what greater example of humility could we find than Christ giving his life for you and for me as a ransom. Amen? But since this message is about service and service is the fruit and humility is the root. How do we grow in humility to be more like Christ? And how do we grow more in humility to be more like Christ. You’ll see a diagram that talks about the process of growth and maturation. The question is where do you place yourself on this diagram? Ask your parent, spouse, friend where they would place you. Then let them know where you would place them. The reality is that the first step of humility for anyone of us who have been brought into the kingdom of God is the absolute true root of humility and the only thing that will produce God honoring eternal fruit and service in our lives and it starts with the confession of our sin, the repentance from our sin and the recognition of the need for our savior and the acceptance of that savior as the Lord of our lives. That’s what Christ is referring to in the second part of Matthew when he says, “It shall not be so among you.” He’s referring to his followers who have accepted him. So we can be saved and still be very ignorant of pride and sin and self-centered in our ways, like I was when I took the exam. I was born again and laid it all on the line and was sealed in the Holy Spirit but I still was not God-centered, but I was self-centered. But praise God, there is a clear path of development God has for our lives. Romans 8 says he’s going to continue this process to conform us into his own image. Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ.” So it is through this process of discipleship that we grow in faith, love, and humility.
Image: Jim Putman
We begin to outwardly serve others as our lives become God-centered and the Holy Spirit will increasingly move our eyes off of ourselves and on to the needs of others. That’s what that process looks like. The head of the army that we serve, Jesus Christ, has given everyone of us our service papers. So if you know anybody in the military they wait for their papers to see where they’re going to be sent. The second you are found in Christ, you were given the same service papers that I was. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that he has commanded us, knowing that he will be with us now and until the end of the age. We’ve all been given the same service mission. Are you serving Christ the way that he has commanded you? Who are you presently discipling? Who is presently discipling you? Everyone is called to be discipled and make disciples. This process, a lot of times, takes overcoming our pride. It’s on you to ask someone, “Would you be willing to disciple me? I see this maturity in you and I want that. Show me how.” You have to overcome your pride to ask that question and it takes overcoming your selfishness to say, “I’ll take the time to invest and disciple you because even though I’m busy, you’re worth it because that’s what my mission is, that’s what Christ has called me to do.
So oftentimes we really just overcomplicate the discipleship piece. It’s simple. It’s being in relationship with other believers, teaching each other the word, praying together, fasting together, being in fellowship and community and spurring each other on with intentionality. Not just when it happens organically, but intentionally. That’s all it is. For those of you who have been coming to Vine faithfully, our seed groups are some of the most fertile grounds for discipleship, these smaller, more intimate groups that are meeting in our homes when we’re not here together on the weekends. The facilitators in those groups, the folks opening up their homes, those showing hospitality, they’re serving, that’s service. Are you in one of those seed groups right now and completely missing an opportunity to disciple that is right there in front of you? Are you looking at that seed group as just another place that you can go get more head knowledge and learn more about Christ, but not looking at a way to pour into others and be poured into and to disciple each other. That’s what the purpose of the seed group is. It’s not just to get more head knowledge. For this whole service, put together today on the weekends, there’s not a single paid staff member. Everyone here is a volunteer. Every single person involved from the people with the children from the people bringing the donuts to the worship team, there’s not a single paid person at Vine. This is service which is worship.
So in closing, now that we’ve discussed the things that impede our service. Pride and all its different manifestations and we’ve also discussed how we can counteract those impediments through spiritual growth and development and through discipleship. What are the next steps for us here at Vine to activate this intentional service within the community where we’ve been placed and what are some of the outcomes that we can expect by doing that? Jeremiah 29:7 says, “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Isaiah 58:10 says, “if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. That word ‘welfare’ in the Jeremiah scripture translated in the Hebrew means ‘Shalom’ which means absolute peace. The peace that was referred to in John 17:27 which says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” It’s that kind of peace. So let’s do a fun activity here. Let’s take the word ‘welfare’ and replace it with the word ‘peace’ in Jeremiah—But seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its peace you will find your peace.
So what can we expect as we launch these ministries in just a moment in break-out groups? In the break-out groups we’ll talk about how we can serve the large percentage of students in need of healthy food, the basketball team and its programs, and the faculty and staff who work so tirelessly. So what can we expect as we begin to activate and engage in that way? Well, if we take the Word of God at face value, which we should, what we can expect is that our light will shine in the darkness and that we will find our peace in the peace of this community. Before I close in prayer and break out into different groups I wanted to share one final scripture. Its purpose is to unite us all in one body, in one effort and vision to share this community here at Liberty in Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley. Philippians 2:1-5 says, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
[Break out groups]