Being Great for God's Kingdom - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

You know, this morning, I was having a conversation with a couple people. We were talking about the Lord's day. And, we were discussing how in the not even too long ago, just maybe thirty, forty years ago, the Lord's day was truly seen as the Lord's day. It was dedicated by all and recognized at least, maybe not even by the believer, that this was a day in which we dedicated completely to the Lord. And we were discussing how that's really being lost more and more.

We were just even discussing back and forth of how even some churches today are even losing that evening service. That it was about Sunday morning and then you would go home and eat and see family for a little bit rest and then you would come to church for Sunday evening. It was truly dedicated for the Lord and today not only do we just have usually just Sunday morning, but Sunday morning is also very rushed because we have different priorities after the service, don't we? And it's a shame because I believe we're missing out on so much when we do so. And I know you were just asked to be seated, but if you can stand right back up and you open up your bibles with me to Mark chapter 10 verse 35 in the reading of God's holy word.

Mark chapter 10 verse 35. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. Jesus said to them, you do not know what you are asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, we are able. And Jesus said to him, the cup that I drink you will drink, and the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized. But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And when the 10 heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. These are the words of the living God.

Bow your heads and pray with me. Father, we thank you for your holy word. For by it, we have life. By it, we are set free. By it, we are sanctified.

Lord, we are so thankful for this house and for the people that are gathered here this morning. Lord, we want to be able to testify that though there is pleasure in sin, it is fleeting. But in your presence, there is fullness of joy and pleasures at your right hand that lasts forevermore. Father, this morning we choose to submit to the word of God. Lord, we do not want to be like the foolish man who hears the word but does not do what the word says.

And when the waves of life and when the storms of life come, they fall and great is the fall. We choose to be the one who is wise and hears the words but does the word. And in so doing, they build their house on a rock. And when the same waves and when the same storms of life come, they are secure. Lord, help us this morning to make the distinction between hearing the word and doing the word.

Everybody can hear the word. Everything changes when we do the word. Help us to acknowledge that and to receive that this morning as we come to this text. Would you give clarity of speech, precision of thought. May there be no confusion in any mind this morning.

We pray Lord that no man would be heard. We pray that no man would be seen. We pray that Christ would be exalted, that Christ would be heard. If there is one desire in this place, Lord, it is this, that every person would leave here with a greater sense of the presence of God. And every person in this place would leave here with a greater longing as we just sang together to draw near to you.

Oh, lord, you wait for us to make the first move, and we we choose to do so this morning. We love you. We honor you. We fear you. We tremble at your word.

In your name, we pray. Amen. You may be seated. How does the world define greatness? How would you define greatness?

Greatness or to be great is the pursuit of many. And though the area in which people want to be great in may vary, the desire is still the same. What does it mean to be great? In a very simple way to be great is to be above the standard or the norm of something. To be great is to go beyond the normal expectation of a certain performance or ability or status.

That is what it means to be great. And the idea of greatness or pursuing greatness is possible in any area of life. In fact, some of you in here are students and there's either two possibilities in your heart concerning how you approach that. Either you want to just meet the standard, you just kind of want to go by, or you desire to be great. You wanna be a great student, you wanna be great at what you do.

Some of you are in the working field and there's either two possibilities in your heart concerning how you take your job. You either wanna just go with the flow, you kinda wanna just meet the standard, or you wanna be great. And that idea of being great, of going above the standard or going above the norm is something that has been nurtured by our parents, something that has been nurtured and fed into by even our teachers. Yes. Go be a doctor, but don't just be a doctor.

Be a great doctor. Yes, you want to be a pharmacist? Don't just be a pharmacist. Be a great pharmacist. Yes, you want to be an athlete?

Don't just be a normal athlete. Exceed and go and be a great athlete. So this idea of greatness is something that's very normal in the hearts of people. It's something that people pursue. It's something that people long for.

It's something that people want to be recognized for. It's something that people live for. To be great, to be recognized, to be labeled as exceeding the standard. And this idea of being great is not foreign to the Christian walk. This pursuit of greatness is not something that is unfamiliar to our faith.

What do I mean? That there are those in this life, there are those in this room that are approaching the Christian walk in one or two ways. One, either with just going with the flow, just meeting the expectation, And there are those who have convinced themselves that they actually wanna be great for the kingdom of God. And that pursuit of being great for Christ and living the Christian life with that above standard is not only not foreign, it's something that's actually encouraged in the Bible. Jesus said in Matthew five nineteen that there will be those in the kingdom of heaven that will be called least, and there will be those in the kingdom of heaven that will be called great.

And those who take the word of God in a light manner according to that verse will be called least. And those who take the word of God seriously and teach others to do also will be called great. And so this idea of pursuing greatness in the Christian walk is not only not familiar, it is encouraged. And so we can ask the question this morning, how are you approaching the Christian walk? How are you pursuing this thing?

Is it with greatness? Is it to be great? Or is it just to meet the standard? Now this idea of greatness, yes it is encouraged, but it must be approached with care. It must be approached with caution.

Because unfortunately, what we can do for those whose hearts are burning this morning and saying, I don't just want to meet the status quo of churchianity in America but I want to do more. There's a danger and this is the danger, that we can take the way the world measures greatness and translate it to how we see and how we can become great for the kingdom of God. That's the danger. That the way the world sees greatness can be adopted into the Christian's heart and we pursue greatness in the same manner or see greatness in the same manner in the realm of the kingdom of God. And so what we want to do this morning is be able to see how God prescribes greatness and how we can pursue greatness.

I don't know about you this morning. I don't want to just meet the status quo. I want to do much for him. I want to do much for his kingdom. And this is what this text is explaining.

We see James and John coming up to Jesus and asking him of something. Right before this text that we just read, Jesus for the third time in this gospel comes up to his disciples as they are on their way to Jerusalem. Why are they going to Jerusalem? Because Jesus is finally coming to fulfill what he came to the earth to do, to die on a cross, to take upon him the sins of the world. And he takes his disciples aside and he says, Listen, I'm going to Jerusalem.

I'm going to be arrested. I'm gonna be falsely accused. I'm going to be condemned to death. I'm gonna be flogged. I'm gonna be tortured.

I'm going to die, but I will raise again. I will come back to life. And in pouring out his heart to his disciples, not for the first time, not for the second time, but for the third time, how did James and John respond? James and John, verse 35, the sons of Zebedee, in light of what was just said by Jesus, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. This is a very real and very ugly picture of the self centeredness of man.

This is a very real and a very precise and accurate view of how many people relate to the Lord. Jesus just finished pouring out his heart to these disciples and some believe in his humanity to receive some kind of consolation, some kind of comfort from his boys. And in response to what Jesus has just poured out, this is how James and John react. Teacher, listen can you do whatever we tell you no matter what it is? And how true is that of the Christian walk for so many people?

That in light of the revelation of what Jesus Christ has already done on the cross, you know how we relate to him? Yeah Lord but still do what I want you to do. Oh yeah you've done so much for me already but you know there's this and there's that and there's this. And this really forces us and it forces us to examine ourselves on how we really relate to the Lord in prayer. Look how they approach him.

Lord whatever we ask you to do, do it. There's no sense of reverence. There's no sense of, Lord, you've already done so much and whatever you add on top of my life is by your grace and mercy and your goodness alone. It's, Lord, do whatever I tell you to do. How true is that of so many believers?

In light of the cross, in light of his blood, in light of his redemption, we still have this pompous attitude that, Lord, you serve me and whatever I say goes. And it was not a direct arrogance that these disciples were showing. It was a failure of understanding what he meant. All they really heard when Jesus poured out his heart to them was, We are going to Jerusalem, and there was kind of just white noise after. Because the disciples failed to understand why Jesus was coming and becoming the Messiah and was going towards Jerusalem.

They understood by seeing his miracles and hearing his teachings and seeing the wind obey him and the blind eyes opening. Surely this is the Messiah. Yes, he is coming, but he's coming to establish his physical kingdom now. He's coming to do it now. So when they're hearing, We're going to Jerusalem, they're saying, Yes, he's coming in.

We're gonna take over. Israel is gonna be restored. The Romans are gonna be destroyed. And we're gonna be able to be a part of the winning team. And so in light of that, you know what they're doing?

They're trying to suck up to Jesus and say, Jesus, when you establish your kingdom, we want you to do something for us. It was not just a failure of understanding what he's done. It was a failure, it was a selective hearing that they developed. And that's just so true with believers today too. We kind of pick and choose what Jesus says and we develop our theology that way.

He says all these things and we go, Yeah, but this. And we make all that white noise and we choose and pick what he says and we kind of develop our understanding of who he is in the Christian walk based on that. James and John come up to him and they say, We want you to do whatever we ask. And how does Jesus respond? He says, okay well what is it that you ask for?

They say, when you sit on your throne, can we sit one at your left and one at your right in glory? What were James and John asking Jesus? They were asking to be recognized as great in his kingdom. You say, how do you know that that's what they're asking for? Because when you go one chapter before this in verse 34 of Mark nine, they were walking at one point and Jesus asked them when they came to Capernaum, What were you discussing on the way?

And verse 34 says, But they were kept, but they kept silent for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. Who is the greatest? Who does Jesus love the most? Who will Jesus honor the most? Peter's like, Well, I walked on water.

Yeah, but you fell in. James and John, Yeah, but he calls us the sons of thunder. Oh yeah, but I'm like this. Oh yeah. And they were discussing along the way who would be recognized as the greatest.

Who is the one that was the greatest amongst them all? And at this point, that's still burning in their hearts. And so when Jesus explains for the third time, we are going to Jerusalem, James and John take Jesus aside and they say, Hey, listen. Can I sit at your left and your right or, or right or left? Can we sit beside you in glory?

They were desiring to be great. And though that desire is not wrong according to the whole counsel of God, the way in which they viewed greatness was wrong. And what we're gonna find out based on this request is that their view of being recognized as something was the way the world views it. Let us sit by you. Number one, what were they asking for?

For fame. For fame. A sense of recognition that when Jesus' people see you on your throne, when you establish your physical kingdom, they won't have to look too far to see that James and John are right beside you. That when they see us elevated by you, they would be able to say, Surely there's something for them to be honored. Surely, there's something for Jesus, the king of glory, to choose these two men to sit right beside him.

It was a desire to be recognized. It was a desire to say, Hey, surely these men have some kind of influence, some kind of social status, something to be deemed worthy for Jesus to say, Sit right beside me. And unfortunately, that is the way a lot of people approach serving Jesus even now. That is their motive. That is their view of greatness.

That the more recognized you are in the Christian world, the greater you are in the kingdom of God. The more people hear of you, the more your name is put on Christian posters and Christian conferences and Christian this and Christian albiz and Dove Awards and this awards. Surely the greater you are in your fame, the greater you are in the kingdom of God. Right? But not just the desire for fame, it was a desire for power and authority.

To sit at the right or the left of the king, give some kind of a license for power, to make some rules. There's a positional aspect to this. That they would be recognized, yes, but they would also have some kind of authority over people. That when they say something, people have to do it. That people would come up to them to receive instruction.

That people would come up to them to receive permission. That people would recognize them in that leadership place and say, Yes, surely they're great. And in the same light of fame, people approach this in serving Jesus today. That they equate greatness to the position in which you have been promoted to within the church, within Christian service, whatever it may be. Is that not true?

That you see somebody in Christian leadership that's up there, you see somebody that is consistently behind a pulpit, you see somebody on the worshiping that travels and you go, Surely they're great. Surely they're great. Surely God has deemed them great in the kingdom of God. Surely God has promoted them. And people have this pursuit of, Yes, if I want to be recognized as somebody in the kingdom, if God is surely going to recognize me as somebody, I need a platform.

I need position. I need title. I need letters behind my name. So even ask yourself this morning in your own heart, not just towards yourself but towards how you evaluate other people. When you see somebody, how do you evaluate if they're great in the kingdom of God or not?

What goes through your mind to say that person is great? Is it based on their intelligence, their popularity, how well they're spoken of, their gifts. How do you evaluate somebody's great? Some of us in here are inspired by certain men and women of God. Why do you think they're great?

We're gonna find out very quickly that Jesus measures greatness way different than people do. Because how he answers, Jesus said to them, you do not know what you are asking for. You really don't know what you're asking for. And here's this gentle rebuke that Jesus brings to the disciples. Your desire to be great in the kingdom of God is is off.

Sure your desire is right, but your desire and your motive behind it is not in line with how I see things. And he says, you don't know where you're asking. Let me just pause for a second. How true is this of us too? How many times we've asked Jesus for stuff and he looks at us as you don't know what you're asking for?

And some of us should be able to be thankful that we've asked for things in Jesus. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, I'm not gonna answer it. Maybe you don't know it now, maybe you're praying for something right now and it might seem right but down the road you will look back and say, I thank God that he didn't answer that prayer request. You don't know what you're asking for. Your idea of greatness is not right.

Because he goes into this veiled description of something. He says, are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am to be baptized? Greatness is not defined by thrones, by fame, by power, by authority, by position. It's not defined by that. Greatness is defined by your willingness to deny yourself and to accept the will of God for your life.

That is what greatness is defined by. And he does so by saying, Are you willing to drink the cup? Are you willing to be baptized with my baptism? You say, What do you mean? What is the cup that he's talking about?

What cup? Why is he speaking poetic language? What is he saying here? In the very same gospel and gospel of in the gospel of Mark chapter 14 verse 36, Jesus finds himself in the Garden Of Gethsemane. And this is how he approaches the father at one point in verse 36.

And he said, Abba, father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. What was in the cup? What was this cup?

Because it's the same cup that he's talking about with James and John. We don't have to guess what's in the cup. Revelation fourteen nine and ten. You can't you don't have to turn there. If you want, you can, but I'll just read it.

Revelations fourteen nine to 10. And another angel, a third, followed them saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger. And he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. What was in the cup? The wrath of almighty God.

What was in the cup? Physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual agony beyond description. What was in the cup? The suffering that each of us deserved, but that Jesus Christ drank to the very last drop. That was what was in the cup.

And he looks at his disciples and he says, are you willing to drink the cup? And he further explains it by saying, Are you willing to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? What does he mean there? The word in the Greek baptize is baptizo. It is to be fully immersed and in line with what he's saying, he's saying, Are you willing from head to toe to receive agony beyond description?

Receive agony beyond description? From from the top of your head down to the soles of your feet, are you willing to be immersed in pain and distress and agony? What Jesus is saying is not are you willing to take upon yourself the sins of the world. That's only his job and only he could fulfill that job requirement. What he is saying though is that James and John, in your pursuit of greatness for the kingdom of God, are you so willing to deny yourself in such a way that you are willing to embrace death and suffering?

Are you willing to go to the point in which you are willing to embrace persecution, trials, sickness, disease, sword, nakedness? Are you willing to go to that point? Because that is what true greatness is. True greatness is one embracing the option that I'm willing to literally lose my life, deny myself in such a way that I'm willing to embrace whatever comes towards my body, my mind, anything and everything for the sake of the glory of God. And then he goes on.

Before he further explains it, verse 39, and they said to him, we are able. Yeah, we're able to do it. Perhaps not knowing the weight of what they just said yes to, but here's the reality of Jesus, Here's the reality of our vows that we make to him, that when you say yes to something, he actually takes it seriously. We are able. I'll take you up on it.

You're able to drink the cup. You're willing to be baptized with the baptized in which I'm going to be baptized? Yes. All right. That's why in verse 40 he says, verse 39 rather, he continues, The cup that I drink you will drink.

And with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized. Did you know that there is a fifth baptism in the Gospels as the baptism of suffering? There's baptism John's baptism of repentance. There's the baptism of water in which we identify with Christ. There's the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

There's a baptism of fire, which is the baptism of judgment, Matthew three eleven. And there's a baptism of suffering. And he says, you will be baptized with this baptism. You wanna do it? You wanna pursue true greatness?

It looks like this, not my will but your will be done. It's not about thrones, not about sitting elevated above people, it's not being almost worshiped, it's you willing to do whatever I tell you no matter what the cost is. We're able. Here's the cup. Did they drink the cup?

Did they drink the cup? They did. James drank the cup in Acts 12 verse one to two. When Herod came to persecute the church, the first martyr we see amongst the church, well not the first martyr we know that that was Stephen. But perhaps amongst the apostles was James, he was killed.

What happened to John in Revelation one nine? We see here, John your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on the account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. They drank the cup. Both of them suffered. Both of them experienced persecution.

Both of them were baptized with a baptism that Jesus was baptized with. Not for the sins of humanity, but in line of suffering for the gospel. And we see here, so you are gonna drink this cup. And they did drink this cup. But look what he says in verse 40.

But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant. But it is for those for whom it has been prepared. So here's the image of John. We want to be great. Awesome.

You don't know what you're asking for. Do you wanna drink this cup? Yes. Great. Because that's what it means to be great.

Not my will, but your will be done. But this idea of sitting at my left and my right, that's not up for me. That's up to the father. He has prepared who will be elevated and who will be exalted in the next life. That's up to him, which I find fascinating.

Why? Because it takes another layer off of this understanding of what it means to be great. Are you willing to drink the cup even though you don't know if you're gonna be rewarded for it? That understanding of reward is veiled. It's up to the father for this position of sitting at my right or left.

But are you still willing to drink the cup? So it's not a matter of I'm gonna drink this cup. I'm gonna say yes. I'm gonna be baptized with this baptism because I'm gonna be rewarded. Jesus completely cuts that option off.

We don't do it because we're gonna be rewarded. We do it because he's worthy. That's why. So greatness in the kingdom of God is not necessarily pursuing things for the sake of exaltation and praise. It's doing it because he's worthy of it.

Look what happens in verse 41. And when the 10 heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. So eventually the 10 heard that James and John and in Matthew's gospel, they take their mother to try to soften up Jesus for him to promote them. And they hear about this and they go, are you serious? You actually went to that point where you had to sneak off with Jesus and ask him if you consider his right and left.

Come on. Why were they indignant? Because they had the very same desire. These disciples had the desire to be great as well. These disciples wanted to have that sense of exceeding the standard and being recognized for it.

And so you know what Jesus does? He does what any good leader does. He sees this tension, he sees this obvious disappointment, and he brings them all and he says, Come on in. I'm gonna tell you guys what true greatness is in a moment. I'm gonna explain what your heart desires.

I'm gonna realign it for you. Because right now you're thinking the way the world thinks about how to be great in the kingdom of God. What does he say? Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them? And their great ones exercise authority over them.

So he says, You know how the world that Gentiles see goodness and see greatness? They pursue greatness the way you are right now, disciples. You want position. You want authority. You want power.

You want to be able to say, I'm this and that. I have been given this position. I know and people know me. That's the way the Gentiles think. That's the way we recognize greatness.

And then he says, but, verse 43, it shall not be so among you. I love the kingdom of God, don't you? It's totally opposite of the world. You want to be rich? Give up everything you have.

You want to be exalted? Put yourself as low as possible. You want life? Die to yourself. You want to be great?

What does he say? But it shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant. You wanna be recognized as great in the kingdom of God? Don't seek what the Gentiles seek, position, and rulership, and authority, and fame, and prestige, and position no. Wanna be great?

You believers in this house this morning wanna be considered great in the eyes of Jesus? Be a servant. This isn't some poetic thing, he's being literal here. He's saying, serve. Now this is where the languages in the original text are really helpful.

He says, be a servant. And the word servant there is different than the word he's gonna use in a moment with slave. He says be a diakonos. And that word diakonos in the Greek can imply many things but one of them is to describe a man who waits on tables. To describe a man who goes and gets water and food for other people at their command.

He says, you want to be great? Be a waiter. Wait. Not a preacher? Not a revivalist?

Not a worship leader that has albums and stuff? Wanna be great? Yeah. I do. I do.

I wanna be great. Be a waiter. What a paradox. The things that the the world scorns at, the things that the world looked down upon, Jesus exalts and lifts up and says, Be that. So what does he mean by a servant?

It means one who is able and willing to execute whatever is commanded to him. Seeing the needs of others and willing to come to that low position of receiving commands and saying, Whatever you need, I'll do it for you. And what I love about this word diakonos is that it is the word used to describe deacon in the New Testament. In fact, it is the word that the Apostle Paul uses for himself and the Apollos in first Corinthians three five where they say, who is Paul and who is Apollos? Are we not your servants?

Your diakonos? Are we not those that come and wait on tables for you? Are we not those who, yes, come to see your need and serve you? One of the requirements for a deacon in the church is that they ought to be a diakonos. In the King James, the word for minister is diakonos.

You want to be in ministry? You want to be a minister? You better know how to wait on tables. Because that is the standard of service in the kingdom of God. That if you even want to be considered or titled minister, you have to be willing to dust the floors.

You have to be willing to take out the garbage. You have to be willing to stack up chairs. You have to be willing to serve even in the sense of the lowest position. You want to be great? Yes.

Be a servant. What? The great ones in the world have servants. No, but in my kingdom you are the servant. But he takes it up a notch.

He goes, Okay. You want to be great? Great. Now I'm gonna fuel this. Do you wanna be considered first?

What does he say here? Verse 44, and whoever would be first in the King James, whoever would be chiefest among you must be slave of all. That is not diakonos, it's the word doulos. Dulos is literally what the the English translation is, slave. And so if you not only wanna be great, if you wanna be chiefest, if you wanna be known as first, top notch, be a slave.

Can you imagine how staggered the disciples would have been at hearing this? What's the difference between diakonos and doulos? Though they're very similar, I would make this distinction. That diakonos is one who has occasional service. But doulos is one who gives lifelong service.

See, when you were a slave in biblical times, you literally when you were a bondservant at doulos, your life was signed away for the will desire and commands of another. Lifelong, not part time service waiter job. No, lifelong slavery. You are under the ownership of another. You literally have no right to ask of anything for yourself.

That is the magnitude of this word doulos. And this is how even some of the apostles introduced themselves in their letters. Romans one one, Paul says, Paul, a doulos of Jesus Christ. He says that before he calls himself an apostle. James one one.

James. Right? A doulos. He doesn't consider himself the brother of Jesus. He considers himself a doulos.

I am literally a slave for Jesus Christ. Meaning, I have no interests of my own. It's not about what I want, not even to the degree of anything. I have no rights. It's whatever he says.

It's whatever he commands. Lifelong service. I'm not just a diakonos, I'm a doulos. And Jesus says, If you want to not just be great, you want to be first among all, be a doulos to all. In which you what does that mean?

What does that look like practically? You literally live with no self interest. You literally are observant and willing to do whatever anybody asks of, as long as it's in light with scripture, to serve them, to better them, to lift them, to encourage them, to push them forward. That is literally what you live for. And Jesus says, that's how you'll be recognized as chief when you become a doulos.

You can feel people pulling back from this idea of being great when the standard is set this way. Show me a preacher, he's great. Show me a worship leader, look how great they are. No no no according to Jesus, show me the one who is willing to do the lowest job in the church with a smile on his face and I will show you one who is great in the kingdom of God. That's how Jesus measures greatness.

It's an upside down pyramid. It doesn't make sense but this is his kingdom, it's his rules. And so we have totally switched our perspective on what it means to be great. Jesus realigns it. And so in your pursuit, this is so encouraging, isn't it?

Because everybody has an opportunity to be great then. If greatness was dependent upon promotion and gifting and skill, that would be limited. But everybody in this room has the opportunity to be recognized as chief among all by becoming a doulos. How can I live for others? God bring me to the place in which I don't even think about myself, that I put others desires even at the inconvenience of my own pleasure and desires, that is what is recognized as exceeding the standard.

And just in case we really don't know what doulos looks like, just in case you're confused on how you can really live this thing out and be considered great, Jesus helps us out. How? The last verse of our text. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many. Do you wanna know what a doulos looks like?

Look at your god. Even, he says, even the son of man became a doulos. God is great, is he not? We're just saying it this morning. He made the mountains up to a certain height.

He told the sea to come to a certain limit. He put your body together. He fashioned it. He gave the color of your eyes. He gave your memory.

He gave your skills. He gave your abilities. He knows the stars by name. Yes. That's what makes God great.

But you know what really makes God great? You know what really makes our God unique? Philippians two:five to seven, have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, but he humbled himself by taking the form of a doulos, of a servant. That's what makes our God so great. That's what makes our God so unique.

That's what makes Jesus so special, so supreme that he came down to the world and willingly became a doulos. He did not come down demanding service from the Israelites, demanding service from the Jews. He came down. Why? To serve.

Our God. What other God is like our God? All other gods demand worship and rightfully so. If you're a God, you should be worshipped. Should be served.

Should have his commands fulfilled. But our God comes down. And yes, he walked on water but he also washed his disciples feet. Yes, he recognized himself as the bread of life but he also out of compassion fed thousands with bread. Our God, yes, he is spotless but he came to make whole the leper.

Our God for years and years and years received blood sacrifice but at this point came down to shed his own blood. This is what makes our God great. This is what attracts people to Jesus that he came down to serve. And if you really wanna attract others, it's in service. If you really want to be recognized as great, it's your service, it's your willingness to go as low as possible with joy in your heart.

Jesus realigns their thinking. He gave his life as a ransom for many. And he says, guys, I hope we don't have to have this discussion again. And now the question is, did it work amongst his disciples? I believe so.

Why? Because of what we just mentioned. Look at how the apostles referred themselves. They willingly embraced the title doulos, doulos. Yeah, I'm a doulos, I'm a servant.

That is the title that they longed for. Not apostle, though they yes they said apostle when they needed to implement authority. Not miracle worker, not orator of great skill and knowledge, no. Dulos. What's the purpose of today's message?

Simply this, number one, if you want to pursue greatness in the kingdom of God, it's not that far fetched. Well, you have to ask yourself if you even want it in the first place. But if you do want it, if that's something that you're driven for, you want you have convinced yourself the only reason why I live like the athlete does for his life, like the businessman does for his life, like the physician does for his life, you have set apart all other desires for this one desire. I want to be recognized as great. Not for the sake of my praise, not so I can be elevated, but because this is what Jesus asks of me, guess what?

Just become a slave. And I would encourage you leaving this place this morning that you would ask God, how can I be a doulos in my context? That does not mean you neglect your public gifts. It means that in spite of your public gifts, you're willing to come under and serve. That you don't use that as a crutch that, oh, I can't be a doulos because I'm this and that.

No. Despite that, you're willing to come low. You yearn. You desire to look at the needs of others and say, how can I fulfill those needs? Do I need to visit at any time?

I'll do it. Do I need to feed at any time? I'll do it. Do I need to drive at any time? I'll do it.

I'm a slave. He says to who? He says of all. And it's literally the way the world thinks in the opposite sense and that's why it's so offensive to the flesh. Because the world he says, no, to be great you receive service.

To be recognized as great you receive those that come under you. And Jesus says, no, I'm different. I'm so much more different. And he sets the example for us throughout his life. Let's pray and ask God for that ambition in our hearts.

This morning, Lord, we come before you, and we believe that you hear us. Lord, if there's not one person in here, if there's any individual in this place that has no desire to be great in the kingdom of God, would you help them recognize that it is the greatest pursuit after knowing you? That you urge us to go above and beyond, not to just sit around and just go on cruise control, but to say, how can I give myself over to this kingdom? And not for the eyes of man, but for the eyes of my king. How can I do this?

And father, we pray that even in this morning, in this place, that you would grant us that ambition to be great. And, Lord, help us and remind us that when we're tempted otherwise, that we would see that your standard of greatness is found in service and in being a doulos, a slave. And so Lord, may every person in this place confidently say, I am a doulos of Jesus Christ. But not only for you Lord, but for other people. Willing to come under to the lowest place for the sake of lifting others up.

May we do so with joy. And father, we are so excited that on that day as believers when you do reward people of how you will shock so many by rewarding those that we think do not deserve it and by demoting those that we thought you would never demote. We believe, Lord, that it's even possible that on that day, you will pull people out of the jungle. You will pull people from underground churches in China and call them great, though we've never heard of them, though we've never invited them to conferences to speak. Though they don't have podcasts, and though they don't have an iTunes playlist, you recognize them differently.

Lord, help us to pursue greatness but in the right way. And Lord, with great care and caution, even if you are asking us, are you willing to drink the cup? Give us the strength to be able to say, we are able to receive anything in this life for the sake of your glory, even if it means a literal death. That is such a foreign idea in the American church. But God we're asking that you give us the grace to submit to it.

But Lord, we thank you this morning as well that you drank that cup. That one cup, the sin of the world, our sins to the very last drop, that you embraced it. And even in your humanity saying, Lord, if it's not, if it's possible, take this cup away from me but not my will. Your will be done. We thank you that you, Lord, are the prime example of a doulos.

We want to follow in your footsteps. And we worship you. In light of all that you've done in your majesty, in your sovereignty, in your power, we worship you because you came down from a throne into a little girl's womb, from worship to scorn, from a crown to a crown of thorns, from adoration to humiliation. This morning, we are in awe of you. Receive our praise for you are great.