John K. Jenkins Sr - Signs of a Significant Saint

Open your Bibles to Luke chapter 22. Say "I got it" if you have it; say "I'm slow and I'm still looking" if you haven 't found it. I want to begin reading at verse 24 : Luke chapter 22, beginning at verse 24. Now there was also a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the one who serves. But you are those who have continued with me in my trials, and I bestow upon you a kingdom just as my Father bestowed one upon me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail ; and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren." Wow! Amen. I want to talk about the signs of a significant saint. Ask your neighbor, "Are you a significant saint?" Did you get an answer? All right, you can be seated.

In this 22nd chapter of Luke, Jesus is preparing Himself and His disciples for His death and crucifixion. They have the Last Supper, and in the midst of this last meal, a debate erupts among the disciples . Here 's the debate: the Bible says they are arguing among themselves about who is the greatest . Can you imagine? Here Jesus is about to die, and they are having a discussion. Matter of fact, it's more than a discussion because verse 24 says it's a dispute among them; they were arguing about which one of them was the greatest. And here's what the real question is: Who 's going to take over the church after Pastor Jesus is gone ? Who 's going to lead the ministry after Jesus has passed off the scene? They are having this discussion among themselves in this debate, and I guess we ought not be surprised because there's a lot of that kind of discussion that goes on even in church today about who's the best, who's the greatest, who's the best singer, who's the best preacher, which choir is the best , who prays the best , who looks the best, who dresses the best. The church is filled with power and position discussions . Envy, jealousy , malice, hatred , and deceit are rampant in the church; it's ramped up. It's rampant because people want to be significant; people want to be important.

Go on and preach, Pastor! The truth be told, many of us have neglected our families , our homes, and our health as we chased after significance. We will abuse ourselves, pierce ourselves, cut ourselves up, and tattoo ourselves so we can be considered significant to other people. Go on and preach, Pastor! I think I will. I have to acknowledge that I have violated myself; I have violated the principles of neglecting my wife and my family as I ran after trying to get connected to and known by significant people , trying to be and wanting to be significant. But I thank God that even though I messed up, we serve a God who gave me another chance. Somebody say "Amen"! Thank God for another chance!

These disciples hanging around Jesus are having this shocking discussion . To me, it is amazing that they're talking about it , and Jesus responds to them in this section of Scripture that I want to talk about today. Matter of fact, He starts off-and this is not the gist of my message today-I'm going to skip over verses 25, 26, and 27, but can I just mention them for a moment ? Can I just mention verses 25, 26, and 27 for just a minute? I wonder if you all would just let me talk about it even though it's not the main point I want to focus on. I just want to say something about what Jesus said in response to their discussion. They 're arguing about who's the greatest, and Jesus says, "Let me tell you, greatness is not measured by who is served but by who is the servant." Yeah, I didn't think you all would get that too well. I knew it would be a little tough for that to digest because in church today, people don't like to serve; they want to be served. Yeah, we don't mind being served. We want the ushers to find a seat for us; we want the parking lot ministry to help us get our car parked and find a parking space. We want the choir to be on top of it; we want them to be jumping; we want the pastor to preach. But we're not willing to serve. See, we want to come in and get the benefits of service, but we're not willing to put anything back into the service.

Go on and preach, Pastor Jenkins! I just thought I would throw that out for free . You all ought to take some time to celebrate and thank God for the people in this church who serve to help make your experience significant. You ought to thank the ushers sometimes instead of giving them so much drama; you ought to say thank you .