CONFESSION
I was running around the house the other day, cleaning up, and taking care of the kids, and doing stuff for Gracie. Gracie called out a request for something as I was hurrying to do something else. I felt kind of irritated at the request, not because it was unnecessary, but because I felt like I was already going full speed and not keeping up, and here was one more thing to do.
That is by way of confession. I was disgusted by the attitude, (reminding myself that she is on husband-enforced bedrest due to her carrying my little boy inside her) and as I was dealing with it, the parable of the unprofitable servant came to mind:
CHRIST’S PARABLE ABOUT A SERVANT
Luk 17:7-10 "But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? (8) And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? (9) Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. (10) So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."
And then I was reminded of our challenge to understand what it means to love our wives as Christ loved the Church. So I decided to look a little more at Christ as the servant of the Church and think about serving Gracie "profitably" while she is on bedrest (and beyond). I know it will be impossible without His grace and help, so maybe we should add praying for each other as we understand more how we are falling short of the Mark.
OLD TESTAMENT ILLUSTRATIONS
I looked first in the Old Testament, and thought about Christ as King. Deuteronomy 17.14-20 talks about the type of king the children of Israel should hope for. He is obviously not about gaining riches and stuff for himself. He is about learning and doing the law of God, and "his heart be not lifted up above his brethren":
Deu 17:14-20 "When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; (15) Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. (16) But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. (17) Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. (18) And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: (19) And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: (20) That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel."
Then I looked at the kind of king they actually got in Saul and the subsequent kings in 1 Samuel 8.10-18. This is not the type of "king" or head that I want Gracie to regret having!:
1Sa 8:10-18 "And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. (11) And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. (12) And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. (13) And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. (14) And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. (15) And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. (16) And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. (17) He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. (18) And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day."
CHRIST’S LIFE AND TEACHING
I looked at several passages about Christ coming to serve, and commanding his disciples to be like him in that area:
Joh 13:4-16 "He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. (5) After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. (6) Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? (7) Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. (8) Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. (9) Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. (10) Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. (11) For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. (12) So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? (13) Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. (14) If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. (15) For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. (16) Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him."
Luk 22:25-27 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. (26) But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. (27) For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth."
Mat 20:25-28 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. (26) But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; (27) And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: (28) Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
PAUL’S LIFE AND TEACHING
In 1 Corinthians 8-10 Paul is teaching about how we are to make decisions in light of the knowledge that we have. He gives several examples to illustrate the point that we are to apply truth always coupled with charity. Knowledge without love puffs up, but knowledge with love leads to wise, God-honoring, Kingdom-aligned decisions. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9.19 is in the middle of explaining that his "knowledge" was that he could have taken remuneration from the Corinthians for his labors among them in the Gospel. But, when he coupled that knowledge with love he realized that to some, his demanding their goods could have driven them from the Gospel, so: 1Co 9:19 "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more."
In Philippians 2.3-8, Paul is encouraging the Christians at Philippi to be in one accord, of one mind, in lowliness esteeming one another. Here he uses Christ as our example:
Php 2:3-8 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (4) Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. (5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
PROJECT
So my project from all this is to cultivate loving my wife by being her (and Christ's) profitable servant. I really will need prayer, because I have been really viewing myself as her head, or lord in the earthly sense...having command and taking pre-eminence...instead of allowing my Head to lead me in what it means to be the head of my family, which obviously looks more like being a servant at the nitty-gritty, moment by moment level than it looks like being a king.
NEXT ACTIONS
A couple of next actions are to continue to meditate on these verses, asking God to open the eyes of my understanding, and to strengthen me with might in my inner man by faith. Also, Gracie and I are going through Acts, and I will be on the lookout for how this reality of servant hood worked itself out practically under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the early church.
