Dear Christian friends:
Our text today talks about serving God. Coming to
Church as you have today is one important way to serve God.
We call our Sunday church meetings a "church service."
There are many ways to serve God and many people
serve God. Some people who do not believe in Jesus even
serve God. The policeman, the soldier, the president,
a husband or wife, a school teacher, a bus driver, a
printer all serve God whether they know it or not.
Our text today talks about how a Christian serves
God! A Christian serves God in a different way, yes, in
a very wonderful way.
I'm sure that you say you are a Christian and I'm
sure that you believe that you are serving God. But are
you really serving God? Are you serving God in the
wonderful way that only a Christian can?
From our text and with the help of God's Holy Spirit
I want to speak to you today about that:
Are You Really Serving God?
In our text Jesus compares a Christian with a wheat
seed. He says that if you plant a wheat seed in the ground,
the seed itself will die, but while that one seed dies it
grows and becomes a beautiful stalk of wheat and grows many
wheat kernels maybe 30 or 60 or even a 100. If you live on
a farm you have seen that and know that is very true. But
Jesus says if you save that one seed and do not plant it,
it will stay only one seed. It will not die and grow and
become a beautiful stalk. It will not multiply and make 60
or 100 seeds.
By that wheat seed Jesus wants to teach us a good
lesson about serving God. Before we can serve God we must
die like the wheat seed. I do not mean die as you think,
but our selfish old nature must die. Our pride our sinful
feelings and desires must die and instead love must become
alive - love for God and love for other people. With love
instead of selfishness, pride and greed we can really serve
God and do many good works. Are you really serving God?
Has your old sinful, selfish nature died? Have you let love
for God become alive in your heart?
How can we do this? We can't do this by our own
thinking or trying. Only God can change our hearts. Only
the Holy Spirit can give us a new heart that truly loves
God. How does God do this wonderful work? By the Good News
of Jesus Christ. When we hear and believe that we are sinners
and deserve God's eternal anger and punishment and then hear
that God loves us sinners and gave His Son Jesus to die for
our sins and to rise again on Easter.
That Good News about Jesus' death and resurrection
can change our hearts and help us to love God and really
serve Him. Jesus says here in our text, "Love your life
and lose it but hate your life in this world and you will
keep it for an everlasting life." (verse 25)
What does He mean? He means if you love yourself
and are proud and greedy like the sinful world. If you do
not confess that this world is wrong and sinful but love
this here world you will be lost and not really serve God.
But if you agree with Jesus that this here world is proud
and vain and will be destroyed and if you confess that and
believe in Jesus and use your life in His service, you will
finally receive everlasting life with God.
You may suffer many things as a Christian as we
before read in the Epistle lesson, but you don't care. You
know its only a short time. You know God accepts you and is
pleased with your life. You know He is your Father now on
earth and then forever in heaven.
The unbelievers in the world will laugh and mock you.
They will think that you are dumb and ignorant because you
suffer much and walk in the hard narrow way following Jesus.
But if you are a Christian you don't care what they think
and say. You know that you are on the way of eternal life.
Do you feel this way about your life? Are you ready
to suffer trouble and mockery for Jesus' sake to be a good
Christian? Are you really serving God?
St. Paul said about his life: "I don't figure my
life worth anything: I only want to finish running my race,
and doing the work the Lord entrusted to me, declaring the
good news of God's love." (Acts 20:24) If you are really
serving God that ought to be the motto of your life, too.
And finally, if you are really serving God Jesus
says in our text that you will hope for praise and honor
from God. (Read verse 26)
Many people do not serve God because they want
praise and honor from the vain proud sinful world. They
love the praise of men more then the praise of God. Paul
says of Demas: "Demas has forsaken me because he loved
this here world with the crowns and praises of men." But
if you really are serving God you don't care about the
praise and honor and friendship the world offers. That
quickly fades away.
But rather you seek to serve God and please Him
and you hope to finally share the crown of life with
Jesus. You patiently wait and look for glory and honor
with God and all the angels and all the saints in heaven.
The crown and the honor from God will never pass away. It
will be very great and wonderful.
Are you hoping for that? Are you really serving
God? If you are, fine, continue; and may God give you His
love in Jesus to serve Him better in the future.
If you are not serving God now is the time to think
and let God's Spirit change your heart and your ways.
Sometimes we think we can serve the sinful world
and God both. We can't. Jesus says, "No man can serve two
masters you can't love both God and the world."
Amen.