The Greatest Among You

Introduction

In what specific ways do you serve others? How frequently? How extensively? Do you serve them in the highest ways possible? Or is most of your life mostly about you? This has become a familiar and favorite song of ours, make me a servant. Is that truly the sentiment of our hearts? The conversation between Jesus and his disciples, recorded in Mark chapter 10, in Matthew chapter 20, may be one of the most challenging of all the instruction that Jesus ever uttered on the subject of discipleship, being his follower. At the bequest of the mother of James and John? She comes to Jesus and asks that her sons, though the Matthew account tells us this, it’s James and John who come up to him saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

Verse 35. You know, a lot of disciples, I think want to have that kind of attitude. You know, Jesus, I want you to give to me whatever it is that I’m asking, okay? And so they ask, in his glory to sit on the right hand of the left. We want the ultimate positions next to you in your kingdom, understanding he’s the Messiah.

And Jesus said to them, You don’t know what you’re asking for. Do you know what that means to sit on my right and my left to have such exalted positions? He who humbles himself shall be exalted, he would say, in another place. And if you’re going to be my disciple, are you able to drink the cup, the cup of suffering and anguish that he is going to drink, or to be baptized or immersed with the baptism with which he is baptized? He says, You will drink the cup that I drink. And it’s interesting that James would be the first to lose his life among the apostles as he would be beheaded in Acts chapter 12 for his faith. But to sit on my right hand or my left, this is not mine to give.

Jesus says, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. I don’t believe he’s talking about any specific person that God has designed for these positions. But again, he who serves to the uttermost or sacrifices to the uttermost receives the uttermost is the idea. Well, in hearing this, the ten, the other ten of the twelve, they’re indignant. That James and John have put on this power play to receive the envied positions of glory next to Jesus. There was always this strife about rank among the apostles because they didn’t understand the nature of the kingdom that Jesus had come to establish. And so calling them to himself, Jesus says to them, and here are the important verses about our response. You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles, Lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.

But it is not so among you. Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant. What Jesus teaches about greatness is vastly different from what the world would recognize as greatness, as one who exercises authority and commands servants to do this or that. He says, the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

1. Naaman Was a Great Man, but a Leper

And to give his life a ransom for many. And we talked about that this morning. So I want to ask you when you awaken each day, do you awaken with a view to be served or to serve? And there’s very little in our culture that would encourage you to develop this saving and Christ like mentality of service. That’s the introduction. Now let’s segue surprising story to link to this the story of Naaman in the Old Testament. 2 Kings chapter 5. Something interesting here that I’ve been looking at this week in this great story about Naaman. Perhaps very familiar with our audience, but I want to read it with you. Young people, it’s a fascinating Old Testament story. Now, Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, and that is Syria.

That’s the country just to the north of Israel. Thus a lot of connection with the tribes, the twelve tribes of Israel, and a thorn in Israel’s side during the divided kingdom era. Naheman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master. We’re talking about a man with some clout in the nation of Syria. And highly respected. This was quite a leader. Because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. Now, I have a question about that. I don’t know why. Why would the Lord give Naaman, not an Israelite, a Syrian, why would he give him victory? Here was a man who had some rapport not only with the people, but with the God of Israel. And it perhaps it has something to do with the story that unfolds.

The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. Contracting leprosy in these times was much like the doctor’s news that you have cancer. Incurable, often an outcast in society. This was the worst news you would want to receive. Or to see appear on your flesh. He was a leper. And so here is this great man, a warrior that has been struck with leprosy. Now the Aramaeans, a little background here, had gone out in bands, and the Aramaeans are the Syrians that I’m speaking of. And they had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel. Again, a thorn in Israel’s side. And they took this little girl captive, and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And so she’s made this connection with Naaman’s family and is serving this great man of Syria and his wife.

And so Naaman has leprosy, and she says to her mistress, I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, back in Israel. She had some dealings or understanding of a prophet in Samaria, the capital of Israel, that could help her master. Then he would cure him of his leprosy. I can only wonder how many miracles Elisha did that are not recorded in Scripture. But she has such great confidence that Elisha could be the solution to Naaman’s physical woes. And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel. Then the king of Aram said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. Now these are enemies.

I will send a letter to the king of Israel, and this isn’t about warfare or anything of that sort. So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now, as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy. He comes bearing gifts. And it came about when the king of Israel read the letter that he tore his clothes and said, And of course, this would be in a long line of foolish decisions on the part of Israel’s kings, who, none of whom were righteous. Am I God to kill and to make alive?

That this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy. I don’t have time for this. This is my enemy. But consider now and see how he’s seeking a quarrel against me. He’s got something underhanded up his sleeve here, as he is attempting something, I’m sure. And it happened when Elisha, the man of God, that the servant girl had mentioned, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses. Here’s the massive entourage. He comes with his horses and his chariots, and he comes to the house of the prophet, the doorway of the house of Elisha.

And Elisha sent a messenger to him. Now, read that again. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean. He doesn’t even get a personal interview with the prophet that he has come a long way to see, who has, according to this servant girl, the cure for his leprosy, he gets a messenger. What’s he doing in there watching football? No, he’s not watching football. He sends out his messenger. And Naaman was furious. And went away. Okay, he’s really upset by this. The prophet did not even grace me with his presence. It’s like, does he know who I am? Do you know who he is? So he goes away furious and says, Behold, I thought, and of course, that phrase has been captured many times in sermons.

I have a few of those myself. Behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. And furthermore, are not Abana and Farpar don’t know anything about those rivers, but apparently he considered them far better as rivers to dip in than the muddy Jordan. Are they not better than all the waters of Israel? I come from a place that has good rivers, not murky, muddy rivers in comparison. He was a river snob. Could I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and he went away in a rage. Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?

How much more then when he says to you, wash and be clean? So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan. According to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child. That’s pretty cool. The flesh of a little child is often softer and better than those of us who have gone through some rugged eras of life. It’s restored as the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. When he returned to the man of God with all of his company and came and stood before him, he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. So please take a present from your servant now.

2. Points We Learn in the Story of Naaman

But Elisha would take nothing. And Naaman said, If not, please let your servant at least be given two mules load of earth, for your servant will no more offer burnt offering, nor will he offer sacrifice to other gods but to the Lord. And so he becomes convinced of the God of Israel. What are some points that there are many points that we learn in the story of Naaman? What are some simple points? Number one, as we ask the question, why is this story in 2 Kings? What is it about this warrior of Syria that would cause him to find a place in God’s permanent record? I think there are a number of things. Number one, God has a plan for the Gentiles. He wanted this Gentile who was highly respected.

The Lord had given him victory. He wanted this Gentile to learn something about the real God of heaven and earth. I think he knows the kind of heart Naaman has, and that he would ultimately embrace this truth about him. But I think it further foreshadows God’s plans, not just for the nation of Israel, but for Gentiles in his scheme of things. How about cleansing by water? But we talked about baptism this morning. Can’t we see a similarity in this story with the fact that we are washed, our bodies are washed with pure water, a verse we did not look at this morning. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 22. The concept of cleansing by water is found in the story of Naaman. And cleansing by faith. Salvation by grace through faith.

There wasn’t anything special in the water. In fact, Naaman thought it was a poor choice of waters compared to some of the waters back home. But there wasn’t anything special about the water. It was special because God made it so. Because God made provision in his obedient act. This is a perfect illustration of salvation by grace through faith. He didn’t merit anything. He didn’t earn anything. Oh, but he didn’t come up out of that water and say, you know, I dipped in that Jordan seven times. I earned my cleansing. That was the furthest thought from his mind. He was rejoicing that his death sentence had been removed by the grace of God. Though he dipped seven times, and I only have to be submerged once to be baptized into Christ.

We don’t merit anything. He didn’t merit anything. It was by the grace of God. And the Lord doesn’t want us to do anything spectacular. He doesn’t ask us to do above and beyond what we have the ability to do. Isn’t that amazing? That everybody in here, regardless of ability or intellect, that we can do simply what the Lord has instructed us to do. Simple obedience. How hard is that? How easy were the instructions? Go and wash in the Jordan seven times. He doesn’t measure you by me or vice versa. And then what about the point in regard to humility? Naaman would have to humble himself to accept God’s means of provision. And we must humble ourselves to embrace God’s provision for us. So there’s all of these points that we have just in this one story of this Syrian warrior who was a leper.

3. The Role of Servants in the Story

Very encouraging to me in regard to what we teach regarding salvation by grace through faith in the New Testament. But there’s something else in this story that I have somewhat glossed over, and that is the role of servants in the story of Naaman. And a number of them at that. And they were all contributors significantly to the cleansing of Naaman. First, there was the servant girl of Naaman’s wife who possessed the answers that he needed. I mean, he doesn’t get to the source of his cleansing without her. She was a captive Israelite girl. And yet she was concerned about her master’s condition, and so she shared the good news. See any relevance to that? How about evangelism? How about simply sharing what we know about salvation with someone else?

We have the answers that people need. They may or may not listen to us. Our job is to dispense that message when we have the opportunity. And that’s what she did. Then there was the servant of Elisha. His messenger, no doubt, sent out as much for the humbling of Naaman than anything else. God isn’t going to dole out his gifts upon Naaman merely because he wants physical cleansing desperately. He has Naaman’s spiritual interests in view, and thus the role of this servant in the story. And this servant gives him the instruction that he needs, but now Naaman is furious. He was expecting something spectacular, and so many are in religion. We’ve been talking about the charismatic movement and how the hoopla and excitement over the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as the charismatic movement teaches, speaking in tongues and the performing of miracles, which are not anything like biblical miracles.

How that is so attractive to people. And it’s somewhat the attitude of Naaman. You know, we want something, some spectacular religious experience. That’s what we’re expecting. That’s not what Naaman got. Simple instruction with which he had to faithfully comply. So it’s not sensational. What God instructs us to do may not be consistent with our view of how things should go. But if you have a mind to comply, it is simple instruction. Behold, I thought is the malady of our times. And then there’s Naaman’s servants. Heroes of this story. Apparently there were several of them because it uses the term servants plural. His servants came near and spoke to him. Why aren’t you going to give this a try? I mean, they’re looking at it from a very logical perspective.

Naaman’s pride is getting in the way. They’re looking at it to them, whether the messenger of Elisha is the one that’s given them the messenger Elisha himself. Look, what he said was, we’ve come all this way down to Israel, where at the prophet’s house, the prophet’s messenger has said, go dip in the Jordan seven times, you shall be cleansed. If that’s for real, what are we waiting on? Master. If they had, if he had bid you to do some great thing, and that’s what he was expecting. If he had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more when he says to you, wash and be clean. And notice Naaman buys into what the servants have spoken to him about.

And he receives cleansing.

4. How Important Is Your Service?

Too many people are looking for the wrong things in religion today. They want the spectacular, they want the carnal trappings. They want something that stimulates the senses. But God must be approached by faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, Romans chapter 10 and verse 17. We have to come to God, listen to him, and respond appropriately to his instruction. And it may not result in something that looks really spectacular from a carnal worldly point of view. People are looking for spectacular buildings and spectacular music in worship and spectacular productions that are fun and entertaining. But that’s just often not the nature of things in God’s doings. In biblical instruction. And so I want to take something from these three examples of servants in the story of Naaman to show how important servants are in God’s things.

Does Naaman ever get to the cleansing without all of these servants in the story? How important is service? How important is your service? Well, we may think the prophet, he occupies some great place in God’s scheme, and it was a significant place. But what about all of these servants in the story? Providentially leading to the cleansing of Naaman. What about your role? And so when I come to the conclusion of this and come back to the story of Mark chapter 10 and Matthew chapter 20. And the statement that he makes that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.

Thank God for the little people in the story of Naaman. The little acts of service. How often we overlook these unnamed people in these biblical accounts. Small acts of service. Small acts of service where I set aside myself for the betterment, the upbuilding, the encouragement, the salvation of others. I sacrifice of myself, of my time, of what I might like to do, to benefit someone else, to make their circumstances better, to be a blessing. And I’m reminded of the text in 1 Peter chapter 3, where Peter is talking about how we respond and interact among one another as brethren, and he says, be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted, humble in spirit, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead. For you were called for that very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.

We inherit a blessing, and we bestow blessings upon others. These little things can be more significant than we think.

I would say they’re looking for it, but I don’t think they’re really going around saying, I wonder if somebody’s going to fulfill this need. But they’re looking for this in the sense that they desperately need it. Some people just need someone else to notice the hardship of their circumstances to express genuine concern for their difficulties. To take an interest, to listen.

That often doesn’t take very long. But it will take a servant’s mentality. To say, I’m going to set myself aside and I’m going to look at someone else, and I am going to be a support and help to them. That’s what this message is all about. It doesn’t have to be some great thing. It doesn’t have to be something that someone else notices and pats you on the back for. Because again, as I mentioned in passing this morning, Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 10, God takes care of all those kinds of things. Everything that man might overlook or might think isn’t that significant in the whole realm of things. It’s not preaching a sermon.

Though those are areas of service, it may be something so small as taking an interest in another person’s life and spending some time with them. Weeping with those who weep.

So much would be better in our homes, in the church, in our respective environments in which we live and operate.

5. Learn to Serve as He Did

People throw around a lot, I’m a Christian. But we will never truly be Christians until we learn to serve as He did. We will never serve to the extent that He did. As He dies on the cross. I mean, if you think about what that act was for, who it was for. It was for those women at the foot of the cross and the disciple that he loved and his other disciples who had followed him during his ministry and would follow him as his kingdom is established. But it was for those Romans who sentenced him to death. It was for those Jews who said, crucify him, crucify him. It was for all of his enemies. It was for all persons. All rebellious men and women.

Jesus did what only he could do and only needed to be done once. That’ll never be my responsibility. But I’m called upon to love and pray for my enemies instead of hate them and curse them.

Oh, I can’t serve everybody all the time. I think sometimes we see the obstacle is so great. I can’t convert everybody. I can’t serve everybody all the time. So we sit back and say, I can’t do anything. You know how you convert the world? One person at a time. That’s how you do it. And if all you ever bring to the Lord is one person, so be it. Who knows what their realm of influence might be? Seek out one person. Seek out one person to encourage. I may not be able to be the support system of every single person in the local church, but there’s somebody I can tend to. There is.

The place where we let our hair down and relax. It can become all about me and my burdens and me blowing off steam or whatever. What about choosing the home instead as a training ground of learning to be a servant? How can I serve other members of my household? I think we should know that in relation to our children because we’re serving them from a very early age. But what about our spouses? That’s what love does. Love does not take into account wrongs suffered. I mean, this spouse of mine has injured me too many times to count. Right? They’ve said that insensitive thing. We’ve got into these arguments that were surely all their fault. Couldn’t have been mine. All of these hurts that I’ve experienced. And you mean I ought to serve them?

That’s the example of Jesus. That’s it. That’s what he means when he says, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. You know, my wife has never tried to take my life because of what I believe.

Perhaps. I’ve experienced some injury at her hand, emotional. Oh man, we’re so sensitive.

6. This Is the Lord's Day: Serving in Worship

I probably, well, I know. I probably more injured her than she’s injured me. And so what are we going to do? Sit back and well serve them if they serve me. That’s not Jesus’ attitude, is it? What if they never serve you? I’m not going to die on the cross, Jesus says, because some people will not choose to serve me as a result. That’s not how he served. He gave. He gave the uttermost for everyone. What if they don’t respond? Is that going to be conditional for your service? That’s not how we’re like Jesus. We’re like Jesus when we serve, no matter how vulnerable that makes me. This isn’t easy. To think like our Lord thought. And what about in relation to worship? People moan. Oh, it’s so exacting.

You know, two times worship on Sunday, you know, a lot of churches have gotten away from that because of lack of interest. You know, we don’t have to. Well, that’s right. We don’t have to. But you know, there. First of all, let me just say something. Okay? This is profound. This is the Lord’s day. Have you ever heard that? What does that mean? Possessive. It’s a possessive there. This is the Lord’s day. It’s not my day.

This is a special day of worship for the Lord. You know, people had the same attitude toward the Sabbath day. They didn’t want to give God his due. They wanted to serve themselves. Same problem in the Old Testament. It doesn’t mean every waking moment has to be worship on the Lord’s Day, but are we really asking that much? And let me, and especially in relation to what we talked about this morning. Look at what happens when we worship. Our godliness is bolstered. Our thoughts of God, our focus about God is sharpened. Our faith is reinforced. Our trust in spiritual things. Our worthy God is praised. And there’s this other benefit. We’re serving each other. We’re bolstering or strengthening our brother. By being here, by participating in this way.

I choose the word heartened. I could have choosed a lot of words encouraged, but our hearts are stimulated. That’s what we’re accomplishing here. And I’ll tell you, if we don’t have the attitude of the servant, we’ll see this as drudgery. We’ll grow tired and weary of doing it. Then we’ll find ourselves not doing it, as some do. And I’ll just say it’s very simply, and I don’t mean to be ugly about this, but some people who hardly take an interest in worshiping consistently, I’ll just tell you frankly, it’s all about them.

It’s not about others. I know they’re very spiritually immature. We need to try to help them beyond that, but I’ll tell you, that’s where it is. So, in some ways, we ought to see this as a test of ourselves. Am I going to be a servant of others? Hey, more than that, what do we owe our God for what he did for us? Considering, as Peter said, the end of all things is at hand. Whatever he was referring to there. Certainly, as we consider the prospect of final judgment. Be of sound judgment and of sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Keep fervent in your love for one another. Because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. That’s all about service.

Conclusion

As each one has received a special gift. Employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. And do that by the strength which God supplies. And if any man speaks, let him speak as it were the utterances of God. And so that’s what I will assure you that we’re all about here speaking the utterances of God. Speaking to you the word of God that can cleanse you and save you, just like the words that Naaman heard regarding his leprosy. Is there someone in our audience tonight who needs to respond to the words of salvation so that we can assist and help and serve you? And may we walk out of this place tonight, every one of us, with a mission.

I’m going to set my side a self. I’m going to set myself aside too. I’m going to set, I’ll see if you listen. I’m going to set myself aside this week, and I’m going to serve someone. And I’m going to serve my spouse. In some small way. Because self will ruin us, folks. If there’s anyone subject to the invitation, come now as we stand and sing.