Bill Johnson - Sons and Servants
For years, we’ve been praying for people, all of us together, praying for the Father’s blessing. In fact, I was just with John Arnott this week. And, of course, he was here a month ago. And the Toronto Blessing, the Toronto outpouring, it was titled «The Toronto Blessing» by newspapers. And when John found people calling it the Toronto blessing, he retitled it «The Father’s Blessing». As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t about Toronto and it wasn’t about their church. It was about what the Father was doing to reestablish identity in people. And that really is the heart of the Lord. Jesus came to reveal the Father. And, now, think quickly here. Jesus came with an assignment. His primary assignment was to reveal the Father. Why? Because it’s a planet of orphans.
And our whole sense of identity and purpose is regained in the Revelation of God as our Father. Not abusive, not distant, but incredibly interested in all the issues and affairs of life. And so, this Revelation that Jesus brought to earth is to shift and to change the way we perceive life, the way we perceive ourselves, etc. So, oftentimes, we will pray for a Father’s blessing over people. And it’s common for us, when we pray, to pray for that sense of identity, the whole sense of purpose, and destiny. But I’ve been adding a fourth one for a number of years now. And I finally found a verse for it, so I feel pretty happy.
I remember when my kids were small. I’d go into their rooms while they were sleeping at night and prophesy over them, lay hands on them, and I just prayed constantly. I said: «God, give them a heart to know you. Give them a heart to know you». It’s just a prayer. And, I know it’s the will of God 'cause it’s just the heart of God, for everyone. But I didn’t have a chapter and verse for it. And I remember one day I reading through Jeremiah and I and in that chapter, the Lord said, «And I will give them a heart to know me», I got so happy 'cause I just realized it’s a biblical prayer. It’s legal! I get to pray this.
And, so, I began to pray it more fervently, knowing that I had scripture behind me to pray that my entire family would have a heart to know God. Well, I’ve been praying for people for this Father’s blessing for a lot of years. And I pray: God, establish identity, true identity, in you, the kind that liberates, the kind that frees, the kind that empowers. Identity. But, also, let 'em see their purpose, why they’re on the planet. There’s no one in this room, if you saw who God made you to be, would ever want to be anyone else.
This thing of purpose is so rich and so profound, for every individual. There’s no second-class citizens in the kingdom. Everyone gets to be involved in the purposes of God in the earth. And your whole sense of identity and that which makes you come alive comes alive as you, as we discover the purposes of God. The third one, that thing of destiny. This isn’t it. Eternity is where we’re headed. And living for that is wisdom. We get to enjoy this life. I’m thankful for all the blessing of the Lord, the favor, the friends, all of that. But it is about eternity. And to lose sight of that is to really make a huge mistake. But there’s a fourth area that I’ve been praying for years that I finally see is biblical. And it encouraged me greatly.
I’ve also been praying, as I pray for people, for the Father’s blessing that God would give them an awareness of unlimited resources. Why? Because that’s how Jesus lived. You can see it in his life. There is no lack. They need money for taxes? He gives the disciples instruction to go fishing. They find the gold coin in the fish’s mouth. The point is they’re out of food, they have a multitude to feed. Jesus multiplies the food. Why? Because he’s connected to a world that has absolutely no lack. But, also, not just no lack: it’s a world of extreme abundance. That is the world you’re connected to.
I want you to look at this passage in John 13 again. Verse 3: «Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments». Jesus was conscious of two things before he put the towel over his arm and washed feet. He was aware, number one, he had access to unlimited resources: the Father had given it’s more than a point of theology. Jesus lived conscious of unlimited resources. It includes money, but I’m actually not even talking about money. That’s a part of the world that is, it’s so much bigger than that. He lived aware of two things. Number one: unlimited resources. As a son, he had access to the Father’s kingdom. And he says the Father had interestingly, John 16, Jesus says: all things, all that the Father has is mine. And I’m giving you all things.
So, Jesus actually took the all things he got from the Father and he gave it to you. So, technically, you and I have access to unlimited resources. Now, it starts as a truth that gets believed that we begin to burn for. And when we begin to burn for it, we start living in that place of accessing what we have legal right to. But the purpose of the unlimited resources is not for building personal kingdoms. And this is where the problem starts for us. James and John were interested in personal kingdom. The orphan heart can serve. But the orphan heart serves to gain identity as pleasing God. A son makes the best servant because he’s serving from identity. The son serves from a place of identity, in the household of God, knowing everything the Father has is at his disposal, in order to serve well.
The whole purpose of serving for a son is different than the serving of a servant. The son serves with hope. Because he can see the future. The son serves 'cause there’s building something, preparing something for the purposes of God, in the earth, seeing that God has intentions, purposes, and plans that are yet unfolding. And a son has that in heart, has that in mind, in serving. Obviously, when they use the word «Son,» I’m referring to sons and daughters. When I talk about Father’s blessing in a home, I’m referring to fathers it’s not gender-specific. But here’s something that took place in Jesus' life that he modeled: as a man dependent on God, when he saw that he had unlimited resources and he saw, he was conscious, that he came from the Father, he was going back, in other words, the identity as the Son of God, when those two things were in place, he put a towel over his arm.
I can tell people don’t quite get it yet. Because they’re fighting for honor. When you fight for honor, you can call it justice. We empower evil all the time, heart issues, by giving it virtuous names. A real good one for jealousy, if you’ve not tried it, just call it «Discernment» and you’ll look real good. Whenever you give a virtuous name over an issue of the heart, you actually empower that thing to remain. It’s the honesty before God, actually, the power to leave a sin habit is given with absolute honesty to confess. In the confession is the power to forsake. But when I call it something other than what it is, I’m actually toying with God, as though I could justify my own issues of the heart.
And there are many who work hard for self-promotion, they call it «Justice», because they’re going off of what the Bible says about their promotion. And they fight for self-promotion. But it’s actually an orphan’s heart, an orphan’s heart fighting for recognition because they’re due that recognition. It’s justice. Whatever you gain through self-promotion, you have to keep alive through self-promotion. It’s a lot of work. It’s exhausting. But whatever you gain through his promotion, he sustains. And so, the real issue here, in serving, is sons, daughters versus orphans.
And I would guess that probably every one of us in this room, this is an issue all of us have dealt with and probably will continue to deal with, as the Lord is working to build «Sonship» in us, that authentic sense of identity with the Father that is more generous than we have brain cells to comprehend. His heart for you, if you’re interested, you know, if it matters to you, it matters to him. His personal involvement in the details of life is beyond comprehension. Joyfully so, he delights in involving in the day-to-day. It’s not yet entered our mind what kind of Father he is. And yet, this Father is longing for you and me to see what he’s like, and, in that countenance, to see our place. Because we’ll never leave impressed with ourselves, but we’ll leave with extreme 'cause, listen, you have access to unlimited resources. If you knew it, you wouldn’t come making a demand.
Imagine this: this passage in 3 John, 3 John 2, passage that we quote often, that you would prosper, that’s economic, and be in good health, that’s obvious: physical health, prosper, be in good health, even as your soul prospers. If you had a billion dollars in your bank account, would you walk by someone with a hundred-dollar need and not help them? I would hope not. If you would, you need to reevaluate your relationship with the Lord. It’s not yet occurred to us what we have access to. So, imagine this: what would it be like if you had a prosperous soul, that’s mental and emotional strength, you had a prosperous soul that was equal in the spirit realm, equal to Bill Gates' finances in the natural? Poor guy had to quit work. Spends his whole life just figuring out how to give his money away.
What kind of services would we have as we gathered together, week after week, if people just had too much? See, I think it’s what Paul was talking about when he said: every one of you, when you come together, come with a song, come with a scripture. Come with something to give to somebody else. Why? 'cause you got too much. You got too much. The whole concept, we’re coming together to be fed? I believe in feeding from the word. We need that as God’s heart for us. But there’s some times our spiritual immaturity is promoted as spiritual maturity. Sometimes, our taking our knives and forks on the table, saying, «Feed us, Jesus»! Just shows us that we’re the 8-year-old with a plastic badge, thinking that we’re actually somewhat somebody.
When he says, «Listen, you have access to unlimited resources,» if you knew it, you wouldn’t come making a demand. You’d come looking to serve. When Jesus saw who he was, and when Jesus saw what he had to give, the first thing he did was to go to the bottom and to wash feet. I know when I’ve met someone who has discovered who he because they’re not looking for recognition or promotion. They’re not asking to sit at the right hand and the left. They’re lookin' for a some serve because they need identity. They serve and they serve well. But, you know, sometimes, this, erwgh. We’re gonna get a little off-subject here, but orphans make great leaders. Because they like to be in charge. They like to be in control. Leading as a son is different than leading as an orphan.
Sometimes when you lead as a son, well, here’s the deal: you rule with the heart of a servant and you serve with the heart of a king. You rule with the heart of a servant because you know what you have access to is for the benefit of others. And you serve with the heart of a king, which means: I’ve been placed into people’s lives, as royalty. But because I’m there to serve, it’s gonna make it easier for them to receive what I have that can empower them and release them into their destiny. See, when you serve with the heart of a king, you’re looking for the royalty they don’t see in themselves. Kris, the whole prophetic culture that’s been developed here is really based on this simple concept in looking for the gold in people, calling it to the surface. This is what sons do. This is what daughters do. They’re not interested in building a system whereby they receive the accolades, they receive the attention, they receive the glory. Instead, they realize: I have access to everything, everything, everything that could ever be needed by any person around me.
Now, here’s the challenge: there’s a difference between what’s in my account and what’s in my possession. And the entire Christian life is learning how to take hold of what God has put in our account and bring it into our possession so that, as we lay hands on this person, as we prophesy, as we serve in this situation, that something actually happens to Jesus, being aware that all things had been given to him, and that he had come from the Father and he was about to go back, took a towel, if I could put it this way: he was conscious of the Father’s favor, conscious of the Father’s blessing, and the evidence of that was profound service.
It’s stunning to me how the disciples got completely recalibrated in this one act. Because, up until this point, they thought everything was around this king being served. And he broke all protocol. He broke all awareness they had of how you treat royalty and how you treat leaders. There’s still the revering, there’s still the respect, there’s still the worship. But the most humbling thing they probably ever experienced was to let the one they were born to serve actually and you and I have this incredible privilege of introducing people to the authentic gospel. And it’s not by locking horns with them. It’s not by correcting their lifestyle.
I believe there’s a role for confrontation, all this sort of stuff, so, don’t mishear me. But so much of what’s tried in reaching out to people and touching the world just drives people farther away from the servant king who came to wash feet. I think anything that we offer him, the simplest act, giving money to help somebody, helping somebody move, you know, so it’s whatever it is: it’s just the stuff that we do as people, but anytime we do it as unto the Lord, it attracts his presence. Because fire always falls on sacrifice. And we have this incredible privilege of filling our city with servants. You see, the world has seen servants, but they don’t know about royal servants. And they don’t know about servants who are driven by hope. They know nothing about servants driven by hope. Because they can see what God purposes in the earth and they’re sowing into that which God has purposed. Well, I think that’s about it.
Why don’t you stand? I wanna pray over all of us. In some ways, it’s kinda, it’s almost ironic to talk to you about serving 'cause you serve so good. Here’s what I want: I wanna see the body serve as sons and daughters, not as orphans looking for something to affirm themself with. And I feel like the Lord is helping us with that. He’s helping to identity those places in the heart that are so prone to self-promotion and all the stuff, all the stuff that we give virtuous names to. And I don’t, you know, you never look at somebody who’s caught up in a orphan’s heart, blame them or tell them to repent or whatever. I mean, it’s not about that. It’s just simply about them realizing who Jesus says they are. And no one who sees that ever has a problem serving.
So, Father, let there be a whole new understanding. In fact, here’s what I pray: I ask, Lord, that you would cause there to be divine encounters: even in the night, as people sleep, you would draw near to us, you would instruct us, in the night: you would arrange unusual encounters during the day, things that just reaffirm who you say we are: and that we could see clearly who you are, and that our place is in you: and that all things that are at our disposal, that you didn’t make a mistake when you said all things were at our disposal. Because you meant for us to serve so well, so effectively, empower to many people into their purpose, into their identity. So, I pray for that. I pray that it would be a contagious thing across our city, that our city would have an awareness of being a city loved by a Father, a perfect Father, a Father who delights in us. I ask for this, in Jesus' name.