Scripture

I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message.

~John 13:16, NLT

Quote

Do not come to Christ asking for a crown. There is only one crown in the church and Jesus wears it!

~Calvin Miller

Todays verse really grabbed my attention yesterday. Slaves are not greater than their master and the messenger is far less important than the one who sends the message. We hear a lot of talk about slavery in America but it is empty rhetoric. These morons don’t know the first thing about slavery. Their first mistake is going after the so called “Oppressor” and they are so blinded by hate that they can’t see straight. When Jesus walked the earth, slavery was a universal institution. The Jews had slaves. The Romans had slaves. Matter of fact, Caesar went into Gaul in 58 B.C. and in a nine-year period killed perhaps one million Gauls and enslaved another million. Some say that slaved out numbered free men in the city of Rome. The Greeks had slaves. All nations and kingdoms had slaves. The slave had no rights; not even the right to life. He or she could be executed at their’s master’s will and many were when they became a liability instead of an asset. The slave was treated like property, not like a person. It was common for the master to name a slave and if he sold that slave to a new master, the name would be changed again to suit the master. Slaves were trained from an early age to be unquestionably obedient to their masters. They carried water, gathered fire wood, cleaned the toilets, swept the floors, prepared the meals, served the meals and washed the feet when guest arrived. The LSB always translated doulos as slave. Every other translation that I am familiar with, translates doulos as servant. The word doulas means bond servant which is another term for a voluntary slave. It is a slave who choses to be a slave. It is a slave that loved his master so much that when the redemption year came and his master legally had to set him/her free: the person requested to stay and serve his/her beloved master.

I heard a black preacher say some years ago, “It is OK to be hen-pecked so long as you are married to the right hen.” It is OK to be a slave as long as you have the right master. With that understood, not many folks in the Baptist Church want to take on the role of the slave or the servant. Our tendency is to master. Someone said, “We have too many chiefs and not enough Indians.” Folks who want to make decisions but they don’t want to get involved in ministry. Don’t come to Jesus for an office or a crown. Your assignment is to wash dirty feet. You are surrounded by people with dirty feet; that is people who have needs. What about that friend who has cancer? Are you going to abandon them when they need you most? There is no telling how many times I have heard the lame excuse: “I just can’t stand to see them this way; they have lost so much weight. I don’t visit them because it hurts to see them this way.” Yeah, right, do you not realize that they too are hurting and their hurt in much greater than you petty pain. There is someone in your circle of influence that needs your encouragement. Your assignment today is to wash dirty feet. What are you going to do about it? Are you like the disciples? Do you think you are too good to get down on your knees and wash feet? You have to humble yourself to wash feet; can you do that?

Read Matthew 25 which is a picture of the final judgment. ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom, which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Do you see anything in there about ruling or lording over others? You may be wearing some kind of crown but you didn’t get it from Jesus. Jesus will give you a towel and a basin but He is not going to give you a crown.

Extra

Wow, Wow, Wow, God is good! We had 31 for mid-week worship last night and for the first time in a long time, we had more than the youth. What a refreshing worship service. Thank You Jesus and praise to our preacher, the Holy Spirit. Even I get blessed when He preaches. To put the icing on the cake, we enjoyed the majestic wonder of a terrific thunder storm on the way home from the POINT. The lightening was lightning up the entire shy. It was a beautiful fire works show and we had just finished Psalm 148 minutes before. Storms are a testimony to God’s infinite power and benevolent care. Thank YOU Jesus for the rain and the cooler temps.

I think it is set GP family. Our fall fish fry will be the last Wednesday in September. We have been in the Psalms for over four years on Wednesday night and we finish September 20. I hope you have a great Thursday and thanks for reading the blog.