The heart of a servant

We've been thinking about ministry.
And the fact that we all have one.
We just need to be open to the nudges of the Holy Spirit in order to determine what it our ministry is!
We noted in the Bible that we are told each of us is given spiritual gifts that will help us minister to others.
Are there other requirements?
Do we need to go to seminary?
Nope.
Do we need to stay up in the wee hours, poring over books of theology?
Nope.
Oh, I guess we need to learn Hebrew and Greek, right?
Nope.
Those thing may be helpful in some ministries. But they are not The Main Thing.
The main requirement for being involved in ministry is that our hearts are right before God. I hope that you have re-read the two chapters in Nehemiah that we are studying. We are going to focus on two passages this week: Nehemiah 12:27-43 and then 12:44-47.

Now, one thing that we didn't do last week was to look at the word minister. You know, the way I usually post what the dictionary says, or the etymology of the word?
OK, let's do it!
A minister is a servant - that is what the word means in Greek.  "Diakonov" (the scholars tell us) probably came from an obsolete word "diako" which means to run errands. So diakonov is one who executes the commands of another, especially used of a servant, attendant, or minister.

And more importantly than the words of the scholars, let's look at the words of our Savior:

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant," (Mark 10:42-43)

And again in Matthew:

 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

Isn't Jesus telling us that the heart of a minister (which we have said we ALL are) is the heart of a servant? I believe so! Well, how do we achieve this? How do we have the heart of a servant?

The first step is to have a pure heart. Let's check out our chapter:

When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall. (v. 30)

This came before the dedication of the wall.
Before the worship.
Before the celebration.
Before the party.
The rituals of cleansing and purification in the Old Testament symbolize the fact that our hearts are sinful -- and our God is absolutely holy. If we are going to serve Him (and others) we must first be cleansed form all known sins in thought, word, and deed.  Our hearts and our hands must be clean:

Watch over your heart with all diligence,For from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)

Create in me a clean heart, O God,And renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

The intricate rituals of the Old Testament were put away once the sacrifice had been made of the Lamb of God. He rose from the dead and the Spirit now lives in us. This is what the prophets spoke of:

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.  (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Jeremiah 31:33)

Way too often, we see scandals and hear of them -- involving people who are supposed to be examples of believers. Elders, pastors, deacons and more are charged with crimes that make a mockery of their testimonies. Even if they are not guilty of chargeable offenses, they often show the sins of arrogance, impatience, intolerance, and hatred. When this kind of hypocrisy is exposed, the whole unbelieving world mocks the name of Christ.

All of us struggle against temptations. We are all vulnerable to fall when tempted. We need to daily guard against temptation in order to walk in victory and not walk in sin.

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. (James 1:14)

How can a young man keep his way pure?By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You;Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart,That I may not sin against You. (Psalm 119:9-11)

Do we claim to be Christians? Then we must humble ourselves before our Father God. We must repent of our sins, and make strategies to protect ourselves from falling again.

 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14)

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (I Corinthians 10:12-13)

To be servants, let's first make certain that we have pure hearts.

Friday slowdown

We are all called to minister in many different ways. These are difficult days, but we can reach out to others in love and show them God's grace. Tell them that He lives! He is coming again!

Less praise, more people

Wondering what I meant up there in the title? (Grin)
I know, I know, sometimes I don't speak as clearly as I'd like to think . . .
I mean that today we will discuss two things -- being willing to minister without a lot of fanfare and pats on our heads, and secondly, being willing to focus on people instead of on programs.
Ready?

The long list of names in Nehemiah 11 doesn't mean a whole lot to us in 2020. We don't read the names and have a spark of  "I remember him!" Some people aren't even listed by name - they are just lumped together with their kinfolk in a group. For example, in verse fourteen, Zabdiel is named, but over one hundred of his kinsmen are not named. It just says that they were valiant warriors. But over one hundred warriors were a big part of keeping Jerusalem safe and secure!
That's what I meant: less praise. We need to be willing to perform the task and work at the ministry that God has given to us, without needing fame or fanfare.
Oh, I know that we all do it. When the pastor is thanking everyone who contributed or worked to pull off the successful missions fundraiser, he is really asking for it. Ya know? He says that sister Beatrice provided her skills as a baker, and sister Hepzibah was so awesome to put together the graphics and the posters . . . just let him forget for a moment that sister Theodora collaborated on both the cakes and the colorful flyers, and you will see Theodora in a real swivet!
We listen for our name to be said in the list of "you done good" that someone gives out. Yep, we do. But what we really need to be willing to do is do our tasks and forget to listen. Don't worry about anyone saying "you done good" or "thank you."
Here is why: the kingdom of God needs people who work hard and don't care about the pats and acclaim. Kinda like our vital organs in our bodies.....we don't see them, but if one of them quits working, we are in BIG trouble! (Grin)
It's our motives that matter. If we are serving in the kingdom to try to gain recognition and esteem among other believers, we are doing it for the WRONG reason! We are dangerously close to falling prey to the sin of pride, and then to the sin of anger when others don't give us the praise that we want to hear. We will do well to remember the words of Jesus:

 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." (Matthew 6:1-4, NIV)

You see, God notices our work. He notices our efforts even if no one else does. How do I know that? Well, in this chapter, God decided it was important to record some names that really don't mean much to us. But they meant something to God -- and that is what matters. Here's another reason that I know that:

For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. (Hebrews 6:10)

The second thing we'll look at today is that ministry involves people more than programs. Again, these long lists of names reveal the importance of individual people to God. Each one of these names, though we may think they sound strange (and we may have trouble pronouncing some of them!), represents one person whom God knew very well and loved. That's why Jesus told us:

To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (John 10:3)

Our faith is all about personal relationships, no? First with our Father God, and then with one another, just as Jesus told the crowd in Matthew 22 (the two great commandments). You see, so many churches get hung up on their programs. They're the be-all, end-all; gotta get with the program! But programs are just a channel -- a way for us to show compassion and love for people. In fact, if a program isn't doing that, we might as well stop it right here and now!
What's important is relating to people and acquainting them with God. When we are at church meetings, we need to meet new people, members and visitors alike. If they are new there, make them feel welcome and introduce them to others. If they are members, make them glad they came! We can't do this with everyone, but if the Spirit nudges us, suggest a time to get together for coffee or invite them to a small group meeting. We can share our testimony and ask them how God is working in their lives. Cultivating relationships can be a ministry.
Now, I know that this is not comfortable to some people. Hey, I get it! I'm an introvert, too! It's more comfortable sometimes, and it feels safer sometimes, to work in a program and keep our distance from people. Some people even choose jobs to maintain church buildings or other tasks that allow them to be farther away from others. But God isn't redeeming buildings. He's not offering salvation to programs. He is redeeming and saving people -- and He does that through us, reaching out in love to others.

As we think back over what we've talked about this week, being willing to serve where God places us, serving without fanfare, and serving people instead of programs, let's think and pray about how we can best serve the kingdom of God. How can we show His love to others? Then, let's make some plans and make it happen!

Ministry means serving where I am

For the people in the eleventh chapter of Nehemiah, ministry involved a willingness to serve where they were. We need to strive to have that same willingness.
Let's start back in the book of Nehemiah . . .
Remember when the people returned from exile? The walls of the city were torn down and there were tons of rubble from the destruction and years of neglect. It was going to take a lot of work to clear the rubble and restore the city. Because it was the former capital, enemies would zero in on Jerusalem when it was restored, and make plans to attack it. Because there were no markets or businesses, there was very little economic opportunity in the city.
As a result, there were very few people who wished to live in the city. It was far easier to settle in the countryside surrounding Jerusalem and farm a plot of land. This meant that most of the Jewish people were content to live in the surrounding villages that were scattered across the land of their ancestors.

It was a different situation now: the temple had been re-established; the wall had been rebuilt; things were much more secure from potential attacks. Nehemiah knew that if the city was to be strong and prosperousand if the worship in the temple was to thrive, the city must be populated with citizens who would work, play, worship, and defend the city if attacked. I kinda wonder what it must have been like in the city -- basically the only peeps living there were the leaders! So they cast lots to choose one of every ten people who would move to Jerusalem. It sounds like some who were not chosen actually volunteered to move (v. 2). The ones who were remaining in the villages blessed those who were willing to move into the city.
This meant that they had to pull up their roots (no pun intended) and give up their acreage in the country. They moved into what was going to quickly become a very populous city! It was inconvenient and perhaps less desirable to move from the countryside to the city, but these people were willing to live where God needed them, in order to serve His purposes.

One of the considerations for believers when we move to a different location should be "where would God want me to live? Where is a place that I can serve?" Many people (and I am guilty of this, too) say they want to move to LittleTown because it is a small town and not too crowded. I don't want to live in MegaTown because of all the crowds. NEWS FLASH!! God pictures and talks about heaven as a city! Not a mountaintop retreat or a sprawling, remotely located ranch. This is not a place where we will live in seclusion and ignore other people! Of course, not all of us need to be city-dwellers. But if God seems to be making things possible for us to move to a city, we need to be open to that opportunity. We need to have a ministry outlook and instead of complaining about all the people, view them as opportunities to serve Him. (The same goes for wherever God places us - we need to be willing to serve where He needs us!)

I think the huge emphasis in chapter eleven on listing the heads of families, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and even officials appointed by the king leads us to our next point on ministry. Not only do we need to be willing to serve where God places us, but we also need to serve in the particular tasks that He gives us.
Chapter eleven also lists some of the people outside the city -- those who lived there had to farm the land to provide food for those inside the city. The officials in the city, and the ordinary people, too, each had tasks to perform for the effective operation of the city. Everyone had a different role, but each role was vital to the entire effort.
In the body of Christ, God has given us different gifts, but every part is vital for the overall health and function of the body:

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.. . . . But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. . .  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. (I Corinthians 12:12, 24b-25, 27-28)

This entire chapter of I Corinthians is so inspiring to those of us searching for our way to serve. We can learn to complement each other without friction or rivalry.  Each one of us should value the other members of the body of Christ for the special and significant talents and gifts that they contribute.
I read a quote by Carl George, a gentleman who consults and coaches churches and Christian organizations for growth. He said that the things in the church that people usually complain about may reveal the person's area of spiritual gift. Example? If a person says, "This doesn't seem to be a caring church," she is probably gifted in mercy. If someone says, "This church doesn't emphasize outreach enough," his spiritual gift may be evangelism.  And the one who says, "This church is a dis-organized mess!" probably received a spiritual gift of administration.  Interesting, no?

The solution for all of these people is not to sit around criticizing others. The other members may not have gifts that assist in their solving those problems! What the merciful, the evangelizer, and the administrator need to do is to get involved in the areas that they think need fixing. The merciful person could help everyone become more caring; the evangelist can show how to reach the lost effectively; the administrator could help the church get more organized.

Ministry means that I am willing to serve where I am; ministry means that I am willing to use my particular spiritual gift to help the body of Christ.

Prayer time

Is anyone here as old as me? Anyone remember Wiley Coyote?
Wiley was the nemesis of the roadrunner in the old cartoons . . .
We were never sure if he wanted to cook the roadrunner for supper, or whether he just had a deep-seated animosity toward the whole roadrunner species, but he was constantly trying to catch or trap or flatten the speedy bird!

He apparently used "Acme Company" in much the same way that people use Amazon today -- he was always receiving just in time deliveries of the supplies that he needed for each of his schemes. Wiley could always be seen drawing up elaborate plans and then using glue, ropes, springs, and heavy objects (LOTS of heavy objects!) to set up a trap that the roadrunner would be unable to resist or avoid.
At the end of each cartoon, poor Wiley could be seen smushed under the crate, thrown against the wall, or hurtling through the air towards the ground. Often he would whip out a sign and look sadly into the camera: "HELP!"

Maybe Wiley was just a frustrated control nut. I guess we all like to feel like we are in control. Maybe the happy-go-lucky roadrunner, speeding joyfully along, irritated Wiley, who wanted everything to be just so. Organized. Running smoothly. In control.

Sometimes our own desire for control can be roadblock in our prayer life. We've talked about how today's technological toys (love that alliteration!) and our lack of consistency are obstacles to prayer.
Control can be, too. After all, prayer is a declaration of helplessness. It's like Wiley whipping out the little "HELP!" sign as he hurtles downward -- prayer is saying that we can't do anything to help ourselves. We are dependent on someone else: God.

There are people in this world that are so hung up on being strong that they equate helplessness with weakness. They are so freaked out about it that they won't pray. That's because, to a varying degree from person to person, inside each of us is a desire for control. Control is comfortable. Control is safe. But if we look at things truthfully, none of us have it, no matter how much we wish we did!

Look to the Lord and his strength;    seek his face always. (I Chronicles 16:11)

Prayer is a reminder to us that we are always dependent on our Father. And if we want to overcome the obstacle of control, we need to recognize His sovereignty over all things. We can trust Him to be that good father Who cares for us.
The more that we pray, the less we will seek control. II Chronicles 7:14 is a familiar verse - it tells us to humble ourselves and pray:

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14)

We can pray with the confidence that David spoke of:

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;    turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. (Psalm 17:6)

I hope that if you have a prayer request or a praise that you will leave a comment. Let us have the honor of praying and rejoicing with you.

Do I have a ministry?

We've talked before about a mindset in the Christian family that divides people into two categories: they are either "clergy" (those who are IN the ministry) and "laity" (those who are not). It's as if a rule book somewhere says that if you are going to be in the ministry, first you go to the seminary or a Bible college. Next you work as a youth minister or a choir director or a missions director for a while. Then you get ordained. There you go -- you are now an Official Minister Type Person.
There's just one problem with this.
It's wrong.
If we accept this, then only a few people will be committed to doing the work of the ministry, and the rest will sit back and let them do it. And mostly watch.
That's not the biblical picture. Biblically, the ones who are gifted as pastors and teachers and evangelists are supposed to equip the saints (all believers) for the work of the ministry.
No fooling! It's true!

 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:11-12)

The very same moment that we trust Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells us; we are now part of the body of Christ. As members of His body, each of us has a spiritual gift and I Corinthians tells us that we are to exercise that gift for the "common good." Peter tells us to use our gifts to "serve one another."
It's true that it's usually necessary for those who are called to be pastors to have specialized training. And the Bible reminds us to make certain that they are supported as they lead and teach. But each and every believer has a spiritual gift to discover and to use. We may not step in front of a group and teach. We may not hop on a steamer and travel to exotic lands to be missionaries for Christ. But we each have been entrusted by God with a ministry for which we will give an account. Remember the servant in the parable who'd been entrusted with "only" one talent? He buried it, right? Some believers think that they are "one talent" people, and they tell themselves that they are not gifted in an important way. They feel that they can't do anything important for the Lord.
Oh, dear Christian! If that is you, please listen (oops, I mean please read along) this week and let's challenge ourselves to think differently.
You see, I believe that all of God's people should be ministry-focused. We all have at least one spiritual gift!

This week, I'd like to encourage all of us to read (or re-read) Nehemiah 11 and 12. Yep, this week we will focus on two chapters! Here are the first three verses of chapter eleven:

Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns. 2 The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 11:1-2)

Beginning in verse three, there is a register of the names of Jewish citizens and family patriarchs, and the ministries that these people were tasked with. That list and the explanations continue all the way through a good bit of chapter twelve.
The list tells us that there were some families who repopulated Jerusalem -- some lay families, some priestly families, and some gatekeepers, Levites, and temple servants. The rest of the Jewish nation was made up of families who lived in the cities of Judah and Benjamin.
Chapter twelve begins with listing the priests and Levites that came back when Zerubbabel returned, then the high priests, and then the priests and Levites after Zerubbabel and Jeshua. The last portion of chapter twelve is a joyous recounting of the dedication of the wall and the temple support being set up.

Why all this listing of names again?
It's not just a clerk scribbling down all these names and jobs for Nehemiah to remember them. It's not a high muckety-muck bureaucrat that wanted to keep his job and seem important, so he made a list. These are people who are conscious of their roots. They cherish their heritage and they treasure their structure as a people. They know they are not rabble. They are not "squatters" in the land. They are resettling the land of their fore-fathers, and they have the dignity of history and relationships. Most of all, they are a people who remember that they are called -- called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exodus 19)

We have seen in past chapters, and we will see here, that the people had willing hearts to do whatever God wanted them to do. They were willing to function in whatever capacity was needed. We can learn a lot from the Jewish people in these chapters; we will study here this week.

Friday slowdown

I hope that our studies have been a help to someone. That we will face adversity with a smile and hold tightly to His hand . . .