Dylan Was Right
In my book Bob Dylan is a master poet/songwriter; maybe the best of our era. Recently, Claudia and I attended a wedding where the father of the groom, who officiated the thing, used the lyrics from Forever Young as part of his message. It fit the couple perfectly and it rivaled the stunning vistas of a high lake and mountain backdrop for the wedding. (Stevie...you done good). Dylan fits in many settings, even a wedding.
During a later phase of his career, Dylan wrote a song called Gotta Serve Somebody. It's on the Slow Train Coming album. In this song the seven verses cover the landscape of most kinds of folks in the world. (the lyrics are easy to find with a search). The chorus shouts a powerful and simple truth about any and every kind of person.
But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re going to have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re going to have to serve somebody
In an age where personal freedom and absolute independence from any authority seems to rule every discussion, this radical thought might look like a throwback to less enlightened times. But I think ol' Bob has it right. You and I are built to serve, to be under authority, to have a master to follow. This just might be how we are engineered.
Last week's post was about slaves being emancipated and who buried the symbols of their slavery in a deep grave. I likened that event to our emancipation from sin and death because of the person and works of Jesus. We referenced Galatians 5:1-14 where Paul reminds readers of their freedom in Christ and the call to use the freedom in loving service to one another, all under the mastery and example of our Lord (read: Master) Jesus.
If you look over the letters within the new testament, you will often read folks refer to themselves as "bondservants" or "bondslaves" of Jesus, which is not a term used these days but one which many of you have heard about. This looks back to the beginnings of Jewish scriptures (Exodus and Deuteronomy) where an indentured servant who finished his term chooses to willingly stay with his master. Listen to Exodus 21:5-6
If the servant declares, "I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free," then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
This happened when the love of the master outstripped the desire for personal freedom. Throughout the new testament, the term "bondservant" is applied metaphorically to someone who has flourished following Jesus and has chosen to fully live under his authority. Since Dylan looks right and we gotta serve somebody, our best option for here and for all time is Jesus. Let's think about the implications
He proves to be a kind and loving master who showed us what service looks like by first serving us
Followers renounce any other master...even if that commitment needs repeating daily
Bondservants check in often to see what the master might desire and bend their will to his
There is no drudgery in being a bondservant of Jesus, since his "burden is light"
As followers follow, they reap the benefit of living more and more like Jesus, loving and serving others toward their best end
To live as a bondservant is the route to true freedom
This last one reads as a paradox, and often God's ways look just like that. Think about it: To be first, be last. To live, you must die. To find your life, you must lose it. To become strong, you must first become weak. Whew! Makes my little brain hurt.
Becoming a bondslave of God also sounds paradoxical: To be truly free, you must become bound. To gain the greatest liberty in God and in life, one must give up all rights and become servants of the Lord Jesus. The highest form of freedom and liberty is found as we willingly give up our rights and personal freedoms. This is a voluntary surrender and submission born out of love and affection and runs in tandem with our adoption as God's children.
When talking about being a bondservant, Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest put it this way:
This calls for the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but he cannot push me through it. It means breaking through the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus.
Now, that's a stout call for any believer. And it stands as a daily challenge to overwhelm our desires by asking Jesus what he would have us to do, what we know is right to do. Even as I write these lines it sounds so foreign in our day and culture where I am all too often like the toddler throwing a tantrum in the market aisle when I don't get my way. But as we read and seek to apply truth, this is the route we are to travel.
This week, let us encourage ourselves and one another toward a recommitment as a bondservant to a good and true master. We will not be discouraged or left abandoned if we pledge our allegiance to him, even if we must take down our own flag of independence...every dang day. Let's go!
How about music for a bit...
and a couple of bad jokes...
A salesman dropped in to see a business customer. Not a soul was in the office except a big dog emptying wastebaskets. The salesman stared at the animal, wondering if his imagination could be playing tricks on him.
The dog looked up and said, "Don't be surprised. This is just part of my job."
"Incredible!" exclaimed the man. "I can't believe it! Does your boss know what a prize he has in you? An animal that can talk!"
"No, no," pleaded the dog. "Please don't! If that man finds out I can talk, he'll have me answering the phone too!"
A guy bought his wife a beautiful diamond ring for her birthday.
A friend of his said, "I thought she wanted one of those jazzy 4-Wheel drive vehicles."
"She did," he replied. "But where in the world was I going to find a fake jeep!!"