This is a sermon outline which I preached from in October 2023, adapted to a readable format.

Text used: Mark 9:33-37, 10:35-45

Two Key Questions we’ll examine:

1. What does Jesus’ servant-heartedness teach us about humility?
2. How can we cultivate a servant’s heart in our interactions with others?

What does Jesus’ servant-heartedness teach us about humility?

• The disciples were “bad actors”
  • Give the disciples some credit, they had no frame of reference for what was happening and what was going to happen. Their concept of a King was Saul, David and Solomon and as their people were being oppressed by the Romans at the time, the idea of a new King setting up his Kingdom sounded pretty good.
• Why did they not admit what they discussed when Jesus’ asked?
  • Healthy shame? When you enter the kitchen and notice the last cookie is missing from the cookie jar just 15 minutes before dinner; who wants to admit that?

• Two things about children
  • Why did Jesus use children in this illustration?
  • First, children are not threatening. Most fully grown humans are not afraid of little children. As a matter of fact, even when they misbehave, we often think it’s cute.
  • Secondly, children are terrible deceivers. They don’t lie well. In the cookie jar story, if you confronted the kid who was actually the culprit you’ll probably get a look that is a poor attempt at not looking guilty – and actually kind of cute.

Mark 10:35-45

• Rinse and Repeat?
  • Does Jesus abolish ambition? Does he not want us to get ahead? No. But he redirects our ambitions away from ourselves and towards himself and others.
• “Ransom”
  • A ransom is a payment to gain the release of someone or something being held captive. We were held captive by sin. Paul wrote in Romans 6:17-18 “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”
• Jesus’ lived humility
  • Jesus was born to a teen-aged yet to be wed mother, raised in a working-class family, it is never mentioned that he owned anything or even has a permanent residence by the time his recorded ministry began, he hung out with a small group of close friends and was beaten and died a criminal’s death.
  • What of this sounds high and mighty? What of this speaks to a man full of pride? At any time, he could have claimed his rightful, deserved place on the throne yet he came on a rescue mission, and he wasn’t going to leave until he could utter these words, “It is finished”.
  • Jesus is the ultimate and highest form of humility – he had everything – yet he gave everything – for you – for me.

How can we cultivate a servant’s heart in our interactions with others?

• On our own?
  • Using an illustration and holding up a work glove, you know it has certain features and characteristics that make it an excellent glove for the purpose. If I place the glove near an object, perhaps that will help it fulfill its purpose? Maybe if I bring the other glove out and set it close so it can encourage the other glove to fulfill its purpose?
  • The glove’s purpose can’t be fulfilled because its empty – we all know that – so until I place my hand inside, the glove now has what it needs to fulfill its purpose.
  • As we think we attempt to “do good things” we miss the mark if we are not aligned and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Like the hand in the glove
• Think of others more?
  • In his book “The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness” by the late Tim Keller, he writes, “…the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.”
  • How much time each day do we dedicate to the thinking of others and not of ourselves – maybe we could put a timer on our smart phones and see how much time we spend looking at it – how much of that is thinking of others. I know, harsh. Living the gospel is the narrow way.
• God’s Stand In
  • Quote by Jonathon Edwards – “God tells us, that he shall look upon what is done in charity to our neighbors in want, as done unto him; and what is denied unto them, as denied unto him. Proverbs 19:17, “He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord.” God hath been pleased to make our needy neighbors his receivers. He in his infinite mercy hath so interested himself in their case, that he looks upon what is given in charity to them, as given to himself. And when we deny them what their circumstances require of us, he looks upon it that we therein rob him of his right.Edwards is suggesting that the poor are God’s proxy or stand in. God is fully self-sufficient and we can’t give him anythingMy kids and grandkids see me as someone who it’s impossible to give a gift, as I either have it all or I can get anything I want. Our Father in heaven in a much greater way, has all that he needs and there is nothing we can give him
  • So, in an act of humility and gratitude, we give to and serve the poor. It is a way to give to and serve God while transforming your own heart.
• George Floyd
  • I chaplain in Minneapolis among the homeless populations for more than 10 years. Some nights I come home with some amazing encounters – I have even written a book about those – but many times when I drive home and I pray back to God the names of the people I met that evening, I sometimes admit to him that I don’t really know why I do this. Like I sometimes don’t understand the call he placed on my life. Why do I keep doing that?
  • There have been a few remarkable people I’ve met and gotten to know during this time, one was George Floyd. And in our first encounter, I knew at the time that our relationship would be special and unique.
  • So, the question is, if I had given up and stopped going because it didn’t “feel” like I was getting anything done, if I had thrown in the towel after a few years, well, I never would have gotten to know George Floyd. So, serving others isn’t just about how it makes US feel. It’s about how are we understanding God’s plan and how are we stepping into it?
• How we love others?
  • Paraphrase a Tim Keller quote, “If one really grasps justification (we are made right in God’s site), you can tell by how they love others around them with all their deficiencies and flaws”
  • How do you really love others? And folks, this isn’t so much about being called to hang out in homeless shelters, this is about in your own home. This is about in your neighborhood. This is about with your extended family – and with the holidays nearly upon us most of us will have the opportunity to put this into practice.
  • How do you love others when they are hard to like? Time, attention, eye contact, saying their name, handling a chore without a sigh
  • Do you want the cure for self-centeredness? Serve someone that’s hard for you to like
  • Cure for materialism? Give radically?
  • Cure for being judgmental? Serve others different than you.
  • Cure for resentment against someone? Pray for God’s blessing in his / her life.
  • That’s God’s economy. It’s how he works. It’s upside-down, paradoxical. He makes use of all of these experiences to mold and shape our hearts, so we slowly but surely, begin to resemble the heart of Jesus, our humblest example.

SUMMARY

What does Jesus’ servant-heartedness teach us about humility?

• We compared the examples of the Apostles pre-resurrection behaviors to that of Jesus
• We looked briefly at the life Jesus led and how little children can set an example for us
• With Jesus being the greatest example of serving and humility with his sacrifice to pay the ransom for our freedom from sin

How can we cultivate a servant’s heart in our interactions with others?

• How we can’t do this on our own – we need the guidance AND power of the Holy Spirit
• How the poor are a stand in for God and a people group grieved by God and could be a great place for your to exercise your servant’s heart
• How we don’t give up just because it seems like nothing is happening
• And how loving the hard to love, can cultivate and change our hearts.