The Servant Leader

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0:00It's great to be with you all this morning. We're in Luke 22, and we are in the passion narrative of Jesus. This chapter and the next chapter, it tells us about the unfolding events which lead up to Jesus' crucifixion and death. Now, you might be tempted when you get to this part of Luke, or any gospel really, to read quickly and get to the quote-unquote good part, the important part. But I want to tell you that each part of this passion narrative, it tells us something about Jesus, some aspect of his character, some aspect of his saving work towards us.

0:41So we're unpacking this in a little seven-week series. We're in week two today. It's called No Greater Love. No greater love has anyone than Jesus for us. Last week was about friendship. Jesus is the faithful friend that we all long for and all need. And this week, it's about leadership. Last week was about friendship. This is about leadership. After college, I worked as an engineer at a pharmaceutical plant. Actually, BI Chemicals, some of you might know it.

1:17It was down south of Petersburg right over here. I worked there for about 10 years. I was early in my career, and like many others who were young in their career, I wanted to advance as fast as I could. I wanted to go up the ladder. I wanted to be a manager. Now, this is not because since I was a little boy, I said to my parents, I want to be a manager when I grow up. It wasn't like that. But it was just that where I worked, it seemed like all the important people were managers.

1:52All the important decisions were made by managers. So I wanted to be one of those people. I wanted to be in the room where it happens. I had ambitions for leadership. But I was mainly thinking about my resume. I was thinking about my paycheck. I was thinking about my status. I was thinking about those free lunches that managers seem to get invited to.

2:26One thing I was not thinking about was the people. Now, that's a problem, isn't it, for someone who wants to be a manager? I hadn't thought about the performance reviews, the development plans. I hadn't thought about helping others do their job better, advance in their career. I was just thinking about mine.

2:56Now, in this passage today, the disciples are with Jesus at the Last Supper. And they're thinking about advancement. They're thinking about status. They're thinking about glory. And Jesus is there, fortunately, to guide them, to redirect them to the right path. But it's a difficult path. So let's turn to Luke 22 and find out more.

3:26This is the Word of God for us today. It's without error. It is reliable. It comes from God. And He works in it as it goes forth into the room and into our hearts. He's promised that it goes forth with His power and His blessing. So let's receive it humbly, eagerly.

3:49This is Luke 22, starting in verse 24. A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest. And the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater? One who reclines at the table? Or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table?

4:29But I am among you as the one who serves. You are those who have stayed with me in my trials. And I assign to you, as my father assigned to me, a kingdom. That you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

4:52Simon, Simon, behold. Satan demanded to have you. That he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned, again, strengthen your brothers. Peter said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day until you deny him three times that you know me. Let's pray.

5:32Lord Jesus, open up our ears. Make our hearts soft. For the work of your spirit in them through your word. Lord, we kneel before you, eager to receive from you. We know that you intend our good as we come underneath your care and your authority. We know that. We trust you. We don't know what it means sometimes to follow you, what might come next, but we want to follow you. Please give us willing hearts, eager steps, and right now help us to sit under the word, to learn from it, and be changed by it.

6:13Jesus, we pray this in your name. Jesus is the servant leader. Last week we saw He is the faithful friend. Today He is the servant leader. This passage tells us glory comes through following the one who served us. Glory comes through following the one who served us. Do you ever think back on something you did or you said maybe a long time ago and it was so wrong-headed, so clueless, so awkward, so poorly timed or poorly phrased or something that you cringe a little bit?

6:57Even years later you still cringe a little bit when you think about it? I bet the disciples did that for a long time after this moment when they thought about this. Jesus is talking about dying for them. And they are striving after greatness.

7:21Jesus has given them the bread and the cup. He said, this is my body. This is my blood. He's talked about His death, His betrayal, and they are fixated on the other things that He said. They're like a lot of us. When we hear something, we kind of screen out the things that we don't like or don't want to hear and we attach on to the things that we do like. He said things about the coming kingdom, how He would drink with them there. That caught their attention.

7:49What's that about a feast, Jesus? Can you back up? Unpack that a little bit more? The feasts? They've already fast-forwarded to the very end. They're already jockeying for seating placement. They can picture the table in their minds with all the placards with names and thinking about rearranging the names to get closer and closer to Jesus.

8:14A dispute arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. Now, this shows us something true about the human condition. Something that you need to know for yourself and for living in this world. God created us with good desires, but we make bad choices for how to fill them. I'm going to say that again. God made us with good desires, but because of our sin, we make bad choices about how to fill those needs. That is a universal truth that you can take with you to the bank.

8:51I know it because I didn't come up with it. It's right here in God's Word. We're looking for love in all the wrong places. We go online looking for intimacy. We get wrapped up in our jobs looking for impact. We hoard our money looking for security. And we strive for greatness looking for significance. That's what's going on here for the disciples. God made them and us with a desire for significance. You could even say for glory. You were made to want glory.

9:35The disciples hear Jesus talk and they think, this is awesome, guys. We got in on the ground floor. We're at the top of the pyramid. Everyone's going to be working for us. And then they start thinking, wait a minute, but who among us is better?

10:00They've forgotten what Jesus said earlier. This is from John 5. He said, how can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? You see there? Jesus admits and he recognizes and it's an admission that seeking glory is fine. It's good. The problem is where you go. You're seeking glory from one another instead of seeking it from the only God that's above.

10:33I've been to a few concerts up at the National, up in Richmond. It's a small venue. And sometimes because I'm getting older, we don't want to stand for three hours when we go. And so we go up to the general admission seats, which are, you can either stand at the bottom or you can go up and sit down. It's a decent view, but at least you're sitting down. That's great. From up there in the seats though, you can see the box seats. The box seats are the best view.

11:06They're right along the edge. They're on the side. It's like, and there are chairs you can sit in, in the box seats. So you've got the best view and you can sit down. Perfect for a mid-40s guy like myself. I catch myself at a concert staring at the box seats, at the people in the box seats. Who are those people? How did they get in there? Who do they know? How much did they pay? Where do they work that they got this treat from their employer? How do I get in there?

11:47I've kind of scoped out. I think that guy's security. I guess that's the way to get there and I can't sneak down there and get in. Maybe you can relate to me. Maybe you've done that too. You've looked at the VIP section. You've looked at the curtain that separates coach from first class.

12:11Oh, that curtain. Who do they think they are? You think about the perks of other people where you work? You start thinking, it would be nice to be treated like that. Maybe some important role is the way to get that. Maybe that's how I get what I really want.

12:37The natural view of leadership in our hearts and in the world is in terms of power and praise and prestige. That's how the world thinks about leadership. And Jesus tells us that. He says the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them. That's the power. And those in authority over them are called benefactors. That's the praise. That's the prestige.

13:05The world thinks of leadership in this way, but Jesus says, not so with you. Not so with you. He gives them a whole new way to think about leadership. Let the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as one who serves. The youngest in the ancient Near East didn't have any privileges. The privileges all were about seniority. And leaders certainly did not serve. They were served. But Jesus is completely changing the paradigm. It's a whole new paradigm.

13:42In the kingdom of God, those who are great don't get privileged. In the kingdom of God, there is no leadership except for servant leadership. In the kingdom of God, there is no leadership except for servant leadership. It is so different from the world's concept of leadership, it ought to be nearly unrecognizable.

14:06Suppose Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg asked to shadow a super famous church leader for a month, a John MacArthur or a Mark Dever or an H.B. Charles Jr. They came along and they watched them as they led their church for a solid month. What ought to happen is they ought to be totally baffled at what they see. Right? Completely, they don't even know how to make sense of this. That's what you call leadership?

14:43Going out of your way to help? Turning down the perks and the privileges? Not being served, but serving? Are you kidding me? That's what you call leadership? You're a leader? It should be like if a European came with an American to a football game. The European watches the game and is like, that's what you call football? I see people on the field, but that's not football. Right? That's how unrecognizable someone from the world, if they came in and watched leaders in us and among us, that ought to be their response.

15:26This is completely foreign to me. Leadership in the kingdom, it still involves roles and responsibilities. It still means sometimes carrying significant weight and making big decisions, but at its core, it's different than the world. It is servanthood. It's pouring yourself out instead of getting filled up. This is true of any kind of leadership as a Christian, as a Bible study teacher, as a parent, as an elder or a deacon, in a worship service or on a job site among kids or adults or peers.

16:08Any kind of leadership is servant leadership. Leadership is not a path to glory. It is a path of service, of dying to self. It was really important for Jesus to teach this to his apostles.

16:34These were going to be the guys that he sent out and upon the foundation he's going to build his church. But he does go on then to tell them this is how you get what you want. I see your desire for glory. Let me tell you how you actually get it. He tells them the promise and the path of glory. In verses 29 and 30 Jesus says something astounding. He says, I assign to you as my father assigned to me a kingdom that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

17:16I think it's safe to say this is way beyond what they expected. Now, some of what Jesus says here only applies to them. After all, they are apostles. The apostolic age has ended. As I have said to you before, if anyone comes to you and says that they're an apostle, go run the other way. That office is done. It's finished.

17:44They will have a role in judging. But some of what Jesus says here does apply to all believers. Like the eating and drinking at his table in his kingdom. That's what the angel told John in Revelation. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

18:06So that's the promise. That's the promise of glory. But what's the path? Well, the path is to follow Jesus. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. The path is Christ-like this. It is sacrifice and suffering that is found through serving.

18:34That's why Jesus says in this next part of the text, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan is demanding to have you that he might sift you like wheat. Jesus is not changing the subject. He's not like, oh yeah, Peter, I've been meaning to tell you.

18:56This is all connected. You will eat and drink at my table in the kingdom. Let the leader be as one who serves, you will be sifted. It's all connected. It's this idea of you cannot go down the path of leadership to get glory. That is the wrong way to go. I'm calling you into service, into looking like me. I am the one who is among you as the one who serves. You will be sifted and made more like me.

19:33Sifting, it breaks up a head of grain. It's a violent process. It's separating kernel from chaff. The good from the bad. This talk of being torn apart, it was probably alarming for Peter, right? I mean, this is an alarming thing to hear from your Lord and Savior. But it's also alarming for all the apostles because, you see, in this sentence, the pronoun you is plural in the Greek. Satan demanded to have you, all of you, to sift like wheat.

20:13He demanded to sift all of them, to tear them all up. Listen, following Jesus is not a ticket to an easy life. In fact, it makes you a target. It makes you a target. Now, Satan's power is limited by God's permission, but God sometimes does permit it.

20:48Now, Peter, as usual, thinks that he's ready. Bring it on, he says. Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. He sees the path correctly, doesn't he? He sees it. He will indeed go both to prison and to death for Jesus' sake, but he is not ready.

21:23He's full of bravado. He overestimates himself. He will sin. He will deny his Lord and his friend. But Jesus, you see here, has already begun to help him.

21:41I've prayed for you that your faith may not fail. He's going to persevere. Jesus is going to ensure it. It's not a question. Did you see that? He says, when you have turned again. Not if, when. When you have turned again. Now, interestingly, in this sentence, the you here, it switches back to singular.

22:08I've prayed for you. Singular. That your faith may not fail. If they're all going to be sifted, well, what about the others? Now, here's the answer. Jesus says to Peter, when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. And that word brothers, it really could be translated brothers and sisters. when it's in the plural, it means gender inclusive. Strengthen your brothers and your sisters. The suffering Peter will endure is going to make him able to encourage others in their faith, to help them to keep going.

22:50The sifting is going to make him ready to serve, just like his Savior. All of the wisest, most compassionate, most servant-hearted people I have ever known have been through significant seasons of suffering, to a person, every one of them. They don't always wear it on their sleeve, but over time I've learned what it is they've been through. One man I admire, and I'm counseled by often, I learned recently, has been suffering for years with chronic pain.

23:31I never knew, but it came out in how he helped me, and how he strengthened me. Listen, when God brings you through a trial, he intends that in you to be used to serve someone else who needs it. That's one of the reasons why he brings us through those things, to make us ready, to serve other people. We need the community. Do you see how strong that is here? When you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. We absolutely need each other so that our faith will not fail.

24:17We need to encourage each other and strengthen each other and speak words to each other and say, look at him again. Turn back to him. Look at him. He has not left you. He will never leave you. His promises are true and they're real. Keep going. Keep going. The sifting is going to help Peter serve. And the sifting that you have been through, it is done to help you serve. To help you walk in Jesus' footsteps and be like the one who served you.

24:51And that's our last section for today. Being like the one who served you. Jesus didn't just talk about serving. He actually did it. He didn't just say, I am the one who is among you as one who serves. In the Gospel of John, we heard this earlier from John 13. Right at the same part of the Lord's Supper, Jesus does something remarkable.

25:19He gets up, he dresses down, and he kneels and he washes their feet. They're dirty, disgusting feet. And they really were bad. Much worse than any of our feet right now.

25:39It was customary for feet to be washed before a meal in the ancient Near East, but it was done by Gentile servants. Not even by Jewish servants. Gentile servants. There's no other recorded examples in the ancient Near East at this time of an authority figure washing the feet of someone that's following them. No other examples. This is the only one. This was an audacious thing to do.

26:11And those feet were attached to ordinary men. They had no social standing, nothing they could offer him. They were jealous, they were impatient, they were selfish. In just a few hours, when he gets arrested, they're going to scatter.

26:31And yet he takes the absolute lowest position in the room. He does the most menial and gross task imaginable to serve them, to make them clean. And friends, you know that that's just the beginning. As audacious as that was, that was just the coming attractions for what he would do mere days later. His greatest act of service, his death for sinners, crying out on the cross, Father, forgive them, dying as a criminal in the place of criminals like you and me, rebels like you and me, to take the punishment for sin, to atone for it, to cover it, to give sinners life and forgiveness.

27:24through repentance and faith in his name. He's the one who serves. He didn't just talk a big game, he did it. And when we come to him, we are united to him in his death and his resurrection. Paul says this, if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. He calls us into suffering and service to experience how we are united to him in his suffering, in his death. We're made to look like him because we belong to him.

28:01If you belong to him, you can expect to be made to look like him. In all ways, that's how we get the glory that we're after. By being served by Jesus, by receiving his work through faith and by following his example. I want to close with this. Think about a diamond.

28:28A really, really excellent diamond what does it do? It glitters. It sparkles. Right? How does it do that? Well, the first thing is it's cut. A rough diamond doesn't look like much. You might mistake it for some other stone. It just looks like a rock, a slightly clear rock. It's got to be shaped very carefully by a master gem cutter who makes strategic choices, careful choices about where to cut, where to slice, what facets to create all around.

29:14It's a very delicate process. The wrong cut can ruin a diamond, but the right cut can elevate it, make it even better than it was before. But cutting is not all that it takes, right? Diamonds don't emit light. They refract light. They disperse light.

29:40In a dark room, a diamond does nothing, even a cut one. But shine a light in, and what happens? Light just dances around the room, everywhere, in rainbows. You and I are rough stones. We come into his care and his workmanship and in his hands we are shaped, we are formed. we are cut, but strategically, thoughtfully, to make us ready. And then he shines his light into us and then watch out. Because the light that comes out, it sparkles, it shines, it's glorious, right?

30:32You ever had your breath taken away by a really beautiful diamond? That's what happens when people look at you when you are under the workmanship of God.

30:45you have experience being cut, but you're being shaped and then the light shines into you and people gasp and they say, look at Jesus sparkling in you.

31:01To this he called you through our gospel, Paul says, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Go after new creation, but go after it the way that Jesus wants you to. By following him and by imitating and being like Christ and being conformed to his image. And there is glory that awaits you. that to be to be as as as as a person to be as as