A Servant’s Heart: SACRIFICING SELF

A Servant&#= 8217;s Heart: SACRIFICING SELF

Acts 7:55-6= 0

Today we come to the final message in our series on &#= 8220;a servant’s heart:” SACRIFICING SELF. This is perhaps the most difficult= of all Jesus’ teachings to accept…and to live by. If we have a servant’s heart= , we will sacrifice ourselves for the sake of Christ and those He calls us to se= rve.

As I prayed and reflected on this aspect of servanthoo= d, it occurred to me that the Christian life involves a “More or Less”= ; way of thinking; or perhaps a “More AND Less” way of living our liv= es. Jesus challenges us to think of le= ss as more, which means then that more is not really all that it’s cracked = up to be.

Anyone find this confusing? No surprise. This may well be the most confusing aspect of the Christian life—especially in a culture like ours where = more is always considered to be, well… MORE!

The teachings of Jesus run counter to our culture. He tells us that “It’s = in giving that we receive”—so when we give more of ourselves—our time, talent, and money--we end up with more.

And He says “It’s in losing our lives that= we find life”—so I sacrifice my life for the cause of Christ, whic= h would seem to leave less life for me--yet in the process, I find this lesser life= to actually be abundant life. It’s less; and yet, it’s so much more!

One of the first people in the New Testament to live o= ut this principle is a man named Stephen.&nbs= p; He quite literally sacrificed his life for the cause of Christ. Let’s hear just part of his = story as we find it in Acts 7:55-60:

⁵⁵…Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw = the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶&qu= ot;Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right h= and of God."

⁵⁷At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they = all rushed at him, ⁵⁸dragged him out of the city and began to stone = him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "= ;Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

It was a very ugly, painful death; yet a powerful witness that has inspired Ch= ristians for generations. Stephen was a faithful servant of Christ and others.&nbs= p; He was one of the first deacons—not that there was any glamour= in that job.

It was the deacons’ responsibility to serve and take care of everyone wh= en the church had their pot-luck fellowship meals. That by itself didn’t get St= ephen stoned to death—but coupled with his bold witness for Christ, it did!=

So, with Stephen as an early example of sacrifice, I invite all of us to consid= er how we might put the Christian principle of “More and Less” to = work in our lives today. Let’= ;s start with this:

1. MORE OF CHRIST, LESS OF SELF. John the Baptist said it so well.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He was speaking of this very thing= when he said, “He must increase; I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Stephen understood this too, and d= emonstrated it with his life.

Have you ever noticed the parallels between the account of Jesus’ death and Stephen’s?: 1) Jesus was denied due process in the legal system of the day—Stephen too.
2) Jesus was put to death at the hands of an angry mob, and so was Stephen.=
3) Jesus asked the Heavenly Father to forgive those who took His life—= ;and so did Stephen! Stephen so identified with his Lord that even their death had similarities.

This identification with Christ did not begin on the day he died, of course, but when he first made the decision to follow Jesus. He accepted Jesus as Messiah and S= avior. The relationship deepened as Steph= en studied the Scriptures and served in the life of the church. Stephen began to realize that this Gospel of the crucified and risen Savior was for all people, not just a few= .

The point is Stephen got so wrapped up in Jesus that he began to live and think like Him. This is our goal in Christian discipleship as well—“more of Christ, less of myself.= ” Far too often, though, we get wrap= ped up in everybody and everything but Christ.&nb= sp;

Our desires and plans, our jobs and families, our investments and politics, even our aches and pains all take priority over Jesus. How we need to set our sights on o= ur Lord, making it our aim to know Him, follow Him, learn from Him, and serve = Him by serving those He came to serve. <= /span>

Yes, there’s sacrifice involved, but Jesus said there is far more to be ga= ined through this way of living--both for now and eternity. Do we believe Him? The only way to know for sure is t= o make “more of Christ, and less of us” the desire of our hearts.

2. True, this is hard for us. Jesus never said it would be easy.= To get there, a second principle m= ust be followed. It goes something l= ike this: MORE OF NOW, LESS OF THEN.

Stephen was a person with a past—just like us. He was a product of his culture. Certain prejudices and misconcepti= ons had been drilled into him since childhood.

He was taught, for example, to shun those of other races, to distrust Gentiles--which would include, by the way, most, if not all, of us—to regard them (our kind) as being inferior and outside of God’s Kingdom. We still struggle wi= th the sins of pride and prejudice, don’t we?

Does anyone really think for one minute that all this hoopla about our President addressing our school children is because he’s a Democrat or because = he holds different views than others do on some of the important issues facing our nation? If so, I encourage yo= u to try going a little deeper; try remembering from whence we have come—to the extent that we have!?!

It was truly amazing—yes, a God thing!--that Stephen and the other early Christians proclaimed that Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, had come—not just for a select few—but that He had come for the salvation of all people, including the Gentiles.

To preach this good news, though, they had to let go of so much that they had = been indoctrinated with in the past. They embraced the NOW—the new reality of what God was doing in this world through His Son, the Savior. = They became more of “right now,” and less of “back then.”= ;

When you try to confront people’s prejudices, though—even for all the right reasons—if you risk doing it, there is often a price to be paid. I suppose every culture= has its stories of dark days in this regard—ours certainly does.

Stephen’s name got added to that long list of those who have died for a cause—a holy cause that became more precious than life itself. And on the list of Christian marty= rs, Stephen’s name is the first to appear. He was the first to die for the cause of Christ and the Gospel—except for Christ Himself, of course.<= /p>

3. So, MORE OF CHRIST, LESS OF SELF; = MORE OF NOW, LESS OF THEN; and one other principle that guides the life of Chris= tian servants: MORE OF OTHERS, LESS OF ME.

Sometimes this gets lived out in big ways, in very public ways, as in Stephen’s= service as a deacon and his death as a martyr.&nbs= p; For most of us, though, the struggle to put the needs of others ahea= d of our own happens in more subtle and quieter ways.

Those of you who know who Tony Campolo is are excited about the plans for him to = be with us here on November 5. I= really don’t know of anyone who has challenged more people to a lifestyle th= at focuses outwardly on others instead of inwardly on ourselves than Campolo.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I’ve heard him tell this sto= ry on several occasions, and it always moves me. Listen, please:

“As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first= day of school, Mrs. Thompson told the children that she loved them all the same. Teachers always say tha= t; they don’t always tell the truth. It seemed impossible to do, because there were always students in her class like the boy named Teddy Stallard.

Mrs. Thompson had heard Teddy described by his teacher from last year--that= he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were usually me= ssy and he often needed a bath. A= cademically, he was way behind most of the other students.

Mrs. Thompson got to the point in her frustration with Teddy that she= actually took some delight in marking his papers with a red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top.

But at the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to rev= iew each child's past records. Sh= e put Teddy's review off until the very last—she was sure she already knew = what it would say. She was in for = quite a shock, however, when she finally got around to reading Teddy’s file= .

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with= a quick laugh. He does his work neatl= y and has good manners. He is a joy= to have in class."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, = well liked by his classmates, but he seems troubled. His mother is ill, and life at hom= e is a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on Te= ddy. He’s a different child now. He tries to do his best,= but his father doesn't have much time for him or show much interest in his work. His grades are slipping= ."

His fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't = show much interest in school. He d= oesn't have any friends and sometimes he just sleeps in class."

Mrs. Thompson had a new understanding of the problem. She was ashamed that her attitude = toward Teddy had been so negative. S= he felt even worse on the last day before Christmas break when her students brought her presents wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except = for Teddy's.

His present was in a brown paper bag. Mrs. Thompson reached for it first, though, and opened it in front of the other children. Some of them started laughing when= she held up a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a half-empty = bottle of cheap perfume. But they hu= shed when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was. She put it on, and dabbed some of = the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stallard stayed after school that day to speak to her. "I&= #8217;m glad you liked my presents, Mrs. Thompson.= That was my mother’s bracelet; and today you smelled just like= she used to smell." Mrs. Tho= mpson said that when Teddy left, she cried for at least an hour.

She also says that she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic that d= ay. Instead, she began teaching childre= n. Mrs. Thompson began paying special attention to Teddy. As she wo= rked with him, his mind seemed to come alive.

The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had c= aught up with the other children and was becoming one of her best students.<= /o:p>

The next year, she found a note under her door. It was from Teddy. It said that she was the best teac= her he’d ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He wrote to tell her he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still= the best teacher ever.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while college had been hard at times, he'd stayed in school; and he would soon be graduating = with honors.

Four more years passed and another letter came. This time he explained that he was graduating again, and she was still his favorite teacher. He signed the letter, Theodore F. S= tallard, MD.

But the story does not end there. There was another letter the next Spring. Teddy wrote to tell Mrs. Thompson t= hat he was getting married. He expla= ined that his father had died a couple of years ago, and he was wondering if Mrs= . Thompson would come to the wedding and sit in the place that was normally reserved f= or the mother of the groom.

She did. And on her arm she w= ore a bracelet that had several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing t= hat same perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stallard whispered in her ear, "Thank = you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. <= /span>Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back: "Teddy, you hav= e it all wrong. You were the one w= ho taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't really know how to teach u= ntil I met you!"

We all make a difference as we allow Christ to grow in us “serv= ant hearts,” so that our lives become less about us and more about Christ, and others, and the opportunities He places before us each day.

Take a moment right now and examine your own heart. Pray and ask God to make it a servant’s heart—and then be open to whatever decision He places= on your heart today.