Habits that lead to Christian Maturity
Formative Service
In Lent we went through a series called “Habits That Lead to Christian Maturity”, we looked at formative reading, formative prayer, Formative Fellowship, and Formative Worship. We felt like we needed to stay with Worship for a while, so we didn’t get to the topic of Formative Service before Easter. So… I thought that we would deal with it now.
The whole area of service is a very important one in the Christian life. The importance can be seen in the difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea in the Holy Land. The two bodies of water are connected by the Jordan River in a direct north-south line along the Great Rift Valley. Clear, sweet water from underground springs flows into the Sea of Galilee. And the Sea of Galilee flows south into the Jordan. Galilee is a gorgeous, active lake, full of life that has sustained fishermen in the region for millennia. The Dead Sea, by contrast, is a shallow, selfish basin with no outlet. It hoards the water that flows into it. Some water evaporates, leaving behind brackish, clouded water so dense that swimmers bob like corks. The whole sea is dead.
When we as Christians have no outlet of service, we too can become spiritually dead, and stagnant. Instead of our faith being attractive, life giving and fruitful, we become as off-putting as a stagnant pond.
James teaches us that our faith is demonstrated by our service, in fact the two are inseparable.
James 2:14-26 “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”
Paul tells us that we are (re)created to serve
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do
James says in 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
God, through Isaiah, actually tells the people that service to the oppressed and down trodden is more important than fasting. We often see fasting as the ultimate in getting God’s attention, but God says it is meaningless without service.
Isaiah 58
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord ?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
What is Christian Service?
Christian Service is not what we do in order to gain God’s favor. We already have his favor through Jesus death and resurrection. We serve each other out of gratitude for what Jesus has done for us, and in obedience to the leader of our life.
Christian service is as much about attitude as it is about action. Many people can perform the same action for as many different reasons. Some will do what looks like service out of selfish ambition, some out of a legalistic pride, some to receive praise, but it is only Christian service when we are serving the other person or people out of selfless love.
Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love
1 John 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Christian service is giving of ourselves to another in a practical way with no other agenda than showing them God’s love.
You know the difference between service from a servant’s heart, and service grudgingly given. One is a joy to receive, the other is actually a burden to receive
Philippians 2
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
Jesus Example:
John 1314Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
I think that Jesus is telling us that we need to serve each other, as he serves us, in more ways than just washing feet. It is to be a lifestyle. But many of us discovered the spiritual blessing received when we actually do the task of washing someone’s feet like we did on Maundy Thursday. Many people were grteatly impacted both by washing, and by having their feet washed.
Just as an aside – many homeless and under housed people in our city have a very difficult time keeping their feet healthy. If you want to take Jesus command to wash feet seriously, there are clinics that could use volunteers to care for these peoples feet. They will train you, and you can bring healing to these people’s feet in Jesus’ name.
How Service Forms us
Humility
“Of all the classical Spiritual Disciplines, service is the most conductive to the growth of humility. When we set out on a consciously chosen course of action that accents the good of other and is for the most part a hidden work, a deep change occurs in our spirit.
Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but screams against hidden service. It strains and pulls for honor and recognition. It will devise subtle, religiously acceptable means to call attention to the service rendered. If we stoutly refuse to give in to this lust of the flesh we crucify it. Every time we crucify the flesh we crucify our pride and arrogance” – Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline p.114
- We meet Jesus – Matthew 25
"Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
"The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
I believe that some of the most spiritually formative experiences that I have had were not found in prayer alone, reading alone, worship or fellowship alone, but in service.
One I have mentioned before, and that was as a Pioneer Camps Special Needs Camp Counselor. Working with young handicaped teens showed me how to give myself to another human 24hrs a day.
Attending and Pastoring Parkdale Neighbourhood Church also formed me more as a person and follower of Jesus than any book, seminar, course… ever could.
There are some dangers to watch out for in the area of service.
Service & feeding our faith - Our faith is much like our body, if we feed our bodies, and get no exercise, we get fat, on the other hand if we get lots of exercise, but no food, we starve.
Our faith needs both exercise and food.
Without feeding we can forget the reason why we serve, and soldier on out of duty, pride… We can get bitter that no one else is serving like we do, and that bitterness will come out in our service.
In the business of service, we can lose our connection to the one that we are serving – we can begin to believe that God loves the things that we do, and not ourselves outside of our actions. Our service can actually drive us from God rather than to him.
The best way to avoid the pitfalls of service is to be sure that we are also keeping up with the other habits that lead to Christian Maturity. – prayer, spiritual reading, fellowship and worship
Listen to God in Service
John 5
19Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
Stay connected to Jesus so that your service is fruitful
John 15:
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
I’d like to end with another quote from Richard Foster who says:
“Service that is duty-motivated breaths death. Service that flows out of our inward person is life, and joy and peace. The risen Christ beckons us to the ministry of the towel. Perhaps you would like to begin by experimenting with a prayer that a number of us have used. Begin the day by praying, “Lord Jesus, I would so appreciate it if You would bring me someone today whom I can serve.”
