Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

My mom turned 80 this year and when I talk to her it seems that she is always busy.

We invited them to come over today and they couldn’t come until later because they were serving coffee at their church.

Their life is full with all kinds of activities.

It seems that this is true for almost everyone.

We are all involved in many good things.

The demands of the family are always upon us, whether it is a parent, a spouse or a child.

The demands of a job are constant.

Our working hours take up at least 35% of our waking hours.

Then there are a lot of opportunities to get involved in the community.

I was impressed with those who organized and ran the Rosenort Festival last weekend.

They did a great job, but I know that it took a lot of hours to plan and run that event.

When did they find the time?

On top of that, we know that it is healthy for us to take care of ourselves.

We need to make sure that we get enough sleep, that we eat well and that we get some exercise.

Besides that we have life goals that we would like to accomplish – we would like to travel or to accomplish various projects.

Besides all of that, which is all good stuff, the church comes calling and inviting us to become involved in service in the church.

With all of that good involvement, when do we have time to be servants of Jesus?

Two weeks ago when I spoke about the beginning of the end I suggested that in light of the imminent return of Christ, Scripture calls us to be faithful to Jesus as His servants.

At the time I suggested that being a servant of Jesus does not mean quitting all of our other jobs, but rather seeing all we do as a service to Jesus.

Therefore, if we are servants of Jesus, the main question of our life must always be, “How can I be your servant today?”

I want to think about that question a little more with you this morning by asking, “Why should we make being a servant of Jesus the highest priority in our life?”

Most of us are quite comfortable in the life we live.

Even though it is very busy, we like the things we are involved in.

Why should we put serving Jesus ahead of caring for ourselves, serving our family, working in the church and doing our jobs?

Perhaps the best way to put this question is to ask, “What motivates us to serve Him?”

The Bible gives us many reasons and this morning I would like to share 8 of them with you.

!

I.                   What Motivates Us To Serve Christ?

!! A.                 Because of God’s Mercy Past

I have seen many people care for their aging parents with great compassion.

What motivates us to care so much for them?

Surely one reason is that we recognize all that they have done for us when we were children and throughout our life.

We know that they love us deeply and have cared for us and so we are glad to care for them.

In a similar way, we are glad to serve God because of all the things that He has done for us.

In Joshua 24, Joshua was motivating the people of Israel to give themselves fully to the service of God.

He inspired them with his own commitment and invited them to join him in that commitment.

We read in verses 16–18, “Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!

It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes.

He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.

And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land.

We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.”

Their willingness to serve God came from a recognition of all that He had done for them.

The writers of the New Testament do a similar thing.

For example, in Romans 12:1, Paul says, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

What is important to note here is the word, “therefore.”

The reason Paul uses the word “therefore” is because in the previous eleven chapters he has explained all of God’s faithful acts of mercy towards those who believe.

Just think of all that God has done for you and it will not be hard to commit yourself to serving Him above all.

Do it out of gratitude.

!! B.                 Because of Love

The Taj Mahal  is a mausoleum located in Agra, India.

It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal.(Wikipedia)

It is probably one of the most extravagant acts of love which has ever been expressed.

When we know that we are loved by someone or when we love someone, doing stuff for them is easy because we are motivated from the inside to respond in service.

In a context that speaks of servanthood, Paul comments in 2 Corinthians 5:14, "For the love of Christ urges us on…” the phrase “love of Christ” is ambiguous.

Does it mean the love Christ has for us or the love we have for Christ?

It could be either.

Perhaps it is ambiguous because it should be either.

When we know that we are loved by Christ, we are motivated to serve Him.

When we love Christ we are motivated to serve Him.

It is the love Christ has for us and the love we have for Christ which urges us on to serve Him with great joy and commitment.

!! C.                 Because We Have Been Redeemed from Death

I enjoy the MASH TV shows that came out in the late 70’s.

The series is about army doctors in a mobile hospital during the Korean War.

In one episode a large Marine is treated by one of the doctors and after he recovers he feels deeply indebted to the doctor and vows to help him as much as he can in return for saving his life.

The story becomes humorous when this great big marine volunteers to be a body guard to the doctor and beats people up who annoy the doctor.

The doctor tries to persuade the marine that the debt is paid, but the marine keeps trying to help the doctor.

The concept of the gratitude of the indebted is one that is common in literature.

When someone has done something special for us, then we are moved to express our gratitude to them.

How much more should we be moved to serve God because of what Christ has done for us!

This is the motivation alluded to in Hebrews 9:14 which says, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” The text speaks about the power of the blood of Christ, which, unlike the sacrifice of animals, has actually cleansed us from acts that lead to death with the express purpose that we “may serve the living God.”

When we realize the great thing that God has done for us we realize very quickly that we are deeply indebted to Him.

We were actually dead in our sins but God has made us alive by the His gift in Christ.

The only reason we live is because of Jesus.

How can we not offer the rest of our lives to Him in grateful service?

Let us not take this great gift of Christ for granted.

Let us not dismiss it as less than it is.

It required a great sacrifice.

We have been given a great gift and we have every reason for eternal gratitude expressed in willing and joyful service.

!! D.                Because We Belong to God

Another motivation to serve God is because we belong to Him.

There were primarily two kinds of slaves in the days when slavery still existed.

One was an indentured servant.

This person had sold himself to someone who had means in order to pay debts.

An indentured servant still may have had their own home to live in and worked only as long as was necessary to pay off the debt.

The other type of slave was one who was completely owned by the master.

This slave was completely dependent on the master.

His lodging, clothing, food and all he was came completely under the control of the master.

He could not conceive of a day when he would be set free.

He belonged to the master for life.

The word that is used in the Bible to describe our relationship to God is that of a slave for life, not that of an indentured servant.

Revelation 5:9–10 is one of several passages in Scripture which convey the idea that we do not belong to ourselves any more.

There we read, “And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Please notice from this text that Jesus paid with his blood to purchase people for God.

The outcome of this purchase is that they should become “a kingdom of priests to serve our God.”

Other passages of Scripture also convey the fact that we do not belong to ourselves any more.

I Corinthians 6:19, 20 calls for honoring God with our bodies, which is a part of our service and the reason given is, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”

The implications of such a duty are frequently expressed in Scripture.

I find Luke 17:7-10 to be quite challenging.