A Faithful Servant – Sermon for CATM – January 20, 2008
James 1:12 Blessed are those who persevere under trial, because when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Today is a special day in the life of Yonge Street Mission. For those who are new to us or perhaps even brand new today to the life of the mission, it might be hard to appreciate some of the things that will be said today. If you are new here, perhaps it’s a good opportunity to get an idea of what the mission is about.
You see, today we remember someone of huge importance in the mission and who has been pivotal to our identity as a faith community and a mission. Today we remember Wilma Watson, both here in small measure and later today at a memorial service to be held at 2:30 PM at High Park Baptist church in Toronto’s west end.
This is Wilma’s room, named in her honour. Daily Wilma’s name is uttered many times in reference to this space that we squeeze into today. In this way and in others daily she is remembered.
Yonge Street Mission is both a faith community and a mission, you know. As a faith community we come together knowing that we are drawn together by the living God in the name of Jesus Christ. We gather to worship, we gather to affirm our faith in the Son of God who lived and died as one of us and who reigns in glory with the Father.
We come to affirm and reaffirm our profound allegiance to Jesus Christ. He is our Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is the One who beat a pathway for us to the Father.
He is the One who laid down His life for you and for me to bring us to a place of being able to know God as Abba Father.
But YSM is also a mission. That means that we take this relationship with God so seriously that we take it unselfishly. Jesus died for me, for us, but He also died for the world, and specifically for us, for our community.
Our life and purpose and joy are bound up in His magnificent life, but we understand that Jesus has called us to live in such a way as a people of faith that a great many others can come to know God through Jesus Christ.
If you know the mission at all you know that we live this truth and this commitment out very, very gently.
We never bash anyone over the head with the gospel. We are not known as Bible-thumpers, not in the slightest. That’s because we know that our greatest challenge and our highest calling is to live a life of love. So we focus on loving the community in Jesus name.
That’s precisely why we have a food bank and seniors programs and youth programs galore and housing and New Hope Fellowship and Evergreen Centre for Street Youth and that’s why we do a ton of education – ESL, computer training, spiritual formation and ministry-preparation and job training and that’s why we focus so much on helping the community around us in every single way that we can think of.
Whoever turns to God in Jesus Christ as a result is up to God. Are we ready at all times to give reason for the hope we have in Jesus? Yes. But whatever response anyone has to the love we try our best to offer, that’s up to them and God.
If that’s the case, then what, really is our role? Honestly, as I thought about today and I thought about the memorial service that will be happening in a few hours for Wilma Watson, and as I asked myself:
“What was it that Wilma brought to us and left with us? What really was her greatest contribution to the mission?”
And I realized it was kind of a simple thing is a way: she was a faithful woman. A faithful woman of God. What does that mean? What does it mean to be faithful?
Firstly, to be faithful means to take our commitments seriously. There’s an interesting synonym to faithfulness. It is trustworthiness. Luke 16:10 says this: 10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
Wilma Watson had just about every imaginable duty and responsibility at Yonge Street Mission.
From running programs for woman and children, to administrating the infinite details of finance and budgeting, to training new staff and board members including new executive directors who would come in to lead the mission; to serving as the de facto executive director in those years when no man would stand up to the plate…
Wilma served as the mission’s leader in a era in the church when woman were not “allowed” to lead.
Wilma came to us in humility, simply wanting to serve her Master Jesus Christ. “What can I do?” How can I help? How can I make a difference?” These are the questions of a faithful soul and these were the questions that Wilma asked, offering herself to God and to the community, to the mission, in whatever capacity she could.
Wilma started small and was faithful in small things.
You know as a pastor, that’s exactly what I look for in leaders. People who do the little things just because the little things need to get done. People who reach out a hand to help another. Those who do such things truly stand out in the Kingdom of God. And those are the people who end up being trusted, as Wilma was, with great things.
Secondly, to be faithful means, and there’s just no getting around this, to be faithful means to take yourself seriously as one who God means to be a blessing to others.
You see, faithfulness is not just about doing things, small or great and doing them with a fully devoted heart. It is that, but at a core level it’s about taking yourself seriously as a person who is deeply loved by God. The word: “Faithful” springs from the word “faith”.
So it’s not about doing good as much as it is about being a person of faith who lives out that faith. Whatever it is we may do for God, we are never doing more than living our faith.
That’s why the people who are best known in the world for their kindness and generosity, and that’s why people among us who are esteemed for the exceptional way they care for and love others…you ask those people how it is they do what they do and you always hear a variation of: “I’m just trying to live my faith”.
And you also tend to hear a lot of redirection from such people. They point the question back to God. They give God the glory. They throw it all back on Him, but they do so knowing that they belong to him.
Wilma figured out early on in her ministry among us that her love for God could translate into blessing for others.
Being wholly devoted to God and wholly focussed on His glory was her way of living a life open to possibility and promise. In the days since Wilma passed into glory, so many people have called the mission to speak of the pivotal role Wilma had in their life.
Here’s a tiny sample of the comments people have been making” “Wilma was a truly remarkable woman and she had a profound influence in my life”.
“She meant so much to me and helped me so much when I was struggling, when I was a young person”.
Lastly today, we see that faithfulness is rewarded by God. James 1:12 says: “Blessed are those who persevere under trial, because when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
What is the crown of life that James speaks of?
Well, the Apostle Paul elaborates for us: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing”. 2 Tim 4:7-8
Here it all comes together. Using the language of struggle and competition to complete a goal, Paul says that he has done what he has done. The struggle he has engaged in has been a good one…not a wasted or pointless one. He has given his all. He has completed his role AND has held firmly to the faith that launched him out into this challenge in the first place.
How sad it would be to lose hold of the faith that gave our spirits life, that caused us to be born anew, to be born again into the reality of God’s Kingdom. Paul has not done such a thing. He has held on, and he knows what’s in store for him now.
So when he comes to the end of his life on earth, it is not all for nothing. It is not all about the past, about reliving yesterday’s laurels and accomplishments. Paul knows what’s coming.
“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing”.
A crown. A sign of royalty actually. A sign of relationship…with the Almighty. A welcome into the heavenly dwelling. A new beginning. Eternity.
This is what awaits us, friends. And this is the reality that Wilma knows right now.
May each of us here practice what Wilma Watson lived. May we take our commitments very seriously. May we be faithful in the small things and faithful in the great things. May we take ourselves seriously as people who God intends to use for His glory to bring blessing to the community around us.
And may we remember the great cloud of witnesses, of whom Wilma is now a part, that surround us. And let us, like them, fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Let’s pray. Heavenly King, Righteous Father, Holy and gracious God…we thank you for Your kindness in sending to us such a servant as Wilma Watson. We have much to rejoice in, both in her memory and in the present mission and faith community that she leaves behind. Thank you for her life. Thank you that you blessed so many through her life. Thank you that we, in a very real way, are her legacy. Grant that we may live as your faithful people. That we might rely on Your great mercy and grace. Find us faithful, O God. This we pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
