Greatness Through Service

Luke 22:24-30 October 1, 2017 Pastor Chris Oswald

Audio coming soon

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Thesis So long as we buy into the world's definition of success, we will never be free of the fear of man, but if we can break free from their definition of success and embrace Christ's definition—greatness through humility and service on an eternal timeline—we will become less enslaved to their approval and less fearful of their rejection.

Series

Fear of Man

Type

Expository

Tone

pastoralpropheticdidactic

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalcanonicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

20 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #8

"Oswald transitions from the first diagnostic question to the second, providing connective tissue between major sections of the argument."

Doctrinal loci· 9 surfaced

Sanctification · 10 Ethics / Moral Theology · 6 Soteriology · 5 Christology · 4 Anthropology · 3 Ecclesiology · 3 Eschatology · 3 Providence / Sovereignty · 2 Theology Proper · 1

Bible citations· 16

Illustrations· 2

When Arguments Escalate Out of Control hypothetical · unit #10 — Oswald illustrates the quarrelsome diagnostic with a hypothetical relational conflict that escalates out of control. He identifies several false definitions of winning (last word, superior argument, manipulation) and contrasts them with Jesus' definition of winning: repentance, responsibility, and service.
God's Use of Failures analogy · unit #14 — Oswald illustrates God's use of weakness through Peter: Jesus promises to use Peter after Peter's catastrophic failure and betrayal. He uses analogies (the golfer in expensive clothes who can't hit the ball, the Porsche owner who can't park) to show that God uses failures and losers when they trust Him.

Theological claims· 3

Learning to forgive and love those who have hurt us trains us to love those who might hurt us, which frees us from the fear of man. unit #1
You cannot love people you are afraid of or from whom you need approval; Jesus loves freely because He is invested in the Father, not in human acceptance. unit #2
The place we get our definitions from defines us; accepting the world's definition of success enslaves us to the fear of man. unit #4

Quotations· 2

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest, most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror, a corruption, such as if you met it would feel as if it were a nightmare. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nature, nations, cultures, arts, civilizations These are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat." — C.S. Lewis (unit #7)

"attempt great things for God" — a missionary (unit #16)

Read it

Full transcript

30,821 characters 20 units ~34 min reading time

0 · Oswald opens by orienting the congregation to the ongoing series on the fear of man and introduces the specific text for today

They're free to go. I know they're raring to go. And we are going to have the privilege of hearing God's Word preached to us this morning. Well, good morning. If you want to open your Bibles to the book of Luke 22. Luke 22. We'll be reading in a little bit in verse 24. We've been talking about this idea of the fear of man for a number of weeks. A couple weeks ago we talked about the issue of betrayal, and as is common, these sorts of ideas work their way through our church, and I hear discussions and think further about their applications. And one of the things that I want to bring up almost as a piece of a past conversation but connected to today as well, is this idea that God would have us learn to forgive those who have hurt us for many reasons. That's clear. God's Word is clear in that respect. For those that have hurt us, God would call us to forgive them. God would call us, in fact, to love them.

1 · Oswald makes a theological claim about the nature of forgiveness: forgiving those who have hurt us trains us to love those who might hurt us, which is everyone

I think one of the things that we could maybe help each other in connecting with that idea is that God, if you've ever been really hurt by someone and you fought through the process of learning to forgive them, you may have noticed yourself just generally more free. You may think, and perhaps this is true, that the freedom you feel after that forgiveness takes place is due to just this burden being lifted that you were carrying for so long. But you know, there's another piece of this very interesting and pertinent to our ongoing discussion of the fear of man. I have found personally and as a pastor that as we learn to forgive those who have hurt us, as we learn to love those who have hurt us, we actually learn how to love those who might hurt us. And it opens up our hearts in a different way to the world, to people we don't know, to relationships that we've sort of danced on the edge of getting into. That somehow when the Lord trains us to love those who have hurt us, He's actually training us to love those who might hurt us. And who fits in the category of those who might hurt us? All y'all, right? Everybody, everybody.

2 · Oswald connects the fear of man directly to evangelism: fear of rejection prevents genuine love, which is required for evangelism

In fact, perhaps one of the reasons for the relative anemia in evangelism the relative lack of evangelism we see in our lives is because we haven't learned to love those who might hurt us. And that perhaps the Lord in talking to us about this issue of the fear of man, as it just shows up repeatedly in the text, perhaps what the Lord's doing is He's trying to open up our hearts to be able to love. You can't love people that you're afraid of. You can't love people who you need X, Y, and Z from. You can't love people and desperately need their affirmation and approval and acceptance. And you certainly can't love people fearing their rejection. What we see in Jesus is this open-heartedness toward people. He loves them with sincere affection because He's not invested in them. He's invested in the Father. He doesn't fear their rejection. He fears the Father's, as we'll see next week. Well, not next week, but the next time I preach. He doesn't need man's acceptance because He has the Father's approval.

3 · Oswald signals a structural shift from the introductory framing about forgiveness and evangelism to the main argument about the fear of man and the definition of success

So I want you to just to begin thinking more about how interesting it is that the Lord would bring us to this subject at this time as we work through his text. Today I want you to see another feature of the fear of man.

4 · Oswald states the sermon's main thesis: accepting the world's definition of success enslaves us to the fear of man

So long as we buy into the world's definition of success, we will never be free of the fear of man. But if we can break free from their definition of success, we will become less enslaved to their approval and less fearful of their rejection. So that one massive blow to the fear of man is to stop accepting the world's view of success. You know, it's very interesting, the place we get our definitions from winds up defining us. I was thinking about this this week. The place we get our definitions from, the people we get our definitions from, wind up defining us. I was on a bike ride and just mind wandering and thinking about orphans. And, you know, if you know my past, I've been involved in orphan care in Africa and know a lot of people who have grown up, quite honestly, without fathers, even in the United States. So the Bible would refer to those people as fatherless, as orphans. I started thinking about maybe the biggest problem with being fatherless is that you're asking the same questions that all kids ask. A fatherless little boy is asking the same thing that a fathered little boy is asking. He's asking, 'Am I strong?' You know, a fatherless little girl is asking the same thing that a little girl with a good daddy is asking. She's asking, you know, 'Am I beautiful?' But the devastating wound that occurs within fatherlessness is that those common questions that everyone asks when you don't have a daddy get answered by people who aren't good for you. And so the little girl who has a daddy and wonders if she's beautiful has a dad to tell her she is. A little girl who doesn't have a daddy is wondering if she's beautiful. Where does she get that answer from? And a little boy who's wondering if he's strong, he's asking the same question all little boys are. But the one without a good father, where does he get that answer? Perhaps the most lasting wound of fatherlessness is that you've been given the wrong answers to right questions. You went places for the answers to the questions that everybody has, and now you're sort of caught in this echo chamber of urban legends, of false dichotomies, of wrong definitions.

5 · Oswald exposes the problem in Luke 22:24—the disciples arguing about who is greatest—and applies it personally

Perhaps the most damaging, one of the most damaging false definitions you can have is the false definition of success. You know, if you start living this life with the false definition of success, you've already failed. Right? If you start pursuing an end which is not true greatness, but you think it is, you've already lost. Starting this life, living this life with the proper definition of success is going to make a massive difference. And what we see in our text today is that the disciples were seeking, were trying to find an answer to a good question. A good question is, what is greatness? What is success? That's a good question, but they were asking it in the wrong places, and they were using the wrong definition for their definition of success and their definition of greatness. Look at verse 24 in Luke 22. It says, 'A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.' You know, if you're like me, there's this weird conflict that happens in your life where you've made some big decisions based on the true definition of greatness. So if you're here and you've followed Christ for a while, You've made some, probably some big decisions about the true definition of greatness, or based on the right definition of greatness. For instance, 1995, I decided, 1993, I decided that for me, for God's call in my life, the definition of greatness would be to be a good husband and father. Right? So I made that decision 25 years ago or so. That for me, one of the best definitions of greatness coming from the Lord was to give my life to raise 3 kids, or however many kids the Lord gave us, and to love and lay down my life for a wife. That was a good decision. I'm glad I made it. And honestly, it was made with the right definition of success. In that moment when I made that decision, I made the right decision based on the right definition of success. Here's the problem. For the last 25 years, I made that decision with the right definition, but many times at the tactical level, I'm operating on a second false definition of success. Does that make sense? So I make some good big decisions on the right definition of greatness, and then in my life, in the daily, I keep operating off of the world's definition. Of success. And what happens when you do that is you create this life of massive conflict, right? You're, you're living a life that with— that's aimed toward good things, toward righteous things, toward things that God has for you, but the way that you're tactically moving is in direct conflict rooted in a different definition of greatness altogether. And I think if you don't understand what I'm talking about, I think you will as we move forward.

6 · Oswald poses the diagnostic question: Is there a disconnect between your stated definition of success and your functional definition? He introduces six questions derived from the text that will reveal whether the congregation is operating on a false view of greatness

So the question we have today is simply this: is it possible that in your life there has become a disconnect between what you know is the Sunday school answer when I ask you what is true greatness, what is true success. You know the Sunday school answer. You know that it's to love God, enjoy Him forever, to glorify God. You'd give me all the right answers, I'm sure. Is it possible that there's a disconnect between that and the way you actually live your life? Is it possible that like the disciples, You've made the decision to follow Jesus. You've identified Him as true greatness, as true success. But tactically, as you actually go about your day, you're operating on a different definition of success altogether. That functionally, you're operating on a false definition of greatness. So what I've done today, as I've looked through this text, is I've sort of created a diagnostic. The question just becomes, how do I know if tactically, if functionally, I'm operating on a false view, false vision of greatness? And I've come up with 6 questions out of our text, and the first one is this: Have you— one evidence that you have— well, actually, I listed them all together because I knew that some of you really take a lot of notes, and I wanted you to have them. All together. So these are the 6 questions, and we'll work our way through the text together. So the first one is, one diagnostic would be, have you given up on greatness? I'll explain all these as we work through. Are you quarrelsome? Do you use people? Are you afraid of weakness? Is the king serving you? And are you investing in vapor?

7 · Oswald expounds the first diagnostic: Have you given up on greatness? Jesus does not rebuke the disciples for wanting to be great; He promises them greatness

So those are the 6 questions we can see in this text will help us to discern whether perhaps we are functionally living with a false definition of greatness. Now let me explain these. The first one is this: Have you given up on greatness? Notice in verse 25 when the disciples are arguing about who is the greatest, notice in verse 25 that Jesus does not say, 'You're fools for desiring to be great.' Jesus doesn't tell them that they ought not seek greatness. In fact, he promises greatness to them in verses 29-30. We'll get to these verses again, but go ahead and look at them right now. Verse 29 and 30, 'And I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.' Jesus' answer to the disciples' question about what greatness is, isn't Don't worry about that, boys. You shouldn't even want to be great. This is probably, if you've been in church for some time, one of the most common evidences that you're using the world's definition of greatness. When you begin to believe that mediocrity is even an option, when you begin to aspire to being average, when you think that aw shucks, little old me is a biblical perspective on self, you may have given up on greatness. And to give up on greatness is, in fact, to buy the wrong definition of greatness. I want you to understand something. You don't have a choice. You will be great. Mediocrity is not an option, and average isn't a thing. Average isn't a thing because God knows you. He doesn't group you with a group of people and compare you to those above and below you. He knows you. We use averages so that— because we can't understand individual things very well. God knows you. He's not comparing you to someone above you or below you. We'll talk about that again in a moment. Average isn't a thing. You don't want to be average because you can't be average, and you can't be mediocre. Take this to the bank, it is sobering, terrifying, and perhaps also encouraging. Every single person in this room is going to become either an eternal triumph or an eternal terror. Nobody in this room is going to be average. C.S. Lewis said, 'It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest, most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror, a corruption, such as if you met it would feel as if it were a nightmare. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nature, nations, cultures, arts, civilizations These are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. Think about that. Your life is much bigger than Western civilization. Western civilization is a gnat compared to you. But it is with mortals, immortals whom we joke with and work with and marry and snub and exploit. Immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.' Friends, average isn't an option. Don't aw shucks your way through this life. You will be great. You will either be great as a triumph to God's grace, or you will be great as a train wreck of sin. But you will be great. Stay-at-home moms, you will be great. Nothing you do is average. Your destiny is not average. Average doesn't exist. You are either getting hot or you are getting cold. You are either doing all you have to do with all of your might as unto the Lord, or you aren't. You are either pursuing excellence to win, or you are not. But average, mediocre is not an option. Perhaps the greatest evidence that you are not understanding God's definition of greatness is that you've given up on trying to be great. That is not what God has for you. Some of you have heard all your life in one way or another that you are average, that you are mediocre. And the people who have told you that are giving you a line. You will miss who you are if you think that that's even an option. You will, by the end of this day, this story, your story, your life, be great. You'll either be a great waste or you'll be a great triumph, but you will be great.

8 · Oswald transitions from the first diagnostic question to the second, providing connective tissue between major sections of the argument

So that's the first question about what standard, what definition of greatness you're using.

9 · Oswald expounds the second diagnostic: Are you quarrelsome? The disciples' dispute reveals they're operating on the wrong definition of greatness

The second one is this: Have you become quarrelsome? Have you become quarrelsome? Look at verse 24. 'A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.' This is strong evidence that they're operating out of the wrong definition of greatness. If a dispute is necessary, they're not using the proper definition. Definition of greatness. Not that I'm against conflict. Conflict can be appropriate, but it doesn't need to exist about this particular question. Here's an idea: sinful fights always involve a competition for limited resources. And God's acceptance and approval for you is unlimited. If His approval for you is your definition of greatness, there isn't any of it that's going to run out. You don't need to fight with that person that you sleep in bed with every night. You know, you don't need— you're not competing with that person for limited resources because there's plenty of what true greatness is. There's plenty of it.

10 · Oswald illustrates the quarrelsome diagnostic with a hypothetical relational conflict that escalates out of control

So the question, if you're operating on a false view of greatness, you become quarrelsome because you've got the wrong idea about what winning looks like. You know, have you ever been in a fight and then wondered, like, man, that escalated. Like, what was that about? How did that happen? Why did it keep happening? Should there have been? There was 17 shots, probably should have been 1, right? 1 would have sufficed. What just happened? Why did we just play an angry game of ping pong or something like that? Well, here's what happened. You were operating, even though at some level you knew what true greatness was, in those moments you were operating out of a false definition of greatness. You thought that having the last word equaled winning. You thought that making the superior logical argument equaled winning. You thought that tearing another person down would equal winning. You thought that manipulating with tears would equal winning. You thought that making the other person feel guilty would equal winning. The problem, by the way, isn't that you wanted to win. The problem is that you went to the wrong place for your definition of what a win is. If you'd gone to Jesus and said, 'How do I win right now? I really want to win this argument. How do I win?' He would have said, 'Repent. Take responsibility. Serve.' And if you'd have done it, you'd have won. But you are operating out of a false definition of winning.

11 · Oswald expounds the third diagnostic: Do you use people? He explains the Roman patronage system referenced in Luke 22:25—wealthy benefactors investing in talented people for future return

Number 3, do you use people? Look at verse 25, and he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. The word benefactors is key to understanding what Jesus is getting at. Here Jesus is referring to an old Roman system of patronage. Wealthy people would find rising talent, beautiful people, smart people, and would fund their education, perhaps their career, in exchange for a piece of their future earnings or output or power. This is early VC, venture capital, in AD. This is angel investing, you know, First century style. Jesus is saying that that system may work at the financial level, but in his kingdom we are not to be respecters of persons in that way. We're not to evaluate another human being's value based on what they can give to us.

12 · Oswald applies the diagnostic to church evaluation: people often evaluate churches based on what the church can do for them, which is to use people

It is a devastating regular occurrence that people evaluate a church that way. It makes me feel like I'm living in Willy Wonka Land or something. When those statements are brought to bear in their evaluation of a church, I just feel like, wait a minute, where am I? What is happening right now? Are you actually evaluating the Church of God based on what it can do for you? Is that what's happening right now? That would be you saying, 'I agree that Jesus' definition of greatness is right, and I'm going to operate on a completely different one.' The world's. This idea of being a respecter of persons is far more prevalent than we realize. It isn't without reason that the Bible so repeatedly talks to us about not being a respecter of persons. It isn't without reason that the The story of the patriarchs is riddled with the corruption of favoritism. You notice that? How favoritism just keeps kind of rotting away at the relationships at the beginning of the Bible? It isn't without reason that God repeatedly says you need to be on guard that you don't become a respecter of persons. And you also need to understand this. Here's the truth. People who the world would never sponsor, people who the world would never invest in, will always wind up paying off more if those people trust in Jesus. They are the sure bet every time. I will always put my money on the broken people, on the humbled people, on the formerly or even currently addicted people, on the people who understand their need for Jesus at a level that the winners don't. Because God's strength shines in weakness, and inside every broken person's story is a massive catalyst for greatness.

13 · Oswald expounds the fourth diagnostic: Are you afraid of weakness? Jesus uses Greek terms to show the paradox: to become mega (great) you must become neo (new/small); to become the leader you must become the servant (waiter)

That's actually the next point. Are you afraid of weakness? Verse 26, Jesus says, you know, don't be like the kings of the Gentiles who lord it over and who essentially use people for what they can get out of them. Verse 26 says, but not so with you. Don't be like that. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as the one who serves. So Jesus presents two things that everybody wants to be. Great and the leader. And great in the Greek is mega, right? Mega. And leader is really just sort of the utmost, the top, el jefe, you know, the boss. And Jesus says that desiring to get there is absolutely appropriate. You should aspire to greatness. You're going to be mega-something. You're going to be the chief of something. But to get there, to really get there, demands that you become two things that nobody wants to be. Look at that verse again, 26. Let's pick up the parallelism and the rhythm here. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest become the youngest. Let the mega become the neo, the neophyte, the little, the small, the new. Nobody wants to be the low man on the totem pole. And in God's kingdom, true greatness involves being weak and small and new. And then he says, let the leader the hagiomai, the chief, the boss, be as one who serves. As serves, the deaconate, the waiter, the guy with the name tag. Right? I remember feeling kind of excited about the first job I had that didn't require a name tag. I thought, well, I've really arrived. I don't have to tell people what my name is anymore. They know. Nobody wants to be the new guy. Nobody wants to be the neophyte. Nobody wants to be the last one picked for kickball. No one wants to be the water boy. No one wants to be the waiter at Applebee's. But Jesus says that when we humble ourselves, When we are willing to trust Him in voluntary weakness, He will make us mega.

14 · Oswald illustrates God's use of weakness through Peter: Jesus promises to use Peter after Peter's catastrophic failure and betrayal

Are you afraid of weakness? Are you afraid to be weak, to be small, to be vulnerable? To be honest? Are you afraid to admit that you don't know stuff? Are you afraid to admit that there's much of this world, of this life, of Christ that you don't understand? Are you afraid to be weak? Then you're using the wrong definition of success. Later on, Jesus tells Peter, 'Peter, you're going to betray me, and after you've turned, after you've repented, strengthen your brothers.' Only in God's kingdom could Jesus look at the guy who is going to be a total failure and disappointment. Peter is the guy who dresses in all the great golf clothes, and can't hit the ball, right? I saw somebody the other day in a brand new Porsche 911. They had to get out and try to re-park that thing 4 times in the parking lot of Starbucks. Infuriated me. I almost wanted to just take his keys. Peter's the guy who shows up, talks a good game, And when the first opportunity exists, he falls flat on his face. Peter is that special kind of failure who talked a good game first. And Jesus says, 'I got a use for a guy like that. I got a use for a failure like that.' I got a use for a loser like that. If you're afraid of weakness, you don't understand the way greatness works. You're not relying on God's promise for greatness that He reveals in His scriptures.

15 · Oswald expounds the fifth and most important diagnostic: Are you letting the King serve you? He explains that Jesus' alternative society is built on one foundation—the King serves

Alright, so the most important one is the next one, and it's simply this: are you letting the King serve you? You know, Jesus' vision for success is really an alternative society. I think I mentioned last week that the Lord's table is normally something observed with family, and Jesus does this radical thing where he says, boys, we're not going to be with our families this time. Heaven forbid, right? We're going to be together. And in saying that, he's establishing a new family, a new tribe. A new kingdom. And Jesus's alternative society is entirely countercultural because its definition of success is so often exactly the opposite of what the world's is. That's what he's been saying. But this counterculture, this new community, this kingdom is built on one thing. Look at verse 26-27. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. Earlier in that passage, Jesus hands out a cup called the cup of fellowship. And this isn't the cup where He says, 'This is my blood poured out for you.' This is a cup before that cup, and He hands it out. Normally at this Passover feast, everybody would have their own cup. In this particular case, Jesus gives them one cup and says, 'This is the cup of fellowship. Everyone partake of this cup.' Friends, that's what we're based on. We're rooted in this simple idea. We've been served. And are being served by the King of the universe. There is this one way that you can be sure you will move away from Jesus' definition of success. And that is, in various manifestations, you don't have the visual the feeling in your heart. You don't see it, you don't feel it, you don't know it, that the King of the universe is on his knees before you washing your feet. It's the one thing that is most likely to throw you off of the true definition of greatness, is to begin to operate in a world that has you trying to work for him instead of seeing him work for you. The easiest way to get thrown off of the true definition of greatness is to lose the vision of Jesus washing your feet, serving you, choking on his own blood to save you. Friends, that conscious awareness of Christ serving us is The reframing, the constant reframing we need of the true definition of greatness. And if you are not allowing yourself to regularly be served by Jesus consciously— of course he's serving you the whole time— if you are not focusing on that, if you're not cherishing that, if you're not visualizing that, then your definition of greatness will go askew. Of course it will. Because Christ's definition is so countercultural that unless you see it in motion, the King of the universe, your Creator, at your feet, washing your feet— Luke doesn't talk about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. I bring it up now because I think there is a massive connection between Peter's reaction to that act and his falling for a false definition of success later on. Let me just read to you the account that John gives of Jesus, just a real short, just a 3 or 4 sentence account of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. And I want you to listen as I read this for the definition of true greatness. Okay? Listen to this. This is big and small at the same time, which is definitely That's a symptom of God's definition of greatness. 'Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, rose up from supper. He laid aside His outer garments, taking a towel, tied it around His waist, Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. If you could just use that, if you only had that to define true greatness, you'd be on, you have a really good head start. Let me read this again and listen how the first part of this passage is all about greatness. Greatness as we think of it. And the second part of this is how you get there. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He'd come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. Did you hear that? That's the true greatness. All things, the Father giving Him all things into His hands, that He'd come from God, He has total security in His identity. And he was going back to God. How does he get there? How does he pass through this moment into that moment? Service. Knowing that true greatness is his destiny given to him by the Father, he lays aside his outer garments, taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Now some of you may not know that in Bible times, washing someone's feet is the nursing home equivalent of wiping someone's tush. That's just genuine condescension and humility and service. To care for someone in that way, to touch feet that walked through streets that were full of horses and other things. It's just genuine condescension. It's just genuine humility. So Jesus knowing that in the Father He was great, moves toward that greatness by getting on his knees and serving. That's the pattern you'll see repeated over and over again in the life of Christ.

16 · Oswald reads Philippians 2:1-11 to show the same pattern of greatness through humility: Christ, though in the form of God, emptied Himself, became a servant, humbled Himself to death on a cross, and was therefore exalted

Let me read the Philippians explanation of that to you. So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves. You're going to hear the same recipe for greatness here. Have this mind amongst yourselves. Which is yours. This is given to you in Christ. You have the definition of greatness. Jesus has given it to you. He's put it in you. Who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Now, as you listen to this one, we're going to hear the recipe for greatness flipped. This one in John 13, greatness, condescension, right? This one's going to be condescension, then greatness. Just listen. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. That's the recipe for true greatness. It's the ambition to be big in the Father's eyes, cosmic even, as we see at the end of this text. At the end of the Luke text. But it's an understanding that in God's economy, the way we get to that greatness is through humility and servanthood. And friends, yes, as a missionary once said, attempt great things for God. Yes, pursue obedience. We'll talk about this more in a moment. But unless you have the conscious understanding of the King of the universe washing your feet, the King of the universe hanging naked on a cross choking on his own blood to save you, you will vacate God's definition of true greatness. That has to be an ongoing experience in your life. And by the way, that's what this is about. That's what the Lord's Table is about.

17 · Oswald transitions to the sixth and final diagnostic question

Number 6, are you investing in vapor?

18 · Oswald expounds the sixth diagnostic: Are you investing in vapor? He reads Luke 22:28-30 and contrasts the world's short timeline for success with Jesus' eternal timeline

Look at verse 28, 'You are those who stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.' The world's definition of success relies on a very short timeline. It operates on a very short timeline. We get something different from Jesus. Jesus' definition of success occurs on a much longer timeline than your limited lifespan.

19 · Oswald develops the contrast between temporal and eternal timelines, using the phrase 'this life is but a vapor' to emphasize the shortness of earthly life and the need to focus on what will last eternally

And friends, the more often we can repeat and believe and say to one another that this life is but a vapor, it will soon be past, And all that is done for Christ is all that will last. The more often we can repeat to ourselves, each other, 'It isn't going to last very long,' the closer we'll be to God's explanation, His definition of true greatness. So the world will give you a definition of greatness that will exist on a very limited timeline. Jesus gives one that operates on an eternal timeline of which He's speaking in these verses. And this timeline forces us into a different mindset, a different working definition of true greatness.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Jul 16, 2017

Where Two or Three Take Sin Seriously

God's special presence—the ultimate privilege of the church—will be manifest when believers gather in His name with deadly seriousness about sin, which means individuals must humble themselves and expose hidden sin while the church receives the broken with grace and maintains holiness through biblical discipline.

Matthew 18:15-20

Aug 27, 2017

Sowing into Flesh or Spirit

We are always sowing into either the flesh or the Spirit, and whatever we sow we will reap in multiplied quantity—both in earthly consequences and in eternal harvest—but Christ transforms those who trust Him by giving them the Spirit to sow into and by walking with them through the consequences of past sin, turning even the harvest of corruption into the harvest of character.

Galatians 6:7-8

Sep 24, 2017

The True Feast and the False

The cure to the false feast of the fear of man is the true feast of Jesus Christ, whose suffering and death secure eternal fellowship where all our deepest desires for affirmation are met.

Luke 22:14-23

October 1 · This sermon

Greatness Through Service

So long as we buy into the world's definition of success, we will never be free of the fear of man, but if we can break free from their definition of success and embrace Christ's definition—greatness through humility and service on an eternal timeline—we will become less enslaved to their approval and less fearful of their rejection.

Luke 22:24-30

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

In Luke 22:24-30, the disciples were quarreling about who would be greatest in the kingdom. What does their argument reveal about where they…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we walk through Jesus's redefinition of greatness: from the world's timeline of dominance to God's eternal perspective of humble service, learning how this shift frees us from the fear of man.

Prayer

Freed from the Fear of Man

Father, we come before You with gratitude for Jesus, who alone defines true greatness not by dominance and self-promotion, but by humility,…

Family table

What Does Jesus Think Success Looks Like?

This prompt invites your family to notice the difference between how the world measures success (money, power, popularity) and how Jesus doe…

Couples

Greatness Through Humility

What definition of success have you been operating from—the world's or Christ's? How did the sermon surface that for you this week?…

Memorize

Luke 22:26

This verse contains Jesus's direct redefinition of greatness—the sermon's central claim that true greatness flows through humility and service rather than dominance and self-promotion. It is the pivotal moment where Christ overturns the world's false standard of success and offers believers the pathway to freedom from the fear of man.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

In Luke 22:24-30, the disciples were quarreling about who would be greatest in the kingdom. What does their argument reveal about where they were getting their definition of success and greatness?

Luke 22:24

→ Where do you find yourself most tempted to adopt the world's definition of success rather than Christ's?
Jesus responds by redefining greatness through humility and service. According to Luke 22:26-27 and John 13, how does Jesus model this redefinition, and what makes His example so radically different from the kingdoms of the world?

Luke 22:26-27, John 13
The sermon identifies six diagnostics of whether we're operating on a false definition of greatness. Which of these—giving up on greatness, quarrelsomeness, using people, fear of weakness, letting the King serve us, or investing in vapor—most honestly describes a pattern in your own life right now?

→ What does that pattern reveal about what you're actually seeking approval for?
According to the sermon, as long as we're buying into the world's definition of success, we remain enslaved to the fear of man's approval and rejection. Why is it nearly impossible to love people freely when we're dependent on their acceptance?

Luke 22:25

→ How does Jesus's freedom from needing human approval shape the way He loves and serves?
The sermon emphasizes that God 'invests in the broken and weak, not the talented and strong' because His strength shines in weakness. How does understanding Christ as the one who serves you, washes your feet, and dies for you reshape what you pursue as 'greatness' this week?

Luke 22:29-30

→ What would change in your daily choices if you genuinely believed God's investment is in your brokenness, not your performance?
The sermon concludes that everyone will be either 'an eternal triumph or an eternal terror'—that true greatness is not mediocrity, but operates on an eternal timeline rather than a short-term one. How does shifting your measure of success from immediate approval to eternal outcomes free you from the fear of man?

Luke 22:28-30

→ What is one decision or conversation you're facing this week where you need to choose the eternal timeline over the immediate one?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Luke 22:25

Jesus observes that the Gentile rulers 'lord it over' others and exercise authority for personal gain—the world's unexamined template for greatness. We absorb this blueprint almost without noticing: success means ascending, controlling, drawing admiration from those beneath us. But if we accept this definition, we become enslaved to the approval of those above us and the fear of their rejection, trapped on a treadmill we mistake for an escalator.

Tuesday Luke 22:26-27

Jesus inverts the ladder entirely: the greatest is not the one seated at the head of the table but the one who rises to wash feet—the work of a slave. Our Lord does not merely teach this; He embodies it, modeling that eternal significance flows not from titles or territory but from the conscious choice to diminish oneself for the sake of another. This is not mediocrity; it is the strongest possible form of greatness.

Wednesday Philippians 2:1-11

Paul presents Christ's humiliation—the willingness to empty Himself and take the form of a servant—not as weakness but as the foundation of all authority (Philippians 2:9-11). When we 'consider others more significant than ourselves' and adopt this same mindset, we are not diminishing our significance but aligning ourselves with the very pattern by which Christ was exalted. The paradox is that in embracing the servant's posture, we inherit the Servant's eternal kingdom.

Thursday John 13

John's account shows us Jesus washing His disciples' feet *knowing* that one would betray Him—an act of radical love toward someone positioned to cause Him harm. This becomes possible because Jesus is not seeking approval from His disciples; He is secure in His Father's affection and His eternal mission. When we similarly ground our identity in Christ's servanthood toward us rather than in the world's verdict, we become free to serve and even love those who oppose us.

Friday Luke 22:28-30

Jesus promises the disciples who have stayed with Him through trials—not the powerful, but the persevering weak—that they will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. God's investment flows toward those aware of their need, their smallness, their dependence on Him. As we release the world's demand that we project strength and certainty, we become available to experience the true greatness that God reserves for those humble enough to receive it.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Freed from the Fear of Man

Father, we come before You with gratitude for Jesus, who alone defines true greatness not by dominance and self-promotion, but by humility, service, and the willingness to wash the feet of those He loves (Luke 22:26–27). We confess that we have often bought into the world's definition of success—measuring ourselves by approval, status, and the fear of rejection from those around us. We have quarreled with one another, used people for our gain, and shrunk back from weakness, all because we believed that the world's timeline and standards mattered most. Forgive us for this bondage to human opinion.

Yet the gospel frees us. In Christ, we have an eternal King who became a servant, who washed dirty feet and laid down His life for us (John 13). His approval is complete and unchanging; His love does not depend on our performance or the applause of others. Because He has secured our worth in His finished work, we are no longer enslaved to the fear of man's rejection.

We ask You, O God, to transform our hearts so that we can forgive those who have hurt us, and in forgiving them, learn to love them—even those who might reject us (Luke 22:28–30). Grant us courage to embrace Your eternal timeline and reject the vapor of the world's short-sighted success. Help us to invest our lives in what will last forever, to serve one another in genuine love, and to find our greatness in becoming small, weak, and dependent on Your grace. Make us conscious, daily, that Christ serves us and that we are lavished with an immeasurable love that frees us to love others without fear.

May we, as a corporate people, reject the world's definition and embrace Yours, to the glory of Your name and the freedom of our souls.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

What Does Jesus Think Success Looks Like?

For the parent

This prompt invites your family to notice the difference between how the world measures success (money, power, popularity) and how Jesus does (humility, service, sacrifice). Listen for whether kids are drawn to worldly markers or beginning to see strength in weakness.

In today's sermon, we heard that the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest—like they were competing for first place. But Jesus said the greatest person is actually the one who serves everyone else, like a servant washing feet. If you had to pick one person you know—maybe someone at church, school, or in our neighborhood—who seems truly great by Jesus's definition, who would it be? What do they do that makes them great?

Works for ages 7+; younger children can listen and name people they know; older kids and teens can reflect on what genuine service looks like

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Greatness Through Humility

What definition of success have you been operating from—the world's or Christ's? How did the sermon surface that for you this week?
Where do we as a couple find ourselves competing for approval or afraid to show weakness with each other? How might embracing Christ's redefinition of greatness free us to serve one another more genuinely?
How can we pray for each other to grow in the kind of humble, eternal-minded greatness Jesus modeled—the willingness to serve and admit our need for Him?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Luke 22:26

But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.

Why this verse: This verse contains Jesus's direct redefinition of greatness—the sermon's central claim that true greatness flows through humility and service rather than dominance and self-promotion. It is the pivotal moment where Christ overturns the world's false standard of success and offers believers the pathway to freedom from the fear of man.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Providence Community Church

Lenexa, KS
Sundays · 10:00 AM
About us · What we believe

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# Providence Community Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [Where Two or Three Take Sin Seriously (Matthew 18:15-20, 2017-07-16)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2017/07/july-16-2017)
- [Sowing into Flesh or Spirit (Galatians 6:7-8, 2017-08-27)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2017/08/aug-27-2017)
- [The True Feast and the False (Luke 22:14-23, 2017-09-24)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2017/09/sept-24-2017)
- [Greatness Through Service (Luke 22:24-30, 2017-10-01)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2017/10/oct-1-2017)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

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