Servanthood

Servanthood

Scripture Lessons

Proverbs 3:1-8

Psalm 121:1-8

2 Corinthians 4:7-10

Luke 22:24-30

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In seminary I wrote a paper on Jan Hus, the reformer from Prague. Many of you will know that Jan Hus was burned at the stake in 1415, one hundred and two years prior to Luther’s posting of the ninety-five theses. There is a bit of folklore surrounding the execution of Jan Hus. He is reported to have said, “Today you are burning a goose; in a hundred years will come a swan you will not burn.”[1] The name Hus and goose are similar and he referred to himself sometimes as the “goose.” The Luther family crest features a swan. Thus, this purported statement is said to prophecy the day of Martin Luther (Hus is the goose that was burned and Luther is the swan that would fly a hundred years later). My paper was essentially an analysis of this purported statement and its veracity. You can read the paper if you like. It was a fascinating project which I enjoyed. I read all of his extant correspondence (82 letters) as well as his final statement prior to execution and catalogued scripture references and any statement that was prophetic in the sense of telling the future. In the end, I concluded that the purported statement was not factual because it was uncharacteristic of his known statements.

The thing that is most fascinating to me however is not the purported statement which would have pointed forward to Luther, but the fact that Jan Hus was drawn to the pastoral office in part because he thought it would be a nice lifestyle. He looked at the lives of the priests and said, ‘I think I could live like that.’ Boy did he have a misconception of what it means to serve in the place of Christ, and specifically what it would mean for him!

Our gospel lesson came from Luke chapter 22. Verses 24-30 which we read are part of a broader narrative. Immediately preceding these verses, Jesus had instituted the Lord’s supper. He said, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,” and “the Son of Man goes as it has been determined.” He spoke of His pending betrayal and crucifixion. Did the apostles understand? No. Not likely or else they would not have disputed, “as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” This dispute, jockeying for position within the kingdom, betrays an ignorance of what it means to be great in the kingdom of God.

Jesus basically said, “you’re behaving like pagans.” “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority 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.” Don’t be like pagans! The greatest in the kingdom of heaven is the one who lays down His life according to the Father’s will and sacrifices Himself for the sake of the kingdom. This is the very heart of the Gospel and the truth that Jesus was revealing to the apostles. “But I am among you as the one who serves.” Εγο ειμι Just as He revealed Himself to Moses as “I AM,” so Christ reveals Himself to the apostles as “I AM” and adds “in your midst (among you) as the one who serves.” In other words, in Christ Jesus, God is not a far and distant deity, unconcerned with the minute details of your life. On the contrary, He is near you. Specifically, in the Word and Sacrament, He comes to you and is “in your midst” and is “serving” you with faith, forgiveness, peace, reconciliation, and strength for living every day of your life.

Listen and take instruction from the Lord. You who are called “Christians” are those who serve God by serving your neighbor, by giving of yourself in service to the kingdom. And the metrics by which you are measured are not those of this world. The world has misconceptions about what it means to be “great,” because the world sees according to worldly principles. You ought to know better!

In a practical sense, this means something for you as individuals and for the local parish. For the church it means, stop listening to the opinion of the world. The world says, “the church should be more accepting,” and “the church is good because they offer help to the poor,” and “this church is growing/that church is shrinking,” and “the church should not be so judgmental, after all you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” Stop listening to the world! Let God’s word dictate what the Church is and ought to be. Yes, it is good for the church to care for the materially poor. However, the Church truly exists for the care of the spiritually poor, for those who are begging sinners in need of forgiveness. That’s the Church’s primary focus and what truly makes the Church “good.” We’re not trying to catch flies with sweet or soothing words which damn a person to hell. We are called to be faithful in speaking God’s word in season and out of season, that they may be cut to the heart, brought to contrition and faith. The cross of Christ is an offense and a stumbling block. People are brought to faith when they first stub their toes (or worse!) on the cross and then come in contrition to Christ for forgiveness. The greatest in the kingdom of heaven is the one who serves, and that is Christ Jesus Himself. And serving in the kingdom means serving Christ to others. That means a word of rebuke  (the law) as well as the good news of Christ’s sacrificial death for your sins.

Thus, the Church must carefully exercise judgment within the Church and without. Firstly, regarding the exercise of judgment outside of the Church, we need to be very careful. Bear in mind that the person who sets his mind against the things of God is unwittingly following the devil. Such a person will follow Satan’s rules and live according to Satan’s standards. We can’t apply the law of God in the same way to such unbelievers. We should not expect them to earnestly desire to meet the laws demands. There are very many behaviors that are acceptable in the culture and are not acceptable for Christians. This has always been so and ever shall be. Making Christians doesn’t mean moralizing your neighbor. Christians are made when the law of God crushes and the saving work of Jesus Christ raises the spiritually dead man to new life, born from above. This is done through law and gospel, but it’s not a moralizing law. It’s a condemning law. In other words, you don’t need to shape your unbelieving neighbor into a better person, teaching them to say the right things and do the right things to be a Christian. However, your unbelieving neighbor needs to know that all people (including them) fall short of God’s perfect law and that Jesus Christ came for sinners like you and me, who sin and confess and repent, not for those whose living is so upright that they don’t need a savior.

Now regarding the exercise of judgment within the Church, hear Christ’s words to the apostles, “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.” Indeed, the apostles ate and drank at the table with Christ that night and afterwards, after His resurrection, they ate with Him in “the breaking of bread” in which He was known to them. You who come to the table of the Lord come to the table that is in His kingdom where He is in your midst. “Judging the twelve tribes of Israel” in this context means to preside over the true Church and to bring the people of God into the kingdom of God, that is to the foot of the Lord to hear Him speak and to the table of the Lord to receive His very body and blood. This was given to the apostles and through the apostles to the Church, to all who are rightly called to teach in the Church and administer the sacraments.

In the word of law that brings you to repentance for your sins, He is in your midst. In the word of Gospel that lifts you up out of the deadness of your sins and seats you in the heavenly kingdom, He is in your midst. In this sacrament, wherein you receive His body and His blood for the forgiveness of your sins, He is in your midst. And He is in your midst as the one who serves you!

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] William Dallmann, A Brief Story of the Life of a Martyr (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1915), location 356.