You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
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There's accolades, there's attention, there's status, there's popularity, greatness.
Maybe you can see it in the desire for your college team to win the national championship.
You want them to be great.
Maybe you can see it in the desire for your pro football team to win the Super Bowl.
Maybe you can see it in your kids' education, right?
They have to be the best and go to the best so that later they can get all those great things.
Kids, teenagers, maybe you can see it in your desire to be number one,
that pressure at everything you do where you've got to have the best friends,
you've got to have the best reputation so that everybody realizes that you're the coolest,
you're the prettiest, you're the smartest, you're the greatest.
Perhaps it's seen in the need to broadcast your life and your feelings on social media,
only posting pictures that really make you look good and fun and happy,
like your life is the greatest, but you crop out the rest of your life that's probably the most part.
Or maybe you're too good for that, so you only post the pictures of the bad parts of life
because you're too good to post the superficial ones, but you're still wanting those likes.
Perhaps it's your desire to be right all the time and for everyone else to know that you're right too.
Or maybe it's that job that you just haven't gotten yet,
that one that's going to give you everything you ever wanted,
and the company car, and the expense account, and that house with that white picket fence.
And once you get it, once you get that job, everything's okay.
Whatever it is, we have a culture that strives for accolades and things in a way that is sometimes just overwhelming,
and just a lot of noise.
But if we had all these things, would we really be happy?
Would we really be fulfilled?
Would we really be complete?
Well, let's ask Tom Brady.
Tom Brady.
Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots, is not only one of the NFL's best players,
he's one of the NFL's great stories.
At the tender age of 30, he has already won three Super Bowls,
an accomplishment that ranks him with some of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game.
And he's having one of the greatest seasons in pro football history.
When we first reported on him back in 2005, he seemed underrated and almost overlooked.
He doesn't have the arm of Peyton Manning, and he doesn't have tattoos, and he doesn't take steroids.
And he's never held out for more money.
All he knows how to do is win.
It's what you always wanted.
You're right.
It has.
And I didn't think it came with all the other baggage, though.
In addition to his success on the field and his sex appeal off it,
there is also the $60 million 10-year contract to play with the Patriots.
I mean, I'm making more money now than I ever thought I could ever make playing football.
But with all that money, fame, and career accomplishments, we were surprised to hear this from it.
Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me?
I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, hey, man, this is what it is.
I reached my goal, my dream, my life is...
Me, I thank God.
It's got to be more than this.
What's the answer?
I wish I knew.
There's got to be more than this.
All right, and that was three Super Bowl titles ago.
I'm not trying to pick on Tom, but I would think most of us would say that's probably the greatest thing you could ever achieve.
And here's a guy having that and saying there's got to be more.
Or comedian actor Jim Carrey says this,
I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.
If we're longing for something that this world can never give us, then we are made for another world, is what C.S. Lewis says.
John Calvin describes us as perpetual idol factories where we're always putting other things in the places that are really meant for God.
But Derek, if I could just walk around with Jesus and see him face to face, just like the disciples did, then it would be different.
It'd be easier.
Or would it?
And that's what our passage today gives us an opportunity to see.
So let's look at this together.
Luke chapter 22, verses 24 through 30.
A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
And he said to them,
The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
But not so with you.
Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the one who serves.
For who is the greater?
One who reclines at table or one who serves?
Is it not the one who reclines at table?
But I am among you as the one who serves.
You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my father assigned to me, a kingdom,
that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Father, let your word penetrate our hearts.
May it change us.
May it fall on fertile soil, and may it sprout to eternal life in us today, I pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You see, you're not alone in the struggle for greatness.
And if you were near Jesus, walking around with him, you would have been doing the same thing that disciples are doing.
If not, then why is it in the Bible?
It's there so that we know that we're not so different.
And here Jesus, the maker of all things, he's giving us the words of life.
The lamp for our feet, right?
That's his lamp.
The light for our path.
And in doing so, he answers three important questions as we talk about this.
The first is, what is the posture of paradise?
If you're going to be there, what do you got to be like?
What's the proper understanding of greatest, and what's the purpose of it all?
First, what's the posture of paradise?
In verses 24 through 26,
So Jesus, remember, we heard last week, he's just finished the Passover meal,
and in another account, he's just washed the disciples' feet.
He's saying his temporary goodbyes to his beloved disciples.
And remember, he just told them that one of them would betray him, and they started arguing about him.
But as the dispute arose, it led to a quarrel.
And this shouldn't surprise us, because I can't confirm what Jesus felt, but I bet it didn't feel good,
but he had seen this before.
Okay, it shouldn't surprise us.
Imagine here, all the people that he spent the past years of his life with,
he's about to give his life for them, he's washed their feet,
and they're bickering about who's going to be the greatest in heaven.
Now, in the Greco-Roman society where they were banquets, okay,
they were all about places of honor, where you sat at the table.
Your seat at the table, right?
Closer to the front kind of mentality.
Closer to the speaker.
And little did the disciples realize that this, where they were sitting,
is actually the most important seat of their lives.
Okay, because they're seated next to the king of all kings.
They're bickering about who's the greatest.
But they wanted more, right?
Just like we would.
And I don't think it would have surprised Jesus,
because, like I said, it's a discussion that they had had before.
Let's look at Luke chapter 9.
So, after that, in Luke 18, the disciples again say,
keep the children away from Jesus.
And he says, no, no, no, no.
Let the children come to me.
For to such belongs the kingdom of God.
So, this is a very common theme with the disciples.
Who's the greatest?
So, how does Jesus respond?
Well, if you look at verse 25,
he says right there,
the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them,
and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
What does he mean by that?
Well, he's comparing the disciples' attitudes to that of the Gentile kings.
Okay?
And in the society there, they were called benefactors.
Those were the people that gave.
And they gave to get.
So, if you ruled, you typically had money.
And you got the places of honor.
And you gave money to get those places of honor.
That's how you got to where you were.
And that authority was typically abused
and lorded over all of the people that were in these cities.
And it was only the wealthy who got these spots.
And they got incentives in return for their benevolence.
Okay?
So, Jesus is basically saying,
you're being like them,
but not so with the kingdom of heaven.
See, that's not the posture of paradise.
So, he continues his response
by illustrating the true posture of paradise.
By bringing in the example of children.
And this time, he adds the example of servants.
And we think of servants.
Think in this instance of waitstaff.
But think of those that are serving those
in the places of honor.
Okay?
And those who follow King Jesus
should learn from children and servants.
Children, you're so important.
You hear that?
Jesus says that we got to learn from you.
That's a pretty big deal.
Don't ever underestimate your importance.
Okay?
But these places in society
of children and waitstaff, so to speak,
they were the lowest places of honor.
But Jesus says,
let the greatest among you
become as the youngest
and the leader as the one who serves.
So, what's the posture of paradise?
The posture of paradise
is the same as it was with children
when they came to Jesus.
It's dependence.
It's humility.
Dare I say, in the world's eyes,
it's humiliation.
Where weakness is strength.
Okay?
And life is about giving rather than taking.
Giving without expectation of return.
Serving King Jesus
without a desire to be the greatest in our heart.
But rather a desire to give the greatest.
The love of Christ to those around us.
Why?
Because that's what our King does for us.
So that means leaders.
We must learn to become like those
that serve us.
That means adults.
We must become like children.
How do we do this?
By remembering first
that we are all kids of the King.
No matter how old,
how young,
how successful,
how desperate,
through faith in Jesus Christ,
we are adopted as sons and daughters of God,
which makes us kids of the King.
Yahweh is then our Father who art in heaven.
Jesus is our King and our brother
and our defender and our mediator,
our Lord of Lords and our Messiah.
He's also our brother, right?
And His Holy Spirit then empowers us
to live with the posture of paradise,
dependence,
humility,
which is otherworldly in the world that we live in today.
Where we lay our lives down
as we offer them to live for the sake of another.
Father,
this is what worship is.
And we have to take then our reputations,
we have to take our desires for all of the greatness,
our accolades,
our honors,
our idols,
to Him.
And we have to ask Him to crush them
and replace them with more of Him.
That's the posture of paradise.
But we also get to deal with the question
of what is the proper understanding
of greatest in this passage.
Let's look at verse 27.
For who is the greater?
One who reclines at table
or one who serves?
Is it not the one who reclines at table?
But I am among you
as the one who serves.
Jesus here is teaching us
that the only way to really answer the question
and understand greatest
is to look at Him.
So He asks that rhetorical question about honor.
And the obvious answer is
that in their eyes,
the place of honor
is the person who's seated at the place of the table.
The greatest place of the table.
Not the servant.
Think about it.
In America,
the more money you have,
the closer you sit to the front row,
except in church.
At the Grammys,
the most famous people are up front.
At the Super Bowl,
the wealthiest are in the best seats.
Kids,
teenagers,
the most important and popular people
are the ones who throw the parties at their house
or invite you to the party.
But what about those who aren't wealthy?
What about those who are living
in the parking lot of the stadium?
What about those
who are the hot dog dudes of the world?
Serving those sitting at those places.
Ice cold Dr. Pepper here.
That dude.
Right?
Those are closer
to who Jesus is saying
that we need to understand and be like.
Here's what it looks like.
Let's look at Matthew 15.
And behold,
a Canaanite woman
from that region
came out and was crying,
Have mercy on me,
O Lord,
son of David.
My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.
But he did not answer her a word.
And his disciples came
and begged him,
saying,
Send her away,
for she is crying out after us.
She's bothering us.
Get her away.
She's not important.
He answered,
I was sent only to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel.
But she came and knelt before him,
saying,
Lord,
help me.
And he answered,
It's not right to take the children's bread
and throw it to the dogs.
She said,
Yes,
Lord.
Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from their master's table.
And then Jesus answered her,
O woman,
great is your faith,
be it done for you as you desire.
And her daughter was healed instantly.
So this woman had such great faith
because she realized
that in relation to Jesus Christ,
we are all dogs
waiting for crumbs.
And he saw that.
And he tested her.
And he acknowledged that she was right.
But crumbs from the table of our king
are more fulfilling than the best meal
that this world has to offer.
But Jesus offers us more than crumbs,
doesn't he?
He offers us a seat at the table
and he offers us a meal,
a feast.
So many times,
our desire for greatness,
it's really founded in good things.
Okay?
You know that idols
is the word used for this.
They're usually good things gone bad.
It's not bad to want your child to do well.
It's not bad to have money.
It's not bad to want a career,
a house,
and a car.
But if it becomes the ultimate place
where you find all of your satisfaction,
it can ruin your life
because you start to live everything
and give everything that you have
to attain that thing.
And it then becomes your identity
and your life.
And in that sense,
you begin worshiping it.
Tim Keller,
who needs a soundbite
every time he's quoted,
Keller, Keller, Keller.
He's going to get two today.
He says that an idol
is anything more fundamental than God
to your happiness,
your meaning in life,
or identity.
Idolatry is the inordinate desire
for anything,
even good things,
especially good things.
Therefore, anything can be an idol.
Career,
family,
achievement,
political cause,
physical attractiveness,
romance,
financial security,
or anything.
But how do you know
what your greatest idol is?
You can ask this question,
where are you desiring
the places of honor
in your own life?
But that's not going to get you too far
because you're probably going to answer
something really good like,
well, my family,
or my friends,
or God.
I just love God too much right now.
Famous Dr. Alfred Adler said this,
that simply asking that question
isn't enough
because we're going to answer
with typically
good sounding things.
He says,
if you really want to identify
your idols,
then look at your nightmares.
What's your worst nightmare?
Tim Keller Keller says again,
what thing,
if it were absent,
might take away
your very desire to live?
That's your idol.
That's where you are living
for the wrong thing.
That's where you're substituting
a thing for God.
That's what you're defining
as greatness.
That's what you have to take
to Jesus
and ask him to replace
with more of him.
To live is Christ
than to die is gain.
If we fill in the blanks
with anything besides Christ,
we get the wrong answer.
And we fill that blank in
with idols.
Jesus says,
I'm among you
as the one who serves,
and there he is
redefining greatness.
And here's what it looks like.
Luke 14 says this,
He said also to the man
who had invited him,
When you give a dinner
or a banquet,
do not invite your friends
or your brothers
or your relatives
or rich neighbors,
lest they also invite you
in return
and you be repaid.
But when you give a feast,
invite the poor,
the crippled,
the lame,
the blind,
and you will be blessed
because they cannot repay you,
for you will be repaid
at the resurrection
of the just.
And when one of those
who reclined at table
with him
heard these things,
he said to him,
Blessed is everyone
who will eat bread
in the kingdom of God.
Luther says this,
Martin Luther,
It's important
that you correctly understand
what Christ is saying here.
If you are in a higher position
or above others
in some way,
realize that God
has given it to you.
Don't make the mistake
of bragging about it
and lording it over others
as if you were better
than them in any way
or in God's sight.
Rather,
God has commanded
that you should
humble yourself
and use your position
to serve your neighbor.
Who's your neighbor?
Anybody that God
puts in your path
in your daily life.
And he's probably
going to call you
to serve where your car
is parked the most.
Okay?
That's going to be
where you spend
the most of your time.
Okay?
What's the proper
understanding of greatest?
Jesus is.
Let's look at him
from Philippians.
Have this mind
among yourselves
which is yours
in Christ Jesus
who though he was
in the form of God
did not count equality
with God
a thing to be grasped
but he emptied himself
by taking the form
of a servant
being born in the likeness
of men
and being found
in human form
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient
to the point of death
even death
on a cross.
Therefore God
has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him
the name
that is above every name
so that at the name
of Jesus
every knee should bow
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth
and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord
to the glory
of God the Father.
We need him
to save us
from us.
We need him
to save us
from our idols.
We need him
to identify
where we are giving
things the glory
that only he deserves.
And we need
God the Father
to help us
identify those idols
and then crush them.
We must lay them
down before him
and ask him
to replace them
with more of him.
Well how do we do that?
Derek?
Well I can only
speak for me.
And when I speak for me
I use Easter eggs.
So let's start there.
So I asked the Lord
recently to help me
identify my idols.
Probably about three weeks ago.
Small group you were there
is when we talked
about idols.
And I confessed
what I thought
my idol was that night
and I had to go home
and process it.
So they're the things
that if absent in my life
if they were taken away
that I would lose
my very desire to live.
Right?
For me
it is hands down
my wife and my son.
That's where I start.
Underneath that
is another idol
I've found.
It's another idol
to be secure
and safe
and close.
Have them close to me.
Good things gone bad.
Underneath that
is another idol.
Reputation
where I find myself
in them.
Underneath that
has been the greatest
of all.
Pride.
It's underneath every idol.
It's the one
that sent Jesus
to the cross.
It's the one
that caused sin
to come into the world.
Right?
Adam and Eve
thinking they could
be like God.
That pride.
But underneath
every idol
is another idol.
So I asked the Lord
to help me identify them
and I started seeing
these ridiculous things
in my life.
For instance
Pringle cans
at my house.
No Pringle.
I started noticing
that I don't take
the whole top off.
I leave this thing on
and it causes
two major problems.
I think it increases
the freshness
of the Pringle
but it doesn't.
It deceives me
to think that
there's a full can
and then also
if I try to pull this out
it ends up breaking it
and I'm not allowed
to get all the Pringles out.
I've found
that in a very sick
demented way
I'm serving this
idol of security.
I'm creating
these illusions
of things
that create freshness
in my life.
Even in these
little stupid things.
I do it on yogurt
tops too.
And it's ridiculous.
So I'm serving
my idol
if I'm serving it
through a Pringles can
my idol for control
how much worse
when I serve it
through my wife
and my son.
Right?
Anyone here ever
played Donkey Kong?
I know some of you have.
What about
Super Smash Brothers
Ultimate?
Okay that's for
the younger generation.
Well you can get
this hammer in there
and it lights you up
when you get it
and it starts
smashing everything
and it plays
this really fun music.
That's what it's like
when God
smashes our idols.
Okay?
When we ask him
to crush it
he comes in
with that hammer
and it all starts
to go away.
He's going to
take everything down
that you're trusting in
besides him
if you really trust him
but you're not going
to lose your life
in the process.
You're going to gain it.
And as he crushes them
you're going to find
a lot more underneath.
And they're going
to get smaller
and they're going
to get more manageable
because his power
you're going to find
is bigger
and bigger
and bigger.
So strange enough
when I started asking God
to break the idols
in my life
especially my wife
and my son
and I asked permission
to share this story
we get the news
that the doctor
finds a lump
in my wife's body
literally right after
I started praying this
and it needs to be tested
to see if it's cancer.
Boom.
Loss of control.
The thing I love most dear
I have absolutely
no control over.
Right?
They're waiting.
So
you know
it came with that
fear
humility
but a strange peace
because I had no way
to change the situation.
I couldn't control it.
My wife told me
one of the hardest parts
of visiting the doctor
is sitting in the waiting room
after you've had a test
waiting to hear the results.
I'm sure we all know that.
Experience that.
You're helpless.
You're sitting there
with other people
with that helpless look
on their face too
and you're just waiting
to see this doctor
hoping that they will
show you the way.
Thank God for you doctors
in this room.
Thank God for you.
Well that's the posture
of paradise.
That's the dependence
I'm talking about.
That's the humility
I'm talking about.
When we lay our idols
before our Father in heaven
we ask Him to crush them
it leads us to that place.
Jesus though
is the great physician.
Right?
And He's told us
that we're all dead
and that we need life
eternally
and that we need
a relationship
with God
that isn't severed
by sin
and we need forgiveness
and He says
the difference is
here that the great physician
takes our disease
and He dies in our place
on the cross
and then He gives us
His life
and all that's required
to receive this gift
this free gift
is to believe
that it's true.
Offering us
more than crumbs
from His table
but a place of honor
at the table
the great marriage supper
of the Lamb.
And praise the Lord
that what my wife had
was nothing.
But that period
of waiting
I'm thankful for
because it's made me
more thankful for life.
The great marriage supper
of the Lamb
is where God offers us
a place.
Let's look at that
revelation here.
Then I heard
what seemed to be
the voice of a great multitude
like the roar
of many waters
and like the sound
of mighty peals
of thunder
crying out
Hallelujah
for the Lord
our God
the Almighty reigns
let us rejoice
and exult
and give Him
the glory
for the marriage
of the Lamb
has come
and His bride
has made herself ready.
That's Christians
that's the church.
It was granted her
to clothe herself
with fine linen
bright and pure
for the fine linen
is the righteous deeds
of the saints
and the angel said to me
write this
blessed are those
who are invited
to the marriage supper
of the Lamb
and He said to me
these are the true
words of God
then I fell down
at His feet
to worship Him
but He said to me
you must not do that
I'm a fellow servant
with you
and your brothers
who hold the testimony
of Jesus
worship God.
What's the purpose
of it all?
An invitation
to the marriage supper
of the Lamb.
That is the greatest thing
that this passage
teaches us.
are you
on the invite list?
Blessed is everyone
who will eat bread
in the kingdom
of God.
We must become
like children.
We must become
like servants.
Even the angel said
I'm a fellow servant
with you.
This is an angel
right?
Who's tempted to worship
because that's what we do.
We try to worship
all these things.
But worship
God.
Who is the one
who's like the servant?
Jesus is.
We have to become
like Jesus.
How do we do that?
Well when you put
your faith
in Jesus Christ
you are immediately
forgiven of all your sins
past, present,
and future
and you are immediately
adopted
as a son
and a daughter
of the King.
This is called
justification.
You are justified
through the payment
of Christ's death
on your behalf
mending that broken
relationship
with God the Father
uniting you to Christ
through his spirit
who comes to live
inside you
and nothing can take
that away from you
thereby then
giving you the power
to live
as the least of these
on earth
to care for the least
of these
to say no to sin
yes to Jesus Christ
by the power
that's at work
within you
which is also
the same power
that raised Jesus
from the dead.
The power to proclaim
Christ Jesus
as the Lord
of your life
with your life
as you live
as a citizen
of another world
until you actually
arrive in that world
in glory
which will happen
at the resurrection
of the just.
You see the greatest
things in life
are not what
we think they are.
They are the things
that are yet to come
but knowing this truth
sets us free
eternally
and transforms
our lives
here on earth.
Through faith
in Jesus Christ
you are promised
paradise.
You will be in paradise
and the posture
of paradise
is dependence
upon Jesus.
You will dine
at his table
and on earth
that changes everything.
As we eat
and we drink
of Christ here
we actually are a part
of changing the world
he says.
Our life then
becomes about
the least of these
where we must
first realize
that we are
the least of these.
We are striving
for a seat of greatness
when we have already
been given
the greatest seat
at the marriage supper
of the Lamb
if we have faith
in Christ.
The only way
to change that
is to ask him
to change us.
So where are you
seeking
the greatest seats?
In America
it's been said
that we are born
on third base.
Do we ever think
about those
who were born
in the parking lot?
Perhaps
leaving the stadium
is the beginning
for us.
Realize that we
don't deserve
what we have
and what we have
is meant to be used
to love others
in our life.
To serve them
and to wash their feet
as Jesus did for us
but we must become
like them
we must understand them
because in God's eyes
we are them.
If you're here today
and you're like Tom Brady
and you're thinking
there's got to be
more than this
hear this
there is.
Nancy Guthrie says
here's the supernatural
experience that God's promised.
The power of Christ
coming down
to rest on you
to fill you up
so that you can
trust him
when the worst thing
you can imagine
happens to you
so that you can be
genuinely
if not yet
perfectly content
even if he does not
fill up the empty place
in the way that you've
longed for
at least not yet.
The ability to live life
only for the only idol
Jesus.
He's the only one
that's worthy of worship.
God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit.
So seeker
would you let Christ
into your heart today?
I'm just going to ask you.
You know who you are
you know where you are
and God wants you
and he loves you.
Quit running.
Would you let him
into your heart?
Will you accept
the invitation
to the marriage supper
of the Lamb?
Christian
will you pray
a dangerous prayer
with me?
Lord
show me my idols
break them
and replace them
with you.
May it be so.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven
save souls
break idols
reign on this earth
through us
as your people
bring light
where there is darkness
bring life
where there is death
only by the power
of your spirit
change us
and use us
to change this world
praise you
Abba Father in heaven
thank you
in the holy name
of your son Jesus Christ
Amen.
For more information
visit us online
at southwood.org
For more information
visit us online
for more information
visit us
at Suga
improve
you
tell us
for more information
and visit us
at Suga
and visit us
visit us
if you fell
after
you
or
has
been
uction
is
忍
a
change
Thank you.