LIP-SERVICE TO THE LORD GOD

Jesus spoke to the multitude, often in parables — a comparison of one thing to another to get across His points.

Today, we shall focus on just one of His points; speaking to anybody who would hear, Jesus asked of those who believed in Him, “Why call you Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Was Jesus puzzled? I think not for He surely knew the answer; that He was certainly not Lord to those who called Him, ‘Lord.’

In the Greek world a ‘Lord’ is ‘Kyrios’ — “a person to whom one belongs,” or at a minimum, “a title of honor expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master” (Strong 2006).

In a feudal society, ‘Lord’ adequately expresses a master/servant relationship. A Lord is anything from nobility upwards to a sovereign. Generally, a ‘Lord’ is a landowner in a fiefdom wherein the workers are provided all the necessities of life in exchange for both men and women to serve their masters.

If the servants and masters are each satisfied with the arrangement, then that is a good thing. If not, then trouble ensues and often did.

In kingdoms, feudalism was the normative. Even in the colonies of America and the United States, the feudal state was slavery. Slaves were American ‘serfs’ who were to do things to honor their master, the noble landowner and to accomplish the master’s objectives.

Neither serfs nor slaves had the freedom to do as they pleased. Both knew the rules of the master and would do them without questioning the master. For peace to exist in the fiefdom or on the plantation, servants/slaves/serfs were expected to follow the rules, ultimately either obey or die, or at least be sold to a new master.

Jesus also said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Mat 6:24), wherein ‘mammon’ is whatever else it may be that you trust.

Jesus asked why they called Him, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but did not obey the things He says.

Recalling the meaning of ‘Lord,’ it is a master/servant relationship. Jesus is the Master and as Master, or Rabii, He would expect His servants to obey Him if they were truly His servants and Him their Lord.

Depending on the demeanor of masters and lords, punishment might range from selling the servant, capital punishment, all the way to killing the servant. One thing Masters hated was when servants lied to them! Jesus hated that as well, to the extent that He challenged those who claimed that He was their Lord but were not.

Jesus revealed to those who serve Him, all the good things they received from Him because He is a good Master (Mat 6:26-32). He provided all those things to those who call Him Master, but they still failed to obey Him.

Many were not truly servants. It was ‘lip service’ that they did. They were hypocrites! It was themselves they served, all the while, expecting good things from their Master.

Many parent/child relationships devolve to that condition; to the extent that the child becomes the master over their masters (parents). Too many good things are given to a prodigal child who offers nothing in return, expecting even his or her share of the estate, never improving the estate, nor serving the parents.

Jesus is Lord of God’s Estate and as God, He is ‘LORD GOD’ who made and improved the ‘Estate.’ Hence, the double use of the term, Lord.

God is ‘sovereign;’ as the developer and husbandman of the Estate, God has Supreme Power over His vast ‘Plantation.’ He indeed, He is ‘Lord Of All’ and ‘King Of Kings.’ However, when the Master appeared on Earth, it was not as nobility but as a Servant. Jesus, the Lord and King, was not too good to do what the servants would not do; to the extent that the ‘Son’ gave His Life to the LORD GOD, so that we need not do that.

Jesus was a valiant Servant. He gave His life so that those who should serve, but would not, need not die. All that the Son requested was goodwill toward Himself and the fellow servants. The Lord’s Estate was meant to be a Paradise on Earth, but that would not be! Sinners trying to save themselves are stealing the valor of Jesus.

The world is also the Estate of God, but there came a claimant to God’s property — Lucifer. Lucifer is an easy task master, or so it seems. All that he expects from his servants is lip-service to the real Master. The work on the Devil’s Plantation is easy; one need only to deny the real Lord and Master by failing to do His will. Not doing work is easy work and it is what most people do! Apathy is an easy taskmaster, and all that the Devil expects from you. On his land, you can be a sloth and still inherit a portion of the Estate, or so you may think.

What is missed is that on God’s Estate you are not measured by what work you do, but your willingness to please the Master. He is an easy taskmaster; having goodwill is enough for Him and that task is not burdensome! The work list (The Ten Commandments) are merely having  reverence for the Master, and things not to do.

Master Jesus knew that; He asked, “Why call Me Lord, Lord?” of course, knowing full-well that He was not the Lord of many who followed Him. Each of them had as much as emancipated themselves as if they had the power of the Master. As such, all the while claiming that Jesus is Lord, they were their own masters and lords.

Now for my incentive to write this Lord/servant scenario: This morning events made me anxious, and I sought God to remove my anxiety. I knelt at my chair and prayed for two things: (1) that my anxiety would go away, and (2) that for another person to obey the Will of God.

I ended my prayer to Jesus, saying, “Thank you, Lord.” Scripture zipped through my mind; “Why call you Me, ‘Lord, Lord?”

Jesus no longer speaks audibly but impresses His thoughts into our minds. He asked me the same question that He had the multitude. Was He truly my Lord or is that the ‘lip-service’ which Satan’s demons put into my mind. The Devil, knowing full-well that oftentimes I am my own Lord, that is enough to appease him.  

If the Lord is truly my ‘Lord,’ would I not obey Him with pleasure for the things that He has already done for me? I felt as if I was calling the Lord, ‘Lord’ all the while serving another master!

Some “know that they know that they know,” who can save them; yet they do not serve Jesus, all the while expecting salvation. Knowing that you are already saved is arrogant; it makes you the Master of your fate.

This very morning, I was humbled; Jesus asked me in my prayer why I called Him, ‘Lord,’ while not serving Him. I was caught red-faced!

Serving Jesus is more than lip-service, treating Him like a ‘genie’ who we can rub the right way and we get all that we desire. I was asking Jesus to serve me more, even while He was providing for me a very good life. I called on Jesus to do His work for me, all the while never taking much time to thank Him for the things that He has already done, nor even fully serving Him.

Ask yourselves, Christians, why you call Jesus, ‘Lord’ all the while really serving Satan. Grace is grace, but to expect grace while serving a different master is so very arrogant.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (Isa 4:10). Was I a good servant? Are you a good servant? Is not asking the Master for things when He is not your Master just lip-service that even devils can do?