Linda, who teaches first grade in Dallas Texas, has an interesting job, especially when it comes to helping children adjust to their first whole day of school. Little Ryan was used to going home at noon in kindergarten; so when it was time to go to lunch with the rest of the class, he got his things ready to leave for home.
Linda asked him what he was doing.
“I'm going home,” he replied.
Linda tried to explain that now he is in the first grade, he would have a longer school day. “You'll go eat lunch now,” she said, “and then you'll come back to the room and do some more work before you go home.”
Ryan looked up at her in disbelief, hoping she was kidding. Then, convinced of her seriousness, Ryan then put his hands on his hips and demanded, “Who on earth signed me up for this program?” (Wanda Vassallo, Dallas, Texas, www.Preaching Today.com)
Whether you like it or not, the truth is GOD signed you up to serve Him. Ephesians 2 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Or as the King James Version puts it, “God before ordained that we should walk in them.”
God has ordained every believer to serve Him, not just the preachers, not just the missionaries, but every believer. In fact, God says to every believer, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). As a believer, you are a priest, a ROYAL priest, tasked with the job of introducing people to God!
Are you ready to answer God’s call? Are you ready to fulfill the ministry He ordained you to do? Well, if you feel inadequate for such a call, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 29, Exodus 29, where God shows Moses how to get the first priests ready to serve their God.
Exodus 29:1-9 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons (ESV).
God instructs Moses to wash, clothe, and anoint the priests in order to get them ready to serve, in order to consecrate and ordain them for ministry, in order to set them apart and set them in place for His use. Is that what you want, then let Jesus do that for you.
LET JESUS WASH, CLOTHE, AND ANOINT YOU for ministry.
Let Christ bathe, dress, and pour His Spirit on you. Let our Lord clean, cover, and cause God’s Holy Spirit to flow through you.
If you want to be ready for the priestly ministry to which God has called you, first, let Jesus wash you. Let Christ clean up those dirty attitudes and actions that prevent you from serving Him effectively.
1 John 1:9 promises us believers, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Literally, He is faithful to loose us from our sins and to clean up all those vices that weaken our fellowship with Him and others.
Willie Carson, a famous British jockey, was racing one day at Pontefract, easily ahead of everyone else, but 330 yards from the finish line, he thought he heard something at his back. He glanced round and saw the shadow of a horse coming up behind. Determined to win the race, he spurred his horse on and crossed the finish line first. He looked round again and saw that the nearest horse was fifteen lengths behind—he had been racing his own shadow for the last part of the race (Ian St. John, Saint and Greavsie's Funny Old Games, Little Brown, 2008, p. 24; www.PreachingToday.com).
Sometimes, God’s people are haunted by the memory of a mistake, a regret from their past. It’s like a shadow looming over them, not spurring them on but slowing them down. If that’s you, dear believer, confess it to God and let Jesus take that regret away. If you want to serve Jesus effectively, first, let Him wash you.
Second, let Jesus clothe you with His righteousness. Let Jesus dress you in His holiness, not your own.
For the Bible says, “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6). So don’t attempt to serve God with your own good works. Serve Him, instead, with the good works of Christ. Put on His righteousness and you can’t go wrong. By faith, take Christ’s virtue as your own.
For the Bible also says, “[God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God treated Jesus as a sinner, so He could treat you as a saint. So put off the grave clothes of regret and put on the grace clothes of Christ’s righteousness (Wiersbe). Claim His goodness as your own. Then you will be able to serve Him freely without anything holding you back.
If you want to serve Jesus effectively, 1st, let Him wash you; 2nd, let Him clothe you.
And 3rd, let Jesus anoint you with His Spirit. Let Jesus pour the oil of God’s Holy Spirit on you to empower you for ministry.
Just like Moses anointed Aaron to serve as a priest, later on, Samuel anointed David to serve as a king. 1 Samuel 16 says, “Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David] in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13).
In the Bible, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, who empowers God’s people for God’s service. Isaiah the prophet says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…” (Isaiah 61:1). It’s the same claim Jesus made for Himself in Luke 4:18. To have God’s anointing is to have God’s Spirit empowering you for God’s service.
For without God’s Spirit, the best you can do is stumble forward a little and fall a lot. But WITH God’s Spirit, you can soar to heights of ministry you never thought possible.
Pastor David Hansen, in his book The Art of Pastoring: Ministry Without All the Answers, talks about his need to rely on the Holy Spirit to do His ministry. He writes:
“From my kitchen window I watch bald eagles, ospreys, golden eagles, and hawks. These birds of prey ride the wind. It doesn't take much energy on their part. However, when geese fly, they… (expend energy by) flapping their wings, but birds of prey soar by catching currents.
“Birds of prey seek thermals; columns of warm air that rise from the earth filled with energy. The birds glide on the heated currents of air. A good thermal can lift them high into the sky without so much as a single flap of their wings. From their higher place they can see more ground and can fly longer and farther, and when the time comes to dive on their prey, they can plummet with great speed.
“As I watch these birds,” Hansen says, “I think of… ministry. I too seek thermals. The Spirit lifts, gives vision, direction, and power. Ministry is riding on the free winds of the Spirit that lift us to heights we cannot climb on our own. We can't stay in the air very long on our own strength, but we can seek thermals. Our soul-wings are made large that we might catch the Spirit. (David J. Hansen, The Art of Pastoring: Ministry Without All the Answers, IVP books, 2012, p. 51; www.PreachingToday.com).
Please, stop trying to do ministry in your own strength. Instead, ride the thermals of God’s Spirit to get to heights you could never climb on your own. Live your life and do ministry in dependence upon God’s Spirit. It’s the only way you’ll ever be able to do what God has called you to do.
If you want to serve God effectively, let Jesus wash, clothe, and anoint you with His Spirit. Then…
COMMIT YOURSELF FULLY TO THE LORD.
Hold nothing back in your service for Him. Specifically, dedicate yourself to hear God’s word, do God’s work, and walk in God’s way.
Starting in Exodus 29:10, God commands Moses to bring three offerings to get the priests ready to serve.
1st, God asks Moses to bring a sin offering in verses 10-14. Why? Because human priests are sinners like everybody else. And as such, God has to deal with their sin before He can use them to bring other sinners to Himself.
In Exodus 29, God dealt with their sin through the sacrifice of a bull. Today, God deals with our sin through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. Jesus offered Himself as our sin offering, dying in our place for our sins, so we could live and serve God forever.
My dear friends, if you haven’t done it already, please, believe that Christ died for your sins and rose again. Then trust Christ with your life. Depend on Him to give you an eternal and abundant life full of fruitful service.
To get the priests ready to serve, 1st, God asks Moses to bring a sin offering.
Then 2nd, God asks Moses to bring a burnt offering in verses 15-18. In this case, God asks Moses to kill a ram, cut it in pieces, and burn every part of it on the altar. Verse 18 says, “It is a burnt offering to the Lord,” which points to a full and total commitment to God.
In the other offerings, worshippers kept parts of the animal for themselves and/or the priests to eat. In a burnt offering, worshippers gave the whole animal to God, indicating their total dedication to Him. They held nothing back but gave everything to the Lord.
Oh, my dear friends, if you’re going to serve God effectively, that’s the kind of commitment you need to make to Him. Hold nothing back and give Him everything—all your time, all your talents, and all your treasure.
Did you ever wonder why some people excel in their field of endeavor while others remain mediocre? In his book The Social Animal, David Brooks points to recent research that reveals the common denominator in attaining excellence in a field. Brooks writes:
In 1997 Gary McPherson studied 157 randomly selected children as they picked out and learned a musical instrument. Some went on to become fine musicians and some faltered. McPherson searched for the traits that separated those who progressed from those who did not. IQ was not a good predictor. Neither were aural sensitivity, math skills, income, or a sense of rhythm. The best single predictor was a question McPherson asked the students before they even selected their instruments: How long do you think you will play? The students who planned to play for a short time did not become very proficient. The students who planned to play for a few years had modest success. But there were some children who said, in effect: "I want to be a musician. I'm going to play my whole life." Those children soared.
The common denominator for attaining excellence was a long-term commitment to discipline and practice (David Brooks, The Social Animal, Random House, 2011, pp. 134-135; www.PreachingToday.com).
In the same way, if you’re going to excel in your service for the Lord, you must make a long-term commitment to Him. Even if you lack the skills, even if you lack the intellect, even if you lack the money, you can excel in your service for the Lord if you are totally committed to Him. In fact, it’s the only way you will serve Him effectively.
To get the priests ready to serve, 1st, God asks Moses to bring a sin offering. 2nd, God asks Moses to bring a burnt offering.
And 3rd, God asks Moses to bring a wave offering in verses 19-34. This, along with the other two offerings, God asks Moses to bring every day for seven days in verse 35-37.
Now, the wave offering is something you wave back and forth toward the altar as a sign that you are giving it to God. But you keep part of it to give to the priests for them to eat. Here, the wave offering is a second ram and some bread. However, before Moses waves it in front of the alter, God asks Him to do something unusual.
Exodus 29:20 and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar (ESV).
God asks Moses to put the blood of the ram on every priest’s right ear, his right thumb, and his right big toe. This is part of their ordination ceremony, in which God sets them in place for ministry—unusual, to say the least, but very significant. You see, the blood on the right ear suggests their commitment to HEAR God’s Word. The blood on the right thumb suggests their commitment to DO God’s work. And the blood on the right toe suggests their commitment to WALK in God’s way (John Hannah, Bible Knowledge Commentary).
If you want to serve God effectively, you must be totally committed to Him.
That means, A—Commit to hearing His Word. Dedicate yourself to paying attention to what God says.
2 Timothy 3 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
If you want to be equipped to serve, start with God’s Word.
Perhaps, you’ve heard the story about six blind men and an elephant? One blind man touches the belly of the animal and thinks it's a wall. Another grabs the elephant's ear and thinks he's touching a fan. A third blind man touches the tail and thinks he's holding a rope. On they go, each grabbing a part of the elephant without any one of them knowing what it is they really feel.
No one knows the truth unless the elephant speaks. What if the elephant tells the blind men: “That wall-like structure is my side. That fan is really my ear. And that's not a rope; it's a tail.” If the elephant could speak, the six blind men would know the truth (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God at His Word, Crossway, 2014, pp. 68-69; www.PreachingToday.com).
Well, the good news is God has spoken, so you can know the truth about Him and the world He created. All you have to do is listen to Him. Open this Book (hold up Bible) on a regular basis and pay attention to what God has said. It will get you ready to serve in a world full of people still groping to find the truth.
If you want to serve God effectively, A—Commit to hearing God’s Word…
B—Commit to doing God’s work. Dedicate yourself to the task He’s called you to do.
In his advice to Pastor Timothy, the Apostle Paul tells him, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Work hard at the ministry to which God has called you, no matter what it is.
Mark Schlereth, a former NFL football player and now an analyst for Fox Sports, commented on Tom Brady’s success as a quarterback. He quoted Brady, who once said, “If you want to beat me you better be ready to lose your life because I've already given up mine.”
Brady's former backup quarterback said of Brady, “He wakes up, and it's all about what [he is] going to do today to be the best quarterback… That means diet. That means exercise. That means hydration… And Sundays aren't the problem… Monday through Saturday that's the problem.
“You get to a point somewhere in your career: ‘I don't want to prepare anymore. If I could just show up on Sundays that would be great. But I don't want to go through the grind, the grind of preparing to get to Sunday.’ He still eats that grind for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed” ("First Things First," Fox Sports, 2-15-18; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s ministry! You don’t do ministry just on Sunday. You work hard Monday through Saturday, so you can excel on Sunday, or whenever God gives you the opportunity to serve.
Muhammad Ali once said, “Don’t count the days, make the days count.”
Do that in ministry. Do that in anything, and you will succeed, especially if you serve in the power of the Holy Spirit.
If you want to serve God effectively, A—Commit to hearing God’s Word; B—Commit to doing God’s work…
And C—Commit to walking God’s way. Dedicate yourself to following His lead.
The Apostle Paul also tells Pastor Timothy, “If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:21-22).
If you want to be useful in ministry, ready for every good work. Then run away from sin and run towards holiness. At least walk in God’s way as you depend on His Spirit.
New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright, suggests thinking of an animal you’d greatly fear, like an angry rhinoceros, a snake, or a large spider. If you came round a corner and found yourself facing it, what would you do? Run away, of course. Well, [as a follower of Jesus] that's how you should feel about [unholy passions].
Then, Wright says, think how you'd feel if you saw the person you loved best in the entire world, one you hadn't seen for years. What would you do if you saw him or her walking down the street? Why, chase after [that person], of course. That's how you should behave when you think of Jesus and the new life he offers you and the whole world (N.T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Epistles, Westminster John Knox Press, 2003, page 76; www.PreachingToday.com).
If you want to serve God effectively, chase hard after Jesus, the very best friend you could ever have. Let Him wash you, clothe you, and anoint you with His Spirit. Then commit yourself fully to Him. Dedicate yourself to hearing His Word, doing His work, and walking His way. Then, after you have done all that, go ahead and…
SERVE.
Do the work God puts before you every day. Accomplish the daily tasks God gives you to do.
Exodus 29:38-42 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there (ESV).
This is what God asks the priests to do every day. It is their daily work, which opens the way for God to meet with His people.
Exodus 29:43-46 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God (ESV).
This is the ultimate goal of any ministry—that people might know their God, who redeemed them from slavery and wants to dwell with them. It seems far beyond any one of us to accomplish. But when we do the daily, mundane work of ministry, God makes it happen. God makes Himself known and He transforms lives for eternity.
Fred Craddock put it this way: “To give my life for Christ appears glorious,” he said. “To pour myself out for others… to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom—I'll do it. I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory.
“We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table—Here's my life, Lord. I'm giving it all.
“But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid's troubles instead of saying, 'Get lost.' Go to a committee meeting. Give up a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home.
“Usually giving our life to Christ isn't glorious. It's done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul” (Darryl Bell, Maple Grove, Minnesota. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 4; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s how you serve the Lord. It’s day by day in the little tasks He puts before you. But God uses those little tasks to reveal Himself to a world in desperate need of Him.
If you want to serve God effectively, 1st, Let Jesus wash, clothe, and anoint you with His Spirit. 2nd, Commit yourself fully to the Lord. And 3rd, Do the little things He puts before you every day.
Dear Lord,
Make me a servant humble and meek.
Lord, let me lift up those who are weak.
And may the prayer of my heart always be,
Make me a servant, make me a servant,
Make me a servant today (Kelly Willard).
