Treasure in the Servant's Quarters

 

Treasure in the Servant's Quarters

 

1 Timothy 3:8-13

 

At an Antique Roadshow a woman brought in a painting that she had inherited from her mother to see if it was worth anything. Before they looked at the painting she shared the story of how her mother had come to possess the painting. Her mother had been the cook and housekeeper for an estate for many years and when the homeowner died she was told by the family that she could choose one memento to take with her, and she chose a painting of a rural scene that had hung in the servant's quarters for all the years she worked there. No one ever thought it was worth anything.

 

The daughter was shocked to find the painting had a value of $80k. They realized that the reason the painting had been overlooked so long simply because of where the painting had been displayed: no one expected to find a treasure in the servant's quarters.

 

When the world thinks of treasure, the last place it looks to find it is the servant's quarters, but the Bible tells us that, for the Christian, there is great treasure in a life of serving. In fact, after the joy a sinner finds when he or she receives forgiveness and mercy and being restored to a right relationship with God as Father through faith in Jesus Christ, I believe the next greatest source of joy a Christian can experience is the joy of serving the Lord and others.

 

So our theme this morning is serving. We begin by considering the office of deacon - servant - but then go further and consider both the call that every believer has to live the life of a servant and the blessing that is promised to every believer who serves Jesus faithfully.

 

Title: Treasure in the Servant's Quarters   

 

Last week we considered the office of the elder/overseer/pastor. Paul goes on to a second office in the church, office of deacon. Although today in different churches the term deacon can mean different things, the word "deacon" simply means servant, literally to wait on tables.

 

The first deacons

 

The first deacons recorded in the Bible are probably the seven that were chosen to answer the problems arising from the church growing so fast. In midst of explosion of growth, some of the Greek widows were being neglected. This was causing some complaining amongst Greek Jews and so the Apostles moved quickly to solve problem. They knew it wouldn't be right for them to neglect the study of God's word and prayer to wait on tables, so they asked the believers to choose seven men full of wisdom and of the Spirit to head up the practical serving responsibilities. Although the term "deacon" isn't used, because the word deacon means "to wait on tables" most scholars agree that these seven men were the first deacons of the early church.

 

¨       Deacons and deaconesses are men and women who serve the church in a capacity of extending the ministry of the pastoral team - by serving the needs and caring for people in the church. In essence they extend the care of the pastoral team in practical care and ministry.

¨       At this point in time in SGC we don't actually use the term "deacon" or "deaconesses" but the role of deacon in our churches is carried out largely by our care group leaders who really do serve this church so faithfully through their care and their counsel, and we give thanks to God for each and every one of you.

¨       In fact, it is appropriate to take moment name our CG leaders so we can just express thanks - these men and women really give a lot to serve and care for their care groups and the church - much of time and service you might not be aware of.

 

o       Pat and Sherri Stickler/Mike and Linda Rawleigh/Will and Karen Meiklejohn/Matt and Siobhan Slack

o       Patrick and Lisa Perl - led a care group for several years and are assisting the Meiklejohns, so should be included on that basis, but also they administrate care and ministry to our children through their faithful leadership of the CM. Both count and they also deserve our gratitude for all they do to serve!

 

Character counts

 

Character once again is the focus of Paul's qualifications for being a deacon or deaconess. Much of list is identical to the elders - so I'm not going to spend much time on this except to point out two characteristics:

 

1. Hold the mystery of the faith with clear conscience - deacons are to have a strong grip on God's Word. Depth of conviction - not blown here and there by passing doctrines.

 

This is a picture of men and women who treasure God's Word. They are men and women of the Book.

 

1. Sanctified tongues. Although many translations say deacon is to be sincere, the actual Greek word is that idea in the negative: not to be double-tongued. Not to say one thing to one person and another thing to another. Sincere is the positive command to this negative command. Deaconesses likewise are not to be slanderers. The word is diabolouv  - the same word for devil which means slanderer. Because much harm can be done to the church and to believers through ungodly tongues, one crucial area to be tested is that prospective deacon or deaconess must have tongues submitted to Lordship of Jesus Christ.

 

That is the office of deacon. Let us now consider the subject of serving beyond the office of "servant". The truth is:

 

Though some Christians are called to an official position of service, all Christians are called to live a life of serving.

 

Treasure in servant's quarters. Verse 13 promises us something that other passages tell us as well: serving well (faithfully) receives a great reward.

 

a.       Good standing - honor and esteem of God.

 

b.      Serving faithfully brings assurance to our souls of salvation. We don't place our confidence in our serving (that would be legalism) but faithfully serving Jesus brings assurance. Confidence is strengthened by serving the Lord's kingdom purposes.

 

Let's consider some other treasures that Bible promises to the believer who serves.

 

I.                   The joy of following in our Lord Jesus' footsteps

 

Jesus was spending his last moments with the Twelve before he was to be arrested, the Bible says that he knew he was about to depart from this world, and that the Father had entrusted all things into his hands, and his response to the power and authority he was about to receive was shocking: laid aside his outer garments and wrapped himself in a towel and began to do the most menial of jobs: he began to wash his disciple's feet.

 

When he was finished he taught them, and us, that we are to follow his example. Washing feet was one of the most demeaning and lowest of a servant's tasks - but that task was elevated to a new place because Jesus knelt and washed his own disciples feet. No service done for service of Jesus Christ is low or demeaning.  In fact, it is a privilege to serve others for His sake.

 

Years ago the church I pastored at that time was trying to help an older woman named Betty. We did some cleanup work outside but the real mess was inside. She had 4 or 5 dogs and about 13 cats - no exaggeration. And her home was absolutely filthy. The cats and dogs were allowed to go to the bathroom anywhere in the house they wanted, so there was excrement everywhere - even on the kitchen counters. I watched one friend help move a couch we had given her into the house and he had to run out of house about to get sick.

 

As I was cleaning in kitchen, I remember seeing a 13 year old girl named Miriam on her knees scrubbing excrement from a heating vent on the floor and she was really joyful as she did it. The Lord had really touched her heart and she knew that serving Jesus even by excrement was not demeaning, it was a privilege.

 

Jesus said that he did not come to be served, but to serve, and he lived his life to serve the broken, the demon-possessed, the sick. And he gave his life on the cross to serve the lost sinner - taking the sewage of our sin upon his shoulders so that we could be cleansed. If we know our Lord Jesus at all, we know Him as a servant. If we follow at all, we follow as servant.

 

I have often wished I could go to the holy land and "walk where Jesus walked". But when we serve in the name of Jesus, we are walking where he walked and doing what he did. There is no greater treasure than walking in our Lord's footsteps by serving.

 

II.                The value of a life lived for greatness as defined by God

 

In Mark 10 the disciples are vying with each other for position and prestige when Jesus rebukes them:

 

You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant (diakonos - deacon), and whoever would be first among you must be slave (doulos - bondslave) of all.

 

Here we see how God measures greatness - if you want to be great in God's eyes, be a servant. If you want to be first (the greatest), must be a slave to all. The greater the serving, the greater the life.

 

There is an odd type of competition being encouraged here. The disciples were vying for who was number one by pushing their stock higher - Jesus says if want to vie for highest rank, we must compete for the lowest position - and be a servant of all. That is a great life, by God's definition.

 

Nowhere does Jesus criticize a person for pursuing true greatness or true significance. I think that's because he created us to be great and to be significant--to come to the end of our lives and feel that they were well spent and well invested. ~ John Piper

 

Serving others begins with seeing the need

 

Will Meiklejohn has often said that the first step to meeting a need is seeing the need. We need eyes that are outward focused. The nature of a servant is others-mindedness.

 

DA Carson tells about a time when he was a teenager and going through time when he wanted to pull away from the youth meetings he was involved in cause he didn't think they shared his interests and he felt they only cared about themselves. He was pouting. His mother wisely pulled him aside and after quoting Proverb 18:24 "he who have friends must show himself friendly" gave him this advice:

 

"At the next meeting, before you go into a sulk, look around for the loneliest person in the room, and go and find out everything you can about that person. Then find the next loneliest person, and do it again."

 

At first he resented this advice. But he took her up on it, and to his amazement was soon one of the region's youth leaders. When we step out to serve others, we don't know how God will use it - but we know that God will bless the life devoted to serving others.

 

Jumping in to serve

 

I have heard the comment many times that this is a church full of people who serve. That is one of the highest compliments that can be paid to a church! Thank you for serving faithfully week after week after week, in countless ways - often going unnoticed. But don't go unnoticed by God.

 

And there are also "unofficial" opportunities to serve - if looking for need. An encouraging word to a visitor, stopping to pray with someone who is going through a difficult time, meals prepared for someone who is dealing with illness, a card to express appreciation to someone, prayer!

 

But that's what the church is and that's what being saved is about. We are saved to serve. Not long ago I shared a poem that made the statement there is no such thing as an indispensable man. True - none of us are indispensable. Share a story that warns us about the other extreme:

 

A man used to visit a tiny country general store that had a clerk named Jake who seemed to be the laziest man on earth. One day he noticed that Jake wasn't around, so he asked the proprietor, "Where's Jake?" "Oh, Jake retired," the proprietor answered. "Retired, huh?" the man replied. "What are you going to do to fill the vacancy?" The owner replied, "Jake didn't leave no vacancy!"

 

None of us are indispensable. But we should seek to serve in such a way that when we leave - whether to a different place or leave this earth - there is some scramble to fill our vacancy. There should be a vacancy!

 

When we serve God's purposes - even in obscurity (maybe especially in obscurity) we are investing our lives in the things that please God's heart, and Jesus himself says that is the path to true greatness.

 

III.             It is our service for Jesus that is both commended and rewarded by Jesus in eternity

 

Just as that painting hung in obscurity for so many years, the honest truth is that most of us in this room will probably live our lives in relative obscurity. We will never see our name in the lights - you'll probably never have your service applauded by thousands or have books written about you.

 

But there is no question that the most incredible treasure that hangs in the servant's quarter doesn't come off the wall until after we enter eternity.

 

Well done, good and faithful servant...

 

What Jesus will commend on day when every Christian stands before him will be his faithful service.

 

For the Christian - what will be examined is our service - because we are servants of our Master and Lord. Those who have served Jesus by His grace, however feebly we may think our efforts, will hear that wonderful commendation, "well done". Invited to have more opportunity to serve (serving is an eternal blessing!) and enter into our Master's rest. The reward for serving, especially in obscurity, is eternal in scope.

 

Here's my prayer for this morning: Not that we leave here feeling guilty out serving but are inspired to pursue greatness as defined by God by serving. That our hearts would catch a fresh vision for living a great life - a life of serving one another and others in Jesus' name.

 

We are saved by grace and faith in Christ - I want to make that very clear so that anyone here who is not a Christian doesn't think you can enter heaven through service for God. The gospel makes it very clear that our works cannot earn us heaven or save us. I would point your eyes to believe in the One who hung on the cross for our sins and trust in Him with all heart.