Extracted from 'Our Daily Bread'
Servants Of All
Reading and Meditation
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
"What is it you want?" he asked.
She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."
"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?"
"We can," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left in not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:20-28)
Robert K. Greenleaf, founder of the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership in Indianapolis, said, "The great leader is seen as a servant first, and that simple fact is the key to his greatness."
Two thousand years ago, Jesus taught that truth to His disciples and lived it out. As the Son of God, He had been given "all authority . . . in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). Yet He did not force people to follow and obey Him. His leadership model was radically different from what we see in today's world. It was one of humility and unselfish service to others.
Christlike leadership means considering the needs of our neighbors before our own, seeking their good, encouraging their spiritual growth and intimacy with God. It means treating others the way God has treated us. Servant leaders employ gentle persuasion and reason rather than barking orders and ultimatums. They don't dictate or demand but recognize that before God they themselves are but servants who are only doing their duty (Luke 17:10)
Whatever our position of leadership, we will never lose if we lose ourselves for others. Service that cares for others is the basis of true greatness. - David Roper
Servants Of All
Reading and Meditation
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
"What is it you want?" he asked.
She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."
"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?"
"We can," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left in not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:20-28)
Robert K. Greenleaf, founder of the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership in Indianapolis, said, "The great leader is seen as a servant first, and that simple fact is the key to his greatness."
Two thousand years ago, Jesus taught that truth to His disciples and lived it out. As the Son of God, He had been given "all authority . . . in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). Yet He did not force people to follow and obey Him. His leadership model was radically different from what we see in today's world. It was one of humility and unselfish service to others.
Christlike leadership means considering the needs of our neighbors before our own, seeking their good, encouraging their spiritual growth and intimacy with God. It means treating others the way God has treated us. Servant leaders employ gentle persuasion and reason rather than barking orders and ultimatums. They don't dictate or demand but recognize that before God they themselves are but servants who are only doing their duty (Luke 17:10)
Whatever our position of leadership, we will never lose if we lose ourselves for others. Service that cares for others is the basis of true greatness. - David Roper
Controlling other people's lives
Is not a leader's trait;
It's serving other people's needs
That God considers great. - Sper
Is not a leader's trait;
It's serving other people's needs
That God considers great. - Sper
Only the one who has learned to serve is qualified to lead.
Extracted from Every Day with Jesus written by Selwyn Hughes
No absolution
Reading and Meditation
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him , though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone - an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. (Acts 17:22-34)
We continue focusing on one of the great theological questions: Did Christ's prayer of forgiveness which He spoke from the cross mean that His crucifiers were given full and complete absolution? Personally, I cannot believe this for, as I said yesterday, such an action would contradict the rest of Scripture's teaching. Also, a cheap or easy forgiveness would subvert the entire scheme of eternal justice.
This issue becomes even more complicated when we consider the words, '... for they do not know what they are doing' (Luke 23:34). Surely the teaching of Scripture is that no one can excuse their sin on the grounds of ignorance? Paul teaches us in Romans that evil is our choice - we sin because we want to sin.
What, then. is the answer to this problem? I believe it to be this: the crucifixion of Christ was the darkest deed ever committed by human beings and as such deserved the highest penalty and judgment. The sin was of such magnitude that we could hardly blame God if He had said, 'I will never forgive it.' But horrifying though it was to crucify God's eternal Son, our Lord prayed that God would not allow the magnitude of the crime to prevent Him from offering forgiveness to those who crucified Him on the same basis that He offered it to everyone else. What He was praying for, so I believe, was not absolution, but that God would extend His mercy to include even those who were implicated in His death - should they repent. It is my belief that Jesus was saying, 'Father, My crucifixion is the vilest sin humankind has ever committed, but don't let even this prevent You from giving Your forgiveness to those who ask.'
My Father and my God, when I think of how Your Son could plead the case of those who caused His death, I am utterly overwhelmed. I ask myself: could I love like that? In my strength - no; in Your strength - yes. Help me to love as Jesus loved. Amen.
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him , though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone - an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. (Acts 17:22-34)
We continue focusing on one of the great theological questions: Did Christ's prayer of forgiveness which He spoke from the cross mean that His crucifiers were given full and complete absolution? Personally, I cannot believe this for, as I said yesterday, such an action would contradict the rest of Scripture's teaching. Also, a cheap or easy forgiveness would subvert the entire scheme of eternal justice.
This issue becomes even more complicated when we consider the words, '... for they do not know what they are doing' (Luke 23:34). Surely the teaching of Scripture is that no one can excuse their sin on the grounds of ignorance? Paul teaches us in Romans that evil is our choice - we sin because we want to sin.
What, then. is the answer to this problem? I believe it to be this: the crucifixion of Christ was the darkest deed ever committed by human beings and as such deserved the highest penalty and judgment. The sin was of such magnitude that we could hardly blame God if He had said, 'I will never forgive it.' But horrifying though it was to crucify God's eternal Son, our Lord prayed that God would not allow the magnitude of the crime to prevent Him from offering forgiveness to those who crucified Him on the same basis that He offered it to everyone else. What He was praying for, so I believe, was not absolution, but that God would extend His mercy to include even those who were implicated in His death - should they repent. It is my belief that Jesus was saying, 'Father, My crucifixion is the vilest sin humankind has ever committed, but don't let even this prevent You from giving Your forgiveness to those who ask.'
My Father and my God, when I think of how Your Son could plead the case of those who caused His death, I am utterly overwhelmed. I ask myself: could I love like that? In my strength - no; in Your strength - yes. Help me to love as Jesus loved. Amen.
