Episode 1416: Whoever Serves

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on Episode 1416 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:07] Mike Acker: I'm Mike Acker. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures. To live out your calling. Having the ability to respond well to life is key, and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

[00:00:32] Scott Maderer: Could

[00:00:37] be looking at a partner. It could be looking at someone who you know deep in your soul is someone you are connected to forever and ever. Even if they're not blood, you can lose yourself. When you learn to let go and hold yourself lightly and make it not all about you [00:01:00] Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be then you must learn to use your time Your talent and your treasures for your true calling.

[00:01:15] In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast you will learn to invest in yourself invest in others And develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:32] In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk about John chapter 12, verses 20 through 33. I talk about how the world shows up in the narrative and shifts the view of Jesus. Also share how we are called to hold ourselves lightly in our relationship with God and with others. John chapter 12, verses 20 through 33 says.

[00:01:56] Now, among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. [00:02:00] They came to Philip, who was from Beza and Galilee, and said to him, sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus, and Jesus answered them. The hour has come for the sight of man to be glorified.

[00:02:15] Very truly. I tell you. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.

[00:02:37] Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. Now my soul is troubled, and what should I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it is for this reason that I've come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. I've glorified it, and I will glorify it again. The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was [00:03:00] thunder.

[00:03:00] Others said an angel had spoken to him. And Jesus answered, This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

[00:03:24] One of the thoughts that I had when I've read this passage is what happened to the Greeks? They appear at the beginning of the story and then they just disappear from the story. They walked up, they told Philip, hey, we want to see Jesus. And then Philip tells Andrew and then they go to Jesus and Jesus says, really?

[00:03:44] He answered them. That's all it says. And what was the answer? What was the question? It seems like Jesus is taking this moment of potential hospitality and turning it into an invitation to death. The [00:04:00] hour has come, he says. And it seems weird because just a couple of folks from Greece, a couple of tourists show up and all of a sudden he says, now's the time.

[00:04:10] But if you step outside of the story for a moment and you think about it a different way, see, John, there's always layers of meaning, and at least one layer is, it seems clumsy because the Greeks show up and then they're never heard from it again. But on another level, the Greeks are representing the rest of the world.

[00:04:31] They represent the world that needs Jesus, that's clamoring to see Jesus. Jesus at this point has been limited in geography and limited by history. He seems to have been confined to this little plot of ground and this small group of people. Even though thousands show up to hear Jesus's ministry, in the larger scope of the world, Galilee and this little plot of land is relatively small [00:05:00] and relatively few people.

[00:05:03] But it's like now when the world shows up, he knows that his mission is shifting. It's time to no longer just focus here on these few people, but to go to all the world. Philip and Andrew, maybe you're seeing two tourists who just want to see Jesus, and what Jesus is hearing is a world that is crying out in need for his message.

[00:05:28] And he appears to be ready to go, even though he knows how it's going to happen. It is for this reason that I came, he says. And you have to wonder if the followers are a little bit confused and not sure where he's going. that he's talking about moving beyond the limitations of the flesh, to step outside of time and space itself, to reach beyond those that can hear his voice, those that can see him and touch him and feel his arms around them.

[00:05:59] That can [00:06:00] only go so far, but now is the time to go and go further, to embrace the whole world as well. And then a voice comes from above, that's my son, came the voice. And Father, glorify your name, declares Jesus, and the voice says I did it in you. I did it when I became flesh and dwelt among them as you.

[00:06:27] I glorified my name in the life that you lived, in the words that you spoke, in the deeds that you did. Father, God was glorified in every act, in the breasts you drew, in the light you showed forth. And then it goes on and says, I will glorify my name again.

[00:06:50] The folks standing around had to have wondered, what was that voice that we've heard from above? That whisper or that loud rumble that they [00:07:00] mistook for thunder. Whatever it was, some said it was thunder, some said it was an angel. And Jesus shares with them that voice was not for me. It was not speaking to me.

[00:07:13] It was for you. It was asking you to raise up your eyes and see beyond yourself. See something more significant. See the big picture. The voice was confirmation that Jesus, that will indeed be lifted up and hung on a cross to die, so that I can live, and so that you can live. See, we skipped over a little bit in there.

[00:07:39] We went from the vanishing Greeks to Jesus's conversation with God about his true purpose and his burden and his joy. But there's that middle bit where Jesus talks to us, where he invites us to follow him, invited us to hate our lives. That language may seem weird, that he came so [00:08:00] that we could have life and now he's asking us to hate it, but that is not really what he's talking about.

[00:08:06] He's not talking about hating living. He's not talking about despising ourselves and beating ourselves up and ringing bells and yelling how we're unclean. Rather, he's saying, hold your life lightly. Hold yourself lightly. It's not all about you. Despite what you might have heard, it's not all about you.

[00:08:30] It's about something bigger. It's about giving yourself over to a larger truth, a deeper reality, a more profound life than the ones that we think we have. He wants us to extend our view, extend our vision, extend our arms, extend our reach to see things differently than the rest of the world. He says,[00:09:00]

[00:09:03] is looking at giving his life away for something bigger than his own flesh and blood. And that's where he wants us to be, living beyond ourselves, living in a more deep way, living through surrender, living through giving ourselves away, living through service. Whoever serves, he says. We can find our lives by holding them lightly enough to lose them.

[00:09:28] And not always in a physical way. When you lose track of time, when you lose track of yourself because you're wrapped up in something so big and so far beyond you that you can't even believe that you're part of it, it could be a moment of art or beauty in nature. It could be looking at a storm or looking at a beautiful sunset.

[00:09:52] It could be looking at your child or your spouse. It could be looking at a friend. It could be looking at a partner. It could be looking at someone [00:10:00] who, you know, deep in your soul is someone you are connected to forever and ever, even if they're not blood, you can. lose yourself when you learn to let go and hold yourself lightly and make it not all about you.

[00:10:20] Thanks for listening.

[00:10:27] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor, go over to facebook. com slash inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and mark it that you'd like to get notifications from us so [00:11:00] that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and tips there.

[00:11:10] Until next time, invest your time. Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.