Be a Self-less Servant! by Captain Kelly Durant

Be a Self-less Servant       by Captain Kelly Durant

 2. Have you ever heard 2 kids arguing? Many times one will grab a toy and say it’s mine. Its mine! By nature we are selfish and we want it all. But to be sacrificial and be a good servant… now that is the opposite, a nature only God can give us!

I recall when my kids were here with me in Miami in the 90s, and one little kid friend of theirs said this is Miami, Miami! And the other one started crying saying, “No! No! It is My ami!. My...ami! Ha!

   Matt 20:25-28

25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

3.In the world today there is a lot of confusion on how the church should be governed and clearly Jesus states that the chief one amongst you should be a servant! He teaches us that we are to serve one another in love as a servant. Leaders, and Christians that have been around for a while, should be the ones who serve the most.

Jesus came to love, serve, and heal, and He teaches us that He expects that each of His followers, who are servants, to do the same! But God is limited by how willing you are to do all of the things that Jesus did!

In other words, there is a war within you to be an obedient surrendered selfless following servant of Jesus, or be a common lazy human whose nature is to be selfish. Or some people want to do some little thing and then get a big recognition and applause for it. With God it is not that way, when it is done for Him the rewards are in heaven. Don’t let you right hand know what your left hand does, its done for God. 

4.All Salvation Army Officers, Soldiers, and volunteers are in the business of serving those in need, be it a spiritual or physical one! Being a servant to the suffering is the reason for our existence! The reason we are not the largest church around is because not too many people want to deal with what we deal with; the homeless, the addicts, and the poor. A real servant will do the dirty uncomfortable work and then never complain.

We can all be proud that right now in in 126 countries there are a few million in the Community Care groups serving others who suffer needs. Please keep all missionaries in your prayers too! We are proud of Jaime that is going on a mission trip to the Islands in the Caribbean. It is great to see a young person willing to serve others living in conditions less fortunate than ours! Thank you! We will pray for you!

Jesus came to minister and to teach us to minister and be sacrificial as He was. But only He was able to put his life as a ransom to pay the debt of all sin! But he expects us to lead by serving others in love as He did!  So how much are you serving?

5.Have you ever heard the quote that states ,“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink?” That is the way servanthood is, some will do it and some won’t. In this Corps we have a healthy group of people going out to minister to others, the Home League and the Community Care leaders, most leaders do their best to serve.

Raise your hand if you are a part of one of these groups? These are the ones who drink the water, the bold ones who act and do! The ones who lead by example! We are proud of you because each year over a thousand hours of serving and ministering to others gets done! The word of God shared, comfort and prayers given to many hundreds, and the value of the gift-in-kind gifts you share is invaluable!

You are hope to many! May God reward you greatly in heaven! But today we invite anyone not serving yet to consider that you can do it with the support of us and of these dozens who are in action.

6.How blessed we are that here there is a group of people who sacrifice their time and visit rest homes, visit and pray for people who are sick, go and lead Bible classes, and they come or go to serve food boxes, paint and clean or just serve no matter how dirty they get. So there is no excuse for anyone to say, I don’t have anyone to go with, I don’t know how to serve or where to go to serve others. We have the system working.

But there is a reality, neither you nor I, nor Mrs. Captain, nor Al nor any leader here can get anyone to love God or do anything for their neighbor and be a servant! The free will of each person limits what you or I will do. Jesus wants the results of seeing each person as a servant leader but each person has their own laziness, selfishness, or rebelliousnesses and free will to deal with to choose what they will do or not do!

What each person chooses to do for God is between them and God but after knowing how Jesus gave His life with His blood and His suffering, not one of us have any excuse to not follow in his example doing the best we can for God and others!

Jesus gave His life and we should give our lives in sacrifice without limits as He did!

7.We have explored in the past how the entire world’s systems are self-serving, not others-serving. All governments, businesses and even some false pastors have systems set up so that the people are serving them, or just serving their-selves in their self-interest and they are not serving another person with a need as Jesus did.

These people are what we can classify as the “Gentile’ or ungodly leaders. Vs 25 Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

These are authorities who give orders like a dictator and they dominate others and their idea is that the people need to be serving them. After all, they are the deserving wealthy charismatic masters and chiefs, and they do not ever want to be seen as a servant, that is too humiliating. But Jesus was a servant not a master! This is why for millennia Jesus is still loved and followed by over one billion, contrary to any Cesear, recent past leader, or dictator.

8. You cannot just give money to the poor either, sometimes that can even be an abuse. I have been reading a book about that…

It is like giving a man a fish and not a fishing pole. In the end, you are serving him crumbs compared to what you own (the entire fishery), so he feels guilty for the fish given to him and then obligated to serve you when you want something. So what happens is a relationship of resentment. How you serve another matters greatly! Is it a real servant love, or a manipulating ploy? Jesus always healed and set free others.

Instead of loving you in the end, he hates you because your help is no help as he knows you are keeping him under your thumb for the favors you want. And the privileged one giving is disrespectful and resentful as well thinking that the one receiving is a loser, lazy, and abusive for coming back time after time.

But if you give a man a fishing pole, a job, a mission, or a place to fish from, then he can run with it and he will always be thankful because you made a way for him to take care of not just himself, but of others as well. The poor many times are the most generous with other poor because they know what it is like to have nothing!

9. This is exactly how I feel about Jesus and the Salvation Army. I will always be thankful because they gave me a mission in life to bring hope to the suffering ones through His message of salvation. A salvation that is not just for heaven but one for the here and now. This implies I provide for those in need, I bring God’s provision to all without discrimination.

How do you and I get food, help, and things for others? You have to do a lot of sacrificial serving. It takes hours of preparation to get tons of boxes of food, clothes, backpacks, or toys ready and move them around 3 times and then give them out.

So God is developing the character of each of us to become servants; he taught the disciples not just with words but by example and our following should be done with words and deeds as well. God is good all the time! Why, because he saves and solves!

God gives soup, soap, and salvation, but He does it through his servants, you and I.

10. We could define serving others as knowing the Good, loving the good, and doing the good!

Knowing the good is knowing what is right.—(In our mind) this is cognitive.

Loving the good is loving God and the sense of community and reverence for others by following the principles that have been established—(In our heart) this is feeling or conviction.

Doing good is applying what you know to be right, and what you feel to be right (Holy Spirit’s voice), to a given situation—(Our will doing God’s will) this is application.

-Saber el buen es saber que es correcto. - (En nuestra mente) esto es cognoscitivo.

-Amar el buen es amar a Dios el sentido de amar la comunidad y darle reverencia a otros siguiendo los principios que se han establecido (En nuestro corazón) esto es sentimiento o convicción.

- El hacer buen es la aplicación de lo que usted sabe que es correcto, y lo que usted se siente (la voz del Espíritu Santo) que es correcto en una situación dada (Nuestra voluntad  haciendo la voluntad de Dios) éste es ser aplicado.

Sometimes we wonder in our human imperfection, how can we ever be faithful servants? Have you ever worried if you are faithful enough, if you are serving enough?  I have many many times! Inside we all want to please God.

11.There comes a time when you and I need more faith; faith that God will help us to be all of what we need to be to be serving as we should.

Ask yourself, Is My surrendered will working His Will in me! For the good of others?

We give, we do, we serve, but…The only things that can be perfect are the things God gives:

-perfect peace as you let go of concerns about yourself and hang onto Him;

-perfect fulfillment as you stop trying to do it all and let Him do through you whatever He knows is best;

-and perfect faith that even though you falter and fail, you trust fully in His unconditional love that will never fail to hold you close and turn everything for good.

Las únicas cosas que pueden ser perfectas son las cosas que Dios da:

- paz perfecta dejando las preocupaciones de si mismo, y aferrando se en él;

- perfecto cumplimiento dejando intentar hacerlo todo y dejando que El lo haga a través de usted, lo que El sabe que es el mejor; 

- y la fe perfecta que aun cuando usted vacila y falla, puedes confía completamente en su amor incondicional que siempre le sostenga que dé vuelta a todo para el buen.

You are a servant for God so be the servant leader He wants! Then you will feel good about yourself by seeing how you make others happy! If you are not serving other yet, just start!       

 ¡Usted es una obra en el progreso y Dios llegando a ser el líder que sierva en la forma que él desea!

So have patience with God’s molding of your character! Work with God so he will make you what you need to be!

Remember that the disciples were for a time:

12. Not yet ready for the task God was preparing them for

Discouraged not understanding all of what God was doing

Afraid of where they were going to end up 

Time with Jesus, and His Holy Spirit resolved these concerns!  Pray we me…

 Recuerdan que los discípulos estaban a menudo:

No todavía listo por la tarea que Dios estaba preparándolos

Desalentado por no entender de todo lo qué Dios estaba haciendo

Asustados por donde iban a terminar   

¡Tiempo con Jesús, y su Espíritu Santo resolvieron todas estas preocupaciones!