Serving

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is God. It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. (Psalm 100)

When God calls us to serve, He is not shorthanded in heaven — He is calling us into joy.

A Defining Moment at Camp

It was the summer between my sophomore and junior year in high school. I was sixteen years old, taking school of ministry classes here at Calvary Escondido, and that summer I was part of a youth summer intern program with about fifteen other high schoolers. Near the end of that summer, we went up to Calvary Chapel Christian Camp at Green Valley Lake, just a few minutes from Big Bear.

It was the first time I had been to youth camp, and before then I had not realized how much bigger the ministry of Calvary Chapel was than just a few churches in San Diego County. That first night, over four hundred high schoolers from churches all over California, Arizona, and Nevada gathered for dinner and the first evening session. The theme for the camp was "In Christ," and we were going to study through the book of Ephesians.

I don't remember the teaching that Sunday night, but I remember well the next morning when a mostly bald-headed older man stepped to the pulpit to preach. His name was Chuck Smith. I had never heard that name before. I hadn't heard of the Word for Today or Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I knew nothing about the Jesus Movement. But that day, as Pastor Chuck taught three messages through Ephesians chapter one, my whole perspective—and honestly, without exaggeration, the whole direction of my life—changed.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us unto adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself... (Ephesians 1:3–6)

"Don't Meander Through This Life"

As Pastor Chuck taught through this passage, he exhorted us not to waste our lives. He encouraged us to walk worthy of the calling wherewith we've been called, and he challenged us not to meander—I specifically remember him using that word. Don't meander through this life, but follow hard after the Lord. It is an awesome thing when a man in his late sixties is able to hold four hundred high schoolers completely captivated, summoning them to a life of service and devotion to the Lord.

I remember thinking, I want to do exactly what Pastor Chuck is talking about. I was so blown away by this man of God who had dedicated his entire life to serving the Lord that I followed him out of the chapel and asked him to sign my Bible. He signed the front page of my little snap-flap pocket Bible—"Chuck Smith"—and put a verse reference. I couldn't wait to read it. It was 3 John verse 4: "I have no greater joy than to see that my children walk in truth." And the hook was set.

The Lie That Serving God Can't Be Fun

But there was an overwhelming tension in my mind as I considered following God. It went something like this: If I do what this pastor is calling me to do, God is going to make me do something weird, something I don't want to do, send me somewhere I don't want to go. Has anyone ever had that kind of thought?

As a sixteen-year-old early in my Christian experience, I was already living under the assumption that serving and following God meant a dreadful, joyless existence. I believe it's a lie the enemy loves to feed us—that serving God can't be fun because it's death to self, because it's sacrifice. So you just grin and bear it. I'm saved and looking forward to heaven, but between now and then I just have to bear with it. That's a lie the enemy feeds us constantly.

So with my heart I wanted to do what Chuck was challenging us to do, but with my mind I reasoned, I'll follow the Lord—as soon as I'm done with high school. Right now there are some fun things I want to do first. That is a recipe for a joyless existence. By the spring of 1997, I found myself experiencing an earthly happiness that threatened to completely distract me from the maximal joy found in Christ. The enemy loves to do that—to get Christians focused on things that produce marginal happiness when God is saying, Come, I have something so much greater for you. It's like making mud pies in the slums when an offer of a holiday by the sea is available.

Joy That Increases Through Serving

In our series on joy, every week we have considered John 15, where Jesus says, "These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might be in you and your joy might be full." God's desire is to plant in us a great joy that expands into fullness. That joy begins in salvation—"You, God, will show me the path of life" (Psalm 16:11)—but it is supposed to expand to be full and enduring. Many Christians don't experience that fullness.

We promote the increase of joy through gratitude, as we saw three weeks ago; through giving, as we saw last week; and today, through serving—walking in the good works God prepared beforehand for us.

For by grace are you saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8–10)

We are saved by grace, through faith—not by good works, but for good works. We often mix these up, thinking we do good works so we can get to heaven. But Ephesians 2:6 says we are already seated with Him in heavenly places because of the work Jesus did. Our destination is accomplished by Jesus on the cross. So we don't do good works to get there; we do them because He has saved us and created good works for us to walk in—and in them our joy is increased.

Blessed to Be a Blessing

The Christian is blessed beyond belief, "with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3). By God's divine power we have been given everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Why are we so blessed? To be spiritual hoarders, holding on to it all and saying, "Look how great my blessings are, but don't touch them"? There are many Christians who live in their spiritual condition like the hoarders on that cable show—piled high with blessings.

No—we are blessed to be a blessing. The story is as old as the Bible. God said to Abraham, "I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you... and you shall be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2). Such blessing is given for a reason. "Unto whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). We will give an account of our stewardship (Luke 16). Our time, talents, and treasures are given from God as a special treasure; every good and perfect gift comes from Him (James 1:17). "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). We are stewards, not owners, and one day we will give an account of how we used what He put into our care. And the wonderful reality is that "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

Jesus is the key to unlocking joy, as evidenced by Paul's reckless abandon to apprehend Him: "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ... and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Philippians 3:7–8). Christ has shown us the path of life, and He is also the source of all such abundance: "In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).

Gratitude Overflowing into Service

So the potential for great joy is there. Why is it not certain? We must promote the increase of joy, and that begins with gratitude. Gratitude is an emotive response—it's not self-generated. You can say "thanks" and it will be only lip service while your heart is far from Him (Isaiah 29). Gratitude is encouraged through contemplating the greatness of God and His work, beholding His glory as manifested in the beauty of His Son.

As gratitude wells up, the overflow is worship, which escalates our joy. Worship expands into love for Him—"We love Him because He first loved us"—and that love overflows toward others, expressed not only in tender affections but in tender actions of serving and giving. John Piper said, "Love is the overflow of joy in God that gladly meets the needs of others." So giving and serving, when motivated by love, increase our joy.

Giving is more than money; it is giving of our time, talents, and treasures. In Southern California in the twenty-first century, it is often actually easier to give financially than to give of our time. We'll say, "Oh, you're going on a mission trip? I'll give you some money—you go." It is harder to give of ourselves. So when we talk about serving God for the increase of joy, it's important to recognize this is sacrificial. But I aim to show you from the Word that the sacrifice is purposeful for gaining greater joy.

Seven Reasons to Serve

This isn't a good Baptist sermon—that would be three points. I have seven, so write them down.

One: Jesus leaves us an example of service. "For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Two: We are exhorted to follow His example. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God... made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant... and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:5–8). In John 13, Jesus—the King of kings, Creator of all things—lowers Himself to wash His disciples' feet, doing what none of them were willing to do, and then says, "I have left you an example, that you should do likewise."

Three: We are commanded to serve with joyful gladness. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord" is a command. So is verse 2: "Serve the Lord with gladness" (Psalm 100).

Four: We are promised severe punishment if we do not. This one is heavy. "Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart... therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies" (Deuteronomy 28:47–48).

Five: He promises great reward if we serve Him gladly out of love. "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Hebrews 6:10). God keeps account of our service, because He rewards those who serve Him cheerfully—"God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7), not someone serving merely out of duty or fear.

The Parable of the Talents

We see this reward in Matthew 25. A master gives one servant five talents, another two, another one, then goes away for a long time. When he returns and squares accounts, the one who received five talents brings five more, and the master says, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant... enter thou into the joy of thy lord." The same is said to the one who turned two into four. He gives the reward of great joy to those who governed what they were given in a way that brought glory to their master.

But the third servant brings back his one talent, saying, "I buried it because I knew you were a tough guy. I was afraid of you." The master calls him a wicked servant and judges him severely. So there is punishment for not serving gladly and reward for serving in a way that brings glory to the Master.

Six: We take up the cross in service to obtain joy. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2). He endured loss to gain great joy, and He calls us to the same.

Seven: There is reward for the willful, selfless giving of our means to serve others. Otherwise Paul would not have said, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you" (2 Corinthians 12:15). It was his joy to serve, because there is great reward in it.

The Rich Young Ruler

Luke 18 illustrates this. A certain rich ruler comes to Jesus and asks, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus points him to the commandments, and the man says, "All these have I kept from my youth." Then Jesus, hearing his testimony of good deeds, identifies the core issue of his heart: "Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." When the rich man heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

Set before this ruler that day was the opportunity to follow hard after the Lord—but in his mind, just as in mine at sixteen, was the thought, If I do that, I'm going to lose an awful lot. Matthew tells us he was a young man. My speculation is that he came into his wealth and position by inheritance—it's the only thing that makes sense for someone so young to hold such authority in that culture. Notice his question: "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He had inherited everything else, but this was missing from the will. He wanted what Jesus had.

Jesus was not telling everyone to sell everything; He was reaching the core issue in this man's heart. And the man went away sorrowful, because his treasure was too great. That is the recipe for the most joyless existence in all of life. He could not let go of his marginal joy for something greater, because to him Jesus was a treasure too small. He was not like the man in the earlier parable who found treasure in a field and, for the joy of it, joyfully sold all he had to obtain it. To this ruler, Jesus was not nearly as weighty as what he already had.

"Who Then Can Be Saved?"

Jesus said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!... It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." This shocked the disciples, because it rattled their theology. They believed those who were blessed and wealthy here would be wealthy in heaven—they equated the two. So they asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus answered, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." This is the truth of the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). The rich young ruler couldn't step over that hurdle.

Then comes Peter—and it's always Peter, isn't it? "Lo, we have left all, and followed thee." Matthew records, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" You would expect Jesus to rebuke that selfishness. He doesn't. "There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting" (Luke 18:29–30).

You cannot out-give God of your time, talents, or treasure. Now, that statement can be twisted into a false promise that God will give you a Mercedes and a big house—that is not what is being said. The reward is greater than earthly treasures that fade: an increased and enduring joy the world cannot give. Matthew records it as a hundredfold and everlasting life. Great reward is promised to those who follow and serve the Lord—but they do so out of gratitude, considering what He has done, saying, "You've done so much for me; I cannot help but follow hard after you." Saved by grace through faith, unto good works.

Eleven Treasured Him; One Did Not

Of the twelve disciples Jesus called, all but one followed hard after Him and served Him until death. One opted instead for earthly, temporal gain—thirty pieces of silver. Clearly his treasuring of Jesus was small, because he was easily bought off. That still happens within the body of Christ: someone follows for a time, then finds "something greater," revealing that they never fully treasured Him.

But the eleven treasured Jesus. They forsook everything to heed His call and served with every ounce of their being. Most went to their deaths as martyrs. Imagine you had twenty minutes with Peter as the cross awaited him, or with John as the boiling oil was prepared, and you asked, "Was it worth it?" Do you think they would hesitate for a nanosecond? Do you think they would ponder their losses? I don't think so—because their mindset was Paul's.

To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain

Paul wrote Philippians from prison in Rome, awaiting execution. He asks them to pray for his release, but then says:

According to my earnest expectation and my hope... that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:20–21)

Paul says, "Pray that I get out—but if I don't, nothing is lost, because Christ will be magnified whether I live or die." Given the choice, he doesn't even know which he would choose. Death means the loss of all power, pleasure, and possession in this life, and yet to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Relinquishing all rights to yourself and reckoning all your earthly gain as loss now means that in the future, when you actually lose everything at death—and every one of us will—it will be no loss at all. It's not my house, not my car, not my job; He gave it to me. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If He calls me to use it this way, I use it this way; if He calls me to give it up, I give it up. So when the day comes, you simply say, "Okay—not mine. Here you go. No problem."

Christ is supremely magnified in us when we treasure Him so much that we are willing to lose our time, give our talents, and let go of our treasure in sacrificial serving—because we recognize He is worth it, and that we gain so much more by using these things for His name than we ever did by possessing them. Then we can say with Paul, "To live is Christ, to die is gain," because the loss of those things through death is no loss at all—through death we gain more of Christ, which is what we wanted anyway.

God Most Glorified, We Most Satisfied

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Giving and serving out of gratitude brings maximal joy and true satisfaction, and the result is that He is magnified. When people see that your source of joy is not in a promotion, a retirement account, a cool car, or a house, but in Him—and that you use whatever He has given you for His glory—they say, "He must be really valuable to you." And then He is lifted up.

So here I stand fifteen years after Pastor Chuck called us not to meander. I remember the enemy's little voice: "If you do that, He's going to do something wacky." I'm here to tell you, He has done some wacky things—and every single one has been a source of incredible joy. If I tried to contemplate what I have lost in following God, I honestly cannot think of a single thing in light of all that has been gained. I count it all as trash that I may gain Him. Then it becomes true what David said: "I delight to do thy will, O my God" (Psalm 40:8). Whether you're working at a church, teaching, fighting fires, engineering, policing, or building, you find great joy when you see your place as given you from God for His glory. And if you lost it, you've lost nothing, because you've gained Christ.

No Fool

Just days before he was martyred on the mission field in Ecuador in the 1950s, Jim Elliot wrote in his journal, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." A few days later he and several missionary friends were killed by a head-hunting tribe in the jungle. The news shook the nation, and many articles called it a waste—foolish. But Jim Elliot and his friends knew better. I don't believe for a second that Nate Saint, when the spear went through his heart, thought, "What a bummer." To live is Christ, to die is gain.

When God calls us to serve in His kingdom, He is not calling us because He is shorthanded in heaven, wondering how He will get it all done. He is calling us into joy. Every command of the Bible is actually a promise for our joy. The only way to see whether it's true is to test Him in this—and you will see the windows of heaven opened in great blessing.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You for Your word. Again, it is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and it challenges us to the core. It is paradigm-shifting, Lord. It opens our eyes to ways we never thought before and to paths we've never seen before. Work by Your word in our lives this week, that we would be transformed in our affections—that our affections would not be misplaced upon the things of this world, but rightly placed upon You and Your kingdom. For in You dwells all the fullness, and we are complete in You. Lord, challenge us to step into that completeness that is only found in You, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.