Exactly what does it mean to serve the Lord?
It was after one of those long sermons that seem to last forever that a father and his son were walking toward the door when the boy stopped in front of a plaque in the foyer. The little boy pointed and asked, “Daddy, what’s this for?” His father said, “Oh, that’s in memory for those who died in the service.” The little boy said, “Which service, Daddy--the morning service or the evening service?”
I know some people think they deserve a medal just for warming a pew, but there must be more to serving the Lord than just coming to church? Serving Him involves working, doing something for the Savior Who did so much for me. I don’t serve Him like a slave, trying to earn His approval: I serve Him like a son, who enjoys being a part of His Father’s work in this world. The army of God is a strictly volunteer outfit; those who truly serve Him serve Him because they want to, because they love Him.
But what else is involved in serving the Lord? One answer comes from the example of a man who modeled faithful service to God: the apostle Paul. Serving God was not just a duty for Paul—it was his greatest ambition, his deepest passion, his measure of true success. This morning I want to take a closer look in Col. 1:24-29 at this man who lived out faithful service to his King and look at some ways you and I can follow his example.
PRAYER
I. THE SERVICE OF THE KING INVOLVES SUFFERING (v. 24-25)
Suffering and service often go hand in hand. I remember that every time I watch soldiers leaving for Iraq, or Afghanistan. I see the hurt in the eyes and tears of their spouse, their family, their friends. I’ve heard many of them say time and again that in spite of the pain, they are glad to serve this great country. Suffering and service often go hand in hand.
Paul tells us that’s also true in the service of the King. In vs. 24 he says I now rejoice in my sufferings…He’s not saying he enjoys suffering---that wouldn’t make much sense. It’s not pleasant having to write this letter to the church in Colossae from a dark, damp jail cell. What he is saying is that he is glad to suffer out of love and devotion for Christ and His church. His mission is: …to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His Body, which is the church…What does that mean? Just as Jesus suffered on the Cross to redeem the church, so Paul, in the service of the King, is willing to suffer to serve Christ and His church. Serving the Savior involves suffering for the Savior. Suffering and service go hand in hand.
Paul goes on to write I knew suffering was part of my service for the King from the get-go. He writes in vs. 25, this suffering is according to the stewardship [the commission] from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God…
Jesus first spoke that word of God in
Acts 9:15-16 15…he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
What was the purpose of this pain? To reveal the glory of Christ. He writes in vs. 26-27: the King called me into His service to reveal the mystery nobody could figure out on their own: our hope of glory—of abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven---comes through Jesus Christ living in us. The reason you know God forgives your sins and that you have a home in heaven is because Jesus Christ lives in you.
Now connect all the dots here and you get the message: a true servant of the King is glad to suffer for the glory of Jesus Christ. Suffering and service go hand in hand.
Someone asked Roger Staubach, former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, cc. injuries, "How do you keep on keeping on if you’re playing professional football?" Roger said something important: "If you’re not playing hurt, you’re not playing football."
Paul expresses a similar truth in these verses: if you’re not suffering for the King, maybe it’s because you’re really not truly serving the King. That might sound offensive to you. After all, nobody in their right mind likes to hurt. Yet I notice Jesus, Paul, Peter, and many other NT writers believed suffering was part of our service to the King.
Luke 21:17 and you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.
John 16:2 …yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.
1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
These verses reiterate the truth Paul models for all of us who want to serve Christ---service and suffering go hand in hand. That doesn’t mean serving the Lord is one long drawn out pain. It does mean that when serving God means suffering, you are willing to endure for Christ’s sake, for the sake of His people. It means you suffer without complaining or griping, but willingly, out of a deep love for your Lord Who suffered and died for you without complaining or griping. Listen there is no question that you will suffer in this life. You will even suffer more than other people for doing right, especially by following Christ. People will hurt you—not just unbelievers, but church people will hurt you. They will hate you, use you, treat you like dirt, all because you are a servant of the King. The question is not “Will you suffer?” The question is, will you suffer so that Jesus Christ will be glorified in your life? Will you suffer in the service of the King? If you’re not playing hurt, you’re not in the game. Service and suffering go hand in hand. But Paul also writes that
II. THE SERVICE OF THE KING INVOLVES GETTING THE GOOD WORD OUT (v. 26-28)
One of the servants of a king in ancient times was a herald, who was responsible for
any announcements, messages, or proclamations the King wanted communicated to the people. Think of him as the equivalent of the modern day press secretary: a good speaker, an ambassador, someone who was responsible for getting the good word out about whatever the King wanted to say to His people.
Paul was this kind of servant. The King gave him a message to bring to everybody, and he was all about getting the word out. In vs. 26 he describes this good word as the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations…and in vs. 27 he calls it …the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles… What Paul is saying is that this message God sent him to give to everybody was not something people could figure out on their own. It was a mystery, that is, it had to be revealed by God before we could get it. But now God has revealed the truth to His saints (followers of Christ), and especially to the Gentiles of all people. What is the message? Christ in you is your hope of glory.
What does that mean? Basically it means that because Christ lives in you now, you will live with Him in heaven. If you are a Christ follower, Jesus lives in you by His Spirit. The glory of God dwells within your because the Spirit of God indwells you.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The fact that Christ lives in you is your hope of glory=your assurance that you truly know God and will go to heaven when you die. Not because you’re a Jew—but even Gentiles---can have this hope because Christ lives in them by His Spirit.
This is why, Paul says in vs. 28, we preach Him. Jesus is the center of the good word, the Gospel. You don’t come to God through good works, or keeping the Law of Moses, or being a good Jew---you have to come through Christ. He preaches with warnings, teaching people with all the skills he possesses that Christ is Who they need, Christ is Who they must surrender to and believe in if they want to know God and go to heaven. My job, in the service of the King, is to get the good word out that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
That’s my job, too. That’s your job, too. Everybody who wants to serve the Lord has the same responsibility Paul had: to get the good word out of Christ in you, the hope of glory. You see the good word---the Gospel—is not something people figure out on their own. They need to be told, and the Lord has sent somebody to tell them: you.
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
“Bro. Mike, I’m not a preacher! I’m just an ordinary guy, a shy girl! I don’t know how to tell somebody about Jesus!” Is that really true? Let me ask you football fans out there: tonight you’ll watch the Colts and the Bears play the Superbowl (at least the part that comes on after church, right?) Monday morning when you see your friends at school or work, you won’t have any problem talking to them about how your team won the game, will you? Some of you single guys or girls—if that cute guy or gorgeous girls calls you tonight, you won’t be able to keep quiet about what happened when you see your friends, will you? You can’t keep that juicy piece of gossip you heard today to yourself---you’ll have to call somebody and share it.
You can talk about football games, phone calls, gossip, your parents, your spouse, the snow, the rain, the cold or the heat. Why can’t you take a little time and talk about Jesus, and what He has done for you, and for them? You say, “I don’t know enough to do that.” That’s not the real reason, is it? The real reason why is you’re scared-scared of what people might think or say about you, scared of looking like a fool in front of your friends. The truth is most of us care more about what our friends think about us than we care about serving our King.
But your job—my job---every person who serves God has the job to get the good word out about Jesus Christ to everybody in our world.
1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…
There is a world out there, hungry and searching for Jesus and His love. Don’t keep him to yourself. - Becky Tirabassi
Who needs to hear about Jesus in your world? Are you doing your job in the service of the King by getting the word out? The service of the King involves suffering and getting the good word out, but Paul says you also have to remember one more thing:
III. THE SERVICE OF THE KING REQUIRES STRENGTH (v. 29)
Eugene Peterson writes in his book Run With the Horses There is an enormous gap between what we think we can do and what God calls us to do. Our ideas of what we can do or want to do are trivial; God’s ideas for us are grand.
That is so true. So many of us think we are too small, too weak, too young or too old to serve our King. But here’s the thing: serving your King requires not just your strength, but God’s strength as well.
To this end [i. e., for the service of the King] I labor, striving…Paul writes. The Greek word for labor here is ἀγωνιζόμενος from which we derive our English word agony. The word for striving is ἐνέργειαν from which we get our English word energy. The idea here is that Paul’s service to the King involves struggle and energy---all of his strength to accomplish. A weaker man would not have survived much of the work Paul was called to do.
And yet all of his strength wasn’t enough to get the job done, for Paul also says the strength for his service comes from …His working which works mightily in me. In other words, Paul says In my service to the King, I give it all I’ve got, but I still depend on God’s strength to get the job done. He doesn’t work without my effort, but I cannot do the work without His help.
If you want to serve God, you have to keep this balance between what you can do, and what only God can do. It was Martin Luther who once said
Pray as if everything depends on God, then work as if everything depends on you.
I think Paul would agree with that advice. Christ expects us to put forth our best efforts in His service. He expects us to study for our classes and our sermons, learn how to be a good witness, put some effort into our prayers, practice our singing and playing, work on budgets and reports and anything else He calls us to do. But at the same time, my best sermon will not change a heart. Your best shot at witnessing will not save a soul. Pray as hard as you want, but without the Holy Spirit praying with you and for you, you won’t reach heaven. You have to do what you can do, do the best you can do, but it’s not enough without God’s touch, God’s strength. But when you’ve done all you can, when you do the best you can, like Elijah on the mountain, He sends the fire on the sacrifice, and suddenly great, grand things happen.
He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye. - C.S. Lewis
Why? Why does He ask us to put forth such effort, and then depend on Him to supply the strength we lack? Because He offers you and I the incredible privilege of working not just for Him, but with Him—allowing what we do to make a real, eternal difference in this world. He wants us to know that we don’t have the strength in ourselves to serve Him, but that if we use the strength He gives us, we can do the impossible.
There is an enormous gap between what we think we can do and what God calls us to do. Our ideas of what we can do or want to do are trivial; God’s ideas for us are grand.
In the service of the King, God has some important, glorious work for you to do. Don’t be fooled---His work for you is a challenge. It requires your best, your most diligent efforts. But it also requires that you depend on Him to give you the strength to do it. What work is He calling you to do? Put everything you have into doing it well, but then don’t forget to ask for His strength to get the job done.
An old story tells of a father busy in his study, while his little boy looked at a book of pictures by the fireside. He suddenly wanted a large book he had left upstairs, and asked his boy to go for it.
The little boy was away a long time, and after a while the father heard the sound of sobbing on the stairs.
He went and looked up at the top of the staircase he saw his son crying bitterly, with the large book he had tried to lift and carry, lying at his feet. “Oh, Daddy,” he cried, “I can’t carry it. It’s too heavy for me.” In a moment, the father was up the stairs, stooping down, picked up both the book and the little fellow in his strong arms, and carried them both to the room below.
This morning the message from God’s Word is: He wants you in His service. Yes, it will involve suffering for Him, but it is suffering with a purpose, suffering that brings Him glory, and in some way we don’t always understand, be good for us, too. Part of your job is to get the good word out about Christ’s offer to live in us, and the assurance that we will live with Him if we put our faith in Him. His service will require all your strength, and then some---but with God’s help, you can be a part of what God is doing in this world.
Not everybody wants to be a servant of the King. Maybe this morning you’re not ready to make a commitment to serve the King. I have to warn you, that you won’t have forever to make that commitment. There will come a day when your life on earth will be over, and you will either find your King on the other side of death, or your Judge. Now is the time to come to King Jesus, to surrender to Him, and receive His salvation, and His commission as a servant of the King. Is He calling you into His service this morning?
