We have defined that a faithful servant is a believer who is responsible of managing, not owning, what has been entrusted onto them on God’s behalf. Every believer is called a steward, a manager, or a servant of that which is entrusted to them in terms of time, talents, and treasures.
Today’s message: A servant by choice
I want to start by talking about the Moravians. How many of you have heard about the Moravian Church?
The Moravians were a group of Christians originally from Czech Republic. Because of religious persecution they fled to Saxony and were given permission to settle on the land of a nobleman named Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, who had a large estate and was a man passionated about Jesus.
The Moravians who settled there, together with Zinzendorf, established a church and named their settlement Herrnhut – The Lord’s Watch.
A specific characteristic of this community was their habit of continuously praying. This was carried out in shifts by different people. This continuous praying at Herrnhut went on uninterrupted, 24/7, for 100 years.
Also the Moravian church were a missionary church. They were the first large-scale missionary group. Their all-consuming purpose was to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. Despite trials and difficulties in 28 years the Moravians had sent out 226 missionaries and entered 10 different countries.
I want to tell you the story of the first two missionaries sent by the Moravians.
Two young men: John Leonard Dober, a potter, and David Nitschman, a carpenter, who discovered that in an island in eastern India there were three thousand slaves who belonged to a British atheist.
Without permission to go there as missionaries, they decided to sell themselves into slavery to reach those slaves, using the money they got they paid for tickets into the island.
On October 8, 1732, the day of their departure, their families and friends were gathered in the port, knowing that, after their departure, they would never see them again. Some asked them what had led them to such an extreme decision and they remained silent. However, when the boat was moving away, the two young men shouted: “That through our lives may the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.”
The Moravian’s passion for souls were equal to their passion for the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
Serving God, being a servant in the kingdom, loving the house and kingdom of God is the result of our passion and love for the Lamb of God.
Many Christians do not understand the truth of the Lordship of Jesus over their lives. And all of us need to grow in our level of understanding of our relationship with the Lord.
God is our Heavenly Father and we are His beloved children and heirs, God is also the Lord of our lives and we are His servants!
Remember that the word “servant” means “slave”! This is exactly what we are as a consequence of God’s redemption in our lives.
In order to understand the Lordship of Jesus, we need to have a revelation of redemption.
What is redemption?
For many Christians, the verb “to redeem” means nothing more than “forgiveness of sins” or “salvation”.
But its meaning goes far beyond that.
Redemption – is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt. Redemption means “rescue” or “remission”.
It means “reacquiring lost property”, to acquire again!
The new and old testaments talk a lot about redemption. And in the Old Testament we can read about the redemption of slaves.
In the Old Testament, if an individual did not have the resources to honour his commitments, he should give his assets as a form of payment.
If it were not enough, he should also hand over his land. And if they were still not enough to cover the debt, the individual himself (and sometimes even his family) should be given as payment. This would make him a slave.
Let’s read about it in 2 Kings 4
“A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”” II Kings 4:1 NKJV
The widow would lose her children, for they would be taken as slaves if she did not pay her debt.
And when this happened to someone, there were only two ways for this person to get out of the condition of slavery: either someone pay for their debts (a redeemer) or he waited in this condition until the Year of Jubilee arrived (which was repeated every fifty years).
Let’s see what the Mosaic Law said about this:
“‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.” Leviticus 25:25-28 NKJV
Redemption was the payment of a debt usually made by a close relative. Through this payment one could buy back what they had once lost. So the person who had been enslaved ceased to belong to whoever first owned them and instead became the possessions of their redeemer.
For example: if I got into debt to the point of losing all my belongings and being taken as a slave, and if my brother or any friend rescued me, I would not stop being a slave!
I would just change lords! I would now become my brother or friend’s slave, because they bought me! So what’s the benefit of this?
What’s the benefit of being free of one to become the slave of another?
The difference was that the new owner is a relative who paid your debt because they love you and because of their love, they would treat their new slave with tenderness and with mercy.
WHAT DID CHRIST DO FOR US?
That’s exactly what Jesus did for us. Christ bought us for God through His death on the Cross:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you (Jesus) were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.””
Revelation 5:9-10 NIV
Men became a slave to Satan when he first surrendered to sin in the Garden of Eden.
They were separated from the glory of God. They lost their divine filiation and man became slave of satan and sin.
But Jesus came to pay our debts of sin, and in doing so, guaranteed our deliverance from the hands of Satan:
“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 NIV
Note the term “rescued”, which appears when the apostle is talking about being taken from the Kingdom of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of the Son of God.
Then he states the following: “in whom we have our “redemption”!
Redemption was the act of buying, of paying the debt of sin:
“Having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:14-15 NIV
What leads us to loving the Lord Jesus? It is the understanding of His love for us. When we understand how much He loves us, we are constrained to a response of love:
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
He died to buy you. With His Blood He paid the price so that you no longer live for yourself, but live for Him!
As Lord of your life He is calling you, come serve Me, use your time, your talent, your gifts and your resources for my Kingdom!
The two young Moravians decided to sell themselves as slaves because of their love for Jesus and that led them to do two things:
- To renounce their freedom;
- Live to obey their Master.
Let’s see how these principles are related to the Christian walk today:
Renouncing Your Freedom
The servants of the Kingdom who understand that they have been redeemed from darkness and have been bought by the Blood of the Lamb renounce the freedom to which they are entitled and choose out of their own free will to remain slaves of Jesus.
Our experiences with Christ include, in addition to the forgiveness of our sins and our eternal salvation, the fact that we give control of our lives to the Lord Jesus.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 NIV
The understanding of the lordship of Christ has been stolen from the current generation of believers. We preach that people need to accept Jesus as their Saviour. But Bible teachings go far beyond that! We have to confess Jesus as our LORD!
What does it mean for God to be Lord? He bought us and we are His property. We are His servants.
Actually, many people are trying to adapt the Gospel to their ways of life, but this is impossible! It is our lives that must adjust to the Kingdom of God and His principles!
How much does the Kingdom of God cost? Everything you have!
So this is what Jesus taught about this:
““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-46 NIV
Whoever finds this great treasure – Jesus – and makes Him the Lord of their lives, with Joy they’ll leave everything behind and become a Good and Faithful Servant!
What is to love God with all our heart? The greatest expression of this love we can be offering to surrender our lives and a life of under complete submission and obedience!
These are the “marks” of a slave by love: to renounce your freedom and live to obey your Lord!
How about you? Would you like to accept Jesus as the Lord of your life and became a servant by love? A servant by choice?
Remember that a faithful servant is a believer who is responsible of managing with humility what has been entrusted to them by God.
May God bless you