Shaped for Serving God

Shaped for Serving God 1 Peter 4:10-11

We have been looking at why God created us and has left us here on this earth. Our 4th purpose in life is to serve God by serving others. Some people want to serve God but they don’t want to serve others. But we can’t do that. The only way we can serve God is by serving others. Paul says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). God created you just the way He wanted you to be, and He prepared a special assignment for you. The word “ministry” is often misunderstood. When we talk about a “minister” we often think of a pastor. But the Bible says every believer is a minister! Not every believer is a pastor, but every believer is a minister. Ministry is using the gifts and abilities God has given you to help someone else. All believers in Christ are ministers. God has saved us so we can serve others. Today we will see how to do ministry like Jesus, how to let His life and His character show though us. God has given us a wonderful model for service. God came to earth and became took the humble position of a slave. Though He was God He did not demand and cling to His rights as God (Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus showed us how to serve others. He told His disciples when they were arguing about who would sit next to Him in heaven in the places of honor, “Even I came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) How do we learn to serve like Jesus? To have His attitude toward others?

1. Serving like Jesus means being available. After Jesus taught His disciples about serving others, He left the city of Jericho with a huge crowd following Him. He was on His way to Jerusalem, knowing the cross was ahead. Two blind men began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped in the road and called, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ (Matthew 20:30- 32). Jesus stopped. In all His busyness, with a huge crowd following Him, He stopped. If we want to be used by God, we must be willing to be interrupted. When you read the Gospels, you will see that most of Jesus’ ministry and His miracles were interruptions. If we want to serve like Jesus and experience His power in our lives, we need to be available. Look at interruptions as opportunities to serve. There are several things that keep us from being available. Self-centeredness is a big enemy. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:4, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” That means we will have to make adjustments in our schedule so we have time for God to change our daily agenda. When we are focused on ourselves, we have a hard time seeing the needs of others, or stopping long enough to let Jesus use us to help them. Make time for what is really important. The big enemy of compassion is busyness. We get too busy and don’t have time to serve. We have a “Do not Disturb” sign on our hearts. We don’t want people to bother us. We don’t want to stop when others have needs. (This doesn’t mean that we have no boundaries or that we say yes to every opportunity. Jesus took time to rest and to get away from the crowds with His disciples.) We need to focus on the needs of others. Another thing that keeps us from being used by God is perfectionism. We want everything to be perfect and just right. Then we will serve. But if we wait for perfect conditions, we will never get anything done! (see Ecclesiastes 11:4) We have unrealistic expectations and are not available because we don’t think we are mature enough. Real servants do the best they can with what they have. They don’t wait. They practice hospitality even when their house is not in perfect shape. It is easy to make excellence more important than it should be. “If you can’t do it first class, don’t even try.” But in the New Testament we see believers using their gifts as soon as they come to Christ. In small ways, they begin helping and serving others. Materialism is another enemy that keeps us from serving. Are we going to seek God first and serve others, or are we going to pursue money and wealth? If we don’t have time to serve, we need to make some adjustments. People who serve like Jesus are available.

2. Serving like Jesus means being grateful. When we remember all that God has done for us, we will be full of gratitude and serve with grateful hearts. God loved us and has given us new life through Christ. He forgave us. One thing that keeps us from having a grateful heart is comparing and criticizing. Paul reminds us in Romans 14:4, “Who are you to criticize someone else’s servant? The Lord will determine whether His servant has been successful.” Competition with others doesn’t make sense. We are all on the same team and have the same goal—to show others how wonderful God is. He has given us different abilities and different tasks. We need to appreciate how the Lord is using others, rather than criticizing and questioning. Paul mentions Christians who were serving Christ with questionable motives. They were trying to stir up trouble for Paul. What does he say? “Some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill…The important things is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” (Philippians 1:15; 18). We are not to criticize others who do their ministry in a different way from us. We can thank the Lord that He is using them. Sometimes we have wrong motivation as we serve. Jesus reminded the disciples about this in Matthew 6:1. “When you do your good deeds, don’t try to show off. If you do, you won’t get a reward from your Father in heaven.” Self-promotion and being a servant don’t mix. Sometimes we serve for the wrong reasons. We want others to like us. We want to be admired. We want God to do something for us. We serve but we think about how humble we are. When we lose our gratitude in serving the Lord and others, it shows that we might have the wrong motivation. When we serve with a grateful heart, we can keep going not matter how people respond to us. Serving like Jesus means we will be grateful—grateful for what He has done in our lives and grateful for how He is using others.

3. Serving like Jesus means being faithful. We don’t quit in the middle of our assignment. At the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth, He prays and says to the Father, “I brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me.” (John 17:4) I want to be able to say that when I get to heaven. Jesus did not give up. He served the Father every day. If we are going to be like Him, we will keep on serving as long as we are alive. You may retire from your job someday, but we never retire from ministry. We don’t retire from serving others. “The one thing that is required of servants is that they be faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2) God never forgets the smallest thing we do for others. “God will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.” (Hebrews 6:10). God doesn’t forget the small acts of kindness that we do to help others. We need to learn the difference between significance and prominence. My nose is prominent, but I could lose it and still live. It’s prominent but not significant. But if I lost my liver or my heart, I would die. Sometimes we think if something is very visible, it is important. But often it is what goes on behind the scenes that is important. The small things we do can have big consequences. A number of years ago, two teenage boys tried to come into a church service. But it was full and they could not find any seats. They turned around and decided to leave since there was no place to sit. But someone helped them find 2 seats. That night both of those boys accepted Christ and became Christians. One of those boys was Billy Graham who has led millions of people to Christ by his preaching. The smallest things can be very significant. Nothing we do for the Lord is ever useless (1 Corinthians 15:58). We can either waste our life or invest it. The best use of life is to invest it in what will last forever. One day we will stand before God and He will say to us, “What did you do with what I gave you—the gifts and abilities, the experiences and education and family experiences?” How will we answer? “Well, God I was busy with my ambitions and plans and never had time to serve You.” What will God say? “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.” We may think that no one is watching us. But God is. If we serve Him faithfully, He will give us an eternal reward. “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things so I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s joy.” (Matthew 25:21) More than anything else, I want God to be able to say that about each of us. My prayer is that when you stand before God one day, that He will look into your eyes and say to you, “Good job! Well done! You did what I wanted you to.” Is God going to be able to say “well done” to you? “You spent your life in serving Me. Well done!” Or are you too busy to serve Him? You have other priorities and God is not one of them. Don’t waste your life! Serve God. That is far more important than our career or our hobbies. Those things wouldn’t last. We were created to serve God by serving others.