Become a Servant to All

2-4-24

Hoonah-Hadley

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Call to Worship Psalm 147:1-12

Daily Verse 1 Cor. 9:19

God’s word comes to us, it surrounds us, goes before us, is our rear guard, in fact, it is in us, it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. (Psalm 119:105) Should we be His ambassadors, His chosen, elected, His children, we’d do well to come to the Master, to write His word on the tablet of our hearts, bind it on our fingers and proclaim it from the rooftops. His word is literally music to our ears, if we said it once, we’ve said it a million times, it is the answer to all that ails us. It comforts us, strengthens us, heals us, saves us, grants us a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ask or imagine, and that eternally. Should we worship, let it be our Savior. May our addiction be a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Isaiah 40:21-31 “Have you not known? Have you not heard…Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number, He calls them all by name. By the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing…Have you not heard…He gives power to the weak…But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount of with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary… walk and not faint.” Oh, the wonder of it all. Lord give us ears to hear, eyes to see and hearts that understand how great your love for us is, that we might make you our hiding place. “One thing I have desired of the Lord that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” Psalm 27:4

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All the offerings for today overwhelm us, from the old to the new, from the Psalm to the Epistle, a rich abundant treasure.  Psalm 147 “For it is good to sing praises to our God…He heals the broken hearted, and binds up their wounds.  He counts the number of stars; He calls them all by name.”  Any stargazers out there?  Broken hearts?  Ever been wounded?  Sing praises to His Holy Name!  “I just want to speak the name of Jesus, over every heart and every mind, cause I know there is peace within Your presence, I speak Jesus.” (Charity Gayle) In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law.  When love comes to town you want to catch that train.  Word travels fast, “And the whole city was gathered together at the door.” (1:34) It seems we need evidence before we get aboard, before we’ll line up at the door for our medicine.  Not the pharmacy but at the foot of the cross.  It’s Calvary that binds up our wounds, heals our broken hearts, nothing more, nothing less. Vs. 34 “Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.”  The devil and his band of losers know who Jesus is, stop listening to them, don’t let them speak, cast them out in the mighty Name of Jesus, the Name that is above all other names.  Vs. 35 “Now in the morning, having risen long before daylight, He went out to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”  In order that we might keep in step with our Savior we ought to rest as He, rise as He, and pray as He. Those that slept in were looking for Him and when they found Him they said, “Everyone is looking for You.” There are those that make things happen, those that watch what happens and those that say, “What happened?” Rise up early, you will find Christ there, that way you won’t have to look for Him. “Let us go into the next town, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come.”

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In 1 Samuel 17:29 David said, “Is there not a cause?”  There is a cause, there is a purpose, and our Lord does not let us settle into complacency, in stagnant idol worship within the confines of some denominational inadequacy, “Let us go…”  May our Lord’s purpose be our purpose, and if it be so, there is a going that ought to be gotten, a proclaiming that need preached and a cause that requires our enrollment.  “I just wanna speak the name of Jesus til every dark addiction starts to break.  Declaring there is hope and there is freedom, I speak Jesus.”  1 Cor. 9:16 “For if I preach the gospel…necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”  Among other things, the apostle Paul said, “This one thing I do.”  He also said, “I proclaim to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  Blessed is the one whose passion is set, singular, uncompromising and unshakeable. Paul was such a man. A river that is divided into many lesser streams often runs shallow, slows our progress, or stops it all together.  But give us a life with one object and we’ll be a river that runs deep with determination and direction, carrying along all that answer her call.  Necessity is laid upon us. Cast the cords of safe harbor aside and launch yourself into a life worth living, a river that runs through it, a river of living water. Vs. 17 “I have been entrusted with a stewardship.”  All that we have, all that we are, has been given us, the very breath that is in us, a gift from above. Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof, the world and all those who dwell therein.”  In the beginning God set us in a garden and He sets us there still, to “tend” and “keep” it, that is to be stewards over it. Our gifts today are many, to many, let us take the one object of God’s love, His word, tend, keep, and be set ablaze with our stewardship over it. We are not worshipping Paul, but are we not possessed by the same Spirit, the same Lord?

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Vs. 19 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself of servant to all, that I might win the more.”  Freedom for the Christian is the unbelievable ability to set aside one’s rights and privileges for the benefits of others.  Christ came not to be served but to serve.  Service is at the heart of the gospel.  Paul goes on to list several things he “became” that he might “win” the more.  “To the Jew, I became as a Jew…to those who are under the law, as under the law…to those who are without law…that I might win those who are without law…to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak.”  We can add to this list personally, to the prisoner, the poor, the lonely, the widow, the rich, the broken hearted, etc.  Paul tells his story, where he came from, what he did, how he was saved.  He never once mentioned Sunday’s NFL games, his passion for fishing, golf, going out to eat, taking a vacation or celebrating grandma’s birthday.  He was consecrated, set apart for the gospel sake.  He passed on a selfish, self-centered life of indulgence and “became”.  Becoming something we are not requires sacrifice, essentially having your own funeral.  Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  Becoming a servant does not come naturally, it is a monumental undertaking, a daily crucifixion of self.  God so loved the world that He “gave”.  Mark 10:45 “…to give His live a ransom for many.”  If the world does one thing, it sells, promotes, encourages, advertises self-centered indulgences.  Vs. 22 “…I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”  Paul said, “this one thing I do.”  David said, “is there not a cause?”  Jesus said, “For this purpose I came.”  Christ came to seek and save that which is lost, it is His Father’s business, our business, soul saving business. Crucify self, “Become” something more.

Amen.