serve with joy

Matthew, chapter 20, verses from 20 to 28. Read the word of the Lord this morning like this: “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her children, prostrating herself before him and asking him for something. He said, "What do you want?" She told him, "Command that two of my sons sit in your kingdom, one on your right and the other on your left." Then Jesus answering said, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you know how to drink from the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? and they said, "We can." He told them, "Indeed you will drink of my cup and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but that for whom it is prepared by my Father." When the 10 heard this they were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus calling them said, "You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them and those who are great exercise authority over them, but among you it will not be so, but whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant and whoever wants to to be first among others will be your servant, as the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

God bless your word this morning. The context of this passage is the parable that begins in verse 1 and says that this farm owner hires some employees. And it's interesting that he hires them at different times of the day and offers them all the same pay. He hired one of them at dawn, before sunrise they are already working on the farm. He hired another at 9 in the morning. Others he hired at noon. And some in the afternoon and finally hired some at 5 pm and the Jewish work day ends at 6 pm.

So, at the end of the work day the foreman comes to pay the people for what they have worked. And he pays those who worked an hour the same as those who started in the afternoon, those who arrived at noon, those who arrived at 9 in the morning and those who have been there since before the sun rises. And that created a problem. How is it possible, from there our human nature enters, that some who have worked for many years, who have dedicated many years to the Lord, in the Lion of Judah congregation - we are going to bring it home now - feel the suspicion of those who arrived a year ago, they are serving and doing the things and work that those who came from Cambridge do, for example.

The message of Jesus and the question of this woman, Salome is the aunt of Jesus. John and James are cousins of Jesus, they are the people who have worked and been with Jesus from the beginning. They have known him since his youth, the aunt is Maria's sister, a certain authority, a certain power, a certain prestige, a certain connection, a certain relationship. A very good question, very bad intention.

We can have very good questions, even very well intentioned for completely wrong reasons. So, when they listen to the 10 that this mother prostrates herself and says to Jesus, she orders, she doesn't tell him, she sends the word of faith, she doesn't tell him, you think my children can be..., she doesn't tell him, I can you do a favor? She doesn't tell him, I've been praying that… She says, command. She tells Jesus, order. Because there is a relationship, there is a communication, there is a network, but in the service to the Lord of the Gospel the relationship is not useful nor is the network useful. It begins with a heart surrendered and ready to serve. And we don't like to serve, or do we like to serve?

How many here were born to be a bridge? Nobody. God wants us to be a bridge to take people on our backs to the other place. It is sad to hear in this parable, story, that they are asking for something of which they have not the slightest idea. Jesus asks them, in verse 22, he first tells them, “You don't know what you ask. Can you drink of the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

They did not think. They did not analyze, they did not process this question. Yes, we are ready to come by and have your drink and we are ready to be baptized with your baptism. Jesus is not talking about the cup of the sacrament, Jesus is not talking about the baptism he had with John, Jesus is talking about the eternal cup of suffering and fidelity. Are we ready to drink that drink to the end? Are we ready to be baptized in a baptism of suffering that does not recognize what we are going to do? Because the Gospel is not compared to the secular, they do not have to recognize us, we are called to serve. We are called to be crucified 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are called to tell the world, "I do not want your glory, I have come to serve, even if they do not recognize me, even if no one notices, I am here to serve in your kingdom, in whatever it is, with whatever you want." .”

One of the longest lasting secular salsa groups in the world is the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. I had the opportunity many years ago, when I was in my teens, to work part time for the Goya company in Puerto Rico and one of the supervisors played trumpet with the Gran Combo and we became friends. And I asked him, “How do you guys work that you have lasted so long because there has to be a secret?” and he told me, “Well, we operate as a cooperative, each musician and singer earns the same amount of money.” Oh! “There is no difference between a pianist, a conga player or the one who carries the instruments. We all earn the same, because we all do the same job. We are investing the money that is left over for a pension plan for this group.” An equality mindset. A service mindset. A delivery mindset.

You know what is interesting about Juan and Santiago, that they asked to be on the right and on the left, is that Santiago is the first of the 12 to die and Juan is the last of the 12 to die. How many here would like to be on the right? or the left of our Lord? Raise your hand. I want to see those hands of brave people. Do you know who had that privilege? The two thieves were one on the right and one on the left.

what do I want to say with that? that to be to the right and to the left of Jesus you have to be willing to be crucified. And that's a concept we don't like to talk about much. What is the motive or reason that directs and controls my intentions to work in the Kingdom of God as a pastor of León de Judá? It is a question for pastors. What motivates, what is the reason? That it is not only something abstract but also controls my intentions for me to work in the church that is part of the kingdom of León de Judá.

Am I thinking of being a pastor in León de Judá because it offers me the platform of being in the largest Hispanic church in New England and being able to get another church? It is a question that we pastors ask ourselves. Am I in this church so that people know that they are seeing the work that I do on the internet and where Roberto stops there I am also standing, and if they know him they also know me? Is that my reason for which I am working in the León de Judá congregation church? Is that the reason that leads me to work in the kingdom of heaven? Is that the way I am crucified together with Jesus Christ? It is for us pastors to think and ask ourselves that question.

Brother deacon, sister deacon, what is the reason, what is the reason why I want to be a deacon and work in the body of deacons? Why do I want you to know that I am part of that body that, together with the senior pastor, administers the church? What is the intention within my heart, the one that the pastor does not see, the one that does not see the church, the one that does not know the family, for which I come one Tuesday a month to sit at a table to discuss the business of the kingdom? What is it that motivates me, what is energy? Have I been called to serve or am I looking for fame and for people to know that I am a deacon or a deacon?

Teachers, and discipleship assistants who teach Sunday and Friday, who have classes, some people who are new to the church, who are in a process of learning and walking, what is the purpose, what is the reason behind of my heart, not in my mind, in my heart – as the scripture says, guard your heart above all else – what motivates me to come every Friday or every Sunday and teach my students the truths and principles of the kingdom? Do I do it so they know that I know a lot? Do I do it so they know that I have already passed the test? Do I do it so that they know how much I can teach, how much I can do, or do I do it thinking that those people that God has placed in my hands on Fridays and Sundays, God has placed in me because they are adults and if I affect adult people, they will affect their family, affecting their family they affect the children, affecting the children we affect the church, we affect the kingdom of heaven. Have you thought about that idea?

I have come to serve, even if they do not give me a certificate, although they never give my name to the church as a discipleship teacher, I have come this Friday to make sure that my students understand that the principle of the Gospel is to serve. I have come to be crucified, I have come to rise in glory with the Lord, to tell the world, if I can make my kind of discipleship stable, firm, even-tempered, imagine a church, a teacher determined to serve with a class determined to serve make a family determined to serve, make a church determined to serve, no matter what.

Pastor Gregory once asked me, “Isaías, how do you feel about working in this church? Because as I understand that how you worked secularly is strong.” I told him, “Gregory, think about this, think about a child coming to Disneyworld for the first time, how does that child feel? Glad. Cheerful. He can run all day in the parks, and I went through that, myself as a child. When I first went to Disneyworld Isaiah, the one in the middle, when he entered Disneyworld he ran over to Pluto and he grabbed Pluto's tongue and started licking the tongue. He was happy, he was happy, because he was where he wanted to be, doing what he wanted to do. So, I doing the work of the Lord, I am happy, because I have been called to serve.”

The other days someone asked me, “Pastor, how do you balance your ministry life, your secular life, and your family life?” easy, this is easy. Imagine that I leave work early, I start work at 5 in the morning, I get up at 3 in the morning, I leave at 1:30 in the afternoon, that is my daily routine. I continue to the gym because I have to get rid of that stress from the whole day, knowing... and many times when you go to the gym you turn off your cell phone, I am with the cell phone on with me, waiting for that call. The thing is that the call always comes after I have left the gym, that I am going home in my car thinking about what I am going to eat, I park my car, ring, ring, the cell phone. Someone is in the hospital.

I enter my house and I cannot eat. I'm going to the hospital. 8, 9, 10, 11 pm most days. I leave the hospital – remember I have to get up at 3 in the morning – I get home, I greet the family, I talk to whoever is awake, the one who didn't stay without seeing me, and I go to bed because I have to work at another day. And I'm not saying this out of bitterness, I'm saying this because I'm glad I said to the Lord, I'm going to drink from your cup. I want your baptism, until you come in glory or call me to eternity. I have come to serve.

One of the funny things about the Lord and my life, and I want to say this on behalf of this server, August 20, 2014 is a Wednesday, I come from home, I don't have to work, I come from home for the pastoral council meeting and On the way, it's about 9 in the morning, Gregory sends a text that he needs a pastor to accompany him because there is a sister who is in Boston Medical Center who is going to be with the Lord and they are going to disconnect him from the machines. So, I answer him, yes, Gregory, I'm going there.

I park my car, go to Boston Medical Center, I'm with Gregory and the big family, I served so much that it's the first time I sing, I sang in the hospital. Gregory ministered and I sang. It's easy to sing without music because you don't have to follow me. And I ministered, we were there about 3 to 4 hours. We left the hospital, we arrived at the church and I almost sat down in my chair, Gregory calls me, he has arrived at the hospital, someone is in intensive care and they need a pastor, but he couldn't because he had an appointment, so who was it? Isaiah.

So, I'm with this family in intensive care, August 20, until 3 in the afternoon. So, that day was from 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon with two cases. I get out of there, I come to the church, I say Gregory, "I'm going to go because I'm a little tired, I'm going home to rest." I'm on my way home and my sister from Florida calls me, and she says, “Are you home?” And I say, "No, I'm driving." "Oh, when you get home call me." "OK." I already knew something had happened. I'm thinking of her son, a relative, I don't know what. When I get home she calls me and tells me that our dad died and he died today, at the same time that I was ministering in the hospital, my dad is dying alone in the hospital.

I told the Lord, “I want that cup, I want that baptism, I want to be part of your kingdom. I want to serve you."

One of the problems we have is that we don't understand what we are doing. Awana teachers and assistants, what is the motive and reason why you come on those Fridays to work with children and be with them? I am here today because a Sunday school teacher spoke to me about the Gospel as a 6-year-old boy. Yes, I was born in a pastor's house, but my first class teacher, Noelia, 50 years ago, presented the plan of salvation in class. She worked with me. 50 years later I am part of that fruit.

Worship and music team, leaders, singers, musicians, what is the reason that is in my heart, what is the reason that is within me for me to come Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday, and I play in the house of the Mister? What generates in me, what motivates me to lead my congregation and prepare that environment and minister through that sung music, that lyrics, those instruments, whether you are a leader or you are a vocal that supports the cast, what does it do for me? motivate me?

If I have come this morning to sing to the Lord with a humble and service heart, I am here not waiting for the audience to accept me, I am here not expecting people to like me, I have come to minister and spiritually war against through music. I have come to take control of the kingdom, I have come to tell the demons, the principalities and the powers, "Now we are singing to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, I am a channel of blessing, I am a channel that goes to bring blessing to the church, which is going to tie the bonds, which is going to unleash the people, because I am part of a team.

The pastors, the deacons, the Awana teachers, the body of worship and music, the team that is working on the controls, on sound, on the cameras, on the video, on the internet, the ushers, the church, we are part of the same kingdom, we are the same body, we are called to serve, we are called to serve, we are called to drink from the cup until it is gone. But I don't let go of that cup, they won't take the cup away from me. Hallelujah!

Youth Ministry and its leaders, what motivates me to come and serve? what's in my heart And God knows that. You who are sitting and you are not in a position that they see you every day, God is watching you.

If we extend that and take it out of León de Judá, I am going to ask a question now, the theologian John Calvin taught what Peter said, that we are all ministers. So, my question is, do you know about the Gospel, some went to the [inaudible] of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Say it loudly, you went and enjoyed yourself. That Holy Spirit that descended with the shekinah in the most holy place in ancient times, the people marveled. When that cloud came down on the temple, people went to their knees because they knew that something was happening in that most holy place. This morning, if you have gone to the day of the Holy Spirit, if you already have it, you have received it, if it is an experience, you have been in the church for years, my question is, what motivates you when you go to your secular work? ? You cannot forget what you are. You are a servant in the kingdom of heaven, you are a servant in the kingdom of heaven, with Christ I am crucified together.

When we get to work and we have the cup, don't drop the cup, and your coworker who does less work than you gets the promotion you wanted, how do we get? We throw away the cup and want to grab a bat because what has been done is unfair. Do you know what is unfair? That Jesus Christ, who was blameless, was nailed for you and me to the cross of Calvary. That is unfair.

Some have said that something has happened in the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the last 30 years. People come to church looking for something. What is for me? But I ask you this morning, do you know what it means to be great in the kingdom of heaven? It is not how many people you serve, it is how many people you serve in the church, in your community, in your work. Don't be a fighter or a fighter in your work, be humble.

John and James believed that because they were close to Jesus they deserved to be on his right and on his left, but they forgot that to get there, the previous passage tells us that the last will be first and the first will be last, but everyone will receive the same pay Hallelujah!

If you are ahead of your brother in this race, don't brag that you are ahead, use that as experience and a catapult to catch your brother who may be down and pick him up. Help him and walk together in a form of service, of performance, that you tell the enemy, that you tell this meat, I am not important. My call is not a call to greatness, my call is me to be on my knees.

Lord, use me as you want to use me. Give me that cup, baptize me, humble me. I don't want to be big, I don't want to be important, I don't want to be famous. I want to be a servant in the cause of the kingdom, whatever it takes so that I am small and its glory continues to be great. Iglesia León de Judá we are in a very important position in the city of Boston, we are a strong tower, not because of the building, not because of our pastors, not because of the community, because God chose us before the foundation of the world to establish a church strong, a church that does not change, a church that does not sell, and that has a price.

Our neighbors keep changing their theology, we keep serving the Lord. We need God to take away that cunning that is not good. I want to contemplate the suffering and death of my life. Oh, I want to pay the price to see that cup. Oh I want to have that affinity that doesn't move to the end. And I want to tell the Lord when I see him in glory, Lord, you called me, Lord, you changed me and although many people did not see me, I did your work.

In 1982 in the city of Manhattan, New York, in the neighborhood, there is a church between 106 and 105, on Second Avenue, a Pentecostal church, and a lady about 60, 70 years old, who lived in the projects of the 101, First Avenue. Those who know know that these projects are very good. This almost 70-year-old lady never learned to read, never learned to write, perhaps that was a good blessing. She would get up on Saturday mornings, she would go through the doors of the project, she would stop at 2 in the afternoon in the little park, she would see the children coming from school and she would count them and go after them to find out. where the children lived

On Saturday I went home, hey, I'm Granma, I go to the church, Second Avenue. Can you give me your children for Sunday? A granny. She knew, Sunday morning, 70, 80 years old, she would come to church, bring her boys, they would go to Sunday school class. She helped with distributing the books, but she didn't know how to read or write, they had the books for her by level. And that to her was incredible. She had complied with bringing the children and once in the church she took the manuals and distributed them. And how cute it looks. Years go by, the church changes, and one Sunday they call her to a meeting and say, "Sister, we can't use you anymore because you don't speak English." A few months later the sister had a stroke. 30 days later he had a fit and went with the Lord.

Thank the Lord that image does not happen here. But if our mentality is to serve, that will never happen here. and I know the story because that was my grandmother on my mother's side. A woman who came to the Lord in 1948 converted, she is the one who brings the Gospel to my family. She converted with bone cancer, 1948, while in an evangelistic campaign serving as an usher, no one knew she had bone cancer, she was hopeless. The evangelist Roberto Fierro calls her by name, who wants to pray for her. God heals her, because she died in 1989, 41 years later, from a heart attack, not from cancer.

And I say this because this event we as a family did not allow that event to mark us. We did not make this event a burden for the church, nor did I create resentment because my grandmother had been mistreated, nor did I go to speak to other brothers and sisters about how my grandmother had been treated. I understood that it was part of the failure of our fallen humanity, and I understood that apart from that, I was called to serve, I had to see further, I had to see that there were people who needed, because those of us in leadership, listen to me well Those of us who are leaders in the church are leaders to serve, those we serve are not from us, we have to serve and we are not important, it is the people we are serving every day.

Jesus set the example, Jesus left what he had, his glory, his homage, his oven, to come to this earth and adore and serve humanity, to something fallen. God left everything. Leaders, people of the church, are you willing to leave everything? That when they call you with that call, you did not realize that they did not greet me, the Lord rebukes you. I went to church to serve, whether they greet me or not.

Why is my microphone lower? It does not matter! May they hear you in heaven even if they don't hear you in church, but may they hear you in heaven. Open that heart. That heart that is humble, that is a servant. Give no place to the devil. Rebuke the devil, because I am crucified, these comments cannot exist because they disunite.

I went through an experience many years ago, my supervisor in New York City did not speak English. Don't ask me what a supervisor is like because I don't know either. And it was in a hospital, cleaning, they tried to learn English but I know him, my boss, who started talking to me and he says, "Look, I don't know English, so speak to me in Spanish." "Okay no problem." Soon after he told me, "You have talent, if you help me I have asked to be promoted." He asked, if you help me. He didn't tell me, stab me in the back to take my place. He didn't tell me, learn so they can throw me out. He didn't tell me, speak up and tell Human Resources that I don't know how to speak English. He told me, if you help me, I'm going to talk so they can promote you.

We have come to serve. I helped and they promoted me because I understood that I was there to serve and to serve you don't need a microphone. You don't have to be in front of the cameras to serve. To serve, no one has to notice, your right hand does not know what your left hand is doing. Serve and enjoy. You don't have to ask Jesus where you want to be, let him put you where you are going to be. Let him put you in the place that he has already chosen. By the time we get to that day it won't happen like some baseball games. If you have a ticket to see a baseball game and the ticket has a seat, don't take the seat you didn't get because you will be moved. You bought for a seat.

When I go to the ball games there are times when the park is almost empty. There are many empty chairs. And sometimes people tell me, “but Isaías, let's…” “No, I don't like being moved. I paid for this seat and I don't have to worry about who is going to move me or who is not going to move me.” Because I'm happy with what I have. I am happy with what God has given me. I am pleased that I can serve the cause of whatever.

Are you prepared for that? to take that cup and that baptism that is to serve for us? That cup and baptism come even if you don't look for it. So, it's better to ask for it. Lord, prepare me so that I can serve. Prepare me for when I'm in those difficult times and I meet people who don't understand what it's like to serve you and I can be a channel of blessing. That I be a piece within the León de Judá team that helps the unit. We want to conquer, we want to do many things, but it all starts with being humble people and ready to serve.

In this team, which is the kingdom of heaven, there can be no selfishness, there can be no room for arrogance, you cannot think, we are going to be very big, what can I do that they can put me up so that people see me. You have to think, what can I do that nobody knows so that his kingdom continues to grow. What can I do so that I become small and his glory is known more and more and more and more. They don't have to know my name, they have to know the name of who I serve. They have to know to whom I have surrendered my life. I don't want glory. I don't want fame, I want to be there, be a little boy and tell this world that I am prepared to serve at all costs, even if it costs me my life.

I came this morning to enjoy myself but also to serve. Lord, use my life. Lord, use my heart. Lord, I place in your hands what you have given me. God has given you a position, place it in the hands of the Lord. God has made you a deacon or deacon, put it in the hands of the Lord. God has made you a shepherd, place it in the hands of the Lord. God gives you the opportunity to be able to sing in worship, put it in the hands of the Lord. Lord, my voice will serve you, my body will serve you.

You are a musician, I place in your hands what you have given me, because your service is not for my glory, it is for people to know that you are the great, you are the King of Kings, you are the Lord of Gentlemen, what I do is for you, it is not for me. I don't want glory, I don't want glory, the glory belongs to the Lord.

God has given me the power to be working with the cameras. I place it in the hands of the Lord. That those who are here may have a father (?), I am the minister of the chamber, receive the message of the Gospel. I am at the controls, in sound, or the internet, Lord, I do it so that your message comes through clearly and you play, not so that they see what I do, it is so that they see the King that I serve, who allows I do it, that he has called me for what I do, to serve him with whatever it is.

And at the end of the day if we are all on the same page, if we are all on our knees, from the shepherds to the little ones, if we are all on our knees, when we are all on our knees, we can see the one who is standing and sitting on the throne holy, one, our King and Lord.

Let's stand up. The Holy Spirit that we have that governs, that directs what we do, that supports what we do, unites us, has been given to us so that the talents and gifts that he brings may be put at the service of the church. My knowledge, my career, my studies, my experiences, this morning bring them to the feet of the Master.

Tell him, Lord, use me, everything that I am I put before your feet because without you I am earth and dust but with you I have the right to heaven, I have the right to eternity. With you I am the majority, I am humble. Let us pray this morning. Dear God and Heavenly Father, I present to you your church from the pastoral leadership to the smallest, Lord, the different leaders, teachers, helpers, deacons, ushers, those who work in the parking lot, those who work in construction, those who clean, Father, every piece that makes up the Lion of Judah Congregation, this morning we humble ourselves before you and recognize that what we have, what you have given us, where you have placed us is for you to use us, it is not for I show off, Father, it is so that you use me, so that you crucify me, so that you baptize me with a baptism of suffering that I never forget where I come from and where you have brought me, that I never forget that if you You do not die on the cross of Calvary, I would still be lost in my sins, I would be dust and earth. But Lord, what I tell you, I put in your hand so that you use it, make me small so that you become great, Father.

We place ourselves in your hands, Lord Jesus. direct us. Oh, Father, lead us. Touch our hearts. Father, touch our hearts and may we be willing to hold onto that cup until the end of our days, may we not leave you alone. Lord, may we not leave you alone. In the midst of criticism, in the midst of those who do not understand us, in the midst of those who point at us, in the midst of those who speak, Lord, we are going to hold on to your cup and we are going to drink it all. And we are left with your baptism of suffering and joy so that at the end of time your kingdom, not my name, not my race, not my ethnicity, not where I come from, your supreme kingdom will be known to the nations. Let people know that your name still has power, that your name every knee bows because we human beings have bowed and humbled before your presence, Father.

I ask you, Lord Jesus, in your name, amen. Remember this morning when you leave here, don't ask yourself how many people you serve, ask yourself how many people you serve.