17 Sermon Illustrations on Service

Henry Ford once said, "Success is not rare. It is common. Very few miss a measure of it. It is not a matter of luck or of contesting, for certainly no success can come from preventing the success of another. It is a matter of adjusting one's efforts to overcome obstacles, and adjusting one's abilities to give the service needed by others. There is no other possible success. Most people think of it in terms of getting; success, however, begins in terms of giving."

I thought to be an actress great The toast of lords and kings. The good Lord said, "I have need of you To do My little things." I thought I would be a dancer rare To fly on gossamer wings. The Lord smiled and said, "Stay here on earth And do My little things." Now I am content to be right here. My heart with rapture sings 'Cause I know how important it is to God To do "His little things." When People Work "So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart" (Nehemiah 4:6). Few tragedies scar as does a raging fire. The devastation is complete. The desolation is mournful. Such was the disaster of the city of Jerusalem when God judged His holy hill with the torch of Nebuchadnezzar. On the day Jerusalem fell, the Edomites cried, "Tear it down...tear it down to its foundations!" (Psalms 137:7). In God's mercy, at last a remnant returned to rebuild their beloved city. And the city began to rise from its ashes. Yet, when some later visited Nehemiah, yet in Persia, they told of Jerusalem's continuing anguish: "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire" (Nehemiah 1:3). Hearing this, Nehemiah "...sat down and wept" (Nehemiah 1:4). The Persian monarch, Artaxerxes, moved by Nehemiah's sorrow, commissioned him to return to rebuild the city. After a quiet tour "by night" with some of the local leaders to evaluate the ruins, Nehemiah urged: "'You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.'I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me. They replied, 'Let us start rebuilding.'So they began this good work" (Nehemiah 2:17-18). The task was formidable-after 70 years of abandonment. Enemies "mocked and ridiculed" them, demanding, "What is this you are doing ...Are you rebelling against the king?...What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall?...Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble-burned as they are" (Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:2). The story of the wall's restoration from rubble is a thrilling one. Each family had its own segment of the wall to rebuild. As enemies threatened, some would "serve as guards by night and workmen by day" (Nehemiah 4:22). And finally, "the wall was completed on the 25th of Elul, in 52 days. When all the enemies heard about this...(they) lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God" (Nehemiah 6:15). When our people today, together "work with all their heart," amazing achievements will likewise be celebrated-to the glory of our God.

USEFULNESS, Example of Sixty-five sick and wounded soldiers lay on the second floor of a Virginia barn, just under the roof, which was scorched by a July sun. A delegate of the Christian Commission gave them some relief, and asked the soldier-nurse to wash their hands and feet. "I did not enlist to wash men's feet," was the reply. "Bring me the water then, and I will." And he did it most faithfully.

Many, influenced by fear or pride, refuse to shine as twinkling stars, because they cannot flame as blazing suns. They will not pour the murmurs of the cascade around them, because they cannot rush and roar like Niagara. They will not fan the fevered brow of humanity with the light wing of zephyr, because they have not been permitted by nature and grace to career with the whirlwind. Now, all such men should remember that gunboats are often more useful than three-deckers. The sun is useful; so is a torch carried to men lost in a cavern. A chariot of fire and horses of fire were sent to take Elijah to heaven; but the ravens were sent to feed him. Remington.

Wherever the Christian is put, he is placed there to do a work for Christ. Blessings may come to thousands as the result of a calamity in which God's children have suffered with others

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The flowers got into a debate one morning as to which of them was the flower of God, and the rose said: “I am the flower of God, for I am the fairest and the most perfect in beauty and variety of form and delicacy of fragrance of all the flowers.” And the crocus said: “No, you are not the flower of God. Why, I was blooming long before you bloomed. I am the primitive flower; I am the first one.” And the lily of the valley said modestly: “I am small, but I am white; perhaps I am the flower of God.” And the trailing arbutus said: “Before any of you came forth I was blooming under the leaves and under the snow. Am I not the flower of God?” And all the flowers cried out: “No, you are no flower at all; you are a come-outer.” And then God’s wind, blowing on the garden, brought this message to them: “Little flowers, do you not know that every flower that answers God’s spring call, and comes out of the cold, dark earth, and lifts its head above the sod and blooms forth, catching the sunlight from God and flinging it back to men, taking the sweet south wind from God and giving it back to others in sweet and blest fragrance--do you not know they are all God’s flowers?”

Many a humble parent or teacher might find comfort in the following pretty fable:

A taper lay in a drawer, when its owner took it and climbed a winding stair in a tower. “Where are you taking me?” asked the taper complainingly. “I am going to show big ships their way over the sea,” answered the owner. “Why, no ship could see me or my little light,” said the taper. “Leave that to me,” added the owner as he lighted the big lantern, and then blew the taper out.

See EARTHEN VESSEL.

SERVICE, INTERESTED

Washington housekeepers are inclined to think that T. B. Witherspoon, of St. Louis, was romancing recently when he told of a negro servant who has been in his employ for fifteen years. It appears that the negro was given ten days’ leave and money to spend for a trip down to New Orleans, but in three days turned up again, and here is the way Mr. Witherspoon explains the negro’s return, quoting the servant:

“‘You see, suh, it done get mighty miserably cold night after I lef’ you, and I knows dat Miss Kate (my wife) ain’t got no business tryin’ to work dat furnace, and I know you ain’t gwine to bother with it. Nary one of you got enny business with a dirty old furnace, least of all Miss Kate, who ain’t got no right to soil her little han’s. I couldn’t sleep good thinkin’ about it, an’ dat’s why I gits back quicker’n I ’spected.’

“There is a specimen act of an old-time, true-hearted darky, whose first thought is of the comfort of his employer.”

If a child finds itself in want of anything, it runs in and asks its father for it--does it call that doing its father a service? If it begs for a toy or a piece of cake--does it call that serving its father? That, with God, is prayer, and He likes to hear it. He likes you to ask Him for cake when you want it; but He doesn’t call that “serving Him.” Begging is not serving; God likes mere beggars as little as you do; He likes honest servants, not beggars. So when a child loves its father very much, and is very happy, it may sing little songs about him; but it doesn’t call that serving its father; neither is singing songs about God, serving God. It is enjoying ourselves, if it’s anything; most probably it is nothing; but if it’s anything, it is serving ourselves, not God.

— JOHN RUSKIN