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Sermon series on servanthood and the fold of God
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This month we begin what we have been announcing: our kingdom service month. I want to appreciate many of you who have already plugged in to various ministries and selected areas of service. If you're yet to find something to do, please do so—it is never too late. We want everybody to participate.
We already have a list of areas where we would like to work together. This doesn't have to involve money, so please don't be afraid. All it needs is you yourself and your energy. One of the things we intend to do is plant as many trees as possible. The weather is just right for tree planting. We already have a tree donation of more than 100 trees, and my brother Isaac Ku is working on getting us some more.
Throughout this month, whether you come to plant trees, unclog our drainages, or serve in any other way, you are doing it for the glory and honor of God. So let me ask you: how many of you are saying, "Pastor, you can count on me—I'm going to serve"? Think about it, pray about it, but please plug in.
Because of the floods we have continued to experience, especially in the past couple of weeks with very heavy rainfall, we are aware that there is great need. People have lost homes and livelihoods. Some are sleeping out in the cold. Homes and institutions have been swept away. Children cannot go back to school. People have actually died.
As God's people, we cannot just watch from a distance. With the permission of our Bishop, we are appealing to you to give if you want to give money. You can use our regular M-Pesa pay bill and indicate in the account name "Maho" so we know it is designated for Disaster Response.
We also need foodstuffs—especially dry, non-perishable items. We need people who can offer themselves for counseling. We need clothing, blankets, and household items. Please sign up for any way you can help.
If you are near Sitam Valley Road during the week, you can bring items there directly. Whatever we gather here, we will also take to Sitam Valley Road so that assistance can be done in an organized manner. This is a great opportunity for us to be of service to those going through such a difficult season.
Let us continue praying for our country, for safety, and for one another. Water can be a dangerous thing. Please be safe on the roads, and look out for one another.
In the past two Sundays, we talked about lostness. We discussed three aspects: the sheep gets lost because of its foolishness; the coin gets lost because of somebody else's carelessness; and the son gets lost because of a heart of rebellion. Every one of us can find ourselves in one of those aspects. But the bottom line is that we were all once lost.
Thanks be to God that we have been found. Whatever was lost has been found because of God's grace. The reason many of us are here is because we have been found. When we are found, God brings us into the fold. He brings us back into safety, a place where he can nurture us, because Jesus is the Chief Shepherd.
He brings us back into the fold so that he can protect us, take care of us, and nurture us. We discussed last Sunday the importance of belonging to a fold. Sitam Karen is just a small part of the fold of God. We belong to the larger body of Christ that is spread all across the world. Wherever you go, you will find worshiping communities—those who have been saved.
It is important that we plug in and be a member of a particular church, a place where you regularly worship. As we come together to worship, we are being formed, changed, and transformed to become more and more like Jesus Christ. The truth is that you cannot decide you will no longer go to church and still sustain your salvation. I assure you, at some point you will lose it.
In our second service today, we will be receiving 205 people into membership—people who are saying, "We want to belong to this fold. We want to be nurtured here at Sitam Karen."
But it is important to belong to the fold, yet it is not enough. Tell your neighbor: it is not enough. In the fold, there is a call to serve. We don't just come to church and have a wonderful time, then go about our business the rest of the week until next Sunday. There is a call to serve.
God has given every one of you who is seated here certain gifts—natural abilities and spiritual gifts. Some of you are multifaceted and can do many different things. He expects you to serve.
Jesus Christ demonstrated servanthood on that night of the Passover when he went down, picked up a basin of water, wrapped a towel around his waist, and began to wash the disciples' feet. In that culture, this action was reserved for slaves. A dignified Jewish man would never go down on his knee and begin washing everybody's feet.
In that culture, they didn't have shoes like we do—they had sandals. They didn't have vehicles or Uber. Most people walked for miles and miles. You can imagine at the end of the day, those feet would not be looking good. They would be dusty, dirty, probably with blisters and sometimes even bleeding. To wash them was the lowest kind of job you could do.
But Jesus, to demonstrate what his people ought to do, does not just tell his disciples that they ought to serve one another. He actually demonstrates it. He goes down on his knee and does the unthinkable. That is why Peter protested: "You can't do that. I'm not going to allow you."
But Jesus told him: "Listen, if I don't do this to you, if you don't allow me, then you have no part in my kingdom. You have no part in me." In other words, what Jesus was saying is that if you do not allow me first to serve you, you cannot then be my servant. I cannot trust you to go and serve me.
But understand: the greatest act of servanthood by Jesus Christ was not washing the disciples' feet. His greatest act of servanthood was when he hung on that cross. He did so on your behalf and on my behalf. He gave his life for you and for me.
What he was telling Peter was this: unless you receive this servanthood, unless you receive me, unless you accept me, allow me to serve you, you cannot be my servant. That is why it is impossible for you to serve your way into salvation.
We don't serve to get saved. We are saved to serve. That is why you find most religions of the world insist on servanthood, giving of alms, and sometimes even giving your body up for the flames and making sacrifices—because they're trying to find salvation. But you cannot work your way into salvation.
The Apostle Paul says: even if you give your body up to the flames, it is all vanity. It comes to nothing. But when we are saved, now we belong to the fold. Out of the abundance of our hearts, out of that sense of gratitude, then we serve one another.
Friends, we live in a culture that is becoming more and more self-centered. People have become isolated. There is a push and drag of "me, myself, and I." We have become a very selfish, self-centered culture. And therefore, you find that in our times, servanthood is becoming more and more rare.
When people serve you, when they do something for you, it's often because they expect something in return. When was the last time you did something without expecting something in return? When was the last time you did something so sacrificial that you did not even expect a thank you?
Somebody has said this very cleverly: if you have a servant spirit or a servant's heart, you will know that about yourself by how you react when people treat you like a servant. For example, if I tell someone, "Please come and clean this table," someone might respond, "Don't you realize I am a pastor? We normally hire people to do this kind of work." Yet that same person will stand up and say, "I am a servant of the Most High." Our pride gets in the way. We take offense when somebody treats us in a manner that we interpret as not recognizing who we are.
Especially in our culture, especially in Africa, we say things like, "Don't you know who I am?" It is amazing to me that especially for those of us in ministry—those of us who are pastors called to be pastors—people take offense if you don't call them "Reverend." Some tell you, "Don't you realize I am a Bishop?" In other words, "Don't you know who I am?"
A friend of mine was telling me about trying to organize a large meeting to bring together different churches and clergy. One clergy called him and said, "My brother, I thought I should call you because you need to understand that as you are organizing the sitting spaces on the podium, there are three different tiers of Bishops. You should know who sits where."
My friend wondered what on earth that was all about. We are called to wash one another's feet. God did not call us for our feet to be washed, but he called us to wash one another's feet.
If you ever get a title, listen: it is just a bonus. That title should never define you. One of the things I love about when I did my postgraduate studies in the US is that the school had a policy that we address everybody on a first-name basis—even my professor. We did this not out of disrespect, but because we say, "Here we are all on level ground. We are all God's children. We are all God's servants, irrespective of the titles that we may have."
May the Lord help us in this season. May he give us a servant's heart. Because of the culture we live in, one of the things that has happened is that more and more people are being subjected to mental health issues. This self-centered, selfish kind of culture that is so focused on the self has led many people to succumb to mental health issues. Top of the list is depression.
I know of many young people, some who have even taken their own lives. So no disrespect to those of us who have struggled with this, but somebody has given ten ways to overcome depression. Let me share them with you:
The truth of the matter is this: if you want to live a joyful life, be a servant. Do things for other people. Give sacrificially—your time, your resources.
I assure you, show me somebody who is happy and joyful, and I will show you somebody who has learned to serve other people. You want to be miserable in this life? Be somebody for whom every road leads to you. It's about you, yourself, and I. I don't care how much money you have—you will be bound to be very miserable if you never go out of your way to do something for somebody else.
If you never go out of your way to help somebody else, if you never do anything to better the life of another human being, I assure you that you will be very miserable. Money doesn't make you happy. Money only amplifies your state of mind. The more money you have, if you're miserable, you will only become more miserable.
So I ask you and invite us here at Sitam Karen: let's go out and answer the call to serve one another. Do something this season that is sacrificial. Do something that will cost you something. Do something that will take you out of your comfort zone. Do something anonymously, even. Volunteer yourself and say, "You know what, maybe even for some of those disaster areas, I'm going to take a few days. I want to go and serve people out there."
Do something different. Do something you have never done before. Be a blessing to another human being.
Most of the time when we preach the gospel of "Double for your trouble, you shall receive," people are on their feet. Isn't that the culture we are in? A culture of "Me, myself, and I." But you know what Jesus said? "You will be blessed when you do these things. This is how you unlock blessings in your life."
Let me tell you something I have discovered: I am yet to meet one person who became poor because they were too generous. If you know of any, please bring them to me. But I promise you there are many people who have become poor because they held back, because they would never help anybody else.
That is what the Book of Proverbs says. God is no man's debtor. In fact, he also says, "When you give to the poor, you are lending to God."
So I invite you in this month and not just this month, but even beyond this month of May: let us heed and answer the call to serve one another.
With every head bowed and every eye closed, father, we thank you for your word. Lord, you have called us to serve. I pray for these men and women, for these young people who are also here, for the children. Lord, we will heed that call. We will answer that call even this month and even beyond, in the name of Jesus.
Maybe there is somebody saying, "Pastor, would you pray with me? I'm not born again. I'm not saved. My sins have not been forgiven. I'm selling my sin, and before you pronounce the benediction, would you give me an opportunity to come to the Lord and be born again?" Is there such a person? Just lift up your hand wherever you are.
You're saying, "Pastor, would you pray for me? I want to be born again." Is there anybody? We don't want to miss anybody out.
Let's pray for these who have come. Just close your eyes and repeat:
Dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Jesus, come into my heart and make me your child. Teach me your ways, teach me your word, and help me from today to obey you and to love you. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. I am born again.
Father, thank you for these who have prayed this prayer out of the sincerity of their hearts. Dear father, you who has begun this good work, bring it to completion. Lord, we pray that these young people will live for you all the days of their lives. They will never turn back. I commit them and commend them to you in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.
