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"Attitude of a Servant" Mark 9:30-41

by Clancy Nixon

September 24, 2006

Church of the Holy Spirit

Broadlands, Virginia

www.holyspiritanglican.org.

During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of

soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. The leader of the soldiers was shouting

instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he replied "Sir,

I am a corporal!" The stranger dismounted and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers.

The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job

like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come

and help you again." The man in civilian clothes was George Washington.

I don't know if that story is true or like those other George Washington stories,

like not lying about chopping down the cherry tree, or throwing a silver dollar across the

Potomac. But I do know we are drawn to leaders whose attitudes haven't been corrupted

by their power or changed by their titles.

Jesus is such a One. Jesus is the One who washed the feet of his disciples. Jesus

is the One who gave up his privileges in Heaven to come to earth to live life as a humble

working man. Jesus is the One who spent most of his time with humble men, training

them to become world-changers. Jesus is the One who humbled himself to death, even

death on a cross, so that you and I could live the abundant life. Jesus is the One who

came to serve, not to be served.

So much in life is determined by your attitude towards it. As they walked down

the road toward Jerusalem behind Jesus, the disciples argued about who was greatest

among them. When Jesus confronted them about it, they were silent. They had the

silence of shame. They knew it was wrong to voice their own competitive impulses, but

they did it anyway, because the attitudes of their hearts spilled out into their speech. Who

would have thought that these men who had left all to follow Jesus would end up arguing

over their position, their pecking order, their relative rank? Pride is a very common sin.

Many of us think better of ourselves than we ought. When little boys look in a mirror,

they often strike a pose as a hero they think of themselves as Superman! We like to

think that we deserve better than we have. We are fed this attitude by the media culture.

So McDonald's tells us in their ubiquitous ads, "You deserve a break today." This

attitude of "I deserve better" when in reality we are very well taken care of, is a very old

sin. It is as old as the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve thought that they had been

deprived of something that they deserved.

Jesus gives us his own standard of greatness: Mark 9, verse 35: "He who desires

to be first, must become the very last, and the servant of all." "Be the servant of all!"

Somehow I don't think that a book by that title would make it to the top of the best-seller

list in the self-help section of your bookstore. Instead, I see titles like Think Big and

Grow Rich, and Looking Out for Number One. Be the servant of all what can that kind

of attitude mean?

Notice here that Jesus is not encouraging co-dependence enabling others to

indulge their sin, for example, enabling a family member in the sin of laziness, is not

serving them in love. The call to servanthood is not a call to be a doormat. Servants of

God call each other higher into servanthood. So parents are called to train their children

to be servants. Children should have chores, and learn how to esteem others higher than

themselves. John Hickey was telling me this week that when he grew up, his siblings

would fight over the privilege of serving each other. They would insist that others take

the better piece of meat at dinner. They lived Hebrews 10:24, which says, "In response to

all he has done for us, let us outdo each other in being helpful and kind to each other and

in doing good." (Living)

At Mark 9:37, Jesus tells us that being the servant of all also means welcoming

little children in his name, and when we do that, we welcome Jesus. Jesus is messing

with our minds here with this paradox; he wants to change our attitudes. This principle

has application beyond children. Jesus used children as the object for this lesson because

children of that day were powerless, they had no influence or status, they were needy.

Jesus says we are not to seek and serve those who can help us through their influence or

power or wealth, but instead to seek and serve those who are powerless to do anything

for us. The paradox is that by serving those with little honor, we serve the One to whom

highest honor is due, even Christ. The truth about human beings is that there are no

insignificant people. We are all eternal beings. Christ died for every person We are to

serve the powerless.

It was hard for me to learn this lesson. I had come to live and work in

Washington D.C. in the first place precisely because it was the center of power. God

changed my attitude about service through compulsion! In 1990, Ginger and I began

attending Church of the Apostles in Fairfax. Will was one year old, and we were relieved

that Will seemed happy in the Nursery at COA. After about two months at COA, I was

informed that every parent of a nursery age child was expected to spend time in the

Nursery taking care of all the nursery age children. At first, this concept offended me. I

thought, "Why can't somebody else do this?" I thought that this requirement was not

about helping me, it was about helping these babies. But I was the one who needed help;

I needed my selfish attitude broken. After some time, I became willing to serve in the

Nursery, reasoning that it was our turn, and Ginger needed a break from babies more than

I did. After I had served for a few weeks, I felt deprived of the worship that I had been so

attracted to in the first place when I came to COA. Then, I found that my heart was

warming to these babies that I had cared for, for several weeks. Lastly, I found that I

even looked forward to serving the babies and their parents by giving them the

opportunity to worship without having to change a diaper. When you serve the powerless,

you serve Jesus. He says so in verse 37!

CHS family, most of you have learned this message that I was so slow to learn.

One of the applications of the Pareto Principle is that in church life, 20% of the people do

80% of the work. I added up the numbers for CHS this weekend, and over 70% of the

active members of our church are also serving right now in some way through our

church. Church, you rock! That is an awesome statistic that is, if statistics can be

awesome! Only God is awesome. It is awesome how God is working through you.

I want to highlight a servants today we could speak of several others, but this

one stands out in my mind today. Pam Manley has been our undisputed Queen of

Hospitality for four years at CHS. She has arranged for, overseen and personally

provided hundreds of great meals for our community: Sunday morning food, Alpha

dinners, Newcomer lunches, pot trust lunches, and more. She has served and served, and

finally she has stepped down from most of it for a well deserved rest. Thank you Pam!

Well done, good and faithful servant! Pam, please stand so we can honor you.

Have you ever wondered why you're here at Church of the Holy Spirit? I'll tell

you why. You're here at Holy Spirit because God knew that you had something to give

back. He did not bring you here just to sit and soak and enjoy. He brought you here to

serve. And He knew that you have something to share a talent, skill, strong back,

desire to pray, or whatever.

One day you're going to stand before God and He's going to say to you, "What

did you do with what I gave you, the talents, the spiritual gifts? Will you say, "Well,

God, I was busy with my ambitions and plans. I never got around to serving You." If so,

God's going to tell you, "What were you thinking? Do you think I put you on earth to

live for yourself? I put you here to serve Me by serving others." It is my calling to help

you stand before God one day, so that God will look into your eyes and He'll say to you,

"Good job! Well done! You did what I put you here on earth to do." I make no apology

in saying to you that the most important thing you'll ever do with your life is serving God

in ministry. It's more important than your career, it's more important than everything

else you can think of because they aren't going to last. But this is. You were put here on

earth to serve.

Let's bow our heads. Would you pray this? "Father I understand that I am called

to serve You by serving others. Forgive me for the times I've put a "do not disturb" sign

on my heart. Help me to see the interruptions as opportunities to serve. Help me to make

time for what matters most. When I get to heaven, I want to hear You say, "Well done,

good and faithful servant." In Your name I pray, Amen.

Open Mike - I want to invite anyone to come forward for a very brief 45 -60 second -

testimony or God story about one of two things: either 1) How God met and changed you

as you served Him; or 2) How God met and changed you through someone's else's

service from which you benefited. Please come forward, and please ask the children to

come in from Sunday School.

[Testimonies]

Today, we have four things we would like to do: Thank people; Anoint our leaders; Have

a ministry fair after the service; and Invite you to participate in a "Thank-you Meal

Exchange."

First: we want to thank God and thank the people who served for their service

through CHS, including some people who have served for six years! Let's give the glory

to God as we say "Thank you!" to all those who have served sacrificially by this clap

offering....

Second, we want to invite you to join us immediately after the service for our

Ministry Fair in the Cafeteria just behind this gym. There you will find booths for

different ministries with literature and an opportunity for you to sign up to indicate an

interest in a particular ministry. If you sign up, you are not committing to anything yet,

except to receive a phone call about an opportunity to serve. Another way you can

indicate an interest is to fill out this pumpkin colored insert titled Ministry Opportunities.

Please pull that flyer out, take a pen, and put your name on it on the top we neglected

to put space on the flyer for your name. You can turn that flyer in with the collection

plate, at the Fair, or just give it to an usher.

Third, we want the congregation to recognize who our ministry leaders are

for the coming year; to give these leaders a gift for encouragement as they go forth in

their ministries; and to anoint them for service. We are asking people to make a one-

year commitment to serve; at the end of that year, you are released from this ministry

unless you re-up for it. I'm going to ask our current ministry leaders to step forward as I

call your name.

If we have forgotten someone, please forgive us; our purpose is to bless and to

anoint for ministry, not to exclude or slight anybody. At the communion time, I will be

standing right here instead of serving communion, and I invite anyone who would like a

blessing for their ministry to step forward to me, tell me what their ministry is in single

word or two, and I will anoint you for that ministry. For example, if you have ministries

of evangelism with your neighbors, and you also counsel with troubled teenagers, when

you come to me, simply say "evangelism and counseling," and I will anoint you with oil

and pray a short blessing over you for those ministries

So let's begin by calling the current ministry leaders forward. Please come up

front quickly and line up here from the left in front of the altar rail.

[Then I say this general prayer for all:] Please join me as we pray for these

leaders in the Church: You might want to stretch forth a hand like this as we pray:

"Heavenly Father, we ask that you send your Holy Spirit on these ones, and anoint them

with all the spiritual gifts that they need for ministry; give them servant hearts; help them

to be concerned with your glory, not with their own, Father. In Jesus name we pray,

Amen."

]Then I move toward each one and anoint them on the head.]

The fourth thing we want to do on our Ministry Fair day is to offer you an

opportunity to get to know a servant of the church better, and to personally thank them

for their service. It's our Thank-you Meal exchange, and Ginger will tell you more

about that.