August 31, 2008

 "Servants"

1 Corinthians 4: 1- 13

Slavery and indentured servitude is illegal in our country.  Yet, there are many in our society who claim to be servants.  Waiters and Waitresses in restaurants are now commonly called "servers."  Government officials-- including politicians and IRS agents-- are called "public servants."  Even salespersons-- like some irritating telemarketers-- are said to be involved in customer service.  Now, as Christians, we know that we too are called to be "servants," even those of us who are called to positions of power and leadership within our church and community.  Promise Keepers used to rightly describe the husband's headship within the home as being a position of servant leadership?

But for all our talk about servanthood, we may have a little trouble understanding what the term means?    What picture comes to your mind when you hear this word?  Who do you think of being a servant?  A server in a restaurant?  An IRS agent?  A politician?  A fireman?  A husband?  Who really is a servant?

This morning we will look at some of what it means for as Christians to be servants.  Certainly, we cannot cover everything.  But, we will examine what the Lord is saying to us through his servant Paul in the scripture we read for this morning.

In verse 1 Paul says of himself and Apollos,

So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. [or as another version puts "steward of God's mysteries."]

Some of the Christians in the Corinthian church had divided into factions:  One faction emphasized Paul and his teachings; another, Apollos, another, Peter, and another even claimed to be pure followers of Christ.

And so Paul in our scripture is saying that the people should not regard him, Apollos, and any other missionary as the great leader or wise sage, but as servants of Christ those entrusted with the secret things of God.  And not only should the Corinthians Christians view Paul and their other leaders this way, they should also view themselves this way.   For, in v. 16 he says,

Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 

And thus through the inspired words of his servant Paul, our Lord calls us, his disciples today, to be a servant and then explains what that means for our lives.

Note Paul calls himself not just a servant, but a servant OF CHRIST.  A few minutes ago, I asked what picture came to mind when you thought of the word "servant."  I suspect that many of us probably were thinking of slaves in that horrible  part of our own national history-- of people who were bought and sold like livestock and who were forced to work for without pay for their masters. 

But, while there were some similarities, the status of the servants throughout much of the Roman empire in Paul's time was quite different from that of the slaves of our own history.  For example, some slaves were more learned than their masters.  Some were scribes and teachers.  Some were respected members of important households, who held positions of great trust.  Listen to this quote from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,

"Slaves did not constitute a class, since their status was entirely dependant on the status of their owners.  Those free persons, who had to work each day, without any certainty of finding it (day laborers) were at the bottom of the social-economic pyramid, not those in slavery." 

I was especially intrigued by the part of the quote that read, "their status was entirely dependant on the status of their owners."  Think about it.

The servants of the Roman Caesar or even of a Roman governor were very important people in those days.  They lived in more luxury and were more respected than many of the rich merchants.  And they had considerable power.  If a servant of the Caesar told you to do something, you better listen.

The status of a slave was entirely dependant on the status of his owner. Think about that.    When Paul calls both himself and Apollos  "servants of Christ," his status and Apollos' status are dependant on the status of Christ, who sits at right hand of Father and rules over the entire universe.    And the same is true for all who are servants of Christ.  Our importance is linked to importance of Christ.   As those who are servants of the Son of God, we too become children of God.

Paul writes this in Romans 8: 16- 17,

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Now, as reflect on who we are as servants, we must never forget how we got where we are today.  Executive consultant Richard Hagberg, mentioned the following incident in one of his articles in Fortune magazine,  

   "The head of a large company recently told me about an incident that occurred as he and his wife waited in line to get his driver's license renewed. He was frustrated at how long it was taking and grumbled to his wife, ‘Don't they know who I am?'

   She replied, ‘Yeah, you're a plumber's son who got lucky.'"

As Christians,  we have even less to brag about.  Not one of us can be prideful of who we are.  We are sinners, saved by the grace of God because of the sweat, suffering, and death of Jesus.  He did it all.  One important aspect of being a servant is to realize that we are who we are only because of our master.

Now there are many ways in which servants of Christ serve.  But, there is one overall task that is most important.  Paul also says that both Apollos and he are "those entrusted with the secret things of God."  You might recall that we said that another English Bible translated these words "stewards of God's mysteries."

A steward was simply a servant who was entrusted with a portion of his master's wealth.  He was one who managed a business or maybe even the household finances for his master. 

Now it's important to note what Paul said he was entrusted with.  He was a steward of "the secret things" or "mysteries" of God.  The mysteries of God refer to those hidden things of God that have now been revealed.  Once again, this is an exulted position.   Because he knew and trusted in Jesus Christ and was his servant,  Paul knew what most people in his world did not and do not know.  

In John 1: 18 we read,

No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

Throughout history people have tried to find God.  That's really how many of the religions of the world have begun. 

Sometime ago I saw a television program about people who follow the weird practice of "Gothic religion."  It involves belief in witches, vampires, and other macabre things.  On that show, one of the followers of this religion explained that she was attracted to it because she was seeking to see something beautiful beyond the dark side of life.  She was searching for something supernatural.  The knowledge that what we see is not all there is to reality  and the desire to discover the supernatural is something we are born with.   Within all of us there is the need to find God.  But, because our sin blinds us to him we cannot find him.  Instead we follow God's of our own imaginations.

In the words of Romans 1: 23,

We exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

But God was gracious to us.  That's why he sent Jesus.  That's why the truth about Jesus Christ came to our ancestors so long ago.  For us who can trace our ancestry to Europe, this "Gothic religion" actually includes ideas that come from our history.  It is a throwback to our pagan past.   But, God revealed to our ancestors what their sinful minds could never have discovered and they passed that mystery down to us. 

Romans 16: 25 tells us

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him- to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ!

We cannot take credit for this knowledge.  We cannot boast that because of our own enlightenment we have discovered a way to God.  Our knowledge of God came as a gift in and through Jesus Christ. 

But as we consider what has been given us, our Lord calls us to listen again this parable,

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Servants are those who must give account to their master what they have done with is property.  Someday we will not only be responsible to God for what we have done with the earthly wealth with which he has entrusted us, we will be responsible to him for what we have done with his gospel.  Yes, someday God is going to hold all of his servants-- all of his stewards-- responsible for what they have done with the spiritual blessings with which he has entrusted them.  Look at v. 2. 

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Remember the comments of the master  to his faithful servants in Jesus' "Parable of the Talents,"

"Well done good and faithful servant."

And the only thing that really matters in life-- the only thing that really determines whether we have been a success or failure is the master's judgment on our faithfulness.  There are many things that we use to measure success that really aren't all that important.  But, as servants, faithfulness to our Lord is all important.

That's why Paul could so boldly say what he did in verses 3- 13.  It didn't matter what other people thought of his ministry.  No, Paul is not saying that we should ignore the counsel of others as to how we could minister more effectively.  Rather, he is saying, "It really doesn't matter whether you judge my preaching or teaching to be more or less effective than Apollos."  That is of very little importance to me.  The only thing that matters is whether I have been faithful to task that my master has given me.  That's what it means to be servants.  Servants really aren't concerned what others think of them.  They are concerned with faithfully obeying their master.

I remember reading a children's fairy tale about a king who had magical powers.  This king would reward his bravest, most valiant knights by making a gleaming star appear on their battle shield. 

There was once a young knight who earnestly sought to receive his star.  But, on the day of the big battle against the giants, the king gave him a key and told him to stay behind at the castle and raise the drawbridge and lock the castle gate at the first sign of trouble.   All day while the battle raged, he did this boring seemingly insignificant job.  At one point a wounded knight came from the battle and offered to trade places with him, but he refused.  Another time a beggar woman came to the door to ask for food.  She too offered to guard the castle so that he could fight in the battle.  But, again he refused.  She became angry and told him he was coward-- afraid to fight.  Yet, he stayed at his post.   Finally, an old man came, offered him a magic sword if he would use it to help his fellow knights in battle.  And when the young knight refused to leave his assigned position, the old man charged the castle.  (You see, he was a giant in disguise.)  The knight raised the draw bridge and locked the gate and the giant went away in anger. 

The soldiers of the king won a great victory totally defeating the giants.  They fought bravely and many performed might deeds of valor.  In the victory celebration, however, the kings shocked all the knights by awarding the star to the young knight who guarded the castle. 

"But, I didn't do anything," stammered the young man.  "I only saw one enemy and when he charged I raised the drawbridge-- hardly an heroic deed." 

The king responded, "Oh, but you did do something-- you were faithful to the task I gave you.  And that is all that matters."

Children, young Christians, older Christians, someday when the battle is over our Master will return.  On that day, it's not going to matter whether we were great evangelists whose preaching brought many to faith in Jesus Christ.  It's not going to matter whether we were sports stars or business executives whose testimonies appeared in Christian magazines.  It's not going to matter whether we were Christian music superstars or whether we were best-selling Christian authors, whose names adorn the jackets of many books.  It's not going to matter how popular we were, how rich we were, how much of the world we saw, or what great things we did.  The only thing that will matter is whether or not we were faithful servants-- faithful stewards-- faithful to what our master required of us.

God has placed you and me in this part of his world, in different communities and neighborhoods, in different places of work and different schools.  We go around in different circles, having different friends.  And no matter where we are, all around us is brokenness.  We not only read about it in our newspapers or hear about it on the television news, we see it in the lives of those we meet everyday.  There is a spiritual hunger that people are trying to fill with material goods, partying, sex, and weird religions.  We have been entrusted with mystery that has brought us real joy and salvation.  We have been made stewards of true spiritual food that nourishes souls.  The question we must face is: What are doing with what we were given?  Are we spending our lives eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves?  Are spending our time taking care of number one?  Or are we feeding the spiritual hungry the only food that will satisfy their souls? Are sharing the mystery that he has given us?   It's good for us to reflect on such questions, for someday they will be what our master will ask of us.  Amen.