Bible Studies
Ask What Can I Do (Matt. 20:28)
Series: Additional StudiesIntroduction:
1. On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy, in his inaugural address said, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” 2. The lesser known statement that preceded it was, “The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor (of defending freedom in the hour of maximum danger) will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.” 3. Serving with energy, faith and devotion is what makes any people or individual great! 4. Kennedy had spoken to a group of people Tom Brokaw would later describe as “The Greatest Generation,” the people who had come through WW II. They worked hard. They sacrificed to create a better future for coming generations. 5. Interestingly, during this period the Lord’s church flourished.a. Was it because of their willingness to be self-sacrificial?
b. And is this the determination today?
6. It is my fear that we have shifted to a consumer orientation, that we are self-seeking, asking what can I get rather than what can I give. 7. It is to this subject that I draw your attention.Discussion:
I. The God of heaven is all about using His power for our benefit.A. It is evident in the creation.
1. From day 1 God moved purposefully designing everything for the benefit of man.
2. Robert Milligan, then president of the College of the Bible in Kentucky University, said it well in 1868. “God’s favor to man is manifested in the fact, that for his special benefit the whole earth, with all its rich treasures of mineral, vegetable, and animal wealth, was provided. For him, all the matter of the Earth was created in the beginning. For him, all the gold, and silver, and copper, and iron, and granite, and marble, and coal, and salt, and other precious minerals and fossils, were treasured up . . . For him, the light and the atmosphere were produced. For him, the world was clothed with grass, and fruits, and flowers. For him, the Sun rose and set in the firmament, and the stars performed their apparent daily and yearly revolutions. For him, the sea and the land were filled with living creatures, and the air was vocal with the sweet voices of birds. All these things were provided for the good and happiness of man; and then he was himself created to enjoy them. And thus it happened, that what was first in design was really last in execution” (The Scheme of Redemption, p. 36).
B. It is evident in the history of Israel.
1. Ezek. 16 describes her origin. Her parents abhorred her, had no pity or compassion. When she was born she was throne out into the open field. (1-5).
2. But the Lord took her in (6-7).
3. He took her for His own in marriage (8).
4. He lavished her with rich gifts (9ff).
5. And when she committed adultery He forgave (60-63).
C. God is about what benefits us. He is not self-centered. There is no lack, no deficit in Him that we need to satisfy. This is what distinguishes Him from man-made gods (Acts 17:23-28).
II. The mission of Christ was not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:20ff).A. Sometimes men have diminished feelings about themselves and want to prop their importance up by having others serve them (cf. Matt. 20:20-21). Ex. James, John, their mother, the 10 disciples, the Gentiles. True greatest is not measured by the number who serve us, but by our willingness to serve others.
B. Jesus is the example of such in the family (Eph. 5:25).
1. Some, feeling of diminished importance, object to the biblical concepts of headship and submission. Little do they realize that biblical leadership involves “giving oneself up for another.”
2. Some may object, “I would never humiliate myself for someone else.”
a. Jesus did (Jn. 13:3ff). He washed our feet.
b. He endured the humiliation of the cross (Phil. 2:7-8).
c. The challenge for us is to follow His model, doing nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regarding one another as more important than self.
3. In marriages people want what they want and demand it. They withhold commitment and thus undermine the trust upon which successful relationships are founded.
4. In parenting they want someone to love them, rather than giving themselves to the well-being of their child.
C. In business relationships some are concerned about what they can get rather than performing a service for their customers. In government some politicians are concerned about what they can get and some citizens are concerned about how they can be benefited.
D. In the church often it is the same.
1. People look for what they can get.
2. “How little can I give in order to get what I want?”
III. The work of the church is the work of self-sacrificial service for the benefit of others.A. Our mission is to go and make disciples (Matt. 28:19). So that we can brag about what we are doing? So that we can be the “biggest church”? Have the biggest building in town? NO! So that others might be saved.
B. The first century church “gave themselves to the Lord” (2 Cor. 8:2-5).
1. It resulted in their giving in support of the saints.
2. It resulted in their sharing with those who taught them the word (Gal. 6:6-10).
3. It resulted in preachers who poured themselves out in self-sacrifice to preach the gospel (2 Tim. 4:6).
C. When we become self-centered we ask, “What can you do for me?”
1. We may ask it of the church, the government, our spouse, our children, and our parents and we destroy ourselves in the process. We become consumers rather than contributors. We come to worship in order to get rather than stimulate others to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24).
2. We run counter to the purpose of God and the mission of Christ and we weaken everything that we come into contact with. The message of the gospel is summarized in the statement: “He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need” (Eph. 4:28).
Conclusion:
1. We need to rethink our course. 2. A young communist wrote: “We communists have a high casualty rate. We are the ones who get shot, hung, lynched, tarred and feathered, jailed, slandered, fired and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible. We live in virtually poverty. We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep alive. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty personal selves into a great movement of humanity. If our personal lives seem hard or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us in his small way is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind. There is one thing for which I am in dead earnest and that is the communist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife and mistress, my bread and my meat. I work for it in the daytime and dream of it at night. Its hold on me grows, no lessens, as time goes on. I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating it to this force which both drives and guides my life.” 3. I am not an advocate for the communist cause, but I am an advocate for commitment to Christ and to His cause. 4. John F. Kennedy spoke as a representative of “The Greatest Generation” and said, “We will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of freedom.” 5. Will you do this for the cause of Christ? 6. Give your life in self-sacrificial service! Give your time! Give your money! Give your talent and ability, all your energy into the service of the Lord!
