How great are you? Really? Serve or be served? Mark 10:40-45

Good morning everyone! God is good all the time, all the time God is good. TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer posed this question to a group of young men and I pose this question to you. "Is there such a thing as a necessary lie?"

As we have visited about James and John, wanting to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus. How humanly this is. Most of us want some type of status, to be recognized for what we do, just some acknowledgment. Well, what did Jesus say?

Mark 10:40-45 "But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen. When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Again, James and John wanted the highest positions in Jesus' Kingdom. The other disciples were upset they asked. Does this sound like us? Does this sound like things that happen in your church? The human element leaps forth, pushing the spiritual being back.

Jesus told them that true greatness comes in serving others. Peter expands this thought in 1 Peter 5:1-4. Peter witnessed Jesus' drinking of the cup (death) and his baptism (resurrection). Peter was a pillar of the Jerusalem church, be when writing to the elders he wrote as a fellow elder, not a superior and he asked them to CARE FOR THE FLOCK. Peter worked with the elders to care for the flock; this is a good example of Christian leadership, showing that authority is based on service, not power.

Are you serving OR waiting to be served? Peter says, "you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor" by serving. What better motivation for selfless service. What better motivation for keeping the faith in the face of suffering and temptation. Wow! Now, go serve ye follower of Jesus!
Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny