The Servant of Sinners
“I am among you, as he that serveth.” — Luke xxii. 27.
II. Let us consider the nature of this service. — It is in all respects like Himself, — like Him who, though he was rich, for our sakes became poor.
(1.) It is willing service. There is no constraint, no reluctance, no mere official performance of an appointed duty. In the anticipation of coming to earth as the Father’s servant he says, “I delight to do thy will;” and we know that it is as the Father’s servant that he is also ours. He is the willing messenger of the Father’s grace, the willing executor of the Father’s purpose, the willing almoner of the Father’s blessing, the willing endurer of the Father’s wrath, the willing sacrifice for sin, the willing bearer of our sorrows and burdens. All is willingness with him; most unreserved and perfect willingness. His varied rounds of service are no heavy task. He is the willing servant of the needy.
(2.) It is a loving service. Out of no fountain save that of love could such amazing, such endless acts of service flow. The loving and the serving are inseparable. The kind of service which he has undergone, and which he still undergoes, admits of no construction save that of love. Of man’s acts of service towards his fellow- man, however great or many, you have still the suspicion that they may be the mere fulfilment of duty, or the payment of a price. But Christ’s acts of service cannot be thus misinterpreted. They can mean but one thing; they can spring from but one source; they are the utterance but of one feeling, — love.
(3.) It is self-denying service. It is written, “Even Christ pleased not himself;” and how often in the Psalms does he breathe out the heaviness of his spirit when making mention of his unrequited labours! They “gave me hatred for my love;” “they rewarded me evil for good, to the spoiling of my soul.” To continue ministering, day after day, in the midst of reproach, and opposition, and rejection, was self-denial and devotedness such as man can hardly either credit or conceive. In encountering the uncongenialities and hostilities of such a world as this, when stooping to serve and bless; in meeting with such unbelief, such ignorance, such frowardness as he had to deal wTith among his disciples themselves, — his self-denial was drawn out to the uttermost; and though his service was truly willing and loving, yet it was self-denying, to an extent of which we can have no ictea. The Holy One coming into daily contact with sin; the Blessed One meeting with the curse on every side, yet still labouring on, still carrying out unshrinkingly his work of service for the sons of men, — ah! this is self-denial, such as could have come forth from no bosom save his own.
(4.) It is patient, unwearied service. He has compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way. He breaks not the bruised reed; he quenches not the smoking flax. He is ever ready with his helping hand. He grudges no toil, no cost. By day or by night we find him ever girt for service. Tender, gentle, and patient, he sends none empty away; he does not upbraid them with requiring his services so often, or with needing the same help again and again, by reason of their own forgetfulness or perversity. He pities, and therefore he serves. He is patient, and therefore he serves. He is tender and gracious, and therefore he serves. Instead of being wearied out with the multitude of applicants, his only complaint is, that so few avail themselves of his help: — “Ye will not come to me.” Instead of grudging the labour of supplying so many ever-recurring wants, he speaks as one to whom a favour is done, in allowing him to be the servant of the neediest.
(5.) It is free service. It cannot be bought; for what gold could purchase it? Neither does it need to be bought, for it is freely rendered. It is without money and without price. Service, without wages asked or given, is an unknown thing among men. Man cannot command the service of his fellow-men without money. But it is not so with God. All is of grace. The love is free, the gift is free, the life is free; so the service afforded to us, by him who came to serve, is altogether free! It is freely presented to us, nay, pressed upon us by One whose delight is in serving, whose honour is in serving, and whose one regret is that there are so few among the needy ones of earth who will allow him to serve! Oh, that you would but accept the service of the Son of God! Oh, that you would allow him to gird himself with the towel, that he may wash you! Oh, that you would give him the joy, the honour, that his heart is set upon, of ministering to you, of attending on you, of guiding your steps through the gloom, and the storm, and the weariness, and the warfare of the desert, till he land you in the promised kingdom, and set you down at his marriage-supper, — there and then to know what the service of love can do, even for the weakest and unworthiest of those whom the blood has washed.
III. Its ends and objects. — It is to sinners that this service is rendered; and there is much in this to exhibit the ends which it has in view. They to whom Christ presents himself as the willing, loving, self-denying, patient servant, are not some nobler race of creatures, worthy of such condescension. They are the ungodly, who have no claim upon this gracious One, nothing to recommend them to his regards, save their poverty, their misery, their helplessness, and the impossibility of their delivering themselves, or finding their way out of this region of darkness into the kingdom of light.
No question is made as to the character of the persons to be saved; no objection is raised as to their unfitness or undeservingness; no hesitation is intimated as to the difficulty of the case, or the greatness of the guilt, or the strength, and toil, and care needed in undertaking it. No one of these things is mentioned, nor any such barrier for a moment supposed to exist. This gracious servant of the needy is willing to be employed by any one, no matter who, let him be the poorest, and the sickliest, and the feeblest of all who ever sought a helper, a protector, or a guide, on their way to the kingdom.
We need forgiveness. He ministers this in all its fulness; not once, nor seven times, but seventy times seven; bringing forth to us each hour, for our new sins, the new forgiveness out of the treasury of God; making us feel how exceeding abundant must be the grace of our God, that can afford such endless pardons to be thus so freely ministered.
We need cleansing. He serves us also in this; girding himself with his towel, and washing us till we are clean every whit; aye, washing us hourly; marking with the eye of faithful, patient service every spot that soils us, and purging it off with the clean water of the heavenly laver; attending our steps as we pass along this world’s polluted highways, and ready every moment to cleanse our feet from each newly contracted defilement.
We need heeding. He ministers healing to us. He healeth all our diseases. With unwearied care and heavenly skill, he watches every turn they take, and applies at once the suited remedy. Our languor he revives, our insensibility he quickens, our callousness he softens, our parchedness he refreshes, our wounds he binds up, our sickliness he turns into health. Thus he serves us in patient love.
We need strength. He serves us in this also, with untiring patience, placing all his strength at our service, nay, perfecting his strength in our weakness. He is ever helping our infirmities, giving us his arm to lean upon, nay, carrying us, as a shepherd his sheep, when too feeble to go, sustaining us in our weariness, reviving us in our faintness, watching our steps that we may not stumble, teaching our hands to war and our fingers to fight, — nay, giving us the victory. No sense of feebleness or helplessness should ever lead us to despond. No hosts of enemies, whether of hell or earth, no terrors of battle set in array against us, should cause us to turn back. To them that have no might he increaseth strength. In all our varied weaknesses he is at hand to serve.
We need wisdom and guidance. He ministers these to us, according to our need. He is made unto us wisdom. He guides us with his eye. He pities our ignorance and perplexity, and takes his willing place at our side, to instruct and to lead. His infinite resources he places at our disposal, and invites us to accept of his service, in the communication of all wisdom, and knowledge, and prudence, and true enlightenment of soul. If we are foolish, or dark, or misled, or stumbling, it is because we will not have him to serve us! 0 folly without a parallel, to decline or to slight such an offer as this!
We need faith and love. He increases our faith; he prays for us, that our faith fail not; he marks it when feeble and ready to give way, and strengthens it anew. So with our love. He kindles it, and cherishes it, preventing it from being cooled or quenched in this unkindly clime. Oh, what should we do for faith or love, were it not for this ministering One! Is your faith feeble, and unbelief obtaining the mastery? Or, is your love becoming chill and heartless? Accept the proffered service of the gracious Son of Man; allow him to do that in which he delights, to minister to you in these things; so shall your faith wax strong, and your love become fervent like his own.
We need protection. He is our shield and buckler. In the battle he covers our head, and thrusts danger from us. Ever ready, at our right hand and at our left, before and behind, he wards off the stroke, or anticipates and prevents the evil. Unweariedly serving us as our protector, and wielding for us the weapons of battle, he enables us to say, with tranquil confidence, The Lord is on my side; I will not fear though thousands set themselves against me.
But I cannot number our wants. They are numerous as the moments that run on. Each day brings forth its new ones, and repeats the old. How blessed, how comforting, in such a case, to have one to minister to them all, and that one none other than the Son of God himself! The Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want. Jesus himself is he who waits to serve, to supply, and to satisfy. What can make us fear or despond? What can make our hands hang down, or our knees wax feeble? Our strength may be small; he will increase it. Our faith may be feeble; he will give it might. Perplexities may beset us; he will guide us through. Sorrow may press us down; he will minister consolation. Sin may struggle hard for the mastery; he will subdue it. In every scene, and place, and duty, and struggle, and trial, he will be at our side, as the servant, to minister to us in everything, so that in nothing we may be found lacking.
“I am among you as he that serve th.” Thus he speaks to us now; coming into the midst of us, and proffering his gracious services. I am come, not to receive, but to give; not to be filled, but to fill; not to be healed, but to heal; not to be gladdened, but to gladden; not to be ministered unto, but to minister! Oh, who is there that can listen coldly to such an announcement, or refuse such a proffer of service? Shall condescending love like this be trifled with or set at nought?
Is there some one here, like Peter, ready to say, Surely this is too much! “Lord, thou shalt never wash my feet! I cannot bear the thought that thou shouldst perform an act so menial for such as I am.” Then hear the answer, — “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in me.” If thou wilt not allow me thus to minister, then thou canst not be mine! Strange, yet blessed thought! We cannot be saved, we cannot have any part in him, unless we allow him thus to perform for us his service of lowly love! It is as the servant that he is the Saviour! In saving, he serves; and in serving, he saves!
Do we not often lose sight of this? And, in losing sight of it, how much do we miss! We should be holier, as well as more blessed men, if we did but allow the Master to serve us as he desires. We should be wiser, stronger, more full of faith, and love, and zeal, would we but consent to let him minister to us in all the varied service which we need so much, and which he is so willing to perform. The Father’s servant for our profit, and our servant for the glory of the Father, he presents himself this day to us, seeking to be employed by us in his lowly office, and grieving only at this, that there are so few who will employ him; and that even those who do, either through false humility or self-reliance, do not give him, even to the ten thousandth part, the extent of the employment that he desires.