Reflections on Servant-hood

Peter Kuskie, Australia

 

The reflections shared here are by no means exhaustive (or exhausting hopefully!)  They are merely insights gained while traveling on the train to work. It is a trip that, as I meditate and have the Word quickened to me (sometimes wishing that I could type faster), often passes too quickly.

 

I see through a glass darkly.  What I receive comes through a veil.  One day I will see clearly.  Until that day, my dialogue with God will be lacking, and my understanding imperfect.  Yet through the static, God speaks and I listen.  What He says is not always what I want to hear.  It sometimes disturbs me.  At times, it comforts me.  It always challenges me.

 

I share not because I think what I have to say is particularly profound, but because I believe what God gives us is rarely for ourselves alone.  In the words of a song by Bob Bennett that I may have quoted before, “I’m not one who’s got it all in place telling you what you should do, no, I’m just one old hungry beggar, showing you where I found food.” 

 

So please, read as my guest, and partake as you have need.  The meal is a gift, and should you be nourished by even one small morsel of truth, I will be satisfied.

 

Introduction

 

Everyone on this planet is a servant; whether God’s or the other guy’s.

 

These thoughts are for God’s servants.  It is understood that in John 2:15 Jesus told us that He no longer calls us servants but friends and we can rejoice in that relationship.  However, throughout the New Testament we read phrases like “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:1), “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,” (2 Peter 1:1), “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1), “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:1)

 

As these pioneers of the faith saw themselves as servants, it is important we understand what it means to be servants also.  What follows are my reflections on what it means to be a servant of God.

 

·                   A servant can only serve one master (Luke 16:13) No servant can serve two masters:  for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon (1 Cor 7:23)  You are bought with a price; do not be the servants of men.  (Gal 1:10)  For am I now seeking the favour of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

 

Jesus told us that if our eye is single that our whole body will be full of light.  We must determine that we will serve God only.  This has little to do with our eternal destination, and everything to do with fulfilling our divine destiny.  The Bible tells us that a “double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  That is why we must decide who we are going to serve.  Will it be money?  Will it be man?  Or will it be the king of kings?  The Old Testament puts it bluntly.  “Choose you this day who you will serve.”

 

·                   A servant cannot be above the master (Matt 10:24-25)  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.  ²⁵It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? (John 13:15-17) For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶Verily, verily, I say unto you, a servant is not greater than his lord; neither one that is sent greater than he that sent him. ¹⁷If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them.

 

Jesus is our example.  We should not be surprised if we go through what He went through – both good and bad.  The good thing is that Jesus deals fairly with us by telling us the worst we can expect in His service.  There is a chance we will be hated, misrepresented, have our character assassinated or possibly be killed.

 

All these things Jesus went through and told us to expect.  The blessing of God comes at a price.  For many of us it may only be the surrendering of our will to His with the subsequent forfeiting of our rights.  For others it is definitely a case of persecution – perhaps even to death.  Whatever the case, Jesus warned us of trouble.  We need to be prepared for it so that when it comes, we don’t react as if it were some strange thing.  The servant is not above his master – as they did to Jesus, it may be that they will do to us.

 

·                   A servant must always be about his Master’s business (Matt 24:44-47) Therefore be ye also ready:  for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. ⁴⁵Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁷Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 

 

There will be times God seems distant – like He has gone on a far journey.  The key to success as a servant during these times is faithfulness.  Doing the things we know to do.  Someone who is trustworthy is a person you can leave a task, knowing it will be fulfilled in an honorable and timely manner.

 

The times we live in are perplexing.  On the one hand we can ask ourselves “where is God?”  It seems tribulation, distress and injustice is on every side.  We hope it will not touch us, yet it seems to grow closer every day.  Is God around?  Does He know what is happening?  Is He really coming back?  The temptation is to think not, and to take matters into our own hands. 

 

Conversely for some, the times have never been so good and don’t look like changing.    However what we have been given is not, and never will be, ours.  It is God’s.  Until He returns or takes us home, we are to remain His servants, His stewards, faithfully performing what He requires. There is no alternative provision.  To take our eye off the prize is to risk losing it all together.  We are to work while it is day for the night is coming when no man can work. We don’t know when the master will return.  Perhaps it will be today.  Please God, He will find us doing what He left for us to do.

 

·                   A servant is aware of the Master’s concerns (Matt 13:27-30) So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? ²⁸He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest:  and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

 

In the quoted passage, the servants have been involved in the planting of wheat.  They have a stake in the harvest. It is therefore not surprising that they are the first to notice the tares.  We see that they do not run ahead of the master’s wishes.  To have done so, would have damaged the harvest and contravened the master’s will.  Instead, they come to the master with their concerns and follow his “big picture” advice.

 

God’s concerns are our concerns.  We need to know what is important to His heart.  The Bible tells us what God is concerned about.  He told us to pray for laborers in the harvest.  He told us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and also our leaders.  He told us to preach the gospel and make disciples.  He told us to live holy lives.  These are God’s concerns and they should be ours.  We should come to Him regularly about what we see, hear and notice around us, but more importantly we come to Him for what is on His heart.  Again, He has the “big picture.”  We are His hands and His feet.  He loved the world and gave His Son and we are His reaching out to all humanity.

 

·                   A servant cannot act of their own volition (John 12:26)  If any man serve (wait upon) me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be:  if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

 

A servant needs to be in contact with the master continually.  If the master wants a task done, the servant must be there to receive the instructions and to facilitate carrying it out.

 

In the same way, you and I must wait on God.  We must, as it were, be standing to His side ready to receive His instructions and to carry them out.  Of the many voices we hear, we must know His.  This can only happen as a result of time spent with Him.  Then, among the confusing array of voices vying for our attention, we wait for, and respond, to His alone. 

 

An important role for a servant is also anticipating what a master requires.  If the master has been away, then the servant would anticipate his requirements. In the modern age, it may be the master traditionally likes a coffee when they get home.  The master should not have to spell out everything every time.  The ability to anticipate comes with familiarity.  With God, familiarity does not breed contempt – it breeds love, admiration and service.

 

Anticipating is not the same as running ahead.  Saul ran ahead of Samuel when he offered sacrifices after being told to wait for Samuel to do so.  Apart from His declared will, we do not presume anything with God.  We find out His day to day will by spending time with Him.

 

·                   A servant is expected to do their job in humility (Luke 17:7-10) But which of you, having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle, will say to him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? ⁸And will not rather say to him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird yourself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward you shall eat and drink? ⁹Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. ¹⁰So likewise you, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants:  we have done that which was our duty to do.

 

Serving God is not a matter of heroics – it is simply doing our job, doing what we were told.  Whether we are simply quietly going about God’s will, or literally giving our life for Him, it is not possible to do above and beyond the call of duty. 

 

This passage must be taken in the context of the whole of scripture.  We are told that future rewards await those servants who are faithful, however in the context of the here and now, we are not to see our service as something that makes God a debtor to us. As one commentator notes, “God cannot be a gainer by our services, and therefore cannot be made a debtor by them.  Certainly, to be in His service is profitable for us, but it does not make God any more than He already is.”

 

We know that we are saved by grace and it is a gift of God.  Our works of themselves cannot earn us God’s favour.  It is as if, in human terms we have been given a job – and doing it is expected of us.  The fulfilling of our responsibility does not of itself earn us a reward over and above the conditions of our employment.  Certainly the faithful execution of our duties is mostly noted and leads to something better.  In the same way, when we do what we are commanded of God to do, it is noted and will, in the future lead to something better for us.

 

·                   A servant must be accountable for & profitable with what he is given (Matt 25:14 - 19)  For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. ¹⁵And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. ¹⁶Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. ¹⁷And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. ¹⁸But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

 

We all have a talent.  Some have many.  As servants, we are to develop those talents.  There is so much unfulfilled potential in all of us.  Imagine how much different our fellowships would be if every person in them doubled what God had given them.  Yet we fail to acknowledge what we have.  So often I hear “I don’t know what my talent is.”  Well find out!  God has given us all something.  Most times it is staring us in the face. Often it is obvious to others.  Surely there is nothing more important than finding what our talent is.  It is what God wants to use to develop us and bless others.

 

Or we bury our talent.  In false humility, we declare we are not good enough.  Yet we were never called to compare ourselves with others.  We are called only to nurture what we have been given, into fruit for the kingdom of God.

 

·                   A servant is expected to treat fellow servants with respect (Matt 18:26-29) The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. ²⁷Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. ²⁸But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. ²⁹And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

 

We have been forgiven a debt we could have never paid.  God, full of compassion for us, loosed us from the things that bind our lives, and gave us a new start with no threat of judgment hanging over our heads.  Old things have passed away and everything made new.

 

Yet despite the overwhelming magnitude of His forgiveness, we hold things against one another.  We do not forgive from the heart when slighted or overlooked or hurt in some way.  We take one another to court.  It is a sad indictment on the church that the attitudes and actions of the world are reflected in the church, and not the other way around. We play God and seek to punish one another in word or deed.  These things should not be.

 

We need to focus on the scope of God’s forgiveness for us, before we yield to the temptation of holding un-forgiveness in our own hearts.  Though we may have been on the receiving end of the vilest offence it pales into insignificance when weighed against what God has been, and is, willing to forgive from us.

 

 The measure of our forgiveness is not in human terms.  When, in relation to forgiveness, Peter asked Jesus should I forgive “seven times?” and Jesus answered “no, till 70 times seven”, Jesus was saying our forgiveness should be beyond the realm of counting.  He said for us to “have compassion on one another just as He had on us.”

 

·                   A servant must not strive (2 Tim 2:24)  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, ²⁵In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

 

We know that God is good, that He is just, and that He loves all mankind.  Sometimes it is so frustrating that others cannot see this.  We would love to be able to shake people into an awareness of God’s goodness.  After all, the gospel is good news!  Our Master has good things for all.  Yet we know that salvation is God’s work.  We can only faithfully act on His behalf, loving even those who oppose our message.  Perhaps, one day they will truly see and embrace God’s love.  It is important that we only ever love them.  Our words and deeds must not be a stumbling block.  If we have treated them as they have us, we heap coals on the fire of resistance.  If, instead, we have only loved in the face of reviling, then all they have seen is a living example of what we espouse, and they will, by God’s grace, take knowledge that we have been with Jesus. 

 

·                   A servant must bid unsaved to come to the supper (Lk 14:17) A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many: ¹⁷and he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

 

The great commission is a command to all believers.  God sends us out as servants to say “come, for all things are now ready.”  For every human being on the planet, all is now ready for them to accept God’s invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb.  God has given His own Son as the entry price for all to enter in.  He only awaits acceptance of that invitation.

 

As servants we will hear many excuses.  We are to exhort, encourage, and implore people to put aside the things that hold them back, and to accept the invitation that the Father has given them.

 

However it is not our role to force people.  This can never be done.  Acceptance of the invitation is a matter of the heart.  We can only testify by our words and actions to who our Master is.  We show God’s love to a dying world.  Peradventure some may accept God’s offer.

 

·                   A servant will be given authority (Mark 13:34)  ³⁴It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority (capacity, competency) to his servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch.

 

We have seen that we must not be surprised if trouble comes our way.  In fact, we should expect it and as strange as it seems, embrace it.  However it is not as if we have been asked to do a job without the wherewithal to do it.  Jesus has given us, His servants, authority.  That is, we have been given the capacity and competency to do all that is required of us.

 

The authority of Jesus is incomparable.  There is no greater authority a human being can be given.  The power of God is ours to use.  When we pray “in His name” we avail ourselves of heaven’s resources.  As His servants, we are acting on Jesus’ behalf.  Therefore what we pray according to His will, will be answered (remember we are God’s servants – here we are not referring to praying for what we want in our flesh).

 

Jesus said that we would do the works that He did.  He taught with astonishing authority.  With authority, He commanded unclean spirits to flee.  In Mark 11:33, He gave His disciples authority to heal diseases and cast out devils.  We have the same authority as Jesus did.  What a tremendous truth this is.  If only we would submit to God and live as He meant!  We would achieve so much in His name.

 

·                   A servant will have the Spirit poured out upon them (Ac 2:18)  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 

 

It is unreasonable to expect anyone to do a job without the training and tools that are necessary to fulfill it.  The work we are required to do as servants of the Most High God, is a supernatural task and therefore requires supernatural abilities.  We know that to walk with God in this world is something none of us is capable of in ourselves.  Thankfully, God’s callings is His enabling.  He fills us with His Spirit when we come to Him to be endued with the power we need to fulfill our task.  However, it is not as if once filled we have all we need forever.  Our training and tools need to be updated constantly.  That is why we are told to “go on being filled with the Spirit.”  The foolish virgins “took no oil with them” and so were caught short when the bridegroom arrived and could not fulfill what was expected of them. 

 

In computer terms, we need to constantly ensure we are receiving all the updates of power, compassion, love etc we need from God.  Most of us have patches arrive from Microsoft to fix problems, or receive updates from software companies to improve the running of their software.  In the same way, what we have received from God today is not guaranteed to be sufficient for tomorrow’s challenges. Thankfully, God has promised to supply all our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.

 

·                   A servant must praise God (Rev 19:5) And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great. (Ps 113:1)  Praise ye Jehovah. Praise, O ye servants of Jehovah, Praise the name of Jehovah.

 

A hallmark of heaven is praise to God.  The Bible mentions silence in heaven once – for half an hour.  The rest of the time we are told of continual praise to God – by angels and the redeemed both small and great.  If heaven resounds with praise, and heaven is our long sought after destination, then perhaps we should start practicing now!  Praise is the evidence of confidence.  When we praise God, we are acknowledging that He is in control.  We are saying despite what I may be seeing in front of me right now, I know that God is in charge, He loves me, and everything I face as a servant of the Most High, He is working together for good.

 

May God bless each of you and may His Word be your guide till we all meet around His throne.