166 Sermon Illustrations on Service

Uncle Henry was consecrated. He was an uneducated tenant farmer who had been saved in his sixties. This was in a little country church in Alabama. After Uncle Henry accepted Christ, he was like every new Christian. He wanted to do something for the Lord.

He noticed in the country church he had joined that no one came early to open the windows in the summertime or to build afire in the pot bellied stove in the wintertime, so he volunteered for the job. His church was just like ours. When someone volunteers to paint the doors and fix up the church, it isn’t hard to get us to let them do that. His church said, “Yes, we will be happy for you to take care of the church house.” Every Sunday he would hook up his wagon and ride to church. He would get there a little bit early. In the summertime, he would open the windows. In the wintertime he would build a fire in the pot bellied stove.

Uncle Henry had the first bus route that I know of except it wasn’t a bus route, it was a wagon route. He used some of the same approaches that bus drivers us today. He asked the boys to ride to Sunday School with him in the wagon, but he didn’t have many results until he started leaving some candy and peanuts in the back of the wagon. Then he began to bring more and more boys on the wagon with him. Over a period of time, a large number of boys rode that wagon with Uncle Henry to that little country church. Some of those boys are deacons in that same country church today. One of the boys is pastor of one of the largest churches in Alabama. Another one of the boys is pastor of a fine country church.

The chances are you have more ability than Uncle Henry. He was uneducated. He got saved late in life. But he consecrated all that he had to the Lord, and that consecration resulted in tremendous spiritual outcomes in the lives of people he influenced. Consecration determines spiritual results.

Who were they?

They shipped almost a billion pounds of supplies to Allied soldiers during World War II. Many of those men survived the war only because of their efforts.

Who were they?

They also helped German soldiers, saving tens of thousands from starvation during the post-war occupation. Perhaps most amazingly, the Allied soldiers were helped with the full approval of the Germans, while the German prisoners were helped with the full approval of the Allies.

Who were they? The International Red Cross.

As the world’s powers lined up and began shooting at one another, the Red Cross was there, politically neutral but powerfully active in the cause of saving human lives. Both American and German POW’s benefitted from their efforts, as did countless civilians throughout the war-torn world.

In most cases, armies not only allowed their work but actually encouraged it. Why? Because the Red Cross was more interested in healing and helping than in winning political or military victories.

By design, the Red Cross offered love, compassion, and help to anyone who needed it, regardless of ideology. No prisoner was “undeserving” in their eyes, no person was the wrong color or belonged to the wrong political party. And because of that philosophy, no government on either side of the conflict was willing to turn them away.

An unbelievable work was done for one simple reason: the Red Cross was more interested in healing people than in winning political turf-battles or proving someone else wrong or proving themselves right. Undoubtedly the men and women of the Red Cross had political views; without question most of them believed one side was right and the other wrong. The key was not letting their personal views distract them from their real mission: serving, helping, and healing a hurting world.

When men and women become more interested in helping others than in arguing over who is right, amazing things can happen. Perhaps the “people of the cross” could learn a few things from the Red Cross.

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #54]

According to a legend, a desert wanderer found a crystal spring of unsurpassed freshness. The water was so pure that he decided to bring some to his king. Barely satisfying his own thirst, he filled a leather bottle with the water and carried it many days beneath the desert sun before he reached the palace.

When he finally laid his offering at the feet of his sovereign, the water had become stale because of the old container in which it had been stored. But the king would not let his faithful subject even imagine that it was unfit for use. He tasted it with expressions of gratitude and delight, and the loyal man went away with a heart filled with gladness.

After he had gone, others sampled the water and expressed their surprise that the king had even pretended to enjoy it. “Ah,” said he, “it was not the water I tasted, but the love that prompted the offering.”

Many times our service is marked by multiplied imperfections, but the Master looks at our motives and says “It is good.”

A man dreamed that when he died he was taken by the angels to a beautiful temple. After admiring it for a time, he discovered that one stone was missing. All was finished but just one little stone that was left out. He said to the angel, "What is this stone left out for?" The angel replied, "That was left out for you, but you were waiting to do great things and so this was never finished." He was startled and woke, and resolved that he would become a faithful worker for God in little things.

-- D.L. Moody

====================================

Another version from The Berean Call:

"A good many are kept out of the service of Christ, deprived of the luxury of working for God, because they are trying to do some great thing. Let us be willing to do little things. And let us remember that nothing is small in which God is the source."

-- D.L. Moody

Word Perfect is the number 1 computer word processor with over 7 million registered users. In poll after poll, it is the word processor of choice among computer users. It isn't that Word Perfect's product is superior to anything else on the market. It isn't that the price is lower. Word Perfect is number 1 because of its superior service. One-third of the company's employees, 750 in total, are trained and equipped to handle customer questions and problems. They deal with more than 16,000 toll-free calls each day at a cost of half-a-million dollars in long distance charges per month. Word Perfect's operators are on call 11 hours per day and can be reached at over 25 different 1-800 numbers. Corporate policy is not to have any customer on hold for more than 60 seconds; so far this year, the average wait time is about 41 seconds. Word Perfect has discovered that service is the key to its success.

I once knew an old man who was possessed with a mania for buying up wheels of all sorts. A wheel, whether from a wagon, a cart, or a wheelbarrow, possessed peculiar attractions for him. Yet, in all his life he never owned even a wheelbarrow. He did not put his wheels I to any use.

He is a pretty good counterpart of the man whose idea of successful church work is merely that of getting people saved, without instructing the new converts that they are saved to serve. In a good many churches where this idea has been followed up, the converts are practically nothing more than a heap of wheels and bolts and bars that are of no use, because they have been put to none. "Saved to serve" is a good motto, but it implies more than we are sometimes disposed to take into consideration. It means that we must train people to actively serve God after they are saved. It is not enough that we induce men and women to be good. We are to see to it that they are put in the way of becoming good for something.

--Mattie M. Boteler

"Kindness is Christianity with its working clothes on."

Anonymous

Helen Bunce hadn't been to church all year. Her joints were stiff with arthritis and her bones so brittle they could snap, but what was harder to bear was the thought of being separated from her ailing husband, Karl, for even an hour or two. Yet on the third Sunday of Advent last year, she went. It was time to dedicate the mitten tree at Emmanuel Congregational Church in Watertown, and time to reveal a decades-old secret. Since 1949, one woman had knitted dozens of pairs of mittens and matching hats that hung on the pine tree at the front of the church each Christmas, so many of them the tree's branches were laden as if with a heavy snow. But the woman insisted on remaining anonymous. Except to her family and a circle of friends, she was known only as "the mitten lady."

And so when the mitten lady's identity was revealed that morning, Helen Bunce, 86 years old, sat quietly in her wheelchair, her daughter holding her hand. The members of the congregation began to applaud, then rose to their feet and gave her an ovation that lasted a full five minutes, able at last to thank the mitten lady in person for her many good works. It was the last time she went to church. Helen Bunce died on Saturday.

Karl cried when his family told him she was gone. He wouldn't eat or drink, and he had nothing to say. The family kept a vigil, and on Monday, 86 and sick for many years, he died.

"That's why he died when he did," said their daughter, Helen McDonald. "He had to be with her."

They had been together since 1928. It was summertime, and a girlfriend invited Helen Finney to come to a youth group meeting at Emmanuel. The girls were standing on the steps of the church when a young man came walking down Hamilton Street, wearing a white turtleneck, whistling "My Blue Heaven."

"I'm going to marry that man," Helen told her friend. Three months later she did. They were married in the church where their three children would be married, where 11 grandchildren would be baptized, where in 1978 they repeated their wedding vows to celebrate their wedding anniversary. It was the same church where Helen would hear a Sunday morning children's talk that gave her a mission in life. The custom of the mitten tree began in 1949. Church members would collect mittens and hats, decorate a tree with them, then give them to poor children. Helen's best friend knew she knitted, and so she asked her if she would contribute. The first year, Helen made 25 sets of mittens and hats.

The Reverend Graham Hodges, who came to Emmanuel in 1956, talked to the children about the mitten tree one morning. He told them how children in Europe lined up to receive mittens from relief workers in the years following World War II. As the workers came to the end of a line one day, a little boy held out his cold hands to them. But by then they had run out of mittens.

"The moral was, the need is unending." said Hodges. "We needed another pair for that little boy."

Helen Bunce took the talk to heart. She could not forget about that little boy and his cold hands, and so each year she tried to knit more. In each of the past 20 years she easily exceeded 100 sets of mittens and hats. Every one of them bore a handwritten tag attached with a gold safety pin: "God Loves You and So Do I."

When she had reached her goal for the year, she knitted two more sets, one for a little girl and one for a little boy, the children at the end of the line. Those she hung on the mitten tree herself, or gave to one of the grandchildren to hang, a reminder of why she knitted, and whom she knitted for. The knitting never left her side. She knitted as she dozed off. She knitted as she rode in the car. Her daughter Helen laughs when she

remembers her mother sitting in the back seat of the car, so scared by a snowstorm she prayed out loud: "Lord, you have to get us home safe. I have to get these mittens done."

When Karl became ill with Parkinson's disease and went to a nursing home in Alexandria Bay, his wife sat with him every day, from 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night. She would take a Thermos of coffee, a sandwich and her knitting. Her own health began to fail and they moved together to the Samaritan Keep Home in Watertown. When the pain in her back became too much for her, she taught herself to knit lying down.

Helen followed one rule in her knitting: never finish one project without starting the next. As soon as one Christmas passed, she began working toward the next year. She completed perhaps a dozen sets this month and last. Every time she finished a hat or a mitten, she cast the stitches for her next project on her needles, so her knitting would always be ready to pick up.

"She felt as long as she was knitting those mittens, the Lord wouldn't take her," her daughter said. Helen had told her family she wanted to be buried with her knitting needles. Her daughter remembered that on Saturday. She went back to her mother's room, planning to retrieve the needles that would be holding a final, unfinished project. She found a pink and white hat that had been completed, and then she saw the needles. Her mother had bound them neatly with a rubber band and stuck them in the skein of yarn, empty. Helen McDonald is certain of the reason: her mother had known her work was done.

Barbara Stith

I have glorified Thee on earth: I have finished the work which Thou havest me to do.

\reference{John 17:4}{John 17:4}

A nineteenth century painting shows a long row of beggars waiting in a soup line. They are all ragged and sleazy looking. But around the head of one, barely perceptible, is a halo. One of them is Christ! You may see no halo around the heads of your brothers and sisters in need, yet to serve them is to serve Christ, for the King is hidden in them.

(\reference{Matt 25:35-40}{Matthew 25:35-40})

If you want to utterly crush a man, said the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky in The House of the Dead, just give him work of a completely senseless, irrational nature. Dostoevsky, who himself spent 10 years in prison, wrote: "If he had to move a heap of earth from one place to another and back again--I believe the convict would hang himself--preferring rather to die than endure such humiliation, shame and torture." Deprived of meaningful work, men and women lose their reason for existence; they go stark, raving mad.

--Bill Moyers

Blunt common sense always characterized Mr. Moody. Once a man rose in one of his meetings to give his experience. "I have been for five years on the Mount of Transfiguration," he said.

Instantly Mr. Moody interrupted him by the sharp question, "How many souls did you lead to Christ last year?'

"Well, I don't know," answered the surprised man.

"Have you led any?" then came sternly from the preacher.

"I-ah-don't know that I have," said the man.

"Then," snapped Mr. Moody, still more sternly, "we don't want that kind of mountain-top experience. When a man gets so high that he can't reach down and save poor sinners, there is something wrong."

--Selected

A little fellow in the ghetto was teased by one who said, "If God loves you, why doesn't he take care of you? Why doesn't God tell someone to bring you shoes and a warm coat and better food?" The little lad thought for a moment then with tears starting in his eyes, said, "I guess He does tell somebody, but somebody forgets." God's plan is to care through His followers and that caring is the fruit of goodness.

Fred Somebody, Thomas Everybody, Peter Anybody, and Joe Nobody were neighbors, but they were not like you and me. They were odd people and most difficult to understand. The way they lived was a shame.

All four belonged to the same church, but you would not have enjoyed worshipping with them.

Everybody went fishing on Sunday or stayed home to visit with friends.

Anybody wanted to worship but was afraid Somebody wouldn't speak to him. So guess who went to church -- uh, huh -- Nobody.

Really, Nobody was the only decent one of the four.

Nobody did the visitation. Nobody worked on the church building.

Once they needed a Sunday school teacher. Everybody thought Anybody would do it, and Anybody thought Somebody would do it. And you know who did it? That's exactly right -- Nobody!

It happened that a fifth neighbor (an unbeliever) moved into the area. Everybody thought Somebody should try to win him for Christ. Anybody could have made an effort. You probably know who finally won him: Nobody!

A man once rose in one of Mr. Moody's meetings and gave his experience. "I have been for five years on the Mount of Transfiguration."

"How many souls did you lead to Christ last year?" was the sharp question that came from Mr. Moody, in an instant."

"Well I don't know." was the astonished reply. "Have you led any?" persisted Mr. Moody.

"I don't know that I have." answered the man. "Well," said Mr. Moody, "we don't want that kind of mountain-top experience. When a man gets so high that he can't reach down and save poor sinners, there is something wrong."

--S. S. Chronicle

The story is told of a noted personality who was being honored at a reception conducted in the city railroad station. While leading citizens were presenting their welcoming speeches, he spotted a little old lady off in the distance struggling with her heavy bags. Excusing himself, he hurried over to her side, took her bags, and carried them to the train she was riding and then wished her a happy journey. When he came back to his reception he simply said, "Excuse me, but I was jsut having a bit of my daily fun."

{The Deacon, }July, August, September, 1994

The essence of the worldly man is, as someone has said, that "he knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." The world's motive is profit; the Christian's dynamic is the desire to serve.

See: 2 Corinthians 4:5; Galatians 5:13

1. We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,

Soldiers of the cross.

2. Climbing up from earth to heaven,

Climbing up from earth to heaven,

Climbing up from earth to heaven,

Soldiers of the cross.

3. Ev’ry round goes higher, higher,

Ev’ry round goes higher, higher,

Ev’ry round goes higher, higher,

Soldiers of the cross.

4. Sinner, do you love my Jesus?

Sinner, do you love my Jesus?

Sinner, do you love my Jesus?

Soldiers of the cross.

5. If you love Him, why not serve Him?

If you love Him, why not serve Him?

If you love Him, why not serve Him?

Soldiers of the cross.

6. Rise and shine and give God glory,

Rise and shine and give God glory,

Rise and shine and give God glory,

Soldiers of the cross.

[Tune “Jacob’s Ladder”]

*

1. Only one life to offer –

Jesus, my Lord and King;

Only one tongue to praise Thee

And of Thy mercy sing (forever);

Only one heart’s devotion –

Saviour O may it be

Consecrated alone to Thy

matchless glory,

Yielded fully to Thee.

2. Only this hour is mine, Lord –

May it be used for Thee;

May ev’ry passing moment

Count for eternity (my Saviour);

Souls all about are dying,

Dying in sin and shame;

Help me bring them the message of

Calv’ry’s redemption

In Thy glorious name

3. Only one life to offer –

Take it, dear Lord, I pray;

Nothing from Thee withholding,

Thy will I now obey (my Jesus);

Thou who hast freely given

Thine all in all for me,

Claim this life for thine own to

be used, my Saviour,

Ev’ry moment for Thee.

*

A newsmagazine once described Gary Chapman as "the love doctor" in an article on his work with married couples, but his day job finds him serving as a counselor and director of adult ministries at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Chapman is best known as an author and speaker, and his best-selling book, "The Five Love Languages," has sold more than 1.5 million copies and been translated in 29 languages.

Sharing the platform with her husband, Karolyn began the evening telling the almost 7,000 women in attendance that "we all need to feel loved and sense that somebody cares about me. Our faith in Jesus assures us we are deeply loved, but God created us with the need for human love. We are made to give and speak love to others."

Chapman said during his years as a counselor he repeatedly saw couples, parents and children not connecting. "I would have a parent say they showed their love by buying their son a baseball glove or a bicycle, but what the child wanted was the parent taking the time to teach them to ride a bike or throw a baseball.

"A pattern developed and after 30 years of counseling, I came up with the five basic languages of love," he said.

An overview of the five languages are:

• Words of affirmation, or building someone up with positive words.

• Acts of service, or doing something to show love to a spouse or child.

• Giving of gifts, or providing visible symbols of love.

• Quality time, or spending time with a loved one and focusing

exclusively on him or her.

• Physical touch, or providing the emotional power of physical touch.

"Each of us has a primary love language," he said. "We probably respond positively to all or most of the five languages, but there is one that really makes us feel loved. It fills up our love tank."

Chapman emphasized it is rare that a husband and wife have the same language. "We usually use our primary love language on our spouse and soon discover we are not connecting and we are becoming frustrated. It is important to speak the love language of your spouse."

To discover one's love language, Chapman gave three clues.

• Observe how you love other people or express your love.

• What do you complain about most often?

• What do you request most often? For example fill in the blank, "If you

love me, you would [blank]."

To discover the love language of a spouse or child, Chapman said the same clues apply.

"I am often asked what to do if your spouse's love language is not natural to you. My response is if it is not natural, it shows your love for them even more," he said. "The important thing to remember is we are not talking about your comfort level; we are talking about your love for the other person. Love is something you do for someone else."

Chapman admitted it is often difficult to love an unlovely person, but with God's power it is possible. "It is hard for an individual to turn away from love expressed in his or her love language. Be a channel of God's love."

(see also HolwickID #4642)

*

1. We are one in the Spirit,

we are one in the Lord,

We are one in the Spirit,

we are one in the Lord,

And we pray that all unity may

one day be restored:

Chorus

And they'll know we are Christians

by our love, by our love,

Yes, they'll know we are

Christians by our love.

2. We will walk with each other,

we will walk hand in hand,

We will walk with each other,

we will walk hand in hand,

And together we'll spread the news that

God is in our land:

3. We will work with each other,

we will work side by side,

We will work with each other,

we will work side by side,

And we'll guard each man's dignity and

save each man's pride:

4. All praise to the Father,

from whom all things come,

And all praise to Christ Jesus,

His only Son,

And all praise to the Spirit,

who makes us one:

[Tune “St Brendan’s”]

*

You'll either be a worldly Christian or a world-class Christian.

Worldly Christians look to God primarily for personal fulfillment. They're saved, but self-centered. They love to attend concerts and enrichment seminars but you'd never find them at a missions conference because they aren't interested. Their prayers focus on their own needs, blessings and happiness. It's a "me-first" faith: How can God make my life more comfortable? They want to use God for their purposes instead of being used for his purposes.

In contrast, world-class Christians know they were saved to serve and were made for a mission. They're eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God. World-class Christians are the only fully alive people on the planet. Their joy, confidence and enthusiasm are contagious because they know they're making a difference. They wake up each morning expecting God to work through them in fresh ways.

Which type of Christian do you want to be?

God invites you to participate in the greatest, largest, most diverse and most significant cause in history -- his kingdom. History is his story. He's building his family for eternity. Nothing matters more and nothing will last as long. From the Book of Revelation we know that God's global mission will be accomplished. Someday the Great Commission will be the great completion. In heaven, an enormous crowd of people from "every race, tribe, nation and language" will one day stand before Jesus Christ to worship him. Getting involved as a world-class Christian will allow you to experience a little of what heaven will be like in advance.

Here's how to think like a world class Christian:

-- SHIFT FROM SELF-CENTERED TO OTHER-CENTERED THINKING

The Bible says, "My friends, stop thinking like children. Think like mature people...." Children only think of themselves; grown-ups think of others. This is the first step to becoming a world-class Christian. God commands, "Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too."

Begin asking the Holy Spirit to help you to think of the spiritual need of unbelievers whenever you talk to them. With practice, you can develop the habit of praying silent "breath prayers" for those you encounter, such as "Father, help me to understand what is keeping this person from knowing you."

-- SHIFT FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL THINKING

God is a global God. He has always cared about the entire world. "God so loved the world ...." From the beginning he has wanted family members from every nation he created.

Much of the world already thinks globally. The largest media and business conglomerates are all multinational. Our lives are increasingly intertwined with those in other nations as we share fashions, entertainment, music, sports and even fast foods. Probably most of the clothes you're wearing and much of what you ate today was produced in another country. We're more connected than we realize.

The first way to start thinking globally is to begin praying for specific countries. World-class Christians pray for the world. Get a globe or map and pray for nations by name. The Bible says, "If you ask me, I will give you the nations; all the people on earth will be yours" (Psalm 2:8).

Prayer is the most important tool for your mission in the world. People may refuse our love or reject our message, but they are defenseless against our prayers. Like intercontinental missiles, you can aim a prayer at a person's heart whether you're 10 feet or 10,000 miles away.

Another way to develop global thinking is to read and watch the news with "Great Commission eyes." Wherever there is change or conflict, you can be sure that God will use it to bring people to him. People are most receptive to God when they are under tension or in transition. Because the rate of change is increasing in our world, more people are open to hearing the good news now than ever before.

The best way to switch to global thinking is to just get up and go on a short-term mission project to another country! There's simply no substitute for hands-on real-life experiences in another culture. Quit studying and discussing your mission and just do it! I dare you to dive into the deep end.

-- SHIFT FROM TEMPORAL TO ETERNAL THINKING

To make the most of your time on earth you must maintain an eternal perspective. This will keep you from majoring on minor issues and help you distinguish between what's urgent and what's ultimate. The apostle Paul said, "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

So much of what we waste our energy on will not matter even a year from now, much less for eternity. Don't trade your life for temporary things. Jesus said, "Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62) and Paul warned, "Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out" (1 Corinthians 7:31).

What are you allowing to stand in the way of your mission? What's keeping you from being a world-class Christian? Whatever it is, let it go. "Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back..." (Hebrews 12:1).

-- SHIFT FROM THINKING OF EXCUSES TO THINKING OF CREATIVE WAYS TO FULFILL YOUR COMMISSION

If you're willing, there's always a way to do it, and there are agencies who will help you. Here are some common excuses:

"I only speak English." This is actually an advantage in many countries where millions of people want to learn English and are eager to practice it.

"I don't have anything to offer." Yes you do. Every ability and experience in your life can be used somewhere.

"I'm too old or too young." Most mission agencies have age-appropriate short-term projects.

Maybe you've believed that you needed a special "call" from God and you've been waiting for some supernatural feeling or experience, but God has already stated his call repeatedly. We're all called to fulfill God's five purposes for our lives: to worship, to fellowship, to grow like Christ, to serve, and to be on mission with God in the world. God doesn't want to use just some of his people; he wants to use all of his people. We're all called to be on mission for God. He wants his whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world.

If you want to be like Jesus, you must care about what he cares about most; you must have a heart for the whole world! You can't be satisfied with just your family and friends coming to Christ. There are over 6 billion people on earth and Jesus wants all his lost children found. The Great Commission is your commission, and doing your part is the secret to living a life of significance. Jesus said, "Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live!" (Mark 8:35)

*

SERVING

(GIVING A HAND)

A few years ago, a Thanksgiving Day editorial in the newspaper told of a school teacher who asked her first graders to draw a picture of something they thankful for. She thought of how little these children from poor neighborhoods actually had to be thankful for. But she knew that most of them would draw pictures of turkeys on tables of food. The teacher was taken back with the picture Douglas handed in… a simple childishly drawn hand.

But whose hand? This class was captivated by the abstract image. "I think is must be the hand of God that brings us food," said one child. "A farmer," said another, "because he grows the turkeys." Finally when the others were back at work the teacher bent over Douglas's desk and asked whose hand it was. "It's your hand, Teacher," he mumbled.

She recalled that frequently at recess she had taken Douglas, a scrubby, deserted child, by the hand. She often did that with the children. But it meant so much to Douglas. Out of all the things he could he been thankful for thanksgiving, he was most thankful for his teacher's hand!

Perhaps from this story, we can learn that one of the most important things that you and I can give someone is a hand that reaches out to them with the love of Christ.

Stories From The Heart

Alice Gray, Multnomah, p. 52.

Gerbils are funny - and extremely predictable. At least, the one our kids had as a pet sure was. When I checked in on him in his little cage upstairs, he was almost always doing the same thing - the wheel. There he was, just chugging away, running on his gerbil wheel. If you went back a few hours later - the wheel. If I had spoken "Gerbilese," I would have pointed out that even though he was expending a lot of energy, he wasn't going anywhere. But I think I know what his response would be - running faster on the wheel that was going nowhere!

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "God's Gerbils."

These next few moments are dedicated to a special group of people - really busy Christians. Many of whom are, unknowingly, spiritual gerbils - running faster and faster on a wheel, but often not really going anywhere. Because they're doing a lot of the right things for a lot of the wrong reasons.

The right reason to be serving is plainly spelled out in our word for today from the Word of God, where Jesus asks what is probably the most important question He ever asked. After Peter's triple denial of his Lord and Jesus' resurrection from the dead, Jesus calls him aside for a man-to-man talk in John 21, beginning in verse 15. And there's the question.

"Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon ... do you truly love Me more than these?' 'Yes, Lord,' he said, 'you know that I love You.' Jesus said, 'Feed My lambs.'" Jesus goes on to ask His question a second time - and then again. "Jesus said, 'Simon ... do you love Me?' Peter said, 'Lord ... You know that I love You.' Jesus said, 'Feed My sheep.'"

Jesus didn't ask, "Why did you fail Me?" or "Will you work for Me?" All He wanted to know was - "Do you love Me?" That's all He wants to know from you - do you love Him? Notice that the assignment, "Feed My sheep," comes only after Jesus is sure - and Peter is sure - that he's doing it for love.

Which leads to the inevitable question about your spiritual service - what are you doing it for? Basically, there are three reasons people do Christian things - duty ... recognition ... or love. And the first two don't count. Maybe you've been busy for God mostly out of a sense of duty. That's why you're easily frustrated, often depleted, and way too stressed. It's a spiritual gerbil wheel, isn't it? You're Martha, fulfilling all your responsibilities, but neglecting your relationship with Jesus. And the relationship matters way more to Jesus than the responsibilities.

Maybe you're doing it for recognition. Gerbil wheel. Not to mention glory-stealing - using what only God should be getting glory for to get glory for yourself. Doing the work of the Lord for duty or for recognition is inevitably going feel hollow, unsatisfying, exhausting, frustrating - because you're supposed to be doing it as an overflow of your love for Jesus.

And chances are good it used to be, it was because you loved Him. But now what's supposed to be a joy has become a gerbil wheel, because you reasons for doing it got mixed up. Maybe it's time to say, "Jesus, I repent of doing the right things for the wrong reasons. I just want to spend the time with You I need to spend to fall in love with You again." When you do, then all your spiritual service becomes simply loving Jesus in front of people. It's all for Him! And then the results don't matter ... the recognition doesn't matter - just as long as you know Jesus is smiling.

The longer you do it for yourself, the more miserable it grows. But the longer you do it for Jesus, the sweeter He grows.

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

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PERFUME FROM THE TITANIC

Service Is a Sweet-Smelling Sacrifice

By columnist Eric Reed

Deep-sea divers recently recovered a leather case containing 40 small vials of perfume oil from the wreck of the Titanic. The little bottles, which probably would have been sold in New York as the ingredients for cologne, belonged to a businessman from Manchester, England. When they pulled the case from the water, the fragrance of the oils filled the air, after almost a century.

"To smell something that smells the same as it did on the Titanic before it went down is simply incredible," said Graham Jessop, an expert in the retrieval of such artifacts.

My wife would say that must be good perfume. A dab lasts a long time.

One time a woman slipped into the dining room after dinner, carrying a small flask. She broke it open and poured it on the head of the honored guest. The room was filled with the smell of very expensive perfume. "What a waste," some of the guests said. "We could have sold that and helped the poor." It cost almost a year's pay.

The man she anointed cut their complaints short. "She's done a beautiful thing. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

And so it has. Because of her love for Jesus, the woman risked rebuke from the crowd and gave the very best she had, from motives as pure as the oil she offered. But even now, two thousand years later, her sacrifice is remembered, to her credit. Her sacrifice smells as sweet now as it did then. And that is simply incredible.

But in God's economy, it's the incredible things that count most, the things that are hardest to understand and to believe. Even today, Jesus calls us to give our best -- our best service, our best offering, sometimes our last dollar. In the back-to-school season, when our plans are fresh and programs are cranking up again, we may sometimes wonder if it's really worth it. Does anyone really know or care how much church leaders sacrifice in God's service?

God does.

And our service is a sweet-smelling sacrifice to him. It will always be remembered.

"Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Eric Reed is editor of Leadership journal. To reply, write

Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net.

Is our first interest in life the accumulation of wealth, or are we like that Burmese boatman who, when asked by a missionary whether he was willing to preach the Gospel to his fellow countrymen at only one-fourth of the salary he was now getting, said to the missionary, "I will not go for that small pay, but I will go for Christ."

Paul envisions two builders on the one foundation, Jesus Christ. The one builds a palace, the other a shack. No doubt in Corinth, as in other ancient cities, side by side with the temples shining in marble and brass were the huts of the poor and the slaves, built of flimsy materials such as Paul mentions. He envisions a sudden flame playing around these buildings, the fire of the Lord coming to judgment. The marble gleams whiter, the silver, gold and jewels more resplendently, while the tongues of light leap about the palace. But the straw hut goes up in a flare. The two builders stand before God, the ultimate Paymaster. The one man gets wages for work that lasts; the other gets no pay for what perishes.