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Godly Servanthood
from sermon series
“Learning from Isaiah”
by
Pastor Dave Strem
Used by
permission
My son, Levi, is about
four and a half years old and the little guy has a heart
to serve. For example, if during Awana time someone
falls and hurts himself, the first thing he wants to do
is get his favorite blanket and give it to him to make
him feel better. During supper time his inclination,
his nature, what he wants to do, is to take the water
cups or juice or whatever it is, and take them to the
table. He wants to serve. He has the inward desire to
serve others and it is really, really neat.
Recently, when I was
mowing the lawn something happened that taught me a
lesson. God has a way of doing that. He uses everyday
incidents to teach us life lessons, if we are willing to
listen. When I mow, it’s like, “Get out of my way, I’ve
got to mow! I want to get this thing done.” But Levi
loves to serve. He has a little toy mower and he will
literally walk the whole yard with me. We will be
mowing and he will stop and wait and I will go past and
he will start mowing. He will mow every inch of that
yard with me and I know there is going to come a time
when he is going to be walking along mowing and he is
going to slip between the mower and me and he is going
to move my hands out of the way. He is going to grab my
mower and he is going to try to push it. On those days
that I get real concerned about trying to get the yard
done, I am going to have to make a decision, am I going
to say, “Get out of my way, kid!”
I can see it now. He
is going to have a hold of the mower and I am going to
have to come up around him and put my hands on and open
my legs and straddle and push the mower. I know if I
let go, it’s not going to get done. God showed me that
our relationship with Him is like my relationship with
my son. We want to come alongside of Him and be about
the business of the kingdom. We often mess things up,
we delay successful outcomes. He does not need us to
get the task done. He is about seeking and saving,
transforming lost lives. But He is also interested in
shaping us. Although God does not need us to fulfill
His work, He enjoys co-laboring with us. I want my son
to grow up to be a kind, responsible adult. With this
goal in mind, I have to be more concerned with his
development than I am with ‘getting the job done’. God
feels the same way about us!
Isaiah 42:1-9 are
powerful verses that directly tell us that God wants to
support our work for Him. The basic theme of Isaiah is
found in his name. Isaiah means “salvation is of the
Lord.” In fact, the book of Isaiah has the word
“salvation” in it 26 times. Isaiah is concerned with
the theme of salvation beyond the other prophecy books
combined. Salvation is a major theme in the book of
Isaiah. Isaiah does not view salvation as just
something spiritual that will occur in the distant
future. Salvation in Isaiah also concerns social,
political, and spiritual conditions that are against His
truth and ways. Conditions that corrupt. God wants to
save His people from the consequences of sin, of an
unholy, unrighteous lifestyle. In Isaiah 42:1-9, we see
this theme of salvation. We also see the nature of a
godly servant. “Here’s my servant whom I uphold, my
chosen one in whom I delight. I put my spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not
shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets. A
bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he
will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth
justice and he will not falter or be discouraged till he
establishes justice on earth and in his lull the islands
will put their hope. This is what God, the Lord says,
he who created the heavens and stretched them out and
spread out the earth and all that comes out of it. Who
gives breath to his people and life to those who walk on
it. This is what God says. I, the Lord, I have called
you in righteousness and I will take your hand, I will
keep you and I will make you to be a covenant, a
covenant for the people and the light for the Gentiles.
To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from
prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in
darkness. I am the Lord. That is my name and I will
not give my glory to anyone or my praise to idols. See,
the former things have taken place and now things I
declare before they spring into being I announce them to
you.”
This passage in Isaiah 42
teaches us three things about being a godly servant.
First, you must portray a servant’s character. Look at
verses 1-4. He is talking about the coming Messiah and
he shows us very clearly the character that the coming
Messiah will have. “Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight and I will put my spirit
on him.” Gods’ part is very important for us to
understand. He is the one that lifts us up in times of
difficulty. God said, “I will uphold, I will hold up,
my anointed one.” Before God set Himself to create
everything, He had a plan that Jesus Christ would come.
He would step from out of eternity and into time. His
plan also included us, all who will receive His Son as
Savior and Lord. Scripture is clear that He chose us
before we chose Him. So, if you want to have the
character of a godly servant you must be willing to be
upheld and supported by God. You must be willing to
give God praise and honor above everything and everyone
else. You must realize that you cannot do it yourself!
Secondly, the godly servant
must focus on the world around him or her. The godly
servant in verse 2 (Christ) will promote justice and
comfort the weak and hurting. Verse 3 says, “A bruised
reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not
snuff out.” In gentleness He will comfort and promote
justice. He will not falter or be discouraged until he
establishes justice on earth. He will persistently
pursue justice and deliverance for all who are hurting
and willing to listen to His voice. If we want to be
godly servants, we will have to follow Jesus’ example.
We will have to be concerned about others, especially
the hurting and downtrodden. The godly servant brings
light where there is darkness. The godly servant
attempts to open the eyes of the spiritually blind. To
free the captives from sin, death, and hell.
Third, a godly servant must
respond to His call. Apart from responding to His call,
we are shackled to our own weaknesses and spiritual
inadequacies. We must possess the call of God in our
lives. We must realize that unless God is in something,
mere human effort will not yield eternal results. The
successful Christian life is not based on mere human
effort. It is a partnership. Without the Christian
being conscious of God’s call in his or her life that
Christian will flounder and struggle. God’s call
involves His general call to a righteous and godly life,
behavior that is set apart toward Him, and a specific
call to be involved in some activity or profession.
Awareness of both calls gives direction and guidance to
our lives.
If we want to be godly
servants, we need to give God the glory for anything
that is accomplished spiritually. Our allegiance is to
Him. Yea, it’s nice to get accolades, “Nice job, nice
job,” but never forget, a godly servant reflects and
portrays the image of the Son. He or she responds to
the call, but it is all about Him. We often have our
own agenda rather than consider what God wants. The
nature of a servant is that the servant is where he is
in order to do the will of his master. A servant
serves. That is the way it is!
Margaret Fankster Thippen writes about her dad who
had a muscular disorder that caused muscular atrophy. Knowing that he was
withering away and would not be able to move or even swallow soon, he threw
himself into his work as a British minister working with foreign mission homes.
At Easter, two weeks before he died, he wrote a letter to his daughter. In the
letter he said: “It would be terrible to wake up one Easter morning and have no
voice to shout, ‘He is risen.’ But it would be more terrible to have a voice
and not want to shout.” He wrote many letters, many books. He believed that
because of the disease that afflicted him, he was able to contribute more time
to writing and prayer. His work sparked prayer cells all over Europe. Before
his death, he was more focused on serving God and working for His kingdom than
at any other time in his life. It was then that he bore much fruit.
God has gifted every
one of us to do something unique and special. He has created you to work
alongside of Him in some special way. To repeat, the first step in following
God is developing godly character. Maybe you have responded to His call for
godly behavior and you are developing that character. The next step is
involving yourself in some ministry or service that glorifies God. He has
gifted you to bring Him glory and honor. If we will use those gifts in service
to Him, we will bear fruit. We will grow and mature spiritually and others will
be benefited as God ministers to them through us.
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