December 18, 2022 - Servant Leadership
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*Thanks to Jon
The last time WE were together - 2 weeks ago - we walked through the ANOINTING of David - BY Samuel.
Now - AFTER his anointing - David wasn’t RUSHED to the front of the line...
There was no CELEBRATION...
No Happy King Day party...
There was simply an ANOINTING of David - by Samuel.
David - as we’re told in the text - WAS NOT Samuel’s first choice...
He actually would have been Samuel’s LAST choice -
Samuel was ALL ABOUT Eliab being King -- one of David’s brothers - because he LOOKED the part...
Well - God corrects Samuel and says...
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
And so God here - (as we saw 2 weeks ago) ELEVATES the Spiritual - OVER the physical… over appearance!
And God then - reveals who the next King will be...
12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
David HERE - anointed as the next KING… NOT just in front of Jesse (his dad) and his brothers...
BUT ALSO - in the presence of the Elders of the city of Bethlehem...
4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
v6 - Next 3 words...
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”
So David here was ANOINTED by Samuel - in the presence of his family and the Elders...
Did the people KNOW who Samuel was?
Of COURSE!
The elders came to Samuel - TREMBLING…Why?
Because they KNEW he was - a PROPHET…and that God SPOKE THROUGH him!
Well - - these elders SEE Samuel ANOINT David… - and That’s gonna play into our message today...
So let’s get to it - AFTER David is anointed - we pick up here in the text...
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.
15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you.
16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.”
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.”
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul.
21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.
22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
NOW - after gazing at the story...
What sticks out to you after hearing this…?
it SEEMS - that David here - he’s getting BOSSED around quite a bit is he NOT?
Go get this kid...
BRING him HERE...
PLAY your instrument for me…(do it - NOW)
Ok thanks...
OK - PLAY it AGAIN…now - do it!
Ok Stop playing - play again!
For SOMEONE who had just been ANOINTED by THE PROPHET - (God Himself-THRU Samuel) … not only in front of WITNESSES...
His family - AND the elders of the CITY...
David SURE IS getting PRODDED and PULLED here!
David is the FUTURE KING!
Now in our text - we’re simply told that David was anointed...
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
It doesn’t SAY what Samuel SAID to David...
BUT = if we just go back to the LAST ANOINTING that Samuel performed…what did he SAY then?
1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
NOW - again - we DON’T KNOW what Samuel said to David - but we can rest assured that he said SOMETHING! - AND that David KNEW what this ANOINTING was all about!
When Saul SENT for David - and David began to see what this call was all about..
David CERTAINLY could have PUSHED BACK - and said - Uhhh…no! I’m the NEW SHERIFF in town!
But he DIDN’T do that…why?
SLIDE:
Servant Leadership
And something we need to know about Servant Leadership = is this...
SLIDE: Servant Leadership: Serves in Humility Before the Lord
Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership is a Leadership that OPERATES - ALWAYS in relation to CHRIST and HIS posture to the world.
What was THAT posture?
35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
We’re going to come back to this verse all day - BECAUSE it gives us the roadmap to this KIND of Leadership!
SLIDE:
If I am to be first, I must be last...
(Repeat after me)
THIS is the heart posture of a Servant Leader!
And you can see how THIS posture PRODUCES - Humility of heart!
And the apostle Paul actually described this kind of humility...
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.
Count OTHERS - more significant than yourself!
THIS is what servant leaders do!
And it’s THIS HERE - that leads to SOMETHING...
it leads to this...
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.”
Mark 10:45 is LIVED OUT - because of Humility of the Heart - BEFORE the Lord!
I count OTHERS as MORE IMPORTANT than myself - and THEREFORE - I SERVE them!!
And of COURSE we can look to Christ as an example of this...
BUT - we can also see others in the Scriptures who displayed this kind of HUMBLE leadership!
BUT this HUMILITY - is a Humility BEFORE the Lord...
It STARTS there!
THINK of how many people attend church Sunday after Sunday...
NOT as servant leaders...
What do they need MORE OF?
Do they need more ENERGY?
Do they need more DRIVE?
more ambition?
more INITIATIVE?
m…a..y..b..e
But what we DO KNOW - is that they need more - HUMILITY before the LORD!
it starts there!
It’s about STANDING before God - and EMBRACING the reality that - I EXIST - FOR HIM.
God tells me to COUNT others as MORE IMPORTANT than MYSELF!
But know THIS -
I’m called to COUNT HIM as MOST important!
The apostle PAUL - a MAN of unmatched ARROGANCE - preconversion....
SAID THIS - after embracing Jesus!...
24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
DO YOU HEAR - the Humility - BEFORE the LORD!!????
We need to PRAY this EVERY SINGLE DAY - because SO often - we WAKE UP - and WE DO count our lives of VALUE…AND as PRECIOUS to OURSELVES!
We count OURSELVES as MORE IMPORTANT than others...
We count OUR PREFERENCES as MORE important than OTHERS!!
We SO OFTEN - wake up in the morning, and adorn themselves with our List of Preferences
Instead of coming in READY to SERVE - we wake up and adorn ourselves with our SHINY whistle - so we can play - Referee
And they exist in the body - to blow our whistle and call fouls.
That’s called a REFEREE!
And here’s what we know about Referees… you let me know if this is true...
When referees retire - no one cares.
Referees retire all the time - do we care? - No.
They’re not IN THE GAME - they’re not COMMITTED to - WIN
They’re simply there to blow their whistle.
LISTEN - We need a NEW DOSE of humility - EVERY morning - if we wanna LIVE like Jesus lived!
The APATHETIC church-goer needs more HUMILITY before the Lord!
If they want to be a SERVANT Leader...
So that they can say WITH PAUL -
I do not account my COMFORT of any VALUE nor as PRECIOUS to myself…if ONLY I may finish my course - and COMPLETE the work that He gave me to do - to testify to the gospel of the grace of God!
Apathetic church-goer - you need
- More energy?
- More initiative?
Maybe -
- BUT MORE THAN THAT - you need more HUMILITY before the LORD!
How about the PERSON (whose NOT APATHETIC…but) who DOES get involved (who DOES LEAD) - but CAN’T SEEM to do it - WITHOUT (attitude, arrogance)??
That person needs - MORE HUMILITY before the Lord!
…So that they can SAY with Paul...
I do not account
MY WAY - of any value
MY IDEAS - of any value
MY TRADITIONS - of any value
MY PREFERENCES of any VALUE nor as PRECIOUS to myself…if ONLY I may finish my course - and COMPLETE the work that He gave me to do - to testify to the gospel of the grace of God!
Servant Leadership serves in Humility before the Lord!!
And if we know the story of David - we know that David - in relation to Saul - DID this very thing!
He SERVED under Saul - in humility (longer than MANY thought he probably should have)
We’ll SEE down the road a bit - that Saul WANTS to take David OUT!!
But David DOES NOT respond by taking out SAUL....
He instead - SERVES!!
But that’s what Servant Leadership does!
It SURRENDERS to the Lord - SO THAT others can be impacted by THAT humility!
21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.
The humility of David made him a great Servant Leader...
But what else? - Back to our text...
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul.
What do we see here?
We see a man/youth - whose life (at THIS point) - was never gonna be the same!
David here - left his home - and was placed into Saul’s service.
And so what do we see...
SLIDE: Servant Leadership: Serves in Sacrifice Unto the Lord
Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership
If we go back to our Jesus verse today...
35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
THIS requires - Sacrifice!
I’m quite certain - that just like ALL OF US - David enjoyed being HOME!
He enjoyed the comforts of home!
*How many of you have a favorite CHAIR at home?
a place that’s YOUR seat?
A favorite room in your house?
A favorite bathroom? :)
A favorite SPOT on the couch?
it was probably the same with David!
YET - Servant Leadership - SERVES others in Sacrifice
He WALKED AWAY from that COMFORT...
He placed his COMFORT on the altar of OBEDIENCE - altar of LEADERSHIP!
How about you?
When it comes to church - this body of believers -
…do you often find yourself speaking in the 2nd PERSON… - saying things like - YOU really need to...
You really should do this/that
What you’re REALLY saying is =
[You] really should SACRIFICE!
*We all know this is true - Kids/Children are professional “2nd-Person Speakers”.
When your kid says - I’M HUNGWY...
What are they saying??
They’re saying - YOU should sacrifice and make me something
When your kid says - “I’m HOT!!”
What are they saying??
They’re saying - YOU should sacrifice and make me NOT hot
When your kid says - “I’m FIRSTY”
What are they saying?
They’re ACTUALLY speaking in 2nd person - SAYING - you should make me NOT firsty!
That’s children - but we as adults do the same thing…but we’re a little more tricky with it...
We’ll SPEAK in the 1st person - BUT - in the 1st person PLURAL...
[WE] - really should do this/that
But what they really mean is - YOU should really do that
[YOU] really should SACRIFICE
*Servant Leaders speak differently BECAUSE they THINK differently...
Servant Leaders speak in the 1st person, but not just the first person - but the 1st person SINGULAR...
[I] will do that
[I] will SACRIFICE! - FOR you - SO YOU DON’T have to!
Servant LEADERS get in the game...
*Darice - (2) managers:
- 1 manager told people what to do...
- Another manager WORKED ALONGSIDE everyone else.
Servant Leaders - GET IN THE GAME....in the action!
How does Paul describe this?
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
WALK this way Paul says...
LIVE life as a SACRIFICE to - - God!
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
LIVE this way Paul says -
a LIVING death...
THINK through that - Paul LIVED THAT WAY - FOR YOU! and me
His beatings - His imprisonments - His stonings...
ALL - in Sacrificial SERVICE - FOR YOU! and me
And we see this same thing from others throughout Scripture...
Let’s look at Joshua… God had PROMISED His people - the - - Promised Land...
BUT - listen to what it TOOK to receive the blessing!
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
WOW - so for Joshua - The LAND was HIS - It was Israel’s...
BUT - He HAD to GO GET IT!
He had to SACRIFICE his comfort - and GO!!
He couldn’t just STAND WHERE HE WAS - and - CLAIM victory!
He had to - GET IN THE GAME!
JOSHUA - the LEADER of the people - HAD to get in the game!
The LEADER had to sacrifice…HUMBLY - before the Lord!
And DAVID does the same thing in our text today!
He placed his COMFORT on the altar of Obedience....
And in DOING SO - he SERVED (AS AN ANOINTED King) - another man!
in loyalty to GOD first - and THAT man!
PLAY the LYRE NOW!
ok, yes sir
OK STOP!
Ok, yes sir
DOH, PLAY it again!!
Ok, yes sir
Leaving his COMFORTS - David SACRIFICED - and served!
He stayed HUMBLE… in having been ANOINTED yet - choosing to SERVE...
AND
He SACRIFICED - leaving his comforts to DO SO...
But that’s not all we see about Servant Leadership!
Back to our text…!
22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
Servant Leadership - has an AIM (a target) that it aims FOR....
SLIDE: Servant Leadership: Serves Others the Blessing of the Lord
Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership
Let’s go back to v21...
21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.
Being an ARMOR Bearer - meant that David would CARRY the armor for Saul...
He would CARRY the large shield and other weapons for the King...
And so PART of David’s SACRIFICE - was that he would CARRY Saul’s ARMOR for him...
*How many of you would love to have someone with you - at all times - who would just CARRY things for you?? :)
That would be a nice BLESSING no?
*Has anyone ever had someone...
cook you a meal? (were you blessed?) _ *we’ve had people text us (Hey, dinner is on it’s way!) -
ALL those gift cards I got in October - WHAT a BLESSING - Thank you!
help you paint your house?
Cut your grass?
Rake your leaves?
We’ve ALL had these things happen - and we consider these things - BLESSINGS!!
We’ve been blessed!
Now THOSE are physical things!
But what about the OTHER side of life?
23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
Saul had been TORMENTED by an evil Spirit...
And this torment is something I’m sure we’ve all experienced before...
You ever get in a FUNK?
You ever get to a place where NO MATTER what’s going on around you - WHERE you’re at...
You’re just ANGRY!
Frustrated
ANNOYED
We’re not told TOO much about this spirit that tormented Saul - BUT I can imagine we’ve at TIMES - have been there...
So David comes and PLAYS the lyre....FOR Saul...
And Saul - in hearing David PLAY - becomes REFRESHED!
And the evil spirit LEAVES Saul!
What we see is that IN David’s playing - he SERVED (like a good waiter) - the Blessing of God - to Saul!
Servant Leaders - BLESS those around them!
And not just ANY kind of blessing - but the Blessing of God!
What are we told earlier in this section of text?
18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.”
How does this verse end?
David was known as a man for WHOM - the Lord was with him!
So David - in HUMBLE submission to God…Sacrificed....and BLESSED Saul!
And this BLESSING - wasn’t just a PHYSICAL blessing…but a Spiritual blessing as well!
And because we KNOW this - if we look again at v21
21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.
- I would ALSO SAY - it was clear that David was Saul’s SPIRITUAL ARMOR - bearer…as well!
David REFRESHED Saul spiritually…in his life
David wasn’t a - Whistle blower...
he was a SERVANT leader!
And that’s what Servant Leaders do ...
They NOT only BLESS those around them physically...
But they BLESS them Spiritually as well…!
WHY?
Because the BLESSING they SERVE - is the Blessing of GOD!
What have we seen today?
SUMMARY
Servant Leadership
Serves in Humility Before the Lord
Serves in Sacrifice Unto the Lord
Serves Others the Blessing of the Lord
HUMILITY:
Servant Leadership starts with HUMILITY before God
That our HUMBLE SUBMISSION to HIM - would OVERFLOW onto others thru our SERVICE to them!
We are to COUNT OTHERS as more significant/important THAN OURSELVES!
I’m called to consider your MORNING as more important than MY morning
Your CONVENIENCE as MORE IMPORTANT than my convenience
YOUR comfort as more important than MY COMFORT...
AND you’re called to do the same to me…and everyone else.
WHEN THAT is the heart posture of a church - that church will be FULL of - - REFRESHED souls
When that is NOT the heart posture of a church - that church will be FULL of - CONSUMERS...
Those who TAKE…who take your time, your effort, your resources...
BUT NEVER give back.
They just - TAKE
And in THAT environment - you end up with - a few people who are ready to wave the white flag.
WHY would there be people in a church READY to wave the WHITE FLAG?
Because - Servant Leaders - Sacrifice.
And when ONLY a FEW - understand that church is LIKE a BATTLESHIP - where everyone ACTUALLY has a job to do
Those people pick up the slack for everyone else who TREATS church like a CRUISE SHIP INSTEAD of a battleship.
Why do people go on CRUISES?
They go a CRUISES - to be - served!
Church - this place - is a battleship!
The war is - RAGING!
Are we in the FIGHT? -
Or are we waiting for our DRINK??
Listen - every single person in here - IS a LEADER!
You are either leading people TO JESUS...
Or
You are leading people AWAY FROM HIM...
MAY we be a people - who POUR OUT our lives for the sake of Christ and His message!
No more a CONSUMER!
But INSTEAD - Servant Leaders who SERVE OTHERS - the blessing of God!
Let’s Pray