THE WAYS OF THE KINGDOM

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IN St.Mark 10:33-37 we read of a discussion where the disciples had been arguing amongst themselves who should be the greatest. It had been an argument and not a discussion, and obviously had become quite heated, because when Jesus asks them what they had been talking about they had been too ashamed to tell him.

Jesus knew, of course, exactly what they had been talking about, and he gathered them around him and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (v.35).

How familiar this situation is to us. The world spends its time in this syndrome. Everybody is taught to assert themselves and climb the ladder of importance, and to seek to be above others. The church is also afflicted with this problem. People are hurt and angry when they are not given the position or recognition that they feel they deserve. At the least, their discontent at this causes them to bring a blight of discontent into the fellowship. At the worst, divisions are caused as we get people on our side, and run down others in criticism.

There are just two ways of living, one is from the devil, and so devilish, the other is from God and so is godlike. The attitude and behaviour we have been thinking about, which the disciples showed, is devilish. It comes from the devil. Yet the whole world, even the church, has been effected by it. The world is built on the importance principle. We must assert our place. We must receive the honours due to our position. We must order and command and be above others. All jockey and push to improve their position.

Even in the church this is the accepted thing. We must have a presence, so that our position is recognized. We must not be too close to those perceived to be below us, so that we may maintain our superiority. Even the clergy are nurtured on this principle, but it is devilish and comes from the devil. Nor has this any place in the family of God, because we have all entered the family as helpless and hopeless sinners, and without anything with which to be or feel superior.

The way of God is so different. Jesus expressed it in John 13:12-17. Jesus had done the menial task which none of the disciples were prepared to demean themselves to do. He had taken the place of the servant and washed their feet. Though he was, and is, high over all, the glorious Lord and Master, he served and showed there was nothing unworthy in such humble service.

In fact this is exactly what he was doing, at that very time, in his life on earth. This godly mind is expressed by the Apostle Paul when he says in Philippians 2:5-11 "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus". Jesus came into this world to serve us unworthy people. He therefore was willing to lay aside all the glory of his place as God, become a human being and the least of human beings, and then he was willing to take the place of the vilest sinner and be responsible for every wrong of mankind in service to redeem and save, even though it meant the lowest degradation, and to be despised and rejected of men, and a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The grief was of the greatest and sorest kind, because he was ready to suffer the displeasure and eternal damnation of his Father against himself, in order to serve us and save us from this damnation we deserve.

God's character is this, for in sending his Son in this way he was giving himself in service for us who are totally unworthy of any such consideration. He it was who stooped so low as the servant, to redeem us, and then to call us to himself against our desires, and to change us so that we responded to his love. He stooped to conquer. He loved with everlasting sacrificing and serving love and saved us.

Further there is another ingredient which makes our seeking to be great so devilish, and showing it to be stamped with the mark of the devil. It is the fact that we have nothing of which to be proud. If there is anything in us that is worth anything, it is from our creator God who made us. Of ourselves we do nothing but corrupt that image. This is what we realised and appreciated in such a humbling way, when God reached down in love to save us.

It is expressed so well in the third verse of Toplady's hymn 'Rock of Ages'. "Nothing in my hands I bring". We saw all the things we thought of as of value and worthy and of merit turn to corruption in our hands, as Jesus showed us exactly what they were like and worth. We could find nothing anywhere in our lives which had any goodness or merit. How lost we felt, because we had lived always with the idea that we had something with which to bargain before God. All we could do was "simply to thy cross I cling".

"Naked look to thee for dress". How awful to find the clothes of our moral respectability to be rags torn and falling apart. "Helpless look to thee for grace". We had come at first in the pride of some belief in virtue within us, but now there was nothing and we were frightened, helpless sinners who came trembling for mercy. "Foul, I too the fountain fly, wash me Saviour or I die". This is all we could cry. In the light of this, how can I ever seek importance. This is the real me. Whatever Christ has and does do in me, this is always what I am like of myself, therefore there is no glory I can claim.

What did we find when in this way we fell at the foot of the cross. We found that this glorious Saviour, so beautiful in holiness, drew near and embraced us in the arms of his love and mercy. In this embrace came the words of his love. 'I have redeemed you, you are mine', 'Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven', 'I have blotted out your transgressions like a thick cloud'. To our amazement the awful filthy rags of our moral failure were changed into the glorious clothes of perfect righteousness, which as we looked upon them in wonder we saw were the perfect righteousness of this beloved Saviour, who had clothed us in his beauty. We found a cleansing flow, his precious blood, that washed us all over so that we felt clean, and knew ourselves to be clean and spotless.

Our hearts went out to Jesus and found ourselves surrendering to his wonderful love. Love for Jesus just sprang up in our hearts, because of his great love for us. Much more, he made us to know that he loved us for ourselves to be his bride.

This was our Lord Jesus Christ coming to us as the servant, humbling himself to embrace a filthy sinner, and to wash him in his blood. He stooped so low, and washed us, being the servant king, and it was because he was ready to be the servant and take the humble place, that we were saved, and raised into his heavenly kingdom.

It is when we, his people, become godlike in the same way, and are ready to humble ourselves and accept the lowest place; to accept no recognition or position; to serve wherever and however our loving Saviour would call us to serve, even to accept no place of usefulness at all if that be his will; that the blessing of Christ's saving love flows through us. People see his image in us, because we are ready not to be seen at all, and are brought into his love and changed into his image.

In this way strangely we become first. People see no threat in us and no superiority, so they are ready to affirm us and love us and even turn to us in need. Further we enjoy the approval of our heavenly Father that brings upon us such a measure of the blessedness of his love, that our spirit is filled with all the fulness of God, and we find that we are more and more used as vehicles of his salvation.