“Serve the LORD with gladness.” – Psalm 100:2
The often allergic reaction to a request for volunteers signals that we’ve got something wrong when it comes to serving! We would sooner pay someone to do something for us than we would roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves. Yet we are servants. It is part of our new identity as followers of Jesus! So, how should we serve?
In Jesus’ economy those who are the greatest of all are those who are servants of all (Mark 9:35). Jesus has upside down principles. They are counter-intuitive to a world that values position, status and power. For Jesus the position of greatest status, is that of a servant.
Jesus is the ultimate example of servant leadership. John 13:12-17 says,
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Jesus has given us a model and an example of service! But incredibly in v.17 He says you’re blessed if you do these things. Not simply know them, but do them! You are blessed if you practice this kind of self-sacrificial serving of other people.
In fact, Jesus even goes as far as to say that He endured the suffering and shame of the cross for the JOY that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus served for the sake of His joy in the results of His service at the cross.
In Mark 10:45 Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We serve, because Jesus first served us! We don’t serve to earn the Father’s approval or out of duty and obligation; but out of joyful response to the gospel! Part of our new identity as the people of God is that we are servants. The Holy Spirit transforms our heart and lives to make us increasingly like our Servant-King, Jesus.
So, we serve the Lord with gladness; from the overflow of deep gospel transformation. It’s a mistake to think that if I pursue my joy in serving others that it spoils the virtue of my service.
David Mathias says, “Joy is not a garnish on the dutiful entrée of the Christian life.”
Our aim at Anchor Church is to serve Jesus, each other, and this city with that attitude.
Matt Sparks
Lead Pastor
Matt is married to Tash and they have a son (Judah) and a daughter (Piper).
After 17 years of youth ministry, Matt and Tash felt called to begin a new work and Anchor Church started in their living room in January 2014.
Matt has a deep passion for the local church, the city of Sydney and the glory of God.
“If we want to see a city-wide awakening to the gospel, it needs to start first in our own hearts and lives.”