No Service for Christ – Acts 13:25

As I’ve mentioned before, there are very few events in and around our Lord’s life which are recorded in all four gospels.

The Gospel of John is particularly unique.

John seemed to go out of his way not to rehash material that the others had adequately detailed.

That Gospel is not only the 4th in the New Testament, it is evident that it was the 4th in publication date.

So when John refers to something that the others had already described, I take notice.

Then, when that same event comes up in the sermons and letters or Peter or Paul, then I know that we should consider it important.

And such is the case of this quote from John the Baptist.

By the way, last week I quoted S.E. Anderson when he said that, excluding the Lord Jesus, John the Baptist is the third most referred to man in the New Testament after Peter and Paul.

As soon as I said it, I had second doubts and a couple of you mentioned John the Apostle.

So this week I went to work and did a little checking.

The name “John” is found 130 times in the New Testament,

And the vast majority are referring to John the Baptist.

For example in Matthew there are 26 instances of that name, and 23 are to the Baptist – 88%.

There are 20 in the Gospel of John and all of them are references to the Baptist.

Remember too that John and John the Baptist are not the only men named “John” in the New Testament.

And now for the coup de gras – the Book of Acts has 24 references to John and about half of them are to John the Baptist.

John the Baptist IS the fourth most referred to man in the New Testament.

This evening let’s think about John’s statement about the Lord’s shoe latchet.

As I thought about it, I realized that there are two ways to preach this subject.

It is easy to preach as a gospel message, just as it was a part of Paul’s sermon that sabbath in Antioch.

But I’ve chosen to think about it in the light of us, who already claim to be children of God.

The title of our message tonight is: “No Service for Christ.”

No service for Christ is TOO SMALL.

Think back to Matthew or Luke’s account of John’s statement.

From Paul’s sermon or what you remember from any of the Gospels, did John say that he would NOT loose the Saviour’s sandals?

That wasn’t what he was saying, nor did it have anything to do with the point that he was making.

He wasn’t so much talking about Christ as he was about his relationship to Christ.

“You will see that the Messiah is so great, so magnificent, that I am not good enough to remove His shoe.”

John might have gone on to say that if Lord ever asked, he would have instantly obeyed,

But the point was that he didn’t feel himself worthy of that honor.

It wasn’t empty rhetoric that John was spouting; he meant every syllable of what he said.

Based uypon his PAST John wasn’t worthy enough to loose the shoe-latchet of the Lord.

He “was shapen in iniquity and in sin did his mother conceive him.”

Unlike the Saviour “who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.”

His father and forebears were not of same lineage as the Saviour.

He was from the line of Levi, while the Messiah was of the House of David and the tribe of Judah.

He was a priest after the order of Levi, while Jesus was a special priest after order of Melchizadek.

As John looked back on his life, he could remember much which should have disqualified him from any kind of service for the Lord.

James 2:10 – “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

Furthermore, John probably didn’t feel worthy even at the MOMENT that he gave that testimony.

Sure he was a preacher of righteousness and even the fulfilment of prophecy, but what are these things compared to the infinite Son of God.

John was constantly butting heads with the heads of Israel,

But I’m sure that if he talked about it, he’d say that his heart wasn’t always as pure as it ought to have been.

Sometimes he might have been more angry than those people deserved.

Sometimes he might have lost his temper and wished for immediate judgment on them.

He might have been arrogant and feeling self-important as he debated the elders of Israel.

And did his heart ever swell just a little as he looked at the crowds that came to hear him?

But then on the other hand, John never worked a single miracle.

Although there were crowds that came to hear him preach, his true followers were few.

He knew that the Lord would have a far more powerful ministry than he was having.

He knew without a doubt that he was not in the same league as the Saviour.

“Behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.”

But that doesn’t mean that the smallest player can’t contribute to the success of the team.

This summer Lance Armstrong won his sixth Tour de France, bicycle race – a record number.

I don’t know much about the character of the man personally.

I don’t know whether or not we could be close friends,

But I have to admire a man who overcame such obstacles to accomplish what he has done.

However, one of the things that is not often stated is that the Tour de France is a team race.

And the fact of the matter is that Lance Armstrong could not have won the race if he didn’t have a great number of team-mates helping him.

Not only did he have huge number of support staff such as mechanics and drivers,

But there were other cyclists whose job it was to help him to come in first.

Together, several dozen people made Lance Armstrong the best cyclist in the world.

Even the guy who kept him supplied with water contributed to Armstrong’s great victory.

Probably you all have heard the quote about the missing nail.

From what I understand the original came from the pen of Benjamin Franklin and went like this:

“For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for the want of a shoe the horse was lost;

And for the want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy,

All for the want of care about a horseshoe nail.”

Franklin’s point was that little things can be important.

Yes, a farrier, a blacksmith, can be a very important person.

I am told that it was customary in Jesus’ day to remove a person’s shoes upon entering into a nice home.

When important people were involved, there were servants who did this.

But even when common people took off their shoes, they gave them to the lowest servant in the house.

John was saying that he was beneath the lowest of the servants.

And the Jews used to say, “All services which a servant does for a master, a disciple does for his master, except unloosing his shoes.”

Removing another man’s filthy shoes was the very lowest form of service.

And John said, “Behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not WORTHY to loose.”

But that was a service which at times was very important.

Any soldier, and most athletes, will tell you that the proper care of the feet is absolutely necessary.

Those servants who took off the shoe and washed the feet were lowly – but important – people.

What if the Lord had lost a nail and couldn’t have walked to Jerusalem for the crucifixion?

No service is too small.

Then there is no service for Christ which is NOT A REVELATION OF THE HEART.

Last Sunday we had an interesting visitor with us.

( If you don’t take time to meet our visitors, often times, you are the looser; they can be such a blessing. )

After the service last Sunday our visitor with chatting with Bro. James and me.

And he asked me who are my favorite authors,

And I gave him a short list of good Baptist and fundamentalist writers.

When I was done he asked me if I read Finney, to which I replied that I didn’t.

Both Bro. Stewart and I concluded that the question was a test.

Charles Finney was not a Baptist, and was actually quite heretical in several ways.

And the point is, who we read can reveal a little bit about who we are.

And so does our attitude in service.

The Lord doesn’t need our service or our obedience in order to be God.

He doesn’t require our labours in order to get things done.

So why does He give us so many things to do?

Isn’t it in order to reveal our hearts?

If the Lord should ask you to take off His dirty sandal would you happily and willingly do it?

I would hope that you’d do it in a flash.

What would it tell the Lord if you obeyed, but that it was obviously distasteful to you?

What if you had a scowl on your face, or held your nose while you did it?

What would it say if you looked around to make sure that no one was watching you?

What if you were embarrassed to take off the Lord’s sandal?

Many people serve the Lord, but with reasons other than a simply willingness to serve.

Now, what if the Lord ordered you to take MY shoes and sox off and to wash MY feet?

Jesus once did that.

Christ washed the disciples’ feet as an illustration and lesson to all of us.

The Lord wants us to have the kind of humble heart that John had.

As far as I know, the Lord never actually asked John to loose his shoe or to wash His feet.

But from what I know about John, I’d guess that he would have instantly obeyed.

He might have commented that he was not worthy to touch the Saviour’s feet,

But he would have welcomed that opportunity.

Because there is no service for Christ which is NOT A POINT OF FELLOWSHIP with Him.

To loose the shoe-latchet of the Saviour means that the servant must be in the presence of the Saviour.

I wonder if Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus, while her sister was busy about cooking and preparing …

I wonder if Mary hadn’t washed those feet before which she sat?

In Luke 7 we read of a very touching incident with a very powerful message:

“And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.”

One of the necessities of this kind of service, is a point of contact with Christ.

This woman could not have served the Lord this way without being with the Lord and touching him.

There is a sense in which all our service does this.

Paul talks about fellowshipping with Christ through suffering for Him.

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

Paul might just as easily talked about fellowship with Christ while serving Him.

The Lord is not the despot who orders his slaves around just to hear the sound of his own voice.

When He orders his disciples into the valley of the shadow of death, He goes in there with them.

When men like Stephen are martyred for their obedience to Christ, they can see the Saviour’s face.

When Christians like Daniel are ordained by God to enter the lion’s den, they do so in the presence of Christ.

When Paul was talking about Apollos and himself he said, “We are labourers together WITH God.”

When we serve the Lord by loosing his shoe-latchets we are in the presence of the God and in the best place in Heaven or on earth.

And there is no service for Christ that is UNACCEPTED BY HIM.

If our hearts are right and our deeds are done for the glory of Christ, they are accepted by the Lord.

If those deeds are done out of spite or reluctantly, they may not be accepted.

If those deeds are done while infested with sin, they may be not accepted.

But no matter how large or small, what is done for Christ will be remembered throughout eternity.

If we are happy to give the Lord our five pieces of fish (our five pieces of pisces) He is delighted.

If we are willing to blow our trumpet for the Lord and shout for Him, He will give us the victory.

If we are delighted to break open our alabaster piggy banks for Christ, His smile may be huge.

And if we are humbly willing to loose the Saviour’s shoe-latchet, He may immortalize our tiny deed for future generations to ponder and admire.

What have you done for the Lord today?