"Jesus, the Giver"

Series: Heroes of the New Testament

Sunday, 9/14/08; Matthew 20:25-28; Philippians 2:6-11

Introduction: If I were to ask you who your hero might be, I would get many different answers. The answers might range from politicians, to actors or actresses, to sports figures, to your parents, to great religious leaders. It would depend on what your definition of a hero is. NBC has had a series running now for about 3 years called “Heroes.” The plot of this show says: “They thought they were like everyone else... until they woke with incredible abilities.” These incredible abilities make them out to be heroes.

If you were to look at a dictionary, one definition you would come across shared these qualities as some of what makes a hero: “Courageous, honest, brave, and selflessness.” This morning we are starting a series on the “Heroes of the New Testament.” Over the next few weeks we will be looking at Timothy, James, Paul, Barnabas, and Mary (the mother of Jesus). But today I want to start with Jesus.

I. Giving Through Service- (Matthew 20:20-28; James 2:1-4)

a. Greatness-In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus speaks these words to His

disciples about what makes a person great. This statement by Jesus is a response to what happened just prior to this, where the mother of James and John comes to Jesus to ask Him a favor. She wants her sons to sit at the left and the right of Jesus in heaven. Not much to ask for, right? She wants the choice seats for her sons.

But, she breaks the cardinal rule of invitation; never ask for an invitation, wait for it to come! I think James learned this lesson, because later on, when he wrote his letter, we hear him say these words; James 2:1-4, “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. ²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. ³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," ⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” In other words, we are not to look for greatness based on what one wears, or what one has attained in the world.

The world likes to think of those who are great by looking at those who are rich, or those who have attained a high position, or those who have achieved some kind of special status. And we buy into that thinking when we seek to tell our children to become lawyers or doctors. Parents don’t want their children to be doctors and lawyers out of the desire to see their children do good. NO, it is usually from the thinking that by being a doctor or a lawyer they will have lots of money and will be able to provide for themselves and their family with whatever they want!

EX. Think for a moment that you are watching a basketball game. Your favorite team is playing a really good opponent. All throughout the game, the game is close. The lead is going back and forth. You know that this game is going to go down to the last second. Sure enough, the other team scores with 5 seconds left to take a one- point lead. Your team calls a time-out to talk over the last play. They come out of the time-out ready to win the game. The in-bound pass goes to one player, who makes a great pass to the star of the team, the star goes up for the shot, and gets the shot off just before the buzzer goes off. With great anticipation, everybody is watching the ball. The ball bounces off the rim into the air, and then takes another bounce off the rim, then hits the back board, and finally goes in to give your team the win!!!!

Now, here’s the question: Who gets the glory? The star who made the basket, right? What about the player who made the great pass? CAN YOU SAY FORGOTTEN MAN? You see, the world thinks of greatness as those who win the game, who make the big sale, who become President of the United States. Jesus knows this, because He says to the disciples: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.” In other words, greatness is seen by being a ruler, a lord, one with power. But Jesus says that this thinking is ALL WRONG! And Jesus has come to let us know what greatness is all about; what this life is to be all about; SERVICE.

b. Service- As Jesus continues to speak to His disciples, we hear Him

say: “²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—…” Jesus turns the thinking of the world upside down with this statement…you must be a servant; you must be a slave. Could you imagine desiring this for your child? Honey, when you grow up you need to be a servant. No parent would desire this for their child.

That is because we are thinking like the world. That is because we are thinking with eyes that do not see. That is because we are hearing with selfish desires. ILLUS> The State Farm Companies Foundation is now sponsoring what is called “Growing to Greatness: The State of Service—Learning Project.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said--"He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's your new definition of greatness. … It means that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. … You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant." An explanation of this project says:

“Growing to Greatness: The State of Service Learning Project is the first ongoing national study of the state of service-learning in kindergarten through 12th grade. It documents the unfolding story of service-learning and provides useful information to improve implementation, inform public policy, and give a clear picture of the many ways young people contribute to society. A radical change in perspective, G2G measures indicators of how youths are valuable to society, instead of the more common approach of measuring their shortcomings. In doing so, it not only highlights the field of service-learning, but also recasts the ways young people are viewed by society.”

What a great project!! This is one way that the idea of greatness through service can happen. As we think about Jesus, most people think of Him as one of the greatest humans who ever lived. Even those who don’t think that He was God in the flesh are impressed with the impact He has had on the world. And Jesus makes it clear that one of the reasons He came was to serve, as He says: “²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I don’t know about you, but for me, I always feel better about myself when I

serve others, as opposed to just looking to care for myself./ The people I respect the most are those who are giving of themselves. I’m sure you know people like this, people who are always willing to give a helping hand. You are moving, they are there to help; you’re short on eggs, they are there to give you what you need.

EX. Tami and I experienced this in a profound way when we moved to Pueblo West, Colorado. The community was going through some growing pains, and they were behind on getting phone service to those who were new to the area. So, they gave us a cell phone with 150 minutes for the month. Now if you think about this, you realize that only averages out to 5 minutes per day! Well, the first day we moved in, our next door neighbor knocked on the door about 9 a.m., gave us her portable phone, and said: “Here is our phone just in case you have some calls to make. I’ll be back around 5 p.m.” Of course, we made phone calls to all of our long distance relatives. J Just kidding.

What an example of service this was. What great friends they became.

II. Giving Through Emptying Himself- (Philippians 2:6-11;

Matthew 16:24-25; Romans 5:7-8; 1 Corinthians 13:1, 13)

a. The reason- But Jesus did more than come to serve. Jesus

came to die. In our Philippians 2 passage, we see this broken down for us. Paul is talking about the mindset of Jesus when he says in verses 6-8, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

Jesus didn’t come to be a “hero;” He didn’t want glory for Himself. He came to bring glory to God the Father and to give Himself, by emptying Himself. This might seem like a strange concept, but Jesus knew that for life to be born through Him, He had to first die. This was Jesus following His own teaching, when He told the disciples in Matthew 16:24-25, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.’”

Jesus is trying to help us understand the difference between existing and living. To exist is to go through the motions of life, breathing and eating and having your heart, beat. But to really live is to give up your selfish desires and give your life to Christ, and let Him guide your decisions and your actions. It is always the adventurous souls, who bids farewell to security and safety, and are willing to take on the world for Christ, who not only experience life more fully, but are able to do more with their life to change the world for God!

Jesus didn’t play it safe. To play it safe would have been for Him to stay in heaven. But Jesus decided to give up His godly stature, to empty Himself of His Godly stature, and take on human flesh. Compared to what He was in heaven, He made Himself nothing by taking on flesh. It would be like you or me leaving our bodies and entering into the body of an ant. And this was a risk, because He knew He was going to die on the cross. He was willing to give/ in this way because of the reward that He would receive for this action.

b. The result- Why would Jesus do this? Because He knew that we

could not be made right with God, we could not overcome our sinful ways, we could not enter heaven unless He paid the price. And like any hero who sees someone in need, He jumped in harms way and saved us! But what is interesting about this is that He did it for those who don’t deserve it. In most movies the hero comes to save the beautiful maiden, who he then ends up getting into a relationship with. He saves her and wins her heart and hand!

As Romans 5:7- “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.” People will choose to die for someone who they think is deserving of this sacrifice. This is true of Secret Service agents who are willing to give their lives for the President of the United States. In fact a movie was made about this called [“In the Line of Fire,” starring Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich. In the movie Clint Eastwood plays Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan, who back in 1963 was a hand-picked agent by President Kennedy to protect him. But then the President was assassinated, and he felt like it was his fault; for many years he questions whether or not he could give his life for the president. Fast forward many years, and an assassin named Mitch Leary calls Horrigan and tells him that he is going to kill the president. Horrigan gets himself assigned to the president, and in a gripping final scene he throws himself in front of a bullet to save the presidents life.] Even though he was paid to do this job, he still had to be willing to give up his life for the one he was protecting.

But Romans 5:8 tell us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ died for us, who are sinners, who are not considered worthy because of sin. Christ gave Himself up for us. The result of this is told to us in Philippians 2:9-11, “⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus gives Himself in this way to save us, and to lead us to this kind of selfless living. In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul talks about the gifts God gives to us. There are many gifts, some seemingly more important than others. But then when he gets to chapter 13, he says: 1 Corinthians 13:1, 13- “And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Conclusion: Heroes motivate others around them to be better. They challenge people to do more with their lives. Jesus was surely a hero by the way He gave and calls others to give! Jesus was a hero by giving so selflessly. Jesus was a hero by giving up His true nature to come to this earth and die for You and me. And the wonderful news is that God has set it up so that you and I can be heroes as well.

How is this possible? For God, a hero is someone who gives themselves away to others. For God, a hero is one who thinks of others and not just themselves. EX. Last week we held the memorial service for Laverne Wheat. At the service, I heard person after person talk about her as someone who loved everyone, who was like a mother to everyone, and who spoke about the Lord to everyone. After her kids were grown up, she felt like God was calling her to love more, so she took on 6 foster kids!! Laverne Wheat was a hero, because she gave of herself selflessly; she emptied herself for others. I hope that you go away today with this conviction, and this motivation. Be a giver like Jesus. Be a hero. Amen.