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“The
Ministry of Christ”
a sermon by
Thomas L. Jenkins
Text: Mark 10:35-45
“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his
life a ransom for many.”
Christ—that very word means the one anointed by God—Christ is the
one empowered by God to have a ministry in our lives.
There are a number of aspects to the ministry of Christ in our lives.
In the passage from Hebrews we are told that Christ is our High
Priest. And in that passage
we are told that Christ, even as the Son of God, learned how to be
obedient in His ministry, as a human being, through what he suffered.
The same may very well be true for us; we often learn what Christ is
teaching us through our tough times.
He
Leadeth Me
“In pastures green? Not
always; sometimes He who knows best, in his kindness leadeth me in many
ways where heavy shadows be. Out
of the sunshine warm and soft and bright—Out of the sunshine into the
darkest night, I oft would faint with sorrow and affright, Only for
this—I know He holds my hand; So, whether in the green or desert land,
I trust although I may not understand…”
“So, whether on the hilltops high and fair I dwell, or in the sunless
valleys where the shadows lie—what matters?
He is there, so where He leads me, I can safely go, and in the
blest hereafter I shall know why in His wisdom, He hath led me so.”
(The Rev. John F. Chaplin)
In our passage from Mark we are being told that Christ’s ministry in
our lives is to lead us more and more to where we make choices and
decisions to serve and take care of others.
Maybe, even before we even take care of ourselves.
Now, there are certainly areas of our lives where we have to take care
of ourselves in order to take care of others.
If we work to stay healthy physically and spiritually, then that
will be a blessing to the loved ones in our lives.
We are told to love our neighbors as we love ourselves; and, of
course, the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you.” So, as we care
for ourselves, or want ourselves cared for, we are to apply even that in
loving for others.
One very important part of the ministry that Christ has in our lives is
teaching us at times to put others as priorities even before ourselves.
Jesus’ friends, his disciples, approached Him and He was open to them. He understood them better than they understood themselves.
But, He was open to them; He listened to them and interacted with
them. He did recognize that
what they needed was not exactly what they were asking for.
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
He knows us better than we know ourselves.
And there are certainly times when He knows more about us than we
know about ourselves. He
knows more about what we really need, even as it might be different from
what we are asking for.
“If God already knows, why pray?”
Because in knowing this about how Christ relates to us, it
already shows us that we are open to some of the changes we need to make
in our lives.
There was a psychologist who came to speak to a church group, where he
was talking to people about a general introduction to psychological
issues, and one of the listeners asked him, “When I am feeling very
needy, even down and close to being depressed over issues in my life,
what should I do?”
And his answer was, “Get up and go out and do something to care for
someone else. Give of yourself to someone else in need.”
Sometimes, even when we are asking Christ for what we think we need, He
puts us in situations where by giving to others we receive what we truly
need. We think we are not getting our prayer answered, but then we
discover that by choosing to help someone else, our prayer is answered
at a deeper level.
L. Nelson Bell was the father of Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham.
L. Nelson Bell was a surgeon and a missionary to China.
In the 70’s he was the moderator of the Presbyterian Church US.
His grandson is an associate pastor at the Highland Park
Presbyterian Church, here in Dallas.
Dr. Bell and his wife, the mother of Ruth Graham lived in Montreat. NC.
And Mrs. Bell was very disabled in her latter years and Nelson
spent all his time taking care of his loving wife.
One morning Ruth Graham walked into their home and saw her Dad on
his knees tying the shoe strings of her Mom.
And she said, “Dad how do you do all this?” And Nelson Bell’s answer was, “Ruth caring for your Mom
is the greatest blessing I have ever had in my life.”
Christ has a ministry. He
ministers for God the Father. He
ministers to others; other than Himself.
That is the nature of Jesus Christ.
God the Father and you, me, each and every one of us, are more
important to Christ than He is to Himself.
That is His mindset.
After He (Christ our minister) has interpersonal communication with John
and James, He spoke to the rest of His disciples.
This may represent to us that Christ does speak to us in Church.
He speaks to us through the gospel.
And, especially as we hear the good news of Jesus Christ, it
helps us to grow in learning to have the same mind in us that is in
Jesus Christ.
What is the mind that is in Jesus Christ?
He is more interested in ministry for God the Father and to
others than He is in regard to Himself.
He is not the first priority of His own life; God the Father and
you and I are the first priorities even in His present resurrected life.
He gave Himself, His life, for you and me.
He died on the cross. And
God the Father gave us His Son. “For
God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,…”
Even God the Father gave for us what was His most important love.
Can we even imagine sacrificing a son or daughter of ours out of
love for others? God the
Father suffered the death of His Son.
It hurt God the Father more to suffer the death of His only
begotten Son, that it would have for Him to suffer His own death.
The gospel is remarkable, astonishing, amazing—even, in a sense,
overwhelming. It is still over our heads and our hearts. But,
we can and do say “Yes” to it.
And we are grown by God in learning more and more about God’s
love.
Christ is leading us in our lives to see and to experience and to know
how to make decisions in which we give of ourselves for others.
In this, we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds
because we will have the same minds in us that are in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Let us pray…
Amen
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