“Service” (John 7:1-10)

The Habit 2
In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey describes seven habits that help people live effective and meaningful lives. The second habit is this: “Begin with the end in mind.” Covey invites us to stop and imagine our own funeral. Imagine the people closest to you – your family, your friends, your coworkers, and your church family – speaking about your life. What would you want them to say? What kind of person would you want them to remember?[1] At the end of the day, we may realize that what matters most is not simply what we accomplished, but who we became.

Bucket List
Have you seen the film The Bucket List? Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star in this movie. Both of them are diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. They decide to do everything on their bucket lists before they die. They go skydiving together. They drive a Shelby Mustang. They ride motorcycles on the Great Wall of China. They attend a lion safari in Africa, and so on. They do lots of fun and memorable things together. But eventually, the time comes. Despite all their adventures, death still comes. One dies during surgery, and the other dies at the age of 81 in the film. The story is entertaining. It may even help us face our fear of death. But in the end, it leaves us with a question, “Is this all?” And paradoxically, it brings us back to Covey’s principle: Begin with the end in mind. So how should we live today? What kind of life is worth living?

“My Time”
Our Lord Jesus always lived with the end in mind. When Jesus was at the wedding in Cana, his mother told him that the wind had run out. Jesus replied, “My time hasn’t come yet.” (John 2:4) Here “my time” points toward the climactic hour of Jesus’ mission – his death on the cross. Jesus knew that his life was moving toward that hour. In today’s passage, John 7, Jesus again says to his brothers, “My time hasn’t come yet.” (7:6) Later in John 12, Jesus says to his disciples, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Then he explains, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (12:23-24) Jesus deliberately begins the journey from Nazareth toward Jerusalem, where he will suffer and die. From the beginning to end, Jesus always lives with his mission in mind. And he remains faithful to that purpose. Begin with the end in mind.

Jesus Our Servant
We can summarize Jesus’ mission in one sentence, using his own words: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matt 20:28) For Jesus, the way up is the way down. When we hear the word, “incarnation” (God becoming flesh), we often imagine Baby Jesus lying peacefully in a manger. But the truth is, incarnation is costly and violent. For example, Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus, the Son of God, emptied himself, took the form of a slave, and died a criminal’s death on the cross.

Imagine being a free person, suddenly kidnapped, sold into slavery, beaten, abused. Or imagine being innocent, yet falsely accused of murder, thrown into prison, and executed on death row. That’s the reality of the incarnation, except that Jesus chose it willingly. All his divine privileges were taken away. His freedom was taken away. His joy was taken away. He emptied himself, came down to the lowest place, and became the servant of all.

Let me put it another way. When I ask my children to clean up their mess, they usually do it. But when I ask one of them to clean up a sibling’s mess, they protest, “Why should I? It’s not my fault!” This is an instinct. This is exactly how we always feel. But that’s not how a servant’s heart operates. The servants would say, “I know, this isn’t my fault. But someone has to take the hit. So I will do it. I will take the hit. I will pay the price.” That’s what Jesus did. He took the greatest hit for the sins of the world.

The heart of the gospel message is substitution – Jesus did it for us. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

Servant’s Heart
Christ’s love compels us. It changes our affections – what we desire and what we live for.

Many of you may know the story told in the book and film End of the Spear. In 1956, five young missionaries flew into the jungles of Ecuador to reach the Waorani people, a tribe known for violence and isolation. These men loved Jesus deeply. They believed Christ’s love was for everyone, even those who had never heard his name. After making several friendly contacts, they landed on a sandbar to meet the tribe. But the encounter ended tragically. All five men were speared to death. When the news reached the United States, it felt like a tragedy. A failure. Five young lives lost. Families broken. Children left without fathers. It seemed like their sacrifice had accomplished nothing. What a waste.

But the story did not end there. Instead of turning away in anger, the wives of these men chose to stay. Some even returned to live among the very people who had killed their husbands. The tribe chief later asked, “Why?” The wives answered, “Because Christ loved us first. We wanted to show you that there is a new way of life in Christ.” Over time, something remarkable happened. The killers became friends. As these missionary families laid down their lives, the people of the tribe began to lay down their violence. Many came to faith in Christ.

Five Minutes after We Die
In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren invites us to consider the day when we will stand before God and give an account of our lives. He highlights two important questions we might imagine God asking us: “What have you done with my Son Jesus Christ?” and “What did you do with what I gave you?”[2] What would be your answer? Are you ready to answer?

Five minutes after we die, we’ll know exactly what truly mattered and how we should have lived. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything.” And in verse 11 Solomon comes to a conclusion, “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.” Here the Teacher is saying, “There is a time for everything. So, seize the day! Redeem the day! Live for eternity that God has put in your heart!”

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matt 13:44). My prayer is that we too may discover this hidden treasure, and, in our joy, go all in, living with eternity in mind. Amen.

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[1] Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (Free Press, 2004), 97.

[2] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan, 2012) 37-38.