You Might Be A Great Servant… #3 If You Find Your Joy From the Groom’s Joy

18 Tuesday Sep 2012

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groom, Jesus, John 15:15, John Brodie, John Maxwell quote on leadership, John the Baptist, joy, moving from servants to friends of Jesus, Royal Wedding, the best man, the Bride, wedding ceremony

I said yesterday once the negotiations have been made and the groom and bride are finally joined… the best man’s job is complete. He steps aside and fades quietly into the background.

This illustration speaks for itself. Have you ever been at or in a wedding and waited for the Bride to make her entrance? Everybody is so excited. Why? You know the couple and are excited… their joy becomes your own personal joy.

I am sure many of you saw the recent Royal Wedding between William and Kate. It took the bride over four minutes to walk down the aisle. WOW. As she arrived near the front, Prince Harry was looking back, smiling in a grand fashion. Then he started whispering to William, getting him excited about his approaching bride. This is part of the best man’s responsibility. He stands beside the groom and shares in his joy.

The groom is joyous because of the bride — she belongs to him! In all weddings the best man stands off to the side once the bride arrives. We need to be like John the Baptist. Our joy needs to be discovered, not in what we receive from Christ, but in what Christ receives from being married to His church. John said, “That joy is mine, and it is now complete.” John wanted people to be drawn to His Lord, not to him personally.

John Brodie, former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, was once asked why a million dollar football player should have to hold the ball for field goals and extra points after touchdowns. Brodie said, “Well, if I didn’t, it would fall over.” The Church works best when there are enough people who are willing to hold the ball so someone else can kick. These are called great servants. Receiving glory and honor is not their goal. Their joy is found when Christ receives all the glory and honor.

Once we learn our job as best man, Jesus views us as friends, not merely servants. The source of our own personal joy can reveal to us if we have moved from merely being servants of the Lord to being His friend. If our real joy is found in seeing that Christ receives all the honor and glory instead of ourselves, then we are moving to a more intimate level with the Lord.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

Our friendship with the Master means we’re more than just servants. Jesus lets His friends in on His plans. A great servant and friend is one who recognizes God’s plan at work. John was saying, “I love it when a plan comes together! It’s working… Jesus is front and center! This is my real service!” Are you intimate friends with Jesus? Jesus needs true servants who are willing to lay down everything to become His friends. We are all called to servanthood. Some realize Jesus wants more than servants…He desires everyone to walk the path to become His intimate friend. Let the Master’s joy become your joy today!

Blessings,

Pastor

You Might Be Great Servant… #2 If You Are An Intimate Friend of the Groom

17 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Servanthood

≈ 6 Comments

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don't look in the mirror, friend of the groom, Jesus, jewish wedding ceremony, John, John 3:28-29, keep myself out of sight, Love, not the center of attention, return to your first love, subservient position, the best man, the greatest servant, the least man

I want to continue a blog thought I started a few days ago on what it means to be a great servant of the Lord. John the Baptist was considered to be the greatest servant of God in history. Jesus said of him, “Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” John said about himself, “I am not worthy to even untie Jesus’ sandals.” Did John know anything different about the Lord than we do today? I don’t think so!

Here is the question you need to ask yourself… Could you personally be Jesus’ best man? Even if you are a “lady“, I still want you to ask yourself this question. This is how John saw himself and his ministry. He saw himself as an intimate friend of the groom. Listen to his own description…

I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. John 3:28-29

John could have talked about being Jesus’ cousin through Mary, or about how he was the last prophet of the Old Testament. Instead, he used a word picture which emphasized a position of service. John saw himself as Jesus’ “best man.”

The “friend of the groom” played an important role in the first century Jewish wedding ceremony. The best man negotiated on behalf of the perspective groom and his future father-in-law. Contractually the best man served as mediator. In other words, he was someone who looked out for the groom’s best interests! John saw himself in this position. He was looking out for Jesus’ best interests.

An ironic event happened to the best man on the way to the altar. The “best” man must become the “least” man at the wedding ceremony. Once his job was complete, he willingly and graciously faded from the scene. If he did his job correctly and the couple were wedded, then he was truly the best man for the job. He had a prominent place and a very important job, but he was not center of attention.

So when John’s disciples brought him news that Jesus’ ministry was succeeding his and his was fading, it didn’t cause him to fall into a major depressive episode. This wasn’t bad news, but good news. His job as best man was a success. No one else may know or understand. John was now to take a subservient position to Jesus. John was a success prior and now afterward. By the way, sometimes choosing to allow your ministry to fade, which results in your head being chopped off, is not the ideal ministry end.

A little country boy was fishing with a makeshift pole, but he was catching fish! All this didn’t go unnoticed by a city dweller sitting close by him. This city fellow had the finest fishing tackle, but was having no success at all. He decided to ask the country boy about his success. The boy replied, “The secret of it all is that I keep myself out of sight.”

John understood this principle. When it came time for him to fade away, he did so with grace. He didn’t need the limelight to be successful. I think we struggle with our position in the Lord sometimes because we forget our first calling… to be a “friend of the groom.” The word here for “friend” is the same word for “brotherly love.” This is what motivates great servants to service Jesus — a genuine, loving, and intimate relationship with the Lord. If you need some motivation to serve Jesus with a genuine heart, return once again to your first love.

Blessings,

Pastor